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2008 Grand Casino Tunica WSOP Circuit Event

Thursday 8/30/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #1 No-Limit Hold'em - $300 + $30
The kickoff event had 401 entrants sit down at the tables. Cash pool of $116,691 was built up and went to the top 46 finishers. Bobby Lassie, who became the Event #1 champion, was happy to receive the money and a beautiful gold and diamond ring from his efforts at his first tournament he ever played in. Action moved fast with the money being reached by 8:30 p.m. on Day 1. On Day 2, the final table had Wayne West as chipleader who was doing well and looked like the shoe-in, but when his pocket K's ran into the pocket A's of Bobby Lassie losing a huge portion of chips in the process, Lassie became the dominate force and never looked back. Here are the final table finishers:

1. Bobby Lassie -- $35,009
2. McDonald Ledbetter -- $18,787
3. Dan Mitnick -- $9,335
4. Michael Moffitt -- $8,168
5. Randy Langston -- $7,001
6. Wayne West -- $5,835
7. Terrance Hawkins -- $4,668
8. Lynn Sheilds -- $3,501
9. Charles Dawson -- $2,334

Friday 8/31/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #2 No-Limit Hold'em - $500 + $50
The second tournament had players like John Phan, Rory Monohan, television celebrity Montel Williams and Douglas Carli in the 249 player field. But it was Danny Griffith who won the lion's share of the $120,765 prize pool. Cash went to the top 28 finishers. But Danny had to work hard to take the title as he had his final table stack of 108K hit twice by superior hands, bringing him down to 40k. He worked his way back up and survived, to battle Richard Johnson for the heads up battle. A championship gold and diamond ring came to Griffith, when on an all in call, his Q 8 received another 8 for a pair to win the tournament.

1. Danny Griffith -- $37,481
2. Richard Johnson -- $20,617
3. Shae Drobushevich -- $10,543
4. Dion Plump -- $8,200
5. Walter Hodges -- $7,024
6. Jim Mink -- $5,857
7. Bobby Fillers -- $4,686
8. David Forsythe -- $3,514
9. Ciaran Carter -- $2,343

Saturday 9/1/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #3 No-Limit Hold'em - $500 + $50
Out of 260 entrants helping to make a prize pool of $126,100, it was the top pro Young Phan who fought for and won this event's title. Money was split up between the top 28 finishers. The final table was a battle, and Mack Ham suffered what has to be the worse bad beat seen in a while. The number of players came down to 3 and a hand between Mack Ham and Young Phan took place. Mack had pocket 5's and Young had pocket 7's, with a flop of 6h 5s 3h before them. Mack bet and Young went all-in of which Mack called. Turn card was a 4h and the river card was a 5h giving Mack quads! All of the excitement went out faster than Elvis leaving the building after Young pointed out that one of his cards was the 7h giving him a straight flush, sending Mack away crushed and to the sidelines. His wife Gina Ham who also made the final table was there to 'try' and console him. Meanwhile, Phan continued to add to his stack and eventually won, receiving the gold ring of Circuit tournament champions.

1. Young Phan -- $40,348
2. Steve Powell -- $22,194
3. Mack Ham -- $11,349
4. David Kruger -- $8,827
5. Brian Duffy -- $7,556
6. Bob Powell -- $6,305
7. Al Fausat -- $5,044
8. Gina Ham -- $3,783
9. Ricky Bennett -- $2,522

Sunday 9/2/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #4 Limit Hold'em - $300 + $30
Over the two day length of this event, 158 players fought for a piece of a $45,978 prize pool. Money went to the top 18 finishers. Here are the top 9 who made the final table:

1. Gene Chiappetta -- $14,894
2. Douglas Evans -- $7,816
3. Hubert Baxley -- $4,598
4. Carl White -- $3,678
5. Bradley Clay -- $2,759
6. Curtis Johnson -- $2,299
7. William Walker -- $1,839
8. Mike Bullard -- $1,379
9. Ricky Her -- $920

Sunday 9/2/2007 1:00 PM PDT
Event #5 - Pot Limit Omaha $500 + $50
Sometimes the numbers can be small as with the 73 that entered this tournament which makes it easier to earn the gold and diamond ring worn by champions. Prize pool size hit $35,405 which was split up between the 9 final table players. Actually, after Robert Willis was eliminated the remaining 8 players made a deal to split up the remaining cash. Here are the top 9 finishers:

1. Charles Edwards -- $12,747
2. Hiroshi Yanagida -- $7,081
3. Gerald Richardson -- $3,895
4. Mark Pharo -- $2,832
5. Claude Sigmon -- $2,478
6. Tom Bendetta -- $2,124
7. David Shaw -- $1,770
8. Stephen Sauer -- $1,416
9. Robert Willis -- $1,062

Monday 9/3/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #6 - Limit Hold'em $500 + $50
There were 84 entrants at the tables, trying for a piece of the $40,740 prize pool that was up for grabs. When it came down to the final table heads up, the decisive hand for the championship had Matthew Kelly flop a straight, only to have J.L. Spain hit a flush on the turn sealing the title for him. Here is how the final table ended:

1. J.L. Spain -- $14,667
2. Matthew Kelly -- $8,148
3. Mike Budde -- $4,481
4. Jerry Dunning -- $3,259
5. Robert Keating -- $2,852
6. Matthew Terrol -- $2,444
7. Kenny Dickenson -- $2,037
8. James Naifeh -- $1,630
9. Darren Brandes -- $1,222

Tuesday 9/4/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #7 - No Limit Hold'Em $300 + $30
There were 334 entries that contributed to a $97,194 prize pool. Money went to the top 39 in this tournament.

1. Michael Ciaravino -- $30,127
2. William Johnson -- $15,551
3. Darryl Gordy -- $7,776
4. Kenneth Gortney -- $6,804
5. Gebrehiwit Goitom -- $5,832
6. Jeff Griffiths -- $4,860
7. Jody Milhouse -- $3,888
8. Stan Wofford -- $3,916
9. Larry Tomaszewski -- $1,944

Wednesday 9/5/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #8 - No Limit Hold'Em $500 + $50
A total of 211 players were at the tables trying to get a slice of a $102,335 prize pool. Only the top 18 saw the cash in their hands. An interesting story came up with Mike Canon in that his desire to win was to give the ring to his buddy and top player Doug Saab. Saab took the one that he won in a Circuit Tournament last season and placed it in a casket of a long time poker buddy who passed named Steve Brasher. All three knew each other and played together often. Canon got his wish when on the last hand, his pocket J's became a set on the flop and he became champion. Here is how the final table turned out:

1. Mike Canon -- $32,748
2. Ross Rehrig -- $18,011
3. Craig Thames -- $9,210
4. Brian McKain -- $7,163
5. Jack Sweesy -- $6,140
6. Mike Budde -- $5,117
7. Warren Wiggens -- $4,093
8. Donald Godsey -- $3,070
9. Jeff Helton -- $2,047

Thursday 9/6/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #9 - No Limit Hold'Em $500 + $50
Gregory Marshall came out on top of a 154 player field to become a WSOP Circuit Tournament champion. Money went to the top 18 finishers who split a $74,660 prize pool. This was his first Circuit Tournament event ever and he wants to take his win to use as a bankroll and move up to playing in larger events. Even though Marshall split the pot with Troy Weber during the heads up, he was very happy with his victory and the fact that he is now a champion.

1. Gregory Marshall -- $24,199
2. Troy Weber -- $12,697
3. James Williams -- $7,469
4. Richard Hash -- $5,795
5. Juan Garcia -- $4,481
6. Benjamin Kramer -- $3,735
7. Roman Bayda -- $2,988
8. Randy Langston -- $2,241
9. William Hammock -- $1,494

Thursday 9/6/2007 1:00 PM PDT
Event #10 - H.O.R.S.E $1,000 + $60
If you like smaller events, then this is the one for you! Only 32 sat down at the tables, making the cash pool a #31,040 in size. Just the top 3 got any money though. The events played in this HORSE were Limit Hold'Em, Razz, Omaha 8/OB, Seven card stud and Stud 8/OB. Each round was 30 min in length. WSOP Hall of Fame inductee Barbera Enright was in the field along with Doug Saab.

1. Jeffrey Roberson -- $15,520
2. Matthew Kelly -- $9,312
3. Melandro Alina -- $6,208

Friday 9/7/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #11 - No-Limit Hold'em $500 + $50
Mike Aberle did pretty well coming out on top of a 246 player field. He had 3 hands with small pairs turn into trips and bring him big gains at the final table. Aberle who has been playing for three years, went into an agreement with Dena Leath who recently turned professional to have $27,000 for her, $23,000 for him, and play for the remainder during the heads up. On the last hand, Aberle went in with Q J and Leath did the same with J 10. Board showed A 9 4 6 5 and his Queen held up which made him the champion. Final table results are below:

1. Mike Aberle -- $38,178
2. Dena Leath -- $20,999
3. Charles Poindexter -- $10,738
4. James Naifeh -- $8,352
5. Robert Workman -- $7,159
6. Thomas Hover -- $5,996
7. Jack Sweesy -- $4,772
8. Issac Borrero -- $3,579
9. Dennis Phillips -- $2,386

Saturday 9/8/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #12 - No-Limit Hold'em $1,000 + $60
A prize pool of $184,300 was made by the 190 entrants to this tournament. And Jeffrey Whisnant was one of 18 top finishers who received a share of the prize pool pie.

1. Jeffrey Whisnant -- $59,712
2. A.J. Wallace -- $31,331
3. Brad Johnson -- $18,430
4. Brady Neal -- $14,744
5. James Neill Jr. -- $11,058
6. Richard Ferro -- $9,215
7. Wayne Harvey -- $7,372
8. Alfred Bailey -- $5,529
9. Bobby Jones -- $3,686

Sunday 9/9/2007 9:00 AM PDT
Event #13A -Ladies No-Limit Holdem $200 + $30
A total of 227 women were at the tables for Event 13, creating a cash pool of $44,038 which was split between the top 27 finishers. The champion Sandy Anderson said she actually never dreamed of winning the event. During the heads up, the agreement was made to chop the prize money for 1st and 2nd and to just play for the title and the pendant that goes with it. Now just for the record, this is now known as 13A because another event was added to the schedule during the tournament that starts the same day as this one. When the final hand came, Anderson went all-in with 8 6 and Hollis called with A 8. By the time the river came a 6 had popped up and Sandy took the title with a pair of 6's. Here is the final table outcome:

1. Sandy Anderson -- $13,674
2. Sherry Hollis -- $7,518
3. Debbi Hamlin -- $3,844
4. Donna Hickey -- $2,991
5. Katherine Neville -- $2,563
6. Kristen Deardorff -- $2,136
7. Rhonda Dowell -- $1,709
8. Nani Dollison -- $1,281
9. Donna Neville -- $855

Tuesday 9/11
Main Event Day 1 - $5,000 + $150
A total of 138 players hit the tables for the Main Event. Some faces seen were Josh Arieh, Shannon Shorr, Suriander Sunar, Rico Carli, Gavin Smith and last year's champion Mark Smith. But as the day wore on, a lot of the top names dropped to the wayside leaving only 27 to move on to day 2. When play resumes, it will be to decide the players for the final table. These are the top 9 with chip counts:

1. Steve Hyvonen -- 146,500 chips
2. Gil George -- 100,300 chips
3. Richard Damien Gum -- 93,500 chips
4. Shannon Shorr -- 92,000 chips
5. Tony Burton -- 90,000 chips
6. Brian Rutland -- 83,200 chips
7. Terry Hawkins -- 78,400 chips
8. Jerry Saucier -- 76,100 chips
9. Pat Atchinson -- 68,100 chips

Wednesday 9/12
Main Event Day 2 - $5,000 + $150
Here are the names for the final table with chip counts. Details will be published as they come in to us.

1. Terry Hawkins -- 245,800
2. Brian Rutland -- 234,000
3. Jordan Morgan -- 207,900
4. Jerry Saucier -- 199,800
5. Mark Garner -- 124,000
6. Jeff Cohen -- 120,000
7. Glyn Banks -- 119,100
8. Steve Hyvonen -- 93,600
9. Gil George -- 36,700

Thursday 9/13/2007
Main Event Final Table - $5,000 + $150
Here is the results of the final table with Jordan Morgan as the new champion. More details will be posted as they come in from the WSOP Circuit Media.

1. Jordan Morgan -- $216,852
2. Terry Hawkins -- $113,781
3. Jerry Saucier -- $66,930
4. Gil George -- $53,544
5. Glyn Banks -- $40,158
6. Brian Rutland -- $33,465
7. Jeff Cohen -- $26,772
8. Steve Hyvonen -- $20,079