$5,150 Circuit Championship Main Event | 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit - Council Bluffs

02-25-2009 23:29 UTC-5

Dennis Meierotto Eliminated in 2nd Place ($62,790)

donpeters

Like most pots have been so far in the heads-up battle, the final one went to the flop without a raise. Jesse Hale had the button and the flop came down {A-Diamonds}

. Dennis Meierotto checked his option first and then Hale followed right behind with a check.

The turn brought the {K-Hearts}

and Meierotto announced "All in." Hale checked his hand and then asked for a count. The dealer broke down the chips and let Hale know the total all-in bet was for 136,000.

Hale stared at his cards as he held them up in front of his face. After about a minute went by, Hale announced "Call!"

Showdown:
Hale: {A-Spades}

Meierotto: {6-Spades}

Hale needed to dodge a five or a six on the river to take down the event. The dealer slowly burned and slowly turned over the last card... the {7-Diamonds}

! That would be it, Hale's hand held up and Meierotto was eliminated in 2nd place, earning $62,790 for his finish.

Jesse Hale, the skydiving instructor and coach from Texas, took home first place along with $113,020, the gold championship ring, and a buy in to the 2009 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas!

Tags: Dennis Meierotto Jesse Hale

02-25-2009 23:43 UTC-5

Congratulations to Jesse Hale, WSOP-C Council Bluffs Champion! ($113,020)

[user66118]

Some eight hours after our final table began, we have a new World Series of Poker Circuit champion. Jesse Hale, the skydiving coach from Texas, left home with just a couple thousand dollars in his pocket. His travels took him here, to the Horseshoe Casino in Iowa, where Lady Luck smiled on him. After a good couple days, Hale had plenty of money to buy his way into the Main Event, something he hadn't planned on doing. Now, three days later, he has parlayed that buy-in into a big chunk of change.

Sixty-seven players took their seats on Day 1, and more than half of them were shown the door before play concluded for the night. When the rest of the field went home, Hale walked across the room to finish out the Pot-Limit Omaha event that he was playing concurrently throughout the day. He would go on to take third place in that event, picking up a bit more spending money, but playing deep into the morning.

Returning on Day 2, Hale began play near the top of the leader board. Things were a bit streaky for him though, and his chip stack would slide as the night wore on. Still, he managed to survive to the final table, beginning today in the middle of the pack.

Day 3 saw the trend continue, as Hale was once again running up and down the board. He had finally worked his stack up to respectability three handed before a big confrontation with John McDonald left our future champion crippled. Hale was determined though, and from that point on, it was his table. He managed to dispense with the pesky McDonald a bit later, cracking aces with a baby full house. Down to just two, Dennis Meierotto would put up a fine fight, but he was just out-gunned by Hale. After more than an hour of trading jabs heads up, the bigger punches started flying, and Meierotto could do nothing to stave off the attack.

Apart from being the victor, Jesse Hale was the life of the party at the final table today. He kept everyone's spirits light, sometimes spontaneously bursting into song, other times riling up the spectators with a bit of self-deprecating humor. His jovial spirit and eagerness to win certainly make him a deserving champion. Hale would like to express his love for his wife Angela, as well as his unborn daughter, Kayla Dawn. The Hale family has plenty of reasons to be happy this week. From all of us here at PokerNews, congratulations to Jesse Hale, WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs champion!

Tags: Jesse Hale

$5,150 Circuit Championship Main Event

Day 3 Completed