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2010 Caesar's Palace
World Series of Poker Circuit Event

Event#1 -- No Limit Hold'Em
Taken from report written by Nolan Dalla WSOP Media Director :

The world�s largest and most prestigious poker tournament series has returned once again to Las Vegas. The first of 14 �gold ring� tournaments on this year�s schedule began with an impressive turnout of 384 players. The $200 (+30) buy-in No-Limit Hold�em tournament was played over two consecutive days during April 14th and 15th. The top 36 finishers carved up a prize pool which amounted to $74,496.

The top finisher was Robert Feathers, a 32-year-old part-time poker player from Dayton, OH. He collected first-place prize money totaling $17,884, plus the prized gold ring for winning a WSOP Circuit event. Feathers, who is a single father of two children, works full-time back in Ohio. However, he is increasingly playing tournament poker in his spare time and often makes trips to Las Vegas. Feathers had previously cashed in a few tournaments held here in Las Vegas, but this was his biggest payout ever.

Final Table play began on a Thursday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion. The final table was notable for at least one other reason. Two female players (including the chip leader) sat among the final nine.

When heads-up play began, Gift Kusuwan and Robert Feathers were nearly dead even in chips. About 15 minutes into the duel, Kusuwan won a big hand with a set of kings and seized the advantage. But Kusuwan was not able to maintain his edge. A few minutes later he lost the chip lead, which set up the climactic final hand of the tournament.

The last hand came when Feathers was dealt 5h 3h. Kusuwan was dealt Qs 4s. Feathers caught an astounding flop as the initial board showed 6h 4d 2s. After the turn brought the Qh, Kusuwan moved all-in with two pair. Feathers called instantly and tabled his nut straight. Kusuwan The final board showed , which meant the 5h 3h took down the last pot of the night. Gift Kusuwan, a 24-year-old student from Orlando, FL ended up finishing in second place, which officially paid $10,988.

1. Robert Feathers -- $17,884
2. Gift Kusuwan -- $10,988
3. Martin Faulconbridge -- $6,891
4. Elizabeth Montizanti -- $5,587
5. Tiffany Long -- $4,470
6. Gerald Hess -- $3,539
7. Edward Sansosti -- $2,794
8. Cory Willett -- $2,235
9. Kevin Andrzejewski -- $1,676

Event #2 -- No Limit Hold'Em

Taken from report written by Nolan Dalla WSOP Media Director :

Nick Coukos� first love may be horse racing. But following tonight�s latest World Series of Poker Circuit tournament, he is well on his way to becoming a poker aficionado. The 53-year-old executive who works at a Canadian racetrack just won his first Circuit gold ring ever, triumphing over 194 players at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. This was Coukos� biggest tournament win yet, worth $15,037 in prize money. But money was the last thing on Coukos� mind as he cradled the coveted gold ring, symbolizing a great moment of personal pride.

�I don�t do this for a living, although I love playing poker,� Coukos said moments after his victory. �Back in Canada, I run a quarterhorse track. I�ve also bee in the thoroughbred industry for a long time. So, winning something like this is really so special to me. It�s special to my family. My kids kept on texting me (tonight) to �bring back the ring,� and I wanted to bring it back for the family. It�s something no one can take away from me for as long as I live.�

Indeed, Coukos is a manager at Ajax Downs, a quarterhorse racetrack located near Toronto. He lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Coukos, the proud father of two boys, called one of his sons afterward.

�I called my son at home, and I said, �I got the ring, I�m bringing it home,� Coukos stated, beaming with delight.

This was the second gold ring event on this year�s WSOP Circuit schedule at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold�em tournament was played over two consecutive days during April 15th and 16th. The tournament attracted 195 entries. The top 18 finishers split up a prize pool containing $56,745. After 186 players were eliminated on the first day, Final Table play began on a Friday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion. The composition of money winners was unusual for a field of this size, as representatives from five different nations cashed � including Canada, Brazil, Sweden, France, and the United States.

When heads-up play began, Anthony Ditomaso held onto a slight chip lead, with about 850,000 in chips against Nick Coukos with about 600,000. But Coukos could do no wrong in the final matchup, which ended about 20 minutes after the duel began. Coukos won every key pot and agreed to a deal with his final adversary. Both players agreed Coukos would be credited with the victory. At the time the deal was made, Coukos enjoyed a huge chip lead, holding about a 12 to 1 margin over Ditomaso. There was no official final hand and Coukos was declared the winner.

1. Nick Coukos -- $15,037
2. Anthony Ditomaso -- $9,079
3. Ronaldo Rodriguez, Jr. -- $5,816
4. Eugene Liu -- $4,540
5. Robert Betancourt -- $3,547
6. Mohammad Eshaghi -- $2,837
7. Kevin Goode -- $2,270
8. Craig Luedemann -- $1,844
9. Richard Yelland -- $1,560

Event #3 -- No Limit Hold'Em

Taken from report written by Nolan Dalla WSOP Media Director :

This was the third gold ring event (out of 14 total) on this year's WSOP Circuit schedule at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The $500 (+50) buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament was played over two consecutive days during April 16th and 17th. The tournament attracted 166 entries. The top 18 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $80,510. After 156 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Saturday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion.

If anyone has "paid his dues" in tournament poker, it's Everett Carlton. The 55-year-old finally won his first major tournament victory at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Carlton has been playing in poker tournaments for the past five years. But until now, he had never won a major, despite coming close many times with 30 in-the-money finishes and several final table appearances. "Tournament poker is tough. You almost have to be a masochist to play this game," Carlton confided. "I mean, this is my first big win and I have been playing five years. So that means every other tournament I go out disappointed. It's crazy, and it's brutal. But you just have to keep believing in yourself and keep going."

When heads-up play began, Cesar Flores enjoyed slightly more than a 3 to 1 chip lead over Everett Carlton. About ten minutes into the duel, Carlton won a big hand and doubled up with AJ versus AT. The put the two finalists close to even in chips. Flores and Carlton battled back and forth for over an hour during which Carlton took command and gradually wore down his opponent with more aggressive play. Flores remarked that he went card dead late and simply could not call Carlton's bets and raises, since he held bad cards. Flores finally decided he'd had enough and decided to make his final stand when he was down by about a 3 to 1 margin. Flores was dealt Kh Jh. He raised all-in before the flop. Carlton called and tabled Ac 7c. Neither player caught a pair, which meant Carlton's ace-high played after the final board showed: 8d 5d 2c 2d Th.

Far more meaningful than the money for Carlton was the WSOP gold ring he won, symbolizing a well-deserved and long-overdue personal triumph.

1. Everett Carlton -- $21,336
2. Cesar Flores -- $12,882
3. Matthew Maley -- $8,252
4. Tommy Tran -- $6,441
5. Michael Putaansuu -- $5,032
6. Blake Dennison -- $4,026
7. Russell Rimer -- $3,220
8. Mark Byczkiw -- $2,617
9. Michael Ashar -- $2,214

Event #4 -- No Limit Hold'Em Double Stack Turbo

The buy in was $230 for the 209 players that came to the tables. Prize pool size was $40,546 that went to the top 27.

A note from the WSOP:
Caesars Palace Las Vegas Event #4, which concluded yesterday, is not an official WSOP Circuit �gold ring� event.

1. Jana Kincaid -- $9,835
2. Jon Mark Keoni Lackaoen -- $6,082
3. John Honeycutt -- $3,852
4. Ned Cruey -- $3,152
5. Dao Hoang -- $2,534
6. Eric Minijales -- $2,027
7. Dean Tokumar -- $1,622
8. Stephen Grill -- $1,318
9. Kenneth Damar -- $1,014

Event #5 -- No Limit Hold'Em

A total of 267 entrants paid $340 each for a seat to this event. Pool size reached $77,697 and went to the top 27 finishers.

1. Brandon Terry -- $18,842
2. Ronnie Rodriguez, Jr. -- $11,655
3. Grant Geyer -- $7,381
4. Luke Brown -- $6,022
5. Thomas Takara -- $4,856
6. Kambiz Zamani -- $3,885
7. Paul Brettler -- $3,108
8. Nicholas Nadeau -- $2,525
9. Brian Carstens -- $1,942

Event #6 -- No Limit Hold'Em

In all, there were 311 players in this event. Pool size of $60,334 went to the last 36 players in the games. Buy in was $230.

1. Robert Koerber -- $14,481
2. Dan Zogman -- $8,899
3. Michael Souza -- $5,581
4. Jeff Gould -- $4,525
5. Michael Ashar -- $3,620
6. Gordon Mummey -- $2,866
7. Murray Kieth -- $2,263
8. Alexander Kardomateas -- $1,810
9. Ken James -- $1,358

Event #7 -- No Limit Hold'Em

It was the last 27 players who shared a $59,073 prize pool in this event. Buy in was $340 and there were 203 who sat down to play. The newest champion, Jeff Clayton, made his transition to professional poker player after being laid off his job as a news cameraman. His $14,323 that he won for becoming champion, has pushed him over the $300,000 mark in tournament winnings since last year's layoff. (It will come in handy for the newest child that will be born in just 4 weeks.) When he went to the final table, he had just over 207,000 in chips to fight with.

The final table action lasted right at 4 hours in length. Goeff Mulligan went through a nightmare watching every hand he played turning into a loss, finishing in 9th place. Caren Pfeil was busted in 8th just a few minutes behind Mulligan. Experienced player Michael Shannon lasted a little longer ending his run in 7th. Sebastian Smitsdorff exited in 6th after his all-in with A Q was overcome by another player with A K. Nelda E. Hopper took home the cash for 5th when her opponent made a higher two pair with the K 7 they produced calling the all-in move from Hopper. Now at this point a 4 way deal was made with the last four players, resulting in Jeff Clayton taking home his first WSOP gold ring.

1. Jeff Clayton -- $14,323
2. Mike Ratcliff -- $8,861
3. Ernie Rafanan -- $5,612
4. Neal Cooke -- $4,578
5. Nelda E. Hopper -- $3,692
6. Sebastian Smitsdorff -- $2,954
7. Michael Shannon -- $2,362
8. Caren Pfeil -- $1,920
9. Geoffrey Mulligan -- $1,477

Event #8 -- No Limit Hold'Em Double Stack Turbo

A note from the WSOP:
Caesars Palace Las Vegas Event #8, which concluded yesterday, is not an official WSOP Circuit "gold ring" event.

The $230 buy in for the 225 players, built a pool that reached $$43,650 and went to the last 27 standing.

1. David McGeachie -- $10,577
2. James Findlay -- $6,548
3. Robert Moody -- $4,147
4. Bryce Phuong -- $3,383
5. Gary Haglund -- $2,728
6. Michael Maldonado -- $2,183
7. Scott Dorsch -- $1,746
8. Raymond Cyr -- $1,419
9. A. Monpeal -- $1,091

Event #9 -- No Limit Hold'Em

This event had 195 players sign up, each paying $550 a seat for the right to play. Prize pool grew to $94,575 and went to the top 18. Once the final table was assembled, it took just 4 hours for the conclusion.

Jerimiah Gould busted quickly in 9th and was followed by Martin John in 8th, Samuel Anastasio in 7th with the others falling in succession. When the heads up was underway, the last two players struck a deal and Kevin "Chewy" Chickowski walked away with the gold ring. One player that should be mentioned in relation to effort was Everett Carlton. He finished 4th in this event, but was trying very hard to collect a second ring after winning his first in event #3 last week. Carlton now has six WSOP Circuit cashes, which includes a 1st, 3rd, 9th, 10th, and now a 4th.

1. Kevin "Chewy" Chickowski -- $25,060
2. Joseph Attila Tosaky -- $15,132
3. Daniel Lowery -- $9,694
4. Everett Carlton -- $7,566
5. Richard Yelland -- $5,911
6. Jared Byczko -- $4,729
7. Samuel Anastasio -- $3,783
8. Martin John -- $3,074
9. Jeremiah "J.J." Gould -- $2,601

Event #10 -- Ladies No Limit Hold'Em (or the Cleopatra Open)

On a more intimate setting, there were 79 ladies who paid $340 a piece to play in this event. Prize pool grew to $22,989 and went to the players who made the final table. In lieu of a gold ring, the customary prize awarded to most WSOP Circuit winners, the ladies champion receives a gold and diamond pendant. And the newest champion Kitty Kuo looked very happy with the one she was given.

Final table action started close to midnight and ended at 4:30 AM. Most of the players suffered tremendously bad beats or watched their chips softly fade away as one by one they went to collect their winnings. The winning hand for Kuo came when she received pocket 8's to the A 4 of Leslie Del Pilar. With no help from the table for either player, the 8's held and Kuo received her first pendant as the newest WSOP champion. She plans to move to Las Vegas soon in order to play more tournaments.

1. Kitty Kuo -- $7,357
2. Leslie Del Pilar -- $4,598
3. Corinn Ignatieff -- $2,931
4. Sarah Casey -- $2,069
5. Julie Changlaurencell -- $1,667
6. Tonya Baltazar -- $1,379
7. Jennifer Pendergast -- $1,149
8. Lauren Cooney -- $977
9. Selina Bodel -- $862

Event #11 -- No Limit Hold'Em

A pool of $67,512 was created by the 232 players who entered, and that went to the last 27 in the field. Buy in was $340 per player. This championship ring was well deserved by Jerry Flannigan, who overcame great odds to win. When play was down to around 30 players on Day 1, Flannigan had only enough chips to post a round of blinds at one point. He not only survived the all in, he won four hands in a row and then made it into the money.

Final table play began on Day 2 at 2:00 PM. Gone in 9th was experienced player Keith Hawkins, who is visiting Las Vegas from England. He was the first player to be eliminated when his AJ was crushed by a set of 8s. Michael Jukich ended up 8th after a bluff with a flush draw did not work out for him. Lirom Keden pocketed the money for 7th when his opponent made a straight by the river, pummelling the pair of 8's he made on the flop. Jack Biernacki left the hard way after his all in with pocket K's was called by one player with A K and another with pocket A's which held to the river. Biernacki finished in 6th. Dante Magnoto won the money for 5th after his pocket Q's met the set of K's made by Phillip Delaney. Sean Westra got the worse bad beat of the tournament by making two pair on the flop, only to see the flop and river cards give his opponent quad 7's, forcing Westra to accept a 4th place finish. Then with a bluff with 8 7 offsuit failing to work, Jeffrey Sluzinski ended up at the cashier's cage for the 3rd place money.

When heads up began, Delaney had a 6 to 1 chip advantage over Flannigan. But Delaney started to have every hand go bad at the worse possible times, sending chips over to Flannigan until the situation was reversed. The last hand took place when Flannigan held pocket 9's that he used to call the all-in preflop move of Delaney who was holding A 4 suited. Dealer placed on the table 10 8 9 2 10, which gave Flannigan two pair (9's and 10's), enabling him to win his first gold WSOP ring and championship title.

1. Jerry Flannigan -- $16,372
2. Phillip Delaney -- $10,127
3. Jeffrey Sluzinski -- $6,414
4. Sean Westra -- $5,232
5. Dante Magnoto -- $4,200
6. Jack Biernacki -- $3,376
7. Lirom Keden -- $2,700
8. Michael Jukich -- $2,194
9. Keith Hawkins -- $1,688

Event #12 -- Limit Hold'Em

Note from the WSOP:
Caesars Palace Las Vegas Event #12, which concluded yesterday, is not an official WSOP Circuit "gold ring" event.

There were 59 entrants who paid $340 each for the entry fee. A pool of $17,169 went to the ones lucky enough to make the final table. Here are the final table results:

1. Steven Senter -- $5,494
2. Hoyt Verner -- $3,343
3. Frank Sanubbi -- $2,189
4. Ryan Anderson -- $1,545
5. Jordan Johnson -- $1,245
6. Donna Varlotto -- $1,030
7. Brooks Floyd -- $858
8. Bill Lam -- $730
9. Jose Corban -- $644

Event #13 -- No Limit Hold'Em
Thursday April 22
12:00 PM
Buy In: $550

Event #14 -- Pot Limit Omaha
Note from the WSOP:
Caesars Palace Las Vegas Event #14, which is completed, was not an official WSOP Circuit "gold ring" event.

This event had 66 players pay $340 each, contributing to a $19,206 pool. Only the top 9 received any money.

1. Scott Dorsch -- $6,147
2. Andrew Watson -- $3,841
3. Anthony Yeh -- $2,449
4. Roland Weidinger -- $1,729
5. Shawn Rice -- $1,392
6. Craig Fishman -- $1,152
7. George Williams -- $960
8. Brian Reddinger -- $816
9. Brent Martin -- $720

Event #15 -- No Limit Hold'Em
A nice sized turnout of 331 players paid the entry fee of $230 for a seat to this event. The $64,214 pool went to the top 36 players.

1. Bill Michaelski -- $15,413
2. Michael Ovellette -- $9,472
3. Anthony DeFelice -- $5,940
4. Chad Dubendorf -- $4,816
5. Israel Elias Perez -- $3,853
6. Michael Holm -- $3,050
7. Dave Tonkery -- $2,408
8. Neal Cooke -- $1,926
9. Christopher Forkin -- $1,445

Event #16 -- No Limit Hold'Em
A pool of $133,860 was made from the 138 players who sat down after paying $1,080 for that seat. Money went to the top 18. The champion Paul Alterman, made a deal with the table went down to the final four, but it was not easy getting there. When he began play at the final table, he was at a 5 to 1 loss in standing verses the chip leader.

The first to leave in 9th was Kurt Fitzgerald after his all-in with K J met the pocket K's of another player. Pocket K's also led to the demise of Thomas Barnard in 8th. But the true pain was sent to Cameron Anicete as his opponent made quad 6's on the flop! Anicete finished 7th. Then Kory Mitchell who had a sizable chip lead going into the final table, watched his chips break off in clumps until he ended up walking away in 6th place. Ted Gemzell who is from Sweden, finished in 5th after his pocket J's lost to a player with pocket Q's. Then, the remaining 4 players battled it out for two hours before coming to a deal on the cash and just play for the ring. When the dust settled, Alterman had the one ring that champions wear.

1. Paul Alterman -- $35,472
2. Samuel McGrath -- $21,418
3. Shane Sigsbee -- $13,721
4. Jeff Sluzinski -- $10,709
5. Ted Mikael -- $8,366
6. Kory Mitchell -- $6,693
7. Cameron Anicete -- $5,354
8. Thomas Barnard -- $4,350
9. Kurt Fitzgerald -- $3,681

Event #17 -- No Limit Hold'Em Double Stack Turbo
Saturday April 24
4:00 PM
Buy In: $230

Event #18 -- WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship (4 Day Event)

Day One

In all, there were 150 players who paid the $5,150 entry fee for a seat at the tables. Seen in the field were Steve Brecher, Ted Lawson, Roberg Cheung, Bryan Devonshire, Eric Hershler, Layne Flack, Doug Lee and other notable players. At the end of Day 1 there were 66 remaining who will continue to compete for a share of a $717,500 prize pool. (Just the top 18 will see money!) Here are the top 9 with chip counts for Day 1:

1. Casetta, Daniel -- 168700
2. Dorfman, Randy -- 153800
3. Stout, Matt -- 141500
4. Flowers, Mark -- 134700
5. Byrd, Rick -- 121000
6. Hinkle, Blair -- 113300
7. Rubin, Paul -- 111200
8. Flack, Layne -- 109400
9. Lee, Doug -- 106600

1. Andrew Lichtenberger -- $190,137
2. Dan Casetta -- $114,800
3. John Brock Parker -- $73,544
4. Diego Sanchez -- $57,400
5. James Carroll -- $44,844
6. Stephen O'Dwer -- $35,875
7. Anthony Yeh -- $28,700
8. Aaron Been -- $23,319
9. Matthew Stout -- $19,371