Welcome to the WSOP Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Main Event!
The third-to-last stop of the 2011/2012 World Series of Poker Circuit has been taking place at Harrah’s St. Louis over the past week. Nine of the 12 rings events have already concluded, and there were some great storylines that developed along the way including the largest poker tournament in Missouri history, Event #4: $355 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry.
That event attracted 1,066 players and created a prize pool of $310,206. That number was up considerably from 843 entries the year prior, and saw Roy Riley defeat Javier Zarco in heads-up action. In the final hand, Zarco, a 27-year-old student from Madrid, Spain, studying in the U.S., moved all in with 
on an 
flop. Riley made the call with a pair of sevens and held as the 
appeared on the turn followed by the 
on the river.
Zarco finished as runner-up for $35,327, while Riley became the champ and took down the $57,139 top prize. “I have the perfect life right now,” the 26-year-old physical education teacher and star of NBC’s Ironman World Championship reality show said after his win. “This was a great victory.”
St. Louis is known as the “Gateway to the West”, symbolized by the world-famous Arch, but today it’ll serve as the gateway to WSOP glory as the $1,600 Main Event will host two starting flights. Last year, WSOP Circuit phenom Kyle Cartwright defeated a field of 449-players to capture his third gold ring and the $142,290 first-place prize.
Cartwright is back to defend his title, as are a plethora of other pros including Bernard Lee, AP Phahurat, La Sengphet, David Clark, Dennis Phillips, Sam Barnhart, Charles Moore and Mark “Pegasus” Smith. The Poker News Live Reporting Team is also here and will be bringing you all the live updates from yet another great event. Be back in about an forty for all the hands, eliminations, and action from the WSOP-Circuit St. Louis.