Marc Emond Beats Tough Table with Two Circuit Winners in $2,000 No-Limit

He Arrives at Final Table with Chip Lead and is Never Headed

Hammond, IL--Marc Emond had his work cut out for him when he got to the final table for the ninth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Casino Hammond, $2,000 no-limit hold'em. His opponents included Joel Casper, who won the sixth event here, pot-limit Omaha, and Samuel Oberlin, who took down the $5,000 championship Circuit event at Horseshoe Southern Indiana just a couple of weeks ago. However, Emond arrived with a big lead, holding 526,000 of the 1.5 million chips in play, was never in trouble and ended up with a victory that officially was worth $51,072 plus a trophy ring and $5,150 buy-in to the main event.

Actually, he made a deal with Bruce Axtman when he had a modest lead heads-up, and then they played for the ring and title.

Emond, 23, is a mostly cash-game pro from Chicago. Before turning pro he had earned his degree with a major in criminal justice at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. But he had been doing well in poker, playing as high as $5,000 buy-in no-limit games, and this past September decided to play full time.

This was only his second live tournament. Emond, who describes his play as tight/aggressive, was down to 10 big blinds early on before getting lucky and doubling up with A-Q against A-K, and had the chip lead when day one ended with 18 players left. With this victory, he plans to work more tournaments into his schedule.

After the last 18 players returned on day two, it took four hours to get to the final table.

Here were the final table chip counts:

SEAT 1: Bruce Axtman – 326,000 Chips

SEAT 2: Joel Casper – 71,000 Chips

SEAT 3: David Kaminsky – 72,000 Chips

SEAT 4: Samuel Oberlin – 60,000 Chips

SEAT 5: Brian Brunner – 145,500 Chips

SEAT 6: Marc Emond – 526,000 Chips

SEAT 7: Stuart Marshak – 63,500 Chips

SEAT 8: Cary Bone – 70,000 Chips

SEAT 9: Robert Szewczyk – 160,000 Chips

Action started with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 500 antes, a full hour on the clock. Some 20 minutes into the round, David Kaminsky moved in with pocket 8s and was called by Emond with A-K. The board came A-10-6-6-5, and Emond's paired bullet left Kaminsky in ninth place, worth $5,300. Kaminsky, 43, is from South Bend, Indiana and self-employed. He began poker in neighborhood games six yeas ago. His prior highlight was finishing second out of 256 players in a celebrity event.

Next out was Casper, He was a 3-1 favorite when he moved in with A-K and got called by Emond with A-6. Casper was still ahead when the board showed Q-7-4-3, but then a river 6 paired Emond. "Well, I got luckier earlier," Casper said graciously as he exited in eighth place, which paid $6,264. Casper, a 28-year-old pro from Chicago, has been playing for four years. Besides his PLO win here, he also won a Heartland Poker Tour championship two years ago.

The next player to go out was an even bigger favorite. Cary Bone moved in with pocket aces, a 78 percent favorite after Brian Brunner called with 10-8h. But then Brunner flopped a straight and Bone left with $7,709 for seventh place. Bone, 46, is from South Barrington, Illinois where he is a computer consultant. He's been playing five years and also enjoys motorcycle dirt bike riding.

Soon after, another player went out. This time it was Brunner, who had pocket 10s against Bruce Axtman's Ks-9s. The flop came 7s-6c-4s, and then a 6s on the turn gave Axtman a flush. For finishing sixth, Brunner picked up $9,637. Brunner is 36 and a financial adviser from Carmel, Indiana. He's been playing eight years and also enjoys sports.

After the level ended and blinds went to 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes, we lost another player. This time it was Horseshoe Southern Indiana champ Oberlin. In the small blind holding A-10, he moved in for 168,000. Emond, in the big blind, called with A-Q. This time the better hand held up when the board came J-7-3-J-J and Emond's queen kicker played. Oberlin was paid $12,046 for fifth. Oberlin is a 22-year-old student from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who learned poker taking lessons from Phil Hellmuth. His championship win a few weeks ago was worth $143,064.

Stuart Marshak was next out when his pocket 7s were axed by Axman's pocket jacks after the board came A-10-5-9-5. Fourth was worth $15,418. Marshak, nicknamed "Stu-Unit," is 31 and works as a risk manager in Chicago. He has two WSOP cashes, including a sixth in a $2,500 no-limit event this year that paid $73,784.

Axman then knocked out the next player, again with a higher pair. This time Robert "The Pro" Szewczyk moved in for 170,000 with pocket 8s. Axman called with pocket 10s, making the bigger full house when the board showed J-7-6-7-7. Scewczyk, 22, is from Lockport, Illinois and flippantly listed his occupation as "professional coin flipper." He's been playing five years and also likes sports.

We were now heads-up, and after knocking out two players, Axman had nearly caught up to Emond in chips, holding about 725,000 to Emond's 800,000 or so. They then entered into a prolonged discussion, finally reaching a cash agreement and playing for the title. On the first hand, Axman, holding 8-5, decided to move in when he made a pair on a flop of 10-6-5. It wasn't much good against Emond's pocket jacks, and when a trey and 4 were then dealt, Axman, finishing second, made an official $30,837.

Axtman is a 45-year-old consultant from Chicago who started playing poker with his family three years ago and also likes golf.

--Max Shapiro

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel

Horseshoe Casino Hammond Poker Room Manager – Jason Newman

Horseshoe Casino Hammond Tournament Director -- Charlie Ciresi

To view a complete list of results for Event 9 of the 2008 World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Horseshoe Hammond, click on the link below:

2008 Horseshoe Hammond WSOP Circuit Event #9 Results