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HAND(s) OF THE WEEK: THE BADDEST BEAT? Surely, there are worse maybe hitting a bad beat jackpot only for the deck to be ruled fouled. Also while the stakes (including a smallish bad beat payout) are small this may be the worst beat we've seen in terms of hand percentages. Online we saw a guy flop a boat with 22. The flop also brought two 3s. Runner runner 3 and Ace King wins the hand. This hand though pocket nines flops quads, 10s flops a boat, and KdQd is allowed to peel the turn for free as both players are trying to get some action on later streets. The Jd is an action card and oddly enough makes pocket tens draw dead. For the only 10 left in the deck gives KQ a straight flush. The 10d comes. Now quad 9s is the third best hand and also bumped out of the losers share of the bad beat jackpot. The 10s who were drawing dead actually were live to the biggest chunk of the bad beat jackpot. What a river! VIDEO: Only because we don't have footage of the one above let's go to one from the beginning of the year. It involves Phil Hellmuth and our favorite starting hand pocket Aces. Doug Polk on the analysis here: |
ROLL TIDE ROLL: MCBRAYER WINS HPT VICKSBURG MAIN EVENT: Alabama fan and Tuscaloosa native BJ McBrayer prevailed over a final table loaded with familiar faces. The win came after one of the craziest heads up battles we've watched in a long time. Freddie Ardoin, the defending the champion, bowed out in eighth winning a little over 6k. Tim Burt wasn't too far behind after losing with 66 to BJ's QQ to get short. The board ran out xAAA...6. Tim said, "I hate wasting sets." Tim won a little over 7k. Attorney Alton Brown finished 11th last year in this event and was back at it this year making it up to fifth winning 10k. Dustin Stewart fell next winning 13.5k for fourth. After Jeff Baxer of Oregon went out third, Josh Patrick of West Monroe, LA and BJ battled for first. Joel Doney also cashed. Twice McBrayer had the tournament won with one card to come and both times Patrick hit his miracle. Early on a classic suck-resuck-reresuck situation happened with BJ calling off with an Ace vs. Patrick's King high. King hit the flop, Ace on the turn, and King on the river cut into BJ's 8 to 1 chip advantage. Later BJ held AQ v. Patrick's pocket 3s. Flop came QQx. Turn another blank and then a miracle 3 on the river kept everybody there a little bit longer. Eventually BJ for a third time built up a chip advantage and this time he needed a little luck as he got it in with a King v. Ace high. Less drama as a King hit the board and BJ finally held. Well done buddy! McBrayer earned 45k for the win and Patrick 28k for third.  SNOW DAY IN VEGAS: When we saw Tara Snow after final tabling the Women's WSOP event we asked her if she wrote the headline what would it say. "Tide Rolls in Vegas" she smiled. Somehow we didn't give her due then so no more fitting a time to recongize that deep run then after her buddy BJ snaps one off. It was a great week of poker for Tara as she won almost 9k for 9th place in the ladies and then followed that up by cashing the Main Event for over 17k. Jessica Dawley would end up winning the bracelet, with Molly Mossey and Danielle Anderson also making the final ten. Not only that but she got a couple of mentions from Norman Chad during the Main Event broadcast. Congrats again, Tara! Super happy for your success. |
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WSOP, WPT NEWS: WSOP-C GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP: A loaded field of circuit grinders are battling it out for glory, money and the last WSOP bracelet on U.S. soil to be issued this calendar year. Steve Bierman third in chips with 306k is near the very top of the leader board. 53 players made it through day one out 127. Most qualified for the the 10k buy-in on a freeroll as Bierman did after successful years on the circuit. Other eligible players bought in for 10k including Caufman Talley. Players can still buy in on day two. Also near the top of the chip counts, as always, Tim TK Miles with 174k good for the ninth biggest stack. MINTZ AND BENGLIS RUN DEEP IN WPT CHOCTAW EVENT: Hats off to Ben Mintz whose poker comeback is now motoring along at top speed. The sports talk show host finished 19th for over 19k. That makes it over 100k in 2018 for Mintz. Just one pay jump below him Brennan Benglis won over 16k for 21st. Brady Holliman of Texas won the tournament for over 454k. By far the biggest score in his ten year career (by about 436k). |
WSOP CIRCUIT: CHEROKEE TERRY WINS: Curtis Terry of Metairie, LA won 46k and a Circuit Ring in Event #4 at the 'Kee. This is his second ring. Cody Stanford took third in Event #1's $400 NL Hold 'Em Double Stack winning over 18k. Chase Turner of Birmingham also had a deep run finishing 11th in Event #5. Josh Palmer of Daphne finished second for 16k in the $400 PLO Event. Also cashing in that event (#6) was Jordan Phillips of Trussvile, AL. |
SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: HOLLEY WINS SENIORS AND THIRD IN BIG O: John Holley went south to Seminole Hard Rock and celebrated a win in their senior's event by taking third place in the Big O tournament winning 3.5k. The seniors win marked Holley's third SHR title. Holley as the short stack four handed turned down a chop, but after the chips swung his way and one player was eliminated they made an offer he didn't refuse as stacks were short and his opponents were gambling. He won just under 7k. Congrats John. MINION FINISHES FOURTH: Jason Young battled four handed in the 6 max one day event for over two hours. Only to fall first at the hands of winner Mark Dube. Young, a member of Monkey's Minions this year, gave a great sweat to the group and won 8k for his efforts. |
HPT VICKSBURG: Dustin Stewart leads final table at HPT Main Event in Vicksburg with 1.189 million in chips. Thanks to HoldemRadio for the pics (here and below). Got to their live updates and stream of the HPT final table here: https://hptupdates.blogspot.com/. The Biloxi rounder will face a lot of familiar faces including BJ McBrayer 644k, defending Champion Freddie Ardoin 469k, and Tim Burt 489k. Good luck all as you vie for the 45k first place prize. Players already paid out include 3.5k winners: Benny Champlin of Jonesville, LA 3.5k, Joel Doney of NOLA and Charles Leroi. Danny Doucet of Opelousas, Nick Graphia and Duane Fontenot both of Baton Rouge won 2.4k. |
ANTE UP WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP: Do you play for the money or for the glory? Most true poker players want the money in that respect Mike Monaghan got first place. After an ICM chop four hand Monaghan won 107k and played for first, the trophy and a another 11k. Shrewd deal making as the Jackson, MS native ended up in second place. This is Mikey's biggest cash lifetime and his 12th this year alone. All this is parlayed from his victory in Pearl River last November in the $800 buy-in Main Event. Really excited about the score for one of the nice guys in poker. Mike won 16k more than the eventual winner of the tournament. Also, making a run Blake Baker of NOLA who won 3k for 50th. |
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HPT VICKSBURG: DOUBLE FOR DAVIDS:   David Chocheles won a belt (?) and 11k after taking down an HPT event. David Nicholson joined him in the winners circle a couple of days later winning over 4k himself. Congrats |
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POST WSOP UPDATES: THE GOVERNOR GET RECOGNIZED AS "DEALER OF THE YEAR" : Bill and I both could not be happier for Daniel Harris who was recognized this WSOP as the "Dealer of the Year"...a much deserved award. Daniel is not only one of the best dealers on the circuit...but also one of the nicest and personable people that travel that road...and he is a dealer. He can deal it all...every game dealt. Bill and I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS DANIEL!!!  |
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WSOP UPDATES: LOCAL CORVETTE ENTHUSIAST AT THE FINAL TABLE OF THE $1500 POST LIM OF THE MAIN EVENT: The remaining players button says 6 on the WSOP website but the chip counts are saying 7 players left with New Orleans own ...friend of GCP ...Steve Bierman sitting in 6th place with 820k. Chip leader has 3.1m. There was some excitement with some penalties given at some point...you guys can read through the 
updates...but I am sure it will be a good story once he gets
back...this would be a huge accomplishment to win a WSOP
bracelet as he has only been playing poker for a few years
now...but he has had great coaching. MINION AND WILD BILLIONS UPDATE: We have 4 players still in...2 from each group. Carwash
leads the pack with over 600k in the bag...Kristen Deardorff
has 125k...Tara Snow bags 95k and Andy Simpson has over 500k
in the bag...all going to day 4 and in the $$$
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WSOP MAIN EVENT UPDATES: MINIONS LOSE A FEW: Michael Schneider - Bagged $308,200 on Day 2 Going into Day 3 Saturday at Pavilion 171-1 Kristen Deardorff - Bagged $40,100 on Day 2 Going into Day 3 Saturday at Amazon 511-7 Easton Oreman - Bagged $82,900 Day 1 playing Day 2 Friday Pavilion 179-9 Chris Canan - Bagged $48,900 Day 1 playing Day 2 Friday Pavilion 281-4  Jason Young - Out on Day 2 Michael Bratovich- Out on Day 2 Jacqueline Britton - Out on Day 2 Kenny Milam - Out on Day 1 Michael "Carwash" Schneider bags a hefty $300k going to day 3 on Sat...BTW...we thought he drank Corona's BILLONS: Capt Ron rocking a rolling along. Tara Snow and Andy Simpson all moving on |
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WSOP MAIN EVENT IS IN
FULL SWING: -Monkey Minions got started a little late this year but that doesn't mean Monk wasnt on his game as he was able to corral enough cashola to put 8 players in the Main Event. All 8 are season local players and we are glad they were all  seasoned
players. With both owners of this site being former
Minions....we cant thank Monk enough for putting this all
together every year. It always winds up being so much fun
all the way around. You can find updated chip stacks of all
the Minions on the Facebook page.
-The 1st year of the "Wild Billions" is also in full
swing. These are local satellite winners. We love the name
with the play on Wild Bills name...as he was the Gamesmaster
who oversaw the sattys. Tara Snow is already on to day 2 and
congrats to Tara for final tabling the Ladies event for a
little north of $9k |
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SOME FEATURES NEAR AND
DEAR TO GCP'S HEART: BEN SAXTON'S PROFILES: Talented poker writer Ben Saxton profiled the recent winners of GCP and Harrahs New Orleans seat giveaway. For now, go to Wild Bill's blog here to read up.   MINIONS ANNOUNCED: The first three Minions who will represent the investors in Will Souther's Main Event investors group have been revealed. Chris Canan won the honors of the guarantee repeat by finishing deepest last year while cashing the Main Event. He's looking to repeat. Two new faces to the team include Merch Mama Jacqueline Britton (pictured left) who has lined up the gear for previous iterations and tirelessly worked as Will's right hand lady the last couple of years. Make no mistake about it the published author can also play. The third player a former Biloxi native and the literal Rocket Scientist on the team, Kirsten Deardorff, also boasts an impressive part time poker resume herself. She's won a RunGood tournament in the last couple of years... while being a rocket scientist. There is still opportunities to get a piece of these players and likely will be a couple of more added to the team. Go to Will's blog (look right) for better write-ups and more information about the Minions. |
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WSOP UPDATES: HIEP GOES DEEP IN MARATHON: Hiep Doan of M  arrero,
LA made it to the final two tables in the Marathon event. He
made over 24k for his run. Great job Hiep! Georgios Vrakas of Collinston, LA cashed for over 4k. Vrakas has cashed three times this summer so far at the WSOP. Also in the money Ben Thomas of Baton Rouge. INGLES 5TH IN 1500 PLO: Jared "BearBuck" Ingles won over 47k for his fifth place finish in event 30. It's the second cash of the series for the Reserve, LA native and 16th lifetime. 5K BIG BLIND ANTE: This apparently is the future of poker, so beware those who are already cashing in this new format. They include: Martin Mathis of Tallahasse, FL 17k for 18th; Thomas Brown of Jacksonville 12k for 33rd; and James Alexandder of San Antonio 12k for 36th. |
WIRE REPORTS: -We've been tipped off by word of mouth that Baton Rouge's Chris Savage chopped a senior's tournament at Planet Hollywood fro approximately 24k. -Sources confirm via text message that Ms. Joan Rhodes of New Orleans won over 14k in a Daily Deep stack. -Social media revealed Marco Palacios went out 20th in the Millionaire Make for 40k. -Via telegram we've learned Tim Burt has cashed multiple events this summer. -Hushed, throaty voicemails suggest PJ Horrigan of NOLA cashed the double stack for over 4k and Ray Curran went deep in a Wynn 1 million guarantee. |
RAY CURRAN PLANET
HOLLYWOOD CHAMP: Fresh off a WSOP-Circuit ring at Harrahs New Orleans former 2-5 cash player Ray Curran (pictured with Biloxi's All Stars) went to Vegas and promptly won another tournament. Taking just under 150k in the Planet Hollywood Million guarantee it's a great start to the summer. Also at the table Puneeth Modha of Baton Rouge who finished 6th and Marshall White of North Carolina. Pun lost a massive 18 million chip pot to get eliminate but won just under 40k for his run. White earned a little under 20k for 9th place. Curran also had to dispatch back to back WPT champ and all around crusher Mad Marvin Renttenmaier (4th, 63k) to win the tournament. |
THE MINIONS ARE BACK
AND BLOGS, BLOGS, BLOGS: Go to Will Souther's blog for all the Monkey's Minos details! It's a short turnaround but there is still a chance to invest in the group and maybe even be in the group! We'll be covering them throughout the WSOP. Fresh Blogs: As mentioned Will Souther's back to writing, so too Wild Bill with a state of the union of sorts of GCP. New Facebook group! Changes coming to GCP! Read all that and WSOP notes here. Nolan Dalla scored a dinner with Doyle Brunson. Who better than to rate Westerns than a guy who's image is wearing a cowboy hat! Fun article over there on Nolan's blog. Jonathan Little's video blog is up. Check it out. HAND OF THE WEEK: We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on this new feature so after a missed week or twe it's back... but we are waiting for a video clip. Does anybody have it? TK Miles opponent at the Colossus folded a set of sixes on the turn to his set of Kings. What a great fold. We will post it when we have it. |
LOCAL WSOP SWEATS ON
POKERGO'S TWITCH FEED: TK
ALMOST COLLOSSUS:Nice to watch TK Miles playing some high level poker last night. After an opponent made an improbable fold with a lesser set against his set of Kings, TK later found himself flipping for the chip lead five handed against the eventual champion. TK put his stack at risk with pocket Jacks and a three bet shove. Brazilian Roberly Felicio called off with AK. Viewers of the feed saw some of his outs folded but still an Ace appeared on the flop. What a weird tournament. TK bested all but 13,066 players and won over 166k but still is left wondering what might have been. First place paid a cool million and would have been TK's first bracelet. Also, at the final table another Florida pro John Racener who won 74k for 8th. A few years ago we tried to raise funds to put TK into the 100k WSOP buy-in so we've always been big supporters of his skill and ability. The bracelet will come for the end boss. Kevin Eyster and Andrew Bulliard both of Lafayette also cashed in the top 50. Steve Pirri of Metairie, Michael Horchoff and Steve Bierman of NOLA, and Kevin Visentin of Guntown, MS, all cashed in the top 500. Vivian Dupree, Seville Hale and Hai Nguyen of Pensacola; Kristen Deardorff and Cody Stanford of Missisippi; Ladarryl Alexis (third year running), Jared Ingles, Joe Hebert and Hiep Doan of NOLA; Shannon Shorr of Tuscaloosa, Nathan Willis of Florence, and Sandeep Pulusani of Huntsville, Al; Jeff Appleby of Panama City, Martin Mathis of Tallahassee, Joe Acquavella of Gainesville, and Michael Palmer of Jacksonville, all made the money. CRESSEND ALSO ON THE POKERGO FEED:  We got to watch John Cressend finish 80th in the big Blind ante tournament after he found himself at the feature table. Pocket Jacks would also seal his fate. He was on the other side of the flip with AQ. Dutch Boyd only made quads with his Jacks. Cressend of Metaire won over 3.5k for his run. Sean Legendre also of Metairie finished in the money at 143. So too, Tim Burt and Randall Robinson of West Monroe, LA. |
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EARLY WSOP CASHES BY
GULF COASTERS: WHO DEALS THE DEALERS EVENT? Darrell Guillory used to blog on GCP giving us a taste of the other side of the felt with his dealer's perspective. Showing he's still got it, the Harrahs New Orleans dealer, finished 50th in the employees event. TRUDEAU DEEP IN 3K SHOOTOUT: Joe Cada won his third WSOP bracelet (including a Main Event championship) and staked his claim as one of the better champions of the poker boom era. Jeff Trudeau of Winter Garden FL, saw it first hand albeit breifly as he fell first at the final table (after winning twice to get there). MERCIER MIN CASHES BIGGER THAN MOST PEOPLES CAREER EARNINGS: 174k for a min-cash? Not so bad for Jason Mercier who finished 14th in the 100k No Limit high roller. Another score for a GCP blogger. PARIS IN ONLINE MONEY: Congrats to Paris Heard of Prairie MS, who had the deepest run in the $365 online bracelet event by a Gulf Coaster. FORCE FOURTH IN CHIPS IN PLOSSUSS: Tallahassee pro Leif Force bagged fourth in chips in the PLO giant event's first flight. David Prociack of Kissimmee min cashed. |
WSOP-C RESULTS: HORCHOFF PREVAILS IN CRAZY DOUBLE STACK FINALE: The last event for the circuit meant everybody looking on the outside of the top 50 of the points race were trying to get in even if they had to rebuy their way to the cashier's cage. If you got a hand early you could chip up, but you had to weather a storm. Nobody did it better than Mike Horchoff who had the right mix of gamble, nerve, and composure to capture a ring. Horchoff won 25k for first. Richard "Sinister Sean" Sinclair of Mobile finished sixth for 4.9k, Kip Jones of Denham Springs 7th for 3k, and William Zibilich of Norco won over 2k for ninth. Maurice Hawkins fell short in his effort to catch Vornicu and made it only to 10th place. Also, cashing Mary Roy, Ben Thomas, Corey Harrison, Jerrard Parfait, John Cressend, Easton Oreman, Rebecca Campbell, Todd Elliot, and John Gibbons. A SPIDER, A CAPTAIN AND A BIERMAN WALK INTO A SENIORS FUNCTION: It was a Harrahs NOLA locals reunion as Bob "Spider" Henderson, Captain Ronnie Hope and Steve Bierman all made the money in the second seniors event. Bierman got bumped out in third place as Steve Irwin (not a crocodile hunter as far as we know) won. The Californian earned 9.5k. Bierman made just over 4k for third. Captain Ron made a giant pocket Aces laydown correctly on a Q55 board but still got sunk in fourth. Randall Alleman of Carencro, LA won 2.3k for fifth. Also on the final table: Louis Azemar of Lafayette and Robbie Matthews of Denham Springs. Joining Spider in the money were Nelson Solar of Denham Springs, Mark Holmes of Bush, LA, Nicholas Mustacchia of Metairie, and George McCollum of St. Rose. |
WSOP-C MAIN EVENT: MONROE THE MAN OF THE MAIN... AGAIN: Jerry Monroe of Georgia, wins Main Events on the Gulf Coast. We won't mention who he beat to win his first WSOP-C Main Event at the IP a few years ago, but we do know that guy got to see Jerry win a main event ring (his third overall and his second in New Orleans) one more time. This time Jerry made over 200k for first when he bested Darren Martin (his second second place finish of the week). Martin earned 128k. John Skinner, a Boomtown New Orleans reg, parlayed a Nightly tournament victory which came with a free Main Event seat into 70k. The 4 - 8 player finished fourth in the Main leaving a bevvy of salty No Limit tournament players in his wake Justin Donato won 53k for fifth. Ben the Destroyer Mintz finished 7th for 31k. Nick Graphia of Baton Rouge thirteenth. Nate Gibbs of New Orleans won a one of a kind bubble tournament to win his Main Event seat and turned it into 13k. Stan Barre also won his way in to finish 28th. Others cashing: Blake Whittington, Jonathan Wisbey, Paul Distefano, Corey Harrison, Martin Zentner, PJ Horrigan, Blake Baker, Mike Monaghan, Thu Tran, Robert Quin, and Ashley Butler. |
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MORE WINNERS: Congrats and thanks to Charle Gelvin, Todd Skinner and Simi Mitall (who cashed in her event!) for playing and entering our seat giveaway. We really appreciate Chase Haydel and Harrahs New Orleans partnering up with us to get local poker enthusiasts into the tournaments for free. We gave away two of these at virtually the last moment and had a few peoples whose names were draw but couldn't make it. Looking forward to Ben Saxton's write up of our winners week (coming soon!): 
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WSOP-C RESULTS: HAWKINS WINS HIGH ROLLER: Maurice Hawkins couldn't let Val Vornicu just keep adding to his lead and pulled back one in the race for all time rings won. Now the Hawk sits on 11 with Valentin on 12. He also earned 71k for a nice boost to his summer roll. Our rooting interest was Barth Melius who finished fourth for 22k. Two boys from 'Bama's hometown LaDarren Banks (6th 12k), and BJ McBrayer of Tuscaloosa (9th 6.2k) also made the final table. Mike Horchoff cashed (again) winning 5k for 11th. Curtis Terry of Metairie cashed too.  DOVE DOES IT: Don Dove of NOLA a friend of GCP, beat another FOGCP, Philip Walsh heads up to win his first ring. Dove made 17k on the day while Walsh earned 10k. Also, cashing Jerry Monroe. SANDEEP'S POCKETS NOW DEEPER AFTER PLO WIN: San Antonio's Sandeep Vasudevan won 12k for first place. He beat Mitchell Smith of Palm Beach (7.6k) for the ring. Also at the final table John Holley with a lot of 4s by his name (4th for $4,014), Rebecca Campbell of TV's NCIS New Orleans and Tomer Mushin of Houston. Brian Mock and Brian Senie of NOLA also cashed. BRENNAN BENGLIS BULLDOZES SIX MAX: What's with alliterative names this stop? Val Vornicu got two rings, Abraham Araya beat Bob Beck for one, Don Dove... and also Brennan Benglis of Lake Charles won one too to go with 25k for first. Dan Holmes of Lafayette, LA won 15k for second and David Nicholoson won 7.5k for forth. Blake Whittington cashed again in fifth. Four locals made the final two tables as home grown talent Easton Oreman (8th, 2.8k), Michael Horchoff (9th) John Durio of Metairie (10th), and Jeff Densen of NOLA (12th) added to their bankrolls. Also in the money: Jeremy Eyer of Gulfport, Blake Baker, Brandon Gullory of Opelousas, LA, Donovan Brack of St. Amant, LA, Anthony Graphia of Baton Rouge, LA, Chandler Duncan of NOLA, and Ken Christopher of Mobile, AL. |
WSOP-C NOLA: THE LADIES FINAL TABLE GOT COMP-ED: Cynthia Compton of Atlanta prevailed in the Ladies event besting Justine Renteria of Corpus Christi winning almost $4500 on the $250 buy-in. Renteria won just under $2800 for second. Amber Douglas of Prairieville, LA (third 1.8k), Cheryl Felton of Metairie, LA (1.2k, fourth), Janet Larson of Robinsonville, MS (sixth) and Lynn Kimball of Baton Rouge, LA all made the money. SENIORS LOADED WITH LOCALS: Scott Roberts prevailed for 11k besting Darren Martin (7k for second... more on him to come). Nelson Solar of Denham Springs, James Duke of Houston, TX, Rodney Shows, Ms. Joan Rhodes of NOLA, and Danny Doucet rounded out the final table. Also in the green: Lane Leblance, Deric Williams (Harvey, LA), Paul Hudspeth (Austin, TX), Bill Flippen (Kenner, LA) and Matt Parsons (Bossier City). AA over BB: In the 580 buy in event two circuit regs Abraham Araya of Carrolton, TX and Bob Beck of Santa Rosa Beach FL clashed with the outcome decided alphabetically, Araya won 27k for first and Beck almost 17k for second. Nolan Burton of Pleasant Grove, AL won 12k for third. Craing Norals of Jackson, MS (7th 3.8k), and Liazari Petcov of NOLA (8th 3k) also made the final table. Good to see Chris Sumrall of Houma, LA make the final 18 too. For more on the inspiring story of the winner Araya go here: VALENTINE'S DAY CAME TWICE: Valentin Vornicu won again. The 11 time ring wwinner became a 12 time ring winner. His final table featured a slew of standouts who ran deep this week. Josh Lowing of Pensacola won almost 15k for second after Vornicu earned another 24k for first. Mohammed Shalai won 6k for fifth. Mike Horchoff won 4.6k for 6th. Sley Sanchez of New Orleans won 2.8k for 8th with Justin Brassieur of Lake Charles rounding out the final table in 9th. Jerry Monroe (definitely more on him to come too) won 3.6k for 7th. Also in the money Johnathan Hilton, Blake Whittington of Jacksonville, Roland Drufresne of Mandeville, Justin Bracy of Metairie (!), Anthony Graphia of Baton Rouge, Eugene Wade of Kinder, LA, Greg Rabalais of Church Point, LA, Eric Wilkinson of NOLA and Lathan Campo of Greensburg, LA. |
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WSOP-C UPDATES: MISSISSIPPI SHOWDOWN:  Ray Curran of Ocean Springs won his first ring after chopping the money with Mike Monaghan of Yazoo City and playing for the jewelry. What a final table it was Jeff Trudeau finished third for over 19k, Ben Thomas of Baton Rouge won 11k for 5th, Chris Sheffield of Pensacola 8.4k for sixth, and Jared Ingles 7th for 6.5k. Steve Meyers of Mandeville (always knocking on the door) 10th, Don Dove of NOLA 11th, Morgan Sager of NOLA 12th, and Joel Doney soon to be of NOLA 15th. Also in the money: John Cressend, Brian Mock, Prissy Giroir, Robert Cote, Jerry Monroe, Joe Phelps, Jerrard Parfait, TM Martin, Chris Iacono of NOLA, PJ Horrigan, Corey Harrison and Archimedes Arevelo of Kinder.  LAFAYETTE HOME GAME: The final three of Event 7 could have easily taken place somewhere about 2 hours west of New Orleans. Terry Melancon of Breaux Bridge won 21k and a ring after beating two near neighbors of his from Lafayette. Michael Fontenot won 13.5k for second and Michael Benton won almost 10k for third. Freddie Ardoin of Lacassine, LA finished 7th. Also cashing: William Zibilich of Norco, LA, Jerry (Jeezh Jerry how many times did you cash...) Monroe, and Vincent Calcagno of NOLA also went to the cashier's cage. |
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SEAT GIVEAWAY WINNERS: STILL A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE WSOP-C SEAT! Every night this week the $135 buy-in tournament has one Main Event seat added to the prize pool. Satellites start later this week but treat these small fields as you own satellite, win some money in the process and have a shot at playing for some huge money this weekend. Every night at 7pm SOCIAL MEDIA CHAMPS: Here's a look at two of our winners: Jamar Butler and Jacque Gremillion won seats in our giveaway and played the reentry this weekend. Todd Cowan who cashed the reentry is pictured further below in our recap of that event. Thanks to you guys for rocking the patch. Two more winners to play this week.   Also, huge thanks to the Poker Room manager Chase Haydel who helped us put this promotion together. He has been making things happen this year since taking over in NOLA. He's put players first and we are grateful to have him. To be honest we are pretty lucky on the coast with all the guys running the poker rooms here and he's been an outstanding addition to the group. |
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HAND OF THE WEEK: This hand from Alec Torelli and Daniel Negreanu illustrate the relevance of blockers even in Hold'em. Always great to see the gears working in Negreanu's head as he talks you through what he's thinking. He figures out his value bet has become something else and Torelli is turned into a wet noodle of Daniel's shaping in this hand. WSOP AND ESPORTS? The Rio Pavillion room will host the WSOP ESPORTS Tournament this summer. Players in town for the WSOP can also play some video games during the festival. The partnership with UMG offers 1.9 million players in their database a good reason for going to Vegas during the WSOP. Details here. |
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WSOP-C NOLA REENTRY: VALENTINE ON MOTHERS DAY:  Val Vornicu topped the field on his way to his 11th circuit ring breaking a dead-lock with Maurice Hawkins for 1st all time in rings won. With 1340 entries, Val also earned 64k (nice bankroll boost before the WSOP). Interestingly, enough Val found himself in New Orleans chasing points for the Global Championship and took a different strategy to the final table. Laddering up. Sometimes you ladder all the way to first. Jonathan Hilton, who's demeanor is markedly different from VV, finished third. We'd say nice guys don't finish first but the Chattanooga pro won a National Championship in New Orleans for a huge chunk of his earnings. 28k is a a pretty decent consolation prize. Local, Clinton Boynes of Mandeville finished second for 39k. We were pulling hardest for friend of GCP Joe Hebert (pictured above) at the final table but he bowed out 7th for 10k. Holly Meliet of Baton Rouge won almost 7k for 9th. Cigar Joey finished 11tth for 5.7k. Nick Rodrigue of Chalmette, earned 4.8k for 13th. Ken Christopher won 4.1k for 16th. Luis Tablas earned 3.5k for 21st. Judy Rhodes of Houma (23rd), Jared Wiley of NOLA (25th) David Nicholosn (26th), Teddy Conner (27th), Kris Kent of Slidell (28th), JP Kolb of Youngsville, LA (29th) Heath  er
Reese of Gulf Breeze (30th) and Kyle Barnett of Metairie
(32nd) all made over 2k for thier runs.Raymond Curran of Ocean Springs, Jerry Ard of Monticello, MS, Sean Sinclair of Mobile, our own Wild Bill Phillips (one of a only a couple of players who cashed multiple times in this event), and Skip Gill of Baton Rouge all made over $1500. Also cashing: Ron Germany and Andrew Brinkley of Georgia, Trace Henderson of Laurel, MS, our Social media contest winner Todd Cowan (pictured) of Metairie, LA, Kamond Mitchell of NOLA, Shawn Calvit of Lafayette, Ian Crozier of Metairie, Steve Bierman, Chris Dupuy of Baton Rouge, Curtis Terry, Mo Moeini, Marco Lemus of Vicksburg, Corey Dukes of Slidell, Chris Baudean of NOLA, Rory Obrien of Prairieville, LA, Daniel Sheynin of NOLA, and Don Shipley of Baton Rouge. |
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HARRAHS NOLA CIRCUIT: Congrats to the winners of our Social Media seat giveaway! We are very happy for Jamar Butler, Jacque Gremillion, Todd Cowen, Simi Mittal, and Matt Bizub who will all be playing this week. Would be great if they could turn a social media share into a ring! Thanks to Harrahs for providing the seats for this promotion. Looking at a potentially huge turn out for this first weekend and beyond. For more circuit information head here now! |
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POINTS CHASERS: The Global Championship will take place after the WSOP at next year's first circuit stop in Cherokee North Carolina. To qualify the top 50 in points earned for this circuit year freeroll the 10k buy-in Event. Here's an update on some regional notables in the hunt: These guys are safely in: Chris Conrad, Kevin Eyster, TK Miles, Stephen Nusrallah, and Jason Gooch. Those with MAYBE some work to do, but maybe already secured enough: Steve Bierman (36th, 180 points), Chris Carey (37th, 180 points), Woody Moore (39th, 175 points) and Jonathan Tamayo (40th, 172.5 points). Those who should be sweating it and will probably have to cash in NOLA: Maurice Hawkins (46th, 165), Michael Cooper (48th 162.5) and Jonathan Hilton 50th (160). Some familiar names are just outside the top 50 and will likely be in NOLA for the final stop to try and get in. They include 53rd Ari Engel, 54th Valentin Vornicu, 58th Mark Fink and 62nd Allen Kessler. Other regional players in the top 100 include William Anderson, Russ Head, Ben Keeline, Janet Fitzgerald, John Holley, Bob Beck, Cody Stanford, and David Lee. The next 100 is led by Danny Doucet (101, 115 points), Cory Waaland, Michael Sanders, and William "Jeter" Brock. Good Luck to all of ya'll getting after it! |
LINKAGE: AVENGERS, AVENGERS, AVENGERS: The Avengers save the world by playing No Limit Hold'em? No, we are not spoiling the Infinity War, though perhaps we are spoiling one of its sequels. Interesting plot device... a game of No Limit Hold'em to save the universe. What player would you want to decide your fate? Go here to see what Avenger writers chose. Does the Avengers playing poker sound too far fetched for the big screen? Considering Marvel has long employed a rotating poker game between it's heroes to strengthen the mesh of the shared universe, maybe not. Perhaps it's really only a matter of time before we see Bruce Banner going all Hulk after taking a bad beat or getting slowrolled. Banner: "I've always want to say something like this... HULK FLUSH!" Thor: That's a great hand... (looks skyward) Odin why have you forsaken me? ...Hahahaha, of course you haven't! Alas, Banner that last Queen made me a House that is Full. Banner: (!) Iron Man: Not cool, not co... Hulk: Hulk Smash! HEY OH! PAY-O VAYO: WSOP Main Event runner-up Gordon Vayo has sued Pokerstars claiming they defrauded him ~700k for a 2017 SCOOP tournament win. In short, Vayo alledges the site encourages Americans to play in Canada and Mexico and in other countries where poker is legal, only to turn around and deny payment when they win bigon the pretenses that it's not veriable they played the tournament abroad. In essence, Vayo alledges if Stars can doubt he was where he says was they turn around and keep the money. It is possible to play on a Virtual Private Network but Vayo denies he did this. Also, interesting Stars credited the money to Vayo's account and he continued to play on the site, but only when he tried to cash out did PokerStars claim it's possible he didn't play the tournament outside the U.S. Even worse to the day he filed suit against them PokerStars has been advertising the SCOOP with his image and touting him as a winner (without letting him keep his winnings). |
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HAND OF THE WEEK! |
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FREE SEATS!
SOCIAL MEDIA WSOPC SEAT GIVEAWAY: Here's all the details....  You have two (err... three, errr... four) options... 1. Like us on FACEBOOK here. You also have to share the pinned social media WSOP-C seat giveaway post on your page. Then direct message us your name as it appears on your total rewards card and your Harrahs Total Rewards #. OR... 2. Follow us on TWITTER here. Retweet the social media WSOP seat giveaway tweet. Then direct message us your name as it appears on your total rewards card and your Harrahs Total Rewards #. OR... Do both and get two entries. OR... Do both, get two entries and download Harrahs Total Rewards App and enter for a chance to win a seat there too. The drawing for $365 seats takes place Sunday, May 6th in Harrahs NOLA poker room. You do not have to be present to win. Your seat will be credited to your TR account. We will contact you to see which $365 event you would like to play. *All direct messages must be received by 11:59:59 pm Friday, May 5th. You must be 21 to enter and must play your (non-transferable) seat at this May's circuit event. Good luck all. |
CHEROKEE MAIN: The WSOP-C Main Event came down to a table full of accomplished players. Dylan Wilkerson prevailed to win just under 300k by beating Erick Lindgren heads up. Lindgren won 181k for second making him and probably at least a handful of people a little bit happier. A couple of Gulf Coast transplants got there too. TK Miles won 77k for 5th (aka End Boss) and Gabe Costner (pictured) tapped into the universe to mine the lucky fluctations in the quantum field with Venus rising to win 46k for 7th. Great to see both at another big time final table. Just behind them a who's who of circuit grinders. Jonathan Hilton (10th), Robert Hankins (12th), Chris Conrad (15th), Kyle Cartwright (16th), Rahul Deevara (19th), William Brock (20th), and Ben Keeline (23rd) all won over 10k. Jason Gooch, John Dollinger (who earlier won a ring), and Josh Arieh banked just under 10k. Also cashing Jeremy Eyer, Thanh Vu, Tim Burt, matt Graham, Jeff Trudeau, Robert Harwell, Justin Harvell, David Slaughter, and Joe Cheong (somebody chasing points?). |
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HAND OF THE WEEK: No guts(hot) no glory... |
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WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
GUARANTEES: Over 1.15 Million in Guarantees and over 15k in added money for the Harrahs New Orleans WSOP-Circuit event. It all starts Thursday, May 10th with the 200k Guarantee Re-Entry event. The four flights for that event begin at 11am on Thursday, continue 11 am and 4 pm Friday and conclude with an 11am Saturday. On Wednesday they are guaranteeing 100k in the $365 Monster Stack Re-Entry. Thursday the high roller also boasts a 100k Guarantee on the $2200 buy-in. The Main Event starts the 18th with a 750k guarantee. The four flights are 11am, and 4pm both on Friday and Saturday. Complete schedule here. |
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WSOP NEWS: HIGGINS FOR THE WIN:  Former Pearl River Re-Entry champion Matthew Higgins won another Re-entry, this time in Cherokee, earning a WSOP Circuit ring and over 100k. He only had to beat 2607 players to take the title. The Chattanooga rounder bested Narimaan Ahmadi of Alpharetta heads up. Ahmadi won 63k for second. Harold Kizzire of Birmingham finished 17th. PLAYER POOLS SHARED: Three out of fifty states now offer online poker and all three will not be able to compete against one another on WSOP.com. Players fromNew Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware will be able to battle one another legally any time they fire up their computer screen. There is movement afoot (scroll down for our link to Louisiana bill by Danny Martiny) for the Gulf Coast to join the party. If you have a moment shoot your local representative an email to support the movement. |
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HAND OF THE WEEK: Dream scenario... |
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SEMINOLE HARD ROCK
RESULTS: POCHE WINS 89K: Jonathan Poche added to his hot run with another big score finishing second to crypto hedge fund manager Pete Walsworth at the Seminole Hard Rock. The 5k No Limit Hold'Em tournament only had 98 entrants, but when the price of admission is 5k the prize pool builds pretty quickly. A bit of the a cooler/bad beat on the final hand. Poche flopped top two with 87 on an 874 board. He check raised Walsworth who made the call. Poche pushed on the turn when a 5 hit. Walsworth almost beat him into the pot holding 64 having flopped a pair and a gut shot that got there. Shane Lewis of Baton Rouge also made a couple of deep runs at the Seminole series. BRANDON ADAMS: He's still listed as a New Orleanian, he's also been a Pensacolian, but hard to know where this rambling man lives now. Regardless he won the SHRPO 1 Million GTD High Roller winning another 370k. Congrats to him and move over Keith Lehr this will move Brandon up to second all time in money won for Louisiana. |
Going
through the chips counts...many pros still in and in the top
50-100 in chips...Only women to make a Main Event Table
Barbara Enright 10th in chips...Eric Froehlich...Paul
Volpe...Chris Morrman...Dan Heimiller...Shannon Shorr...Chino
Rheem...Phil Ivet...Billy Kopp...Circuit grinder Jonathan
Hilton...and Scott Davies
Giroir...Capt Ronald...etc