2009 WSOP Circuit Event - New Orleans

$5,150 Circuit Championship Event
Day: 1
123
Event Info
2009 WSOP Circuit Event - New Orleans
Final Results
Winner
Prize
$161,175
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Entries
167
Level Info
Level
23
Blinds
12,000 / 24,000
Ante
3,000
Players Left 1 / 167
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Welcome to Harrah's New Orleans!

Hello and good evening from balmy New Orleans, Louisiana, the center of the poker world this week. PokerNews is thrilled to bring you our coverage of the final stop of the 2008-09 WSOP Circuit season, the Bayou Poker Challenge. Harrah's New Orleans is the home of this favorite stop amongst the Circuit regulars, and the preliminary events have been running for almost two weeks now.

Last year's Championship Event drew 249 runners with demolition contractor Nick Ceci walking away as the Champion. It'll be a tall task to draw more than 200 runners this year; still the staff is pleased with the turnouts for the preliminary events so far, and they are equally optimistic about the field for tomorrow's Big Show.

Play kicks off at high noon local time on Monday, and we'll be on the floor relaying all of the action, live and in technicolor. Until then!

Action to Begin Shortly

Donnie Peters
Donnie Peters
We're about 20 minutes away from the start of the Main Event here at Harrah's New Orleans. A few last-minute satellites are finishing up and the staff is very optimistic that the tournament room will be filled.

A few players have filtered into the room. One of those players is defending champion Nick Ceci. Ceci scored $382,928 for his win last year and will be looking to defend his title again this year.

Stay tuned for live coverage from the 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge!

Tags: Nick Ceci

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

Tims Seeing Red

On one of the very first hands of play, Jeff Tims got tangled up with a young player two seats to his right. The two men saw the flop come down king high, and Tims made a bet that was quickly called.

The turn card came the {Q-Diamonds}. Taking the lead now, the opponent put out a bet into the pro. "That's so sick," came the response from Tims. "I had you on two queens the whole time. What a sick turn card for you." After a moment or two of unintelligible muttering, Tims angrily slapped his cards into the muck.

"I better go get some water or something," he said. With that, he stood up from his chair and walked out of the room, barely five minutes into his day.

Tags: Jeff Tims

Some Familiar Faces

With 155 players registered so far, this is turning out to be quite an amateur-heavy field. This should be good news for the few pros who are lurking around the room. Among those we've spotted so far are Esther "E-Tay" Taylor, Matt Brady, Allen Kessler, Wilbur Futhey, Todd Terry, and the holder of two Circuit rings, Dwyte Pilgrim (who is on an epic heater over the past few months).

Todd Terry Tanks

Facing an under-the-gun raise, Todd Terry was the lone caller from the small blind, heading off to a heads-up flop.

It came down {A-Hearts} {3-Clubs} {3-Diamonds}. The raiser put out 250 more chips, which Terry quickly called.

Fourth street was the {9-Hearts}, and both men checked.

The last card off the deck was the {5-Clubs}. The aggressor stacked out a healthy bet of 850. Terry went into the tank for a minute or two, pensively staring off into space. Finally, he conceded, "All right," turning over the {A-Clubs} and sending both of his cards back to the dealer.

Tags: Todd Terry

Small Loss for Pilgrim

Donnie Peters
Donnie Peters
Dwyte Pilgrim raised to 200 from early position and was called in two spots; one in late position and one from the big blind. The flop came down {K-Clubs} {2-Diamonds} {2-Spades}.

Pilgrim led out for 300 after the big blind checked. The next player called and then the big blind folded.

The turn brought the {6-Clubs} and also a check from both players. After the river fell the {K-Spades}, Pilgrim tossed out a bet of 300. The player in late position called. His pocket jacks were good when Pilgrim showed only {A-Diamonds} {9-Hearts} for ace high.

Tags: Dwyte Pilgrim

No Easy Field

The pros are scattered pretty sparsely throughout the room, but these pros are here to play. Many of them are Circuit regulars who have fantastic results at these events around the country.

First, there's Kai Landry. In February, Landry took down the title at the Circuit event in Tunica, pocketing nearly $200,000. Last week, right here in New Orleans, he again rose to the top in a Circuit event, winning the $300 prelim and picking up his second ring.

He's not the only man here with two Circuit rings though. Philip Sparta is also in the house, and he must feel right at home here in the Big Easy. In 2007, Sparta took down two $500 prelims, one in May and one in November, both right here at Harrah's New Orleans. He would take home more than $100,000 for those two wins combined.

And then we move on to Dwyte Pilgrim. Pilgrim has some remarkable Circuit results this year. Just since December '08, Pilgrim has racked up 12 cashes, including nine final tables! His breakthrough finally came in March when he took home his first ring in a $500 prelim. He would better that before the month was out though. In late March, Pilgrim was awarded the diamond-studded ring that only comes with a Championship Event win. That win came at Harrah's Rincon, and it was good for more than $100,000. All told, Pilgrim has more than $300,000 in Circuit cashes to his credit, all coming this season.

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

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