Google

HOME BLOGS TOURNEY SCHEDULE  CASINOS LINKS SPONSORS ARCHIVES FORUM WHO'S WHO MORE CONTACT US LOCALS TWITTER FEEDS FACEBOOK

 

WSOP-C UPDATE:

BIERMAN THIRD, REILLY SECOND:

Steve Bierman of New Orleans made a goal of qualifying for the Global Championship this year. So far, so good. The WSOP-C hit Seminole Hard Rock for the first time and Steve was there looking to add to his four cashes on the new season. Well, third place in Event 5 has him jumping up the standings in the points total.  Long way to but pointswise he's probably half way there.

Joining him at the final table, another Gulf Coaster, Austin Reilly (pictured). The Gulf Shores, AL native did Steve one better finishing second in the event and just missing out on his second ring.

SHOUT OUT TO SQUIRT:

Slidell's Robert "Squirt" Pierce is a friend of the site, and had a deep run at the IP. Yet, somehow we missed him in our update despite one of us playing with him in that very tournament.  It was a memorable perfomrance too as we watched his chip stack get bad-beated to almost nothing early before running it up all the way to the final table.

So, congrats to Squirt who finished sixth in the WSOP-C Monster Stack. Also, David Nicholson (MS) and Mario Burciaga (NOLA) finished second and third in that same event.
MEAN STREETS OF METAIRIE MEN MAKING IT HAPPEN:
HURRICANE 27 AND HURRICANE AFTERMATHS:

Finally got up our profile of Hurricane27 the online kid from Metairie, LA who came out of nowhere, go here. It's been a banner couple of weeks for Metairie players in Biloxi.  Capped off at the Beau Main Event as two more Metairians, Randy Gordon and James Arruebarrena, finished in the top four.

I don't think it's Out of Bounds to say but Metairie's got a pretty good poker scene going on here.  Speaking of Metairie, co-owner of Bernies (see that ad above) Barth Melius, has been doing incredible things in the U.S. Virgin islands in the aftermath of the hurricanes.  Believe the Poker Monkey is working to set up or highlight some ways for us to help the USVI in the coming days.  

RANDY GORDON WINS IT:

Big congrats to Randy Gordon a contractor from Metairie, LA and a friend of GCP for snapping off the Beau Rivage Main Event. We understand an equity chop between the top four was done so the numbers are a little bit off from what was reported. That said when the deal was made Randy had most of the chips.  First place was to have paid just under 70k from a prize pool of almost 258k.

Matt Silva of Lakewood Ranch, FL got credit for 40k for second and North Carolina's Dean Rutledge is listed as 22k for third. James Arruebarrena, also from Metairie, LA earned over 17k for fourth.

Cliff Chisolm of Collinsville, MS (5th 14k), another FOGCP Paul Hebert (6th 12k), and Tara Snow of Piedmont AL won 3.6k for 9th. Another deep run for her at the Beau. Craig Flood of Austin (7th 8.9k) and Sam Ho of Morrow, GA (8th 5.3k) also made the final table.

Tough field as a slew of familiar names made the money including: Seville Hale, Danny Williams, Michael Benton, Ben Thomas, Caufman Talley, Marcos Palacios, Ashly Butler, and Mihail Karasoulis. Congrats to all that cashed.
PEARL RIVER COMING UP:



In what is becoming a Halloween tradition for Poker players the Pearl River Resorts Ante Up fall tournament returns at the end of October. As always tournament director Paul Dutsch has incentivized the heck out of it. Added seats to the Main Event in megas, guaranteed seats, guaranteed prize pools and a first.  They are offering you a chance to claim double your tournament  winnings in the October 31st tournament if you take it in casino credit.

A genuis idea in our opinion. Think we might enjoy watching the winners that take the casino credit and play their rush in the pit games as much as we'd enjoy the tournament action. They are always good for a twist. We will be mentioning this often in the coming weeks. Rooms, really nice by the way, are inexpensive and table side food makes it a great day, weekend or week long trip. More to come...

BEAU KNOWS POKER, GCP PRELIM WRAP-UP:

KAHSAY MONSTER CHAMP:

The Georgia native can say Kahsay's the champ. Credited with 51k and first place Abraham Kahsay beat a loaded final table. They were: Vincent Pham (2nd 32k), mean streets of Metairie's own Curtis Terry (3rd, 27k and pictured), the man from Theodore, Alabama Sam Bowles (4th 23k), Pensacola native Wayne White (5th, 20k), Talladegian Quintin Elston (6th, 17k), Judge Leo Boothe (7th, 13k), Huey Hulin (8th 10k) and Jeremy Sanders (9th, 8k).

Also cashing Ismael Cabrera, BJ McBrayer, Ty Robinson, Frank Alpandinar, Craig Flood, Jason Anderson, John Walters, Rovert Veazey, David Chocheles, Davy Murrah, Mihail Karasoulis, Easton Oreman, Barron Whipple, Lester "Black Ice" Milligan, and David Nicholson.

PRISSY JUST MISSES:

Ray Luaga of Slidell, LA beat Prissy Grior of Lafayette heads up to win the No Limit Hold'em Event Two. Also at the final table Jeff Sager, Jerry Sumbo and Nesrin Can. Easton Oreman, Nick Graphia and Umut Meraler also cashed.

TROUTMAN KEEPS WINNING:

Fresh off his biggest score (60k win in Tunica) David Troutman caught another first place winning the 6 Max Event 3 tournament. Curtis Terry also made the final table.

SENIORS EVENT:

Benny Champlin, Judge Leo Boothe, Slidell's Thu Nguyen all made the final table of the seniors event. Marc Bray of Ohio won it. "Coach" Ron Held of Metairie cashed, as did Billy McBrayer's (BJ's dad) and James Kizer.

JETER WINS... AGAIN:

Self described min-casher Jeter Brock is making a habit of winning tournaments outright. His third victory in this calendar year came in the Limit Omaha 8 or better event. It's also his 19th cash for the year. 19 cashes, 3 wins, not too shabby.


ALMOST DOUBLE FOR DUSTIN:

Dustin Stewart fresh off a large re-entry WSOP-C victory tried to win a second title in the same week. This time he fell to Joe Clarke in heads up action.  Not sure anybody has won a tournament at both the Beau and IP but Dustin got real close.   Stewart won 2.8k for second place at the Beau's Event 8. His IP victory a couple of days earlier was a little larger as he banked 40k to go with his circuit ring.  In that same event Judy LeBlanc won 13k for 4th, and Thu Tran 6k for 7th.

HOPE FLOATS:

Captain Ronnie Hope floated the idea of a chop and Captain Chop himself prevailed as the players in the little monster final table divvied up the loot. Captain Ron somehow chopped three tournaments in one 24 hour period. Two at the Beau (Event 13) and one all the way in Kinder Louisiana. Nobody loves it more. Also in the money Eric Sievers, Don Dove, and Jerry Stumbo.
IP WSOP MAIN EVENT:

The Main Event of the circuit stop in Biloxi Mississippi concluded last night and went down to 2 of the best and most notables poker players in the Region ...for the Natty Seat.

We say the Natty seat as it is our understanding that their was an "even" heads up deal made that left Kyle Cartwright and TK Miles playing for the Seat to the yearly Circuit National Championship event presumably worth $10k as that is what it takes to buy in... if you don't win your way into the tourney. That goes to show you how much respect both players have for their opponents as chopping is seldom...if ever... in either players poker "Bag of Tricks".

 

Cartwright wound up locking up the Natty seat and adding to his impressive poker resume and his gambling "lore/legend" of running better than the "Queen of Sheba". Anyone that follows him on twitter sees that at "$125 a rip" ...kid seems to cant lose at slots.

LOCALS CASHING IP MAIN:

We also have a few locals that hit the payout cage:

Leo Boothe takes 3rd for over $53k...Kevin Benoit from Redstick takes 4th for right under $40k...circuit regular Bob Beck gets 6th...Jason "J-Bird" Bergeron(pic) from Houma takes 12th for a shy under $9k...and the guy that paves a trail to the payout cage Danny Doucet from Opelousas takes $5100...and also cashing at $5100...we round it out with "the man...the myth...the legend"...Jeter Brock.

Good luck to those in the Beau Main Event...more updates and results coming.

 

BILOXI IN HIGH GEAR WITH POKER EVERYWHERE:

Lots of Locals are rocking and rolling on the coast as Biloxi Poker Players and residence sigh a huge relief Irma didnt ruin the "Poker Party" on the coast.

FOCUSING ON THE LOCALS:

1st person we want to highlight is Easton Oremon who is on the biggest heater of the crew. Easton got 12th place in the IP 6 max for $810...min cashed the Beau id event Sunday...cashed the 250gtd at the IP for a little over $1000...and then he chops the nightly 4 ways for over $1500...but lost a heads up battle for the Main Event seat.

Next up is Steve Bierman who can put just about anyone on tilt in the south with his anti Trump rhetoric ...and props. I overheard a guy telling his buddy ,"Man...that table started talking politics and some liberal put whole table on tilt"...lol...that's our Steve

Anyhow...he has 22 points toward the Casino Championship...he got 7th in a $365 after making Final Table for $1488...min cash in 250k multiday re-entry without coming back for day 2. 

Jeff Sager is also on a nice run with a 32nd in the re-entry at IP for $1150...and then he chopped the one day Beau event 6 ways for $3475

Keep up the good work guys!!!!

 

NEWS FROM THE COAST:

POKER PALOOZA IS BACK ON THE BILOXI COAST:

Once again the Beau Rivage and the IP will offer tournaments concurrently starting this week.  Should be a lot to choose from and a ton of players in town.  We will be there for much of the week.



BEAU RIVAGE OFFERS 250K MONSTER EVENT AND $1350 MAIN EVENT:

The $355 buy-in Monster stack will deliver four flights starting Friday September 8th at Noon. Three Flights; B (Friday 6:00 pm), C (Saturday noon) and D (Saturday 6:00 pm) will follow and we expect the atomosphere to be electric as usual.  Escalating level lengths of 30 minutes, 45 minutes and 60 minutes promise a tournament with a lot of play when it matters.

They've packed the rest of the week in the lead up to their Main Event with variety. PLO, Big O, 6 Max, Limit Omaha, Deep Stack, Little Monster are just some of the events preceding the $1350 No Limit Hold'em Main Event.  Here is the complete schedule.

DJ ALEXANDER DEEP FOR HOUSTON IN WPT:

For some the storyline of the WPT Legends of Poker final table centered around the Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth. Would he win his first WPT title?  Not for us.  For those of you who have played with DJ Alexander you'll probably remember him being a humble player who carried himself with class that belied his fiercenes.  At least that's what one of us at GCP thought as he felted us in a WSOPC event (he won).  So, it came as no surprise that he pledged 5% of his winnings to his hometown of Houston's recovery efforts.

It would be tough sledding to finish first considering the lineup of cash pro Art Papzyan, Phil Hellmuth, JC Tran and Marvin Rettenmaier shared the final table. Alas, Alexander bowed out in 4th winning 161k. Good game and well played. Here's Poker Central's write-up. Oh and Phil went out second to Papzyan.

MORE EFFORTS TO HELP FROM POKER PLAYERS:

Whether its Will Souther turning his home into a drop off depot for supplies for the Harvey victims or Oren Zweig loading up a van to take to Texas, we've had plenty of reasons to be proud to be poker players recently.  All those donating, time, money, and supplies we thank you.  Believe some in the Cajun Navy are poker players too.  Read one story of Baton Rouge native (and poker player) Cameron Ainsworth buying a boat just to go save people.  What an effort by so many of you and what a great reflection of our community by everybody helping out.
MORE TRAGEDY:

As we mentioned on our Facebook page, Saturday we sadly lost another one of our own; Beau Rivage dealer and poker player Bobby Harrington. An example of a class act at and away from the tables. The incredible response and mourning of his passing shows what an influence he had on all those he touched and how much he will be missed. Our condolences to his family, and to his wide group of friends including the Beau Rivage staff and regular players. This came as a shock to all of us and it just won't be the same without him.

Also, we want to extend our thoughts and prayers to another friend of GCP, Bobbie Bailey.  This has been a rough month for our community.
SOMBER NEWS:

HURRICANE HARVEY:

Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers obviously go out to our family and friends dealing with Hurricane Harvey and its after effects.  It's been scary to see so many parallels to Hurricane Katrina and other devestating storms we've endured.  Even worse there appear to be some unique and horrific new challenges unfolding.  That said have to feel proud for so many in the poker community rallying to aid those in need.  Whether it's Collosus winner and Texan Cord Garcia and Houston pro Ray Henson rescuing people, (a couple of the many players to do so), or it's the folks in Mississippi and Louisiana looking to repay the previous generoisty and charity of those now affected by organizing aid. Stay strong Texas and Louisiana.

REMEMBERING TOM BECNEL:

(Thanks to Ben Saxton for writing these words and our apologies for not getting this up sooner).

The Gulf Coast poker community lost one of its dear members this month. Tom Becnel, a New Orleans resident and poker player for all of his life, passed away on August 17th. He was eighty years old. A fourth-generation citrus and vegetable farmer, Tom worked as a city bus driver, an insurance salesman, a trawler, an oil man, an operator at Chevron Oronite, a bulldozer operator, and a Plaquemines Parish drainage pump operator. He loved being with his family, gardening, cooking,and—as many of us know—sitting around a card table.

In October 2004, Tom won two tournaments in Reno in one week: the $200 Fall Pot of Gold Tournament (for $15,309) and the $2,500 Main Event (for $56,779). He would go on to accumulate almost $200,000 in live cashes.More importantly, he earned the friendship and respect of his fellow players. Darrell Guillory, a veteran dealer at Harrah's, was inspired to play tournament poker when he saw Tom at a 2006 final table in Biloxi. “I watched him, studied him, and imitated him,” Darrell said. “I then used what I had learned to make an incredible run at the IP.

When Mr. Tom came up to me at the final table and I asked him what I needed to do to win the tournament, he replied with a straight face: ‘Be the last one with all the chips.’ Then he cracked a smile and told me to just keep doing what I was doing. He told me that I must be doing something right to make it thisfar. He was a man of little words but a strong presence, he will be missed. RIP MR. BECNEL.”

In the words of Mike Groetsch, a regular at Harrah's, "Tom was the grumpiest old nice guy that Iever met in a poker room. Sounds like an oxymoron but it is so very true. He would even smile when he was complaining. I have known him since the poker days at the Grand Casino in Biloxi in the 1990s. He was an excellent poker player who never gave his chips away. He was also devoted to his girlfriend/significant other Barbara and treated her like a queen. We will miss Tom dearly but he is now with the others who went All-In and traveled to the other side."
LINKS FOR YOUR CLICKING PLEASURE:

-The trailer for Molly's Game dropped.  It's the movie about the high stakes Hollywood game hosted by Toby Maguire.  Lots of stars in this one.  Could be good?



-Sometimes we post stories that are "good" for poker and sometimes we post stories that are "bad" for poker. We often point out that whenever a criminal is arrested and has any connection to poker, poker shares the headline with the crime. Rarely does it share the headline with the hero. This time we have two stories. One good and one terrible for poker.

Let's go good first and the Pensacola News Journal's account of John Langevin's win at the Scarlet Pearl. Yes, poker prominently shares the headline with John with good reads.  Go here to read.  (And...  yes, we posted it on our facebook page too, but not everybody does social media. For those of you who do and haven't liked us yet, you are missing content like this go to our FACEBOOK).

Then, there is this story... ugh. It can only be called bad for poker. Poker dominates the headline because... ugh... just read it for yourself.  Go here. 

-Table selection is something a lot of people talk about, but outside of looking for one or two "spots" how do you determine what a good table is?  Chuck Blount has some pointers here.
RUNGOOD TUNICA AND KING OF THE HILL:

David Troutman won the event for 58k. The former accountant and now cash game player beat a loaded final table.  Somehow Kyle Cartwright didn't hit a royal flush on his way to second place and 36k. Tupleo, MS native Cody Stanford finished third winning over 24k for his biggest live score of his career.  Tim Burt placed fifth winning 12.8k.

PHIL'S HILL:

Phil Hellmuth won the made for TV King of the Hill special earning 200k in the process and another bullet point in his tournament poker resume.  The live pro beat two young online grinders on Poker Night in America to take the fictitious sounding title and the very real WWE style belt.  If you prefer your news old school style go here for the wrapup.  If you prefer Vloggers and the new school go here to be at a minimum mildly entertained and for some chuckles. 
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT CHEROKEE:

MERCIER, REICHARD FINAL TABLE GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP:

Once upon a time this was called the National Championship. Once upon a time Jason Mercier used to blog fairly often and Josh Reichard was one of Monkey's Minions. Things have changed a bit since then. The now Global Championship is down to a TV final table of 6 (are we the only ones that prefers telecasts starting at 9). International Alexander Lakhov is the chipleader with Mercier and Reichard having their work cut out for them in 4th and 5th spots. Caufman Talley of Lafayette, LA just missed finishing in 11th place for 20k.

BIERMAN, HORRIGAN, HARWELL CASHING AGAIN:

Robert Harwell (pictured above), also of Monkey's Minions fame, finished 7th in the big reentry tournament winning 21k. He started day two on tough table that included Steve "No Fear in" Bierman who managed an in the money finish. John Holley of Destin finished 63rd in the giant field. Due to the unusual format PJ Horrigan of New Orleans cashed twice. PJ then added 14th in event 6 to add to his growing number of circuit points.
HPT VICKSBURG, BEAU RIVAGE 75K, SCARLET PEARL RE-ENTRY:

FREDDIE ARDOIN GETS IT DONE:

Vicksburg held their HPT event which featured a final three of some well known names from the coast. Freddie Ardoin (pictured) won almost 43k for first. Judge Leo Boothe won close to 27k for second and BJ McBrayer won a little over 16k for third.

This marks Freddie's second win and is by far his biggest cash. Corey Harrison, Thomas Doussan, and Chris Lane also made a trip to the cashier's cage in the two day event.

BRIC ALLEN, JOHN CRESSEND AND 4 OTHERS CHOP THE BEAU:

We don't have exact details for how the Beau Rivage's 75k event wrapped up but we know they chopped 5 or 6 ways. First got ~17k and everybody else a little over 10k. Bric Allen of Baton Rouge and John Cressend of Metairie were in on the spoils.  If you have the complete details shoot them over.

CAP'N RON DOUBLE DIPS:

At least one player cashed in two tournaments on the same day in two different casions. Captain Ron Hope played until his chips ran out at the Beau Rivage and then made it back to the Scarlet Pearl for their restart. He made money in both tournaments.

MONKEY HOLDING TWO CARDS:

Will Souther found himself in a familiar spot.  Staring at a camera and holding two cards after winning a poker tournament.  He has a knack for this kind of thing.  Congrats on winning the Sacrlett Pearl's Ante Only tournament. 

Wait a second...  where are his cards...  he's getting rusty.
WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMPION BLUMSTEIN:


BLUMSTEIN PICKS A FINE TIME TO RUN GOOD:

Scott Blumstein, a young New Jersey 26 year old pro, beat young Pennsylvania online pro Daniel Ott. The Garden state native won 8.15 million for first while Ott had to settle for 4.7 million for second. Their previous live cashes at WSOP events?  Blumstein $0. Ott $3,656 with two small cashes this year.

After his win Blumstein requested a picture with the effervescent Prissy Grior (above).

Third place went to frenchman Bejamin Pollak who earned 3.5 million. The cheerful Brit John Hesp won 3 million for fourth; another frenchman Antoine Saout won 2 million for fifth, and Bryan Piccioli won 1.675 for sixth. Damian Salas finished seventh, Jack Sinclair 8th, and Ben Lamb 9th.