Main Event
Day 3 Started
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Harveys Lake Tahoe
Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Harveys Lake Tahoe
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$354,240
Entries
246
Level
29
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Final Table Day
Today is the day a champion is crowned here at Harvey's Lake Tahoe. The WSOP Circuit Main Event has been whittled all the way down to the final nine and here's how they stand.
Seat 1: Dan Black (585,000)
Seat 2: Donna Jetter (111,000)
Seat 3: John McNeilly (263,000)
Seat 4: Joe "13" Mongkol-ua-aree (287,000)
Seat 5: Michael Traylor (1,843,000)
Seat 6: Drew Caseri (164,000)
Seat 7: Grant Hillman (484,000)
Seat 8: Ned Mantua (945,000)
Seat 9: Stanley Quinn (377,000)
As you can see, Michael Traylor has a whopping chip lead on the rest of the table. He holds about 37.5% of the chips in play and nearly a two-to-one chip lead on his next closest competitor Ned Mantua.
We must say, we've never actually heard of any of these nine finalists prior to this Main Event, but that doesn't mean they won't turn out to be superstars. One of our mottos at PokerNews is, "Find the star before he or she is a star." That's what we're here to do today.
Play begins at 12:00 PM PST, a bit earlier than we're used to starting for a final table, but still just as exciting. Stick right here at PokerNews for all the live updates from the final table. We'll be kicking things off shortly!
Seat 1: Dan Black (585,000)
Dan Black finished out Day 1 of the this WSOP Circuit Main Event as the chip leader. He's been able to ride that big stack all the way to the final table. Black is 61 years of age. He's retired now, but prior to being a retiree, Black worked as a construction specialist and a fireman.
One thing's for sure, Black knows how to do it big. The Day 1 chip leader owns a piece of land that is a massive 5,000 acres in size. He uses that land to escort visitors on hunting trips.
Although Black has made his way to the final table of this tournament, he prefers cash games and bought into this tournament using his winnings from those cash games. He enters the final day of play third in chips with 585,000.
Seat 2: Donna Jetter (111,000)
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Meet your last lady standing.
Donna Jetter is a resident of the Nashville metro area in Tennessee where she renovates homes by day. By night, though, Jetter is beginning to find her stride at the poker table. She's been a regular on the WSOP Circuit for the past three years, and she won herself a piece of Circuit jewelry earlier this year when she took down the Ladies' Event in Tunica.
Jetter is the first lady to make a Main Event final table at this year's Circuit. She'll have her work cut out if she hopes to take the title, though, as she comes into Day 3 with 111,000 chips, less than 6 big blinds.
Seat 3: John McNeilly (263,000)
When you're out of work, poker can be a good place to turn if you're looking for some extra cash. That's just the case for John McNeilly from Sonoma, California. He's made his way to this final table and is guaranteed at least $7,942. That's a little bit more than last year when McNeilly final tabled this same WSOP Circuit event. He went on to finish in ninth last year, taking home $6,737 for his finish. The field was a lot smaller last year and only paid nine spots, making this a bit better of a run for McNeilly. Previously, McNeilly worked as a manager at a winery and also a high school basketball coach.
McNeilly would like to acknowledge the support he's received from his wife, his two daughters and his older brother. His older brother, who is diagnosed with ALS, has been following along online with the rest of McNeilly's family and friends. He'd like to give a shoutout to all of them and hopefully he can come home with the title.
Seat 4: Joe "13" Mongkol-ua-aree (287,000)
Joe "13" Mongkol-ua-aree is a local from Gardnerville, about a half hour down the mountain from Lake Tahoe. He's 38 years old, and he owns he is an entrepreneur of his own small business. His wife Yvette has been here supporting him all week, and she's managed to cash in a side event here at this Series as well. Mongkul-ua-aree formerly served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, but he's been grinding the Circuit for about four years now.
"13" begins play with just shy of 300,000 chips and 15 big blinds.
Seat 5: Michael Traylor (1,843,000)
Our chip leader for the final table is Michael Traylor, coming in with a massive 1.843 million in chips. As we mentioned before, that's nearly 37.5% of the chips in play and double the payer in second place.
Traylor already scored one cash here in Lake Tahoe at a preliminary event. He also cashed in a preliminary event at the Horseshoe Hammond WSOP Circuit stop. He's a professional poker player who previously worked in sales. He also had a stint as an actor.
Seat 6: Drew Caseri (164,000)
Drew Caseri lives in Merced, California, right in the middle of the big state. He is a 25-year-old college student. Caseri came to town in this midst of this blizzard to ride some powder on his snowboard, but it's turned into a more profitable trip than he intended. A few nights ago, he won his way into this Main Event via a $235 mega-satellite held here at Harvey's. He's now guaranteed close to $8,000, and that'll buy plenty of lift tickets.
Caseri begins play with 164,000 chips.
Seat 7: Grant Hillman (484,000)
We have no idea what bio-informatics, but Grant Hillman is a bio-informatics manager. Checking out what that is, it means he applies computer science and statistics to the field of molecular biology. His undergraduate degree came from the University of Illinois and his Masters from the University of Colorado.
Hillman won his way into this Main Event via a satellite and is making the most of his small investment. He enters the day fourth in chips with 484,000 and will be looking to climb the ladder to the top in just his second year playing on the WSOP Circuit.
Seat 8: Ned Mantua (945,000)
Ned Mantua is a 68-year-old gas station manager from Bodega Bay, California. He has four children (and their spouses) and four grandchildren scattered across the country, and we understand they are avid PokerNews followers this week. When he's not looking for fish at the poker table, Mantua can often be found in the waters north of the Bay Area doing some actual fishing.
Mantua enters the final table with the second-biggest stack of 945,000 chips.