Mike Conti Wins 2007 WSOP Circuit H.O.R.S.E. Event at Grand Casino Tunica

2007 Grand Casino Tunica
World Series of Poker
(WSOP) Circuit Event
Event #7
$500 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Tournament Report

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2007 Grand Casino Tunica WSOP Circuit Event Report

Former Baker Rolling in the Dough
Mike Conti Wins H.O.R.S.E
Championship at Grand Casino Tunica
WSOP Circuit Event

Mike Conti

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Retired ex-baker from Chicago wins WSOP Circuit tournament
in Tunica

Tunica, MS – H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for the five most popular poker games
played inside American cardrooms today. H.O.R.S.E. tournaments include a
rotation of these games -- including Hold’em, Omaha High-Low, Razz, Seven-
Card Stud, and Stud High-Low (also called Eight-or-Better). Many purists
consider H.O.R.S.E. to be the ultimate test of poker skill, since it requires that
a player play all games well in order to win. This was proven at the 2 0 06
World Series of Poker, where H.O.R.S.E. returned to the tournament schedule
after a long hiatus. For more than two decades, Chip Reese, the winner of
the $1.7 million top prize in that event, has been widely regarded as the best
all-around player in the world. Appropriately, he won the largest buy-in
poker tournament in history (it cost $50,000 to enter) and became the world
“H.O.R.S.E.” champion.

For the first time, H.O.R.S.E was included on this year’s schedule in Tunica,
held at the Grand Tunica Casino-Resort. Event #7 attracted 112 entries,
generating a prize pool totaling $108,640. After 104 players were eliminated
during play on Day One, eight finalists returned for Day Two. Bobby Moon,
from Elberton, Georgia arrived as the cheap leader – with 153,000 to Yuebin
Guo’s 142,500, who stood in second place. The seating positions and
starting chip counts began as follows:

The first player eliminated was the shortest stack, Damon Ramirez. The pro
poker player from Athens, Georgia has previously made it to final tables at
the World Series of Poker, L.A. Poker Classic, World Poker Open, and
elsewhere. However, he could do no better than eighth place in this event.
Mr. Ramirez collected $3,259.

On the Razz round, Brian McKain went out next. The property manager from
Scottsburg, Indiana lost to a better low and had to settle for seventh place.
Mr. McKain has made 12 final tables at various WSOP-related tournaments in
his lifetime and he picked up a very respectable $4,346 in prize money.

Sixth place went to J.J. Joseph who went out on the seven-card stud round.
Mr. Joseph started off with a pair of threes, but failed to improve. This was
Mr. Joseph’s second time to cash at this tournament series. He was 12th in
the Omaha High-Low championship held a few days ago. The Gulfport,
Florida poker player who has been around the poker scene for more than 25
years, picked up $5,432.

The early chip leader endured a tough final hour. He ran card dead at the
worst possible moment, finally going out when he missed a straight and low-
draw on the stud eight-or-better leg. Bobby Moon, who works as a granite
countertop contractor, nailed down $7,062 in prize money for fifth place.

Down to four-handed, the new chip leader was Andy Alina. One of the
tournament’s most exciting hands unfolded when a three-way pot
developed, with two players all-in. Playing limit hold’em, David Bach was
down to his last chip with 2-2. Yuebin Guo was also all-in, holding Q-Q. Chip
leader Andy Alina had them both covered with 9-9. The flop came J-10-9
giving Mr. Alina a set of nines. However, Mr. Guo had a straight draw. A king
on the river gave him the bog pot, while David Bach was forced to hit the
rail. Mr. Bach, a former professional bowler turned poker player, rolled a
gutter ball on his final hand but accepted fourth place prize money -- $8,691.

Yuebin Guo’s glory was short-lived. He was dealt pocket deuces and tried to
steal the blinds, but ended up busting out instead. Mr. Guo, a computer
consultant from Brooklyn, NY was the third-place finisher, good for $11,950.

Andy Alina started heads-up play with a 4 to 1 chip lead over his final
adversary, Mike Conti. A few hands into the Omaha High-Low round, Mr.
Alina got into a raising war with Mr. Conti. Mr. Alina showed kings-full and it
appeared he might win the tournament on that big hand. But Mr. Conti
revealed four 9s, which scooped the monster pot. Mr. Conti suddenly had
the chip lead.

At that point, play shifted to no-limit hold’em by mutual agreement of the two
finalists and tournament officials. Mr. Conti proceeded to win every key hand
that mattered in the final 15 minutes. First, Mr. Conti won a big pot with 8-8
versus 7-7. Then, he won another big pot with A-K versus A-6. That left Mr.
Alina down to just 6,000 in chips. He moved in blind and lost the final hand of
the tournament. Mr. Conti won with a queen-high.

The runner up was Andy Alina, who has previously won poker tournaments in
Mississippi. He won an event at last year’s WSOP Circuit in Tunica. He is also
a former poker dealer who worked in the Gulport-Biloxi region prior to
Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Alina’s payout amounted to $19,555 for second place.

Tunica’s 2007 WSOP Circuit H.O.R.S.E. champion is Mike Conti, from Chicago,
Illinois. The 73-year-old former baker (now retired) collected $35,307 and a
gold ring for first place. Proving that poker is not just a young man’s game,
Mr. Conti is one of the oldest winners in WSOP Circuit history. He has
certainly paid his dues in poker. Mr. Conti has played with (and defeated)
many of the top names in the game, dating back to the 1980s when he
played regularly in Las Vegas. He has won five-card draw, and triple-draw
events in the past. He adds a H.O.R.S.E. victory to his impressive stable of
tournament achievements.

Report by Nolan Dalla

To view a complete listing of results for Event #7 of the 2007 Grand
Casino Tunica WSOP Circuit Event, click on the link below:

2007 Grand Casino Tunica WSOP Circuit Results - Event #7

Tournament Director – Janis Sexton

Grand Tunica Poker Room Manager – Karen Kaegin

Seat 1
Seat 2
Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 5
Seat 6
Seat 7
Seat 8

David Bach
Andy Alina
Brian McKain
Bobby Moon
Yuebin Guo
Mike Conti
Damon Ramirez
J.J. Joseph

99,500