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2010 Harrah's New Orleans
World Series of Poker Circuit Event

Event #1 -- No Limit Hold'Em

Kicking things off in New Orleans were 547 entrants, each paying $340 per person to get in on the action. And there were 55 finishers who saw part of the $154,014 pool that was created.

1. Ryan Eriquezzo -- $34,656
2. Danny Lee -- $21,948
3. Morris "the Moose" Lewis -- $13,477
4. Chad Tucker -- $11,012
5. Johnny "Chicago" Nowak -- $9,010
6. Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler - $7,085
7. John Nguyen -- $5,544
8. Steven Brudi -- $4,389
9. Alex Olwine -- $3,234

Event #2 -- No Limit Hold'Em

A nice sized field of 314 helped to create a pool of $147,140. Entry fee was $550 and went to the top 36.

1. Christopher Gamboa -- $35,313
2. David Moyer -- $21,703
3. Shawn Quillin -- $13,610
4. Vien Le -- $11,035
5. Mark Gallagher -- $8,828
6. John Honeycutt -- $6,989
7. Brian Gabrielle -- $5,517
8. Paul Distefano -- $4,414
9. Richard Langdon -- $3,310

Event #3 -- No Limit Hold'Em Six Handed

With a buy in of $550 for 140 players, a prize pool of $62,744 went to the top 18 finishers.

1. Jimmy Nickens -- $18,197
2. Bobby Binsky -- $11,245
3. Kevin Hercules -- $7,691
4. Timothy Martin -- $5,341
5. "Easy Larry" Hirons -- $3,763
6. Elmo Mariathasan -- $2,691
7. Dennis Crowley -- $1,952
8. Jae Chung -- $1,447
9. Jason Hancock -- $1,447

Event #4 -- Mixed Pot Limit Omaha/Pot Limit Hold'em

A smaller gathering at the tables happened with just 53 entrants paying $550 for a seat. Pool did reach $25,705 and went to those fortunate to make the final table.

1. Steven Hustoft -- $8,225
2. Jason Brice -- $5,141
3. Eric Cloutier -- $3,277
4. Jerry Randack -- $2,313
5. Quy "JJ" Hoang -- $1,863
6. Jeffrey Brown -- $1,542
7. Raymond K. Gollahon -- $1,285
8. Elie Said -- $1,092
9. "Uncle Tom" Raymond -- $963

Event #5 -- No Limit Hold'Em

With a field of 335 each paying $340 per seat, a pool of $92,335 was created and divided amongst the top 36. At this point through Event #5, 1,389 players have entered versus 1,197 at the same time last year. Day One saw 315 sent to the sidelines as the remaining 20 moved on to Day 2. On the second day of the tournament, it took until 4:00 PM to get down to the 9 for the final table.

Nathan "N85K85" Jessen was the short stack with just 55K in chips and busted out quickly in 9th place when his attempt to double up failed. Thai Tran followed in 8th, after his all-in with pocket J's was called by an opponent with pocket A's that held to the river. John Settlemyre took the money for 7th as his A 8 was not able to overcome the A Q by the winning player. Jonathan Westra who has earned two gold circuit rings, failed to earn a third when his flush draw with A 10 suited lost out to the A K of the other player. Westra finished in 6th. Dean Simmons had to settle for 5th place after Michael Scott paired his Ace card on the flop, cancelling the pocket J's held by Simmons. Toan Trinh tried to move forward to the championship, but his K Q met with pocket Aces, sending Trinh to the rail in 4th. Then Gary Sixkiller ended up in 3rd after meeting the set of 9's made on river by the other player.

The heads up had Michael Scott verses Nancy Birnbaum, who had won a gold ring last year in this tournament! On the final hand, both players made a pair of jacks. Birnbuam was dealt Js-7c. Scott was dealt Jc Tc. After both players flopped a pair of jacks, Birnbaum was all in. The final board showed Ks Jh 9c 2s 5c. Scott's ten outkicked Brinbuam's seven - giving him the victory.

1. Michael Scott -- $22,160
2. Nancy "Trouble" Birnbaum -- $13,619
3. Gary Sixkiller -- $8,540
4. Toan Trinh -- $6,925
5. Dean Simmons -- $5,540
6. Jonathan Westra -- $4,385
7. John "Keechi" Settlemyre -- $3,462
8. Thai K. Tran -- $2,770
9. Nathan "N85K85" Jessen -- $2,077

Event #6 -- Pot-Limit Omaha

It was just the 9 players who made the final table that saw any part of the $24,250 prize pool for this event. With a buy in of $340 coming from just 50 players, this was probably among the smallest tournaments held this season. Tournament officials watched 41 go from the tables on Day one.

The final table began on Day 2 in the afternoon and took 4 hours to complete. Joel Merwick short stacked with just 21K in chips busted out quickly in 9th and was followed by Trey Brabham in 8th, Bruno Abedi-Arani in 7th, Peja "Premo" Niyati in 6th and Dennis Crowley in 5th who has cashed four times in WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's New Orleans alone. Chris Gamboa who won Event #2 earlier, tried to win another ring but was denied and finished in 4th place. He was followed by Kiran Srinivas who earned winnings for 3rd place.

When the heads up was going to start, Jean Laurent and Tony Seunsom struck a deal resulting in Laurent receiving the title and the gold ring that goes with it. Official cash amounts are listed below, but the terms of the cash division were not disclosed.

1. Jean Laurent -- $7,760
2. Tony "Teek" Seunsom -- $4,850
3. Kiran Srinivas -- $3,091
4. Christopher Gamboa -- $2,182
5. Dennis Crowley -- $1,758
6. Peja "Premo" Niyati -- $1,455
7. Bruno Abedi-Arani -- $1,212
8. Trey Brabham -- $1,030
9. Joel Merwick -- $909

Event #7 -- No Limit Hold'Em

There were 195 players who paid $550 each for a seat at the tables. Prize pool size reached $89,425 for the top 18 finishers in Event 7. After 186 players were eliminated on the first day of this two day event, the final table play began on a Wednesday afternoon. Seated at this table was Dwyte Pilgrim who has won 3 WSOP gold rings and was shooting for his 4th. Unfortunately, luck left him in 9th place after losing numerous pots to other players. But it should be noted that Pilgrim holds the record for the player with the most cashes, final tables, and wins of any player on the WSOP Circuit over the past two seasons.

Following in 8th place was Stephen Danos after his Q 10 lost to pocket 7's. Player Stephen Cook finished in 7th, taking home his first WSOP cash ever. J.R. Bailey walked away in 6th after his A Q all-in move met a caller with A K, which outkicked Bailey to the river. A King kicker also sent Jeff Winget back to the cash tables, leaving Winget with a 5th place payday. Next was James Miller who made his move with pocket 6's...only to meet pocket A's on the preflop. No other cards helped anyone and Miller went to the cashier's cage for the 4th place money. Edward Freking followed close behind in 3rd after his opponent paired his 4 card on the flop.

On the last hand of the heads up, Steve Grant moved all-in with A 5 after Joseph Hebert raised holding A J. The flop revealed 9s 5c 2d 9c 10h which was what Grant needed for the win and his first championship title.

1. Steve Grant -- $23,697
2. Joseph Hebert -- $14,308
3. Edward Freking, III -- $9,166
4. James "Red" Miller -- $7,154
5. Jeff Winget -- $5,589
6. Samuel "J.R." Bailey -- $4,471
7. Stephen Cook -- $3,577
8. Stephen Danos -- $2,906
9. Dwyte Pilgrim -- $2,459

Event #8 -- Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em

WSOP Notes:

Due to the heads-up by round format, players actually finished by "round," rather than by "order." Other than the first- and second-place finishers, the remainder should be listed in groups. 3rd place and 4th place were a group. 5th place through 8th place were a group. And, 9th place through 16th place were a group.

The tournament was initially set up to accommodate 64 players, similar in format to the NCAA college basketball championship brackets (a.k.a. "March Madness"). However, due to increased player interest and participation, the field was expanded to 116 players and another round of play was added. A few of players received a first-round bye due to the odd starting number (Note: The bye was determined by a random draw). Players were required to win a series of Heads-Up freezeouts, which were single-elimination during the first five rounds. Only the winners of each match advanced to the next round. The champion was required to win either 8 or 9 matches, depending on if he received a bye. Once play reached the final four, the heads-up competition became the best two-out-of three matches.

The Heads-Up finale pitted two poker pros against each other. Richard Toth faced off against Dan Walsh.

The first match went to Toth, who defeated Walsh in about 30 minutes. He enjoyed a chip advantage most of the way and won the final hand of the match with 9s 9c against Walsh's 3s 3d. Walsh was visibly disgusted with the situation and became even more repulsed when a nine flopped, giving Toth top set. Walsh watched helplessly as the board ran out: 9d 5s 2c 3s Th

Score it 1-0 in favor of Toth.

Walsh made a strong comeback in the second match and won in about 45-minutes time. He had his opponent all-in on a few occasions, and finally evened the score by scooping the key pot with a club flush. On that hand, Walsh was dealt Kc 5c. Toth had As 8d. Walsh had his opponent all in and was drawing to a flush and a pair with two clubs on board. A third club fell on the river as the final board showed 3c 2c 2h 6s 9c.

Walsh and Toth were tied 1-1 going into the decisive game.

The third and final match went to Toth. The finale lasted only about 20 minutes. In fact, the last hand was an absolute nightmare for Walsh who simply could not get away from a hand that would have likely won any other heads-up match. On the final hand of the tournament, Toth was dealt 5c 4d. Walsh was dealt Ac 5s. Toth finally put his opponent all-in on the river and Walsh was delighted to call holding top set and top kicker. But Walsh showed a full house with the board of: Qd 5d 4s 5h Kh

1. Richard Toth -- $9,114
2. Dan Walsh -- $5,738
3. Chong Walker -- $3,038
4. Barry Hutter -- $3,038
5. Donald Hepfer -- $1,519
6. John Dolan -- $1,519
7. Henry Pena -- $1,519
8. Brian Fontana -- $1,519
9. Michael Benton -- $843
10. Zachary Vandergriff -- $843
11. Ken Lennaard -- $843
12. Gary Bolden -- $843
13. Byron Higueros -- $843
14. Gabor Szamosi -- $843
15. Larry Hirons -- $843
16. Chad Tye -- $843

Event #9 -- No Limit Hold'Em with Rebuys

With a buy in of $340, there were 164 players who made 656 rebuys in this event. Prize pool rose to $106,206 which rewarded the top 18 finishers. Rebuys took place for the first 3 levels for $100 each. The newest champion for this event is Lake Garner. He won his second WSOP Circuit gold ring today, following a victory which also took place here at Harrah's New Orleans in 2007. Garner, accompanied by his wife Michelle who sat near the final table for the duration, became well-known to fans of reality television when they jointly appeared on the popular program, "The Amazing Race." In 2006 they traveled around the country together completing 72,000 miles. The Garners ended up with a sixth place finish.

Garner's second ring came as part of a deal with second place finisher Carl Guillot. When the heads up was to start, Guillot was down in chips 7 to 1. He was offered a deal to which he readily accepted the second place finish and Garner walked away with another championship title.

1. Lake Garner -- $28,144
2. Carl "Spanky" Guillot -- $16,992
3. Chan Pelton -- $10,866
4. David Poleto -- $8,496
5. Mitchell Smith -- $6,637
6. Rodney Baseke -- $5,310
7. Sholom Lipszyc -- $4,248
8. Ismael "Jesus" Cabrera -- $3,451
9. "Chicago Johnny" Nowak -- $2,920

Event #10 -- Mixed Games

There were 68 players who signed up for the Mixed Games event, paying $340 each for a seat. Prize pool went up to $19,788 and was divided between the last 8 players remaining a the final table. For those who don't know, the Mixed Game format is similar to H.O.R.S.E., except a wider variety of games are played. Instead of just five games played as with H.O.R.S.E., there are seven included - Limit Hold'em, Omaha High-Low Split, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Eight-or-Better, No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha. First day saw the elimination of 60 players, with the remaining 8 coming together on Day 2 for the final table.

This final table went for 8 hours and ended up with two players in the heads up that have both won gold rings in WSOP circuit tournaments, Allen Kessler and Daphne Turner. They had a rough battle that lasted 90 minutes. The final hand came when Turner ended up making a straight against Kessler's two pair, allowing her to accomplish WSOP circuit history as the only woman to own two championship rings.

1. Daphne Turner -- $6,727
2. Allen Kessler -- $4,155
3. Darryle Dauenhauer -- $2,671
4. Andrew Daniels -- $1,780
5. Gregory Headrick -- $1,434
6. Michael Husar -- $1,187
7. Joel Harwood -- $989
8. Nirnay Sinha -- $840

Event #11 -- No Limit Hold'Em

A $1,070 buy helped build a nice $204,370 pool for the 216 entrants for this event. Money went to the top 27 finishers. In total, this two day event streched out more than 32 hours which left just about 12 railbirds when the heads up finished. The final table itself went for 6 hours and ended at daybreak.

Garrett Utt sat at the final table and branded himself as, 'the best no-limit player in the world'. He made the heads up with Barry Hutter who made him eat those words. On the last hand, Utt moved all in with pocket K's and was called by Hutter holding pocket 4's. The table revealed Ad 6s 4c Tc Ah, giving Hutter a full house much to the shock of Utt who knew who the championship ring was going to. The tale of this event taught both Hutter and Utt that even the best player in the world can be beaten.

1. Barry Hutter -- $49,559
2. Garrett Utt -- $30,655
3. Manelic "Manny" Minaya -- $19,415
4. Jonathan Abla -- $15,838
5. Alexandru Masek -- $12,773
6. Viet "Big Papa" Vo -- $10,218
7. Steven Jones -- $8,174
8. Anthony Hartofilis -- $6,642
9. Mitchell Franks - $5,109

Event #12 -- Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better

Buyin was $340 for the 92 souls who showed up at the tables. Pool size reached $26,772 for the 9 who made the final table. After 83 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Friday afternoon.

Notes from the WSOP:

Dave Fox arrived at the Final Table with a slight chip advantage over Frank Dawkins. The remaining seven players had some catching up to do. But the wide distribution of chips and low blinds and antes meant everyone seemed to have a reasonable shot at victory. At least that's what Fox wanted his rivals to believe.

Oops. Joke's on everyone else. Fox wins.

Fox stayed in control the entire duration of the finale and ended up winning his first major poker tournament. The 41-year-old who says he is "between jobs right now," collected $8,567 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. There were clear signs Fox would be tough to beat. He had previously done well in various poker tournaments played around the country. In fact, this was Fox's fourth major cash this year. He now has three WSOP Circuit in-the-money finishes, in addition to a WSOP cash in Las Vegas last year.

The final table included two former WSOP Circuit gold ring winners. Playing for their second Circuit title were Jean-Sebastien Laurent and Jonathan Theodore Junca. The hopes of both aspiring repeat winners would be dashed rather quickly however, as they went out in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Once Laurent was gone, that guaranteed a first-time gold ring winner - and Fox ended up outfoxing those who remained.

1. David Fox -- $8,567
2. John Holley -- $5,354
3. Franklin Dawkins -- $3,413
4. Damian Radanov -- $2,409
5. Alton Torregano III -- $1,940
6. Robert Vanderburg -- $1,606
7. Jean-Sebastien Laurent -- $1,338
8. Jonathan Junca -- $1,137
9. A.W. "Tony" Vidmer -- $1,003

Event #13 -- No Limit Hold'Em

Total number of players in this event was 498, each paying $340 that helped to create a $139,768 prize pool. This cash went to the top 45.

1. "Big Pappa" Solomon -- $32,775
2. Huey Hulin St. -- $20,266
3. Daniel Walsh -- $12,579
4. Hengli "Henry" Tang -- $10,133
5. John McNeal -- $8,246
6. Linda C. Kennedy -- $6,499
7. Seneca "Six of Spades" Easley -- $5,101
8. David Dao -- $4,053
9. William "Big Gravy" Ford -- $3,005

Event#14 -- No Limit Hold'Em

No, this is not a mistake! We believe most wanted to save the $5,150 entry fee for the Main Event. Only 13 showed up and just the two that were in the heads up saw any cash period.

1. William Benton -- $37,830
2. Cameron New -- $25,220

Event #15 -- No Limit Hold'em Shootout

There were 198 players who paid %550 to get in on this event. Pool reached $90,880 for the top 20 finishers.

1. Ronnie Hoover -- $23,856
2. Shimiron Preis -- $14,540
3. Jahson "Class" Spence -- $9,315
4. David "The Assassin" Dowdy -- $7,270
5. John "Skinny B." Cleaveland -- $5,680
6. Preston R. Derden -- $4,544
7. Ed Corrado -- $3,635
8. Stanley Seelig -- $2,953
9. Michael Raimon -- $2,499

Event #16 -- Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys ($100)

There were 51 players who paid the $340 buyin for this event. And with 262 rebuys, a pool of $40,255 was split between the final table players. When the final table was down to the last three, a deal was reached with Hamilton McGowan coming away with the gold ring of champions.

1. Hamilton McGowan -- $12,881
2. Tony "Tekk" Seunsom -- $8,051
3. Gene "Timberrrrr!" Timberlake -- $5,132
4. A.W. "Antony" Vidmer -- $3,622
5. Gary Bolden -- $2,918
6. "Captain" Tom Franklin -- $2,415
7. Mark Gallagher -- $2,012
8. Joshua Fanguy -- $1,710
9. Michael Schneider -- $1,509

1. Joel Merwick -- 151,800
2. Vhor Coelho -- 130,200
3. Ed Corrado -- 114,000
4. Eric Cloutier -- 102,000
5. Durham Chaney -- 100,100
6. Fernando Perez -- 97,300
7. Jimmy Tran -- 95,300
8. B.J. McBrayer -- 90,900
9. Lance Oliver -- 90,000

1. Benjamin Keiley -- 889500
2. Edward Corrado -- 576000
3. Chandler Jain -- 522000
4. William Beasley -- 446500
5. Fred Berger -- 298500
6. Joel Merwick -- 262000
7. Jacob Naquin -- 183500
8. Fernando Perez -- 127500
9. Jared Ingles -- 126000

Harrah's New Orleans Main Event Circuit Champion -- Norm Berger

1. Fred Berger -- $197,584
2. Mike Beasley -- $119,296
3. Ben Keiley -- $76,424
4. Ed Corrado -- $59,648
5. Fernando Perez -- $46,600
6. Joel Merwick -- $37,280
7. Jacob Naquin -- $29,824
8. Chander Jain -- $24,232
9. Jared Ingles -- $20,504

Event #18 -- No Limit Hold'em Ladies Championship

There were 78 ladies who made the trip to the tables, paying $340 to create a $22,666 pool. Money went to the final table players.

1. Paula Halata -- $7,236
2. Patricia Marks -- $4,539
3. Deborah Lallo -- $2,894
4. Jodi Westendorf -- $2,042
5. Lisa Atwin -- $1,645
6. Jenica Powell -- $1,361
7. Jennifer White -- $1,134
8. Barbara Cardin -- $964
9. Patricia Mcardle -- $851

Event #19 -- No Limit Hold'em Seniors Championship

The last event before we all go to Las Vegas at the RIO had 113 Seniors show up. Buy in was $340 which made a $32,883 prize pool. Money went to the top 18.

1. Thomas Becnel -- $8,714
2. Lane Leblanc -- $5,261
3. Robert Irby -- $3,370
4. Richard Craig -- $2,630
5. Carl Lee -- $2,055
6. Theodore Etter -- $1,644
7. Thomas Howard -- $1,315
8. Ricardo Briseno -- $1,068
9. Markie Garner -- $904