Previewing the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's St. Louis
The World Series of Poker Circuit recently began its stop at Harrah’s St. Louis with the first of ten ring events. Action has been under way for a few days now, and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be making their way to the venue this weekend to provide coverage of the Main Event. As such, we thought it might be fun to take a look at the St. Louis stop and the WSOP-Circuit as a whole in a bit more detail.
First Ring Event of the Stop
The first ring event of the WSOP-Circuit in St. Louis got off to a bang with 843 players registering and subsequently setting the record for the largest poker tournament ever held in Missouri (beating last year’s first ring event that drew 675 players). Fittingly, St. Louis native and 2008 WSOP Main Event third-place finish, Dennis Phillips, was on hand to kick things off with the ceremonial “Shuffle up and deal!”
It took two days for the field to narrow down to the final table, with two-time WSOP-Circuit ring winner Eric Crain leading the way. Unfortunately, a bad run of cards ensured that he wouldn’t be adding a third, and he was eliminated in seventh place. In the end, Mark Pearse of Taylorville, Illinois, took down the title and $47,096 first-place prize. Pearse, a 41-year-old corrections officer and father of four, said simply, “This is unbelievable.”
His victory came on the first hand of heads-up play when he and Charlie Dawson were practically even in chips. The two got it in with Pearse holding 3x3x against the A♥10♥ of Dawson. The board ran out 5♠K♠4♠5♥J♣ and Pearse took the title and an early lead in the WSOP-Circuit St. Louis Casino Championship Leaderboard with 50 points.
WSOP-Circuit St. Louis Ring Event #1
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $300+$45 | 843 | $241,510 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Pearse | Taylorville, IL | $47,096 |
| 2 | Charlie Dawson | Owensboro, KY | $29,102 |
| 3 | Hugh Drummond | Vancouver, BC, Canada | $21,436 |
| 4 | Phil Stelzer | Columbia, MO | $15,998 |
| 5 | George Cahill | Saint Peters, MO | $12,095 |
| 6 | Frank Austin | DeForest, WI | $9,262 |
| 7 | Eric Crain | Murphysboro, IL | $7,183 |
| 8 | Bryan Testin | Hawthorn Woods, GB | $5,639 |
| 9 | Wyatt Denis | Fenton, MO | $4,482 |
Notable Players in Ring Event #2
The second ring event of the stop drew 709 players and generated a prize pool of $202,906. Among the entrants were some surprise names such as Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist and avid poker player, Nelly, and 1972 WSOP Champion and poker legend, Amarillo Slim Preston. The 82-year-old, four-time WSOP bracelet winner said: “I got a call from one of my cowboys to come up and play last week. I wasn’t doing anything so I decided to come on up.”
Unfortunately, neither Nelly nor Preston could get much done and the ring eventually went to 23-year-old Dan Sztenderowicz of Philadelphia, Pa.
WSOP-Circuit St. Louis Ring Event #2
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $300+$45 | 709 | $202,906 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Sztenderowicz | Philadelphia, PA | $41,589 |
| 2 | Mark Koeln | St. Louis, MO | $25,739 |
| 3 | Paul Jepsen | Rolla, MO | $18,878 |
| 4 | Donald Swentik | Fort Worth, TX | $14,039 |
| 5 | Ryan Hill | Acworth, GA | $10,582 |
| 6 | Christopher Feiner | Denver, CO | $8,082 |
| 7 | Darrell Swentik | Vernon, TX | $6,254 |
| 8 | Brett Balber | St. Louis, MO | $4,902 |
| 9 | Jared Speckmeyer | O Fallon, MO | $3,892 |
With two ring events down, eight remain on the schedule that culminates in the $1,500+$100 Main Event this weekend. The winner of that event, along with the player who earns the most points during the WSOP-Circuit stop in St. Louis, will become the two newest qualifiers for the National Championship $1 Million Freeroll that will take place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from May 27 to 29, 2011, and will be televised nationally on the Versus network. Thus far, 48 spots have been locked up for the National Championship. Here is a look at those who have already qualified and how they got there.
WSOP-C Qualified for National Championship
| Player | Qualified | Points | Rings | Cashed | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Anderson | Midwest Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $525,449 |
| Chris Bell | Eastern Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $358,295 |
| Ali Eslami | West Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $282,242 |
| Chris Klodnicki | Eastern Regional Final Table | 475 | 0 | 2 | $253,757 |
| Gabe Patgorski | Midwest Regional Final Table | 375 | 0 | 1 | $324,770 |
| Tim West | West Regional Final Table | 375 | 0 | 1 | $174,443 |
| Bernard Lee | Midwest Regional Final Table | 320 | 0 | 2 | $242,950 |
| Ketan Pandya | Eastern Regional Final Table | 300 | 0 | 1 | $159,851 |
| Duane Blanchard | West Regional Final Table | 300 | 0 | 1 | $124,204 |
| Curt Kohlberg | Midwest Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $174,807 |
| Micah Raskin | Eastern Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $117,457 |
| Steve Brecher | West Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $90,223 |
| Dwyte Pilgrim | West Regional Final Table | 265 | 0 | 3 | $81,466 |
| Dave “Doc” Sands | Midwest Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $131,299 |
| Todd Terry | Eastern Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $87,808 |
| David Peters (CA) | West Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $66,834 |
| Shannon Shorr | Midwest Regional Final Table | 225 | 0 | 1 | $100,151 |
| Andy Frankenberger | Eastern Regional Final Table | 225 | 0 | 1 | $66,758 |
| Dana Kellstrom | West Regional Final Table | 225 | 0 | 1 | $50,455 |
| Charles “Woody” Moore | S. Indiana Main Event Champ | 207.5 | 1 | 6 | $144,530 |
| Matthew Waxman | Harrah’s AC Main Event Champ | 200 | 1 | 2 | $144,029 |
| Brandon Adams | Midwest Regional Final Table | 200 | 0 | 1 | $77,556 |
| Jason Burt | Eastern Regional Final Table | 200 | 0 | 1 | $51,607 |
| Kurt Jewell | Hammond Main Event Champ | 192.5 | 1 | 5 | $272,172 |
| Miller Dao | West Regional Final Table | 180 | 0 | 2 | $33,532 |
| Anthony Hartmann | Midwest Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $60,952 |
| Nicholas Mitchell | Eastern Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $40,538 |
| Dylan Wilkerson | West Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $30,397 |
| Mstr Lynch | Rincon Casino Champion | 160 | 2 | 3 | $151,897 |
| Mark Owens | Midwest Regional Final Table | 150 | 0 | 1 | $48,615 |
| Seth Fischer | Eastern Regional Final Table | 150 | 0 | 1 | $32,362 |
| Ian Wiley | Hammond Casino Champ | 132.5 | 1 | 4 | $64,360 |
| Brian Ali | Caesars AC Main Event Champion | 130 | 1 | 2 | $158,911 |
| Seneca Easley | Rincon Main Event Champion | 125 | 1 | 4 | $76,509 |
| Stanley Quinn | Lake Tahoe Main Event Champ | 110 | 1 | 2 | $88,438 |
| Samuel Barnhart | Tunica Main Event Champion | 107.5 | 1 | 3 | $151,722 |
| Robert Georato | Council Bluffs Casino Champ | 107.5 | 1 | 6 | $33,696 |
| Kyle Cartwright | Tunica Casino Champion | 102.5 | 2 | 3 | $57,540 |
| Huy Nguyen | Choctaw Main Event Champ | 100 | 1 | 1 | $232,706 |
| Travis Lutes | IP Biloxi Main Event Champ | 100 | 1 | 1 | $95,253 |
| Blair Hinkle | Council Bluffs Main Event Champ | 100 | 1 | 1 | $88,555 |
| Jesus Cabrera | Harrah’s AC Casino Champ | 95 | 0 | 2 | $77,440 |
| Bobbie Talbot | IP Biloxi Casino Champ | 87.5 | 0 | 3 | $47,764 |
| Mun Nguyen | Caesars AC Casino Champion | 87.5 | 1 | 2 | $33,831 |
| Kevin Manley | S. Indiana Casino Champ | 87.5 | 1 | 2 | $25,498 |
| Andrew Barber | Lake Tahoe Casino Champ | 77.5 | 0 | 3 | $19,527 |
| Traci Brown | Choctaw Casino Champ | 75 | 0 | 1 | $143,426 |
| Mike Morton | Palm Beach Casino Champion | 75 | 0 | 1 | $130,057 |
In addition to the qualifiers, 34 spots will be awarded to the corresponding point-earners on the National Leaderboard at the end of the season. Here is a look at that leaderboard:
WSOP-C National Leaderboard Top Ten*
| Player | Points | Rings | Cashed | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Schwertley | 175 | 2 | 7 | $114,652 |
| Kevin Calenzo | 170 | 0 | 8 | $94,586 |
| Jeremy Schwartz | 162.5 | 1 | 4 | $75,238 |
| Shiva Dudani | 152.5 | 1 | 5 | $73,799 |
| Mark Sykes | 120 | 0 | 4 | $68,967 |
| Will Souther | 120 | 1 | 4 | $64,312 |
| Drazen Ilich | 115 | 1 | 3 | $66,646 |
| Tom Franklin | 112.5 | 0 | 5 | $29,818 |
| Nick Jivkov | 110 | 1 | 3 | $88,305 |
| Dennis Summers | 110 | 1 | 3 | $39,317 |
*Points entering the WSOP-Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis stop.
Don’t miss your chance to qualify for the National Championship and your shot at the $1 million freeroll. There are still plenty of opportunities to play, including any of the remaining stops on the WSOP-Circuit schedule.
Remaining 2010/2011 WSOP-C Schedule
| Event | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s St. Louis | March 31-April 13, 2011 |
| Circuit Event | Caesars Palace (Las Vegas) | April 14-30, 2011 |
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s Chester | April 27-May 9, 2011 |
| Regional Championship | Harrah’s New Orleans | May 9-May 22, 2011 |
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today! In the meantime, see who qualifies for the National Championship this weekend by following our Live Reporting Team’s coverage from Harrah’s St. Louis.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
