WSOP Circuit Tunica Main Event, Day 3: Kai Landry Claims Ring

February 05 2009, John Hartness

After three days of poker and a tough final table Kai Landry of Biloxi, MS captured his first World Series of Poker Circuit championship at Harrah's Tunica. The southern Mississippi native rode north to Tunica to grab his gold ring, eliminating Day 1 chip leader David Dao in a brief heads-up match to take the championship and the $183,974 top prize.

Matt "All In At 420" Stout took a huge chip lead into the final table, with the starting stacks as follows when Day 3 of the Main Event kicked off:

Matt Stout -- 1,000,500
Jeremy Byrum -- 404,500
Kai Landry -- 375,000
Leonard Eidson -- 375,000
Mike Leah -- 335,000
Glynn Hyde -- 155,000
Brian McCoy -- 150,200
David Dao -- 150,000
Frank Wyville -- 138,500

Short stack Frank Wyville was the first to bust at the final table, falling early in the day to David Dao. Wyville, a firefighter from Alabama, was a sentimental crowd favorite early on, but couldn't get his game on track at the final table and busted in ninth place ($22,077). Wyville called Dao's open-shove with , but was dominated when Dao tabled . The board ran out , and Dao's top pair was enough to bust Wyville.

With that elimination, Dao moved back into the middle of the pack and Brian McCoy was the shortest stack remaining. A few hands later Dao limped in, Matt Stout raised and McCoy put the rest of his chips in the middle of the table. Dao thought for a moment before folding, and Stout snap-called with . McCoy needed a lot of help with his , and when the board brought McCoy headed to the cage to collect $29,436 for eighth place.

Glenn Hyde rounded out the initial flurry of eliminations when he ran afoul of Mike Leah for his seventh-place finish ($36,795). Hyde moved all in over the top of Leah's preflop raise with , and Leah thought for a moment before calling with . The flop came down almost perfect for Leah as it read . The on the turn gave Leah a straight and left Hyde drawing to three remaining sixes for the chop. The river was the instead, and Hyde's final table was finished.

Leah's luck ran out one spot after he eliminated Hyde, as he was busted by Matt Stout in sixth place ($44,154). Leah, Stout and two other players saw the flop, and Leah open-shoved as soon as the flop was dealt. Stout called without hesitation, tabling to Leah's . Nothing changed when the turn and river ran out , and Leah was done.

As the blinds grew higher, the preflop all-in moves came more quickly. Jeremy Byrum made his move with , but Leonard Eidson woke up with pocket queens and made the call. Byrum got a little help from the flop, but the on the turn did him no good. The river was the useless , and Byrum pocketed $51,513 for his fifth-place finish.

Next, Eidson moved all in over the top of Kai Landry's preflop raise, and Landry and Matt Stout both called. The flop came down , and Landry and Stout both checked, the live players checked down the board as the turn and river came and , and Eidson showed A-7 for ace high. Landry tabled for a pair of sixes, and Stout mucked as Landry raked a huge pot and Eidson collected fourth-place money of $61,816.

After battling back from extreme short-stack status at one point during three-handed play, Kai Landry went on a tear and eventually eliminated Matt Stout in third ($73,590). Stout's last hand saw him engaged in a preflop raising war with Landry. When the dust settled, it was a classic coin flip as Landry's squared off against Stout's . The flop favored Landry, as it came down . Stout fell further behind when the came on the turn, and the on the river sent the former chip leader home in third place ($73,590) as Landry, the former short stack, took over the chip lead.

It didn't take Landry and David Dao long to get the chips into the middle. The hand started innocuously enough, and both players checked the flop. Landry led out when the hit the turn, and Dao quickly raised. Landry moved all in with for Broadway, and Dao called. Dao showed for the royal draw, and Landry needed to fade a diamond or a queen to end the tournament. When the came on the river, David Dao was eliminated in second place ($117,744) as Kai Landry took down the championship ring, the WSOP prize package and the $183,974 top prize.

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