Walk It Up
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Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
The action slowly folded round to see La Sengphet receive the first walk of the final table.
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - $1,000,000 National Championship
National Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - $1,000,000 National Championship
Entries
100
Level
21
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
3,000
A Stiff Ace On the River for Woody
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
On the very first hand of the final table, La Sengphet raised from under the gun to 10,500. Action folded over a couple seats to Matthew Lawrence. He reraised to 28,000. In the next seat on the other side of the dealer sat Charles "Woody" Moore. Starting the final table with 65,500, the shortest stack on the felt, Moore mulled it over and then made the call. Action moved back to Sengphet and she called as well.
The flop came down 
and Sengphet checked to Lawrence. He also checked and action was on Moore. The man who won the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event moved all in for 37,000. Sengphet folded, but Lawrence started to tank, not letting Moore get away with this one easily. Eventually, Lawrence slid out the chips for the call and the hands were tabled.
Moore showed the 
for just ace high, a surprising and bold move to put his tournament life on the line. Lawrence was amazed he held the best hand with the 
.
The turn brought the 
and gave Moore a few more outs to a wheel. The river was dealt with the 
and Moore jumped back with excitement as his cheering section let out a roar. Moore won the hand with an ace from space and more than doubled up. He's up to 170,000 now while Lawrence was kicked back to 74,500.
Play Underway
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
With the television crew all in place and player introductions made, the cards are now in the air for the final table of the WSOP-Circuit National Championship!
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,500/5,000
Ante: 500
Seat 9: Matthew Lawrence (140,000)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Matthew Lawrence qualified for the World Series of Poker National Championship through an “At-large bid” after his impressive and consistent performance throughout the 2010/2011 season. He managed to notch 10 cashes worth $52,781, with his largest single cash ($29,092) coming from a fourth-place finish in the Horseshoe Council Bluffs $1,600 Main Event back in August of last year.
Lawrence narrowly missed his second Main Event final table when he finished in 11th place. Interestingly, fellow National Championship final table member La Sengphet bubbled that final table in 10th place while Sam Barnhart, who is also here today, ended up winning that event.
Lawrence starts today’s final table with 140,000, which accounts for 7% of the chips in play. With only two short-stacked players behind him, Lawrence will have to fight if he hopes to claim the National Championship.
Seat 8: Jim Anderson (235,000)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Jim Anderson used to pour drinks before he stacked poker chips. Hailing from Wooster, Ohio, Anderson is a former bartender who cashed twice at this past summer’s WSOP in Las Vegas. He placed in the money in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event and then finished 242nd in the Main Event for nearly $50,000.
Anderson managed to clear a field of 226 to become the first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Champion, taking down the Midwest stop in Hammond, Indiana for $525,000. The key turning point for Anderson in that tournament came when runner-up Gabe Patgorski had a minor blow up during three-handed play. Anderson called Patgorski's all-in, five-bet shove with pocket jacks and held against the 
offsuit for Patgorski. That pot catapulted Anderson to the chip lead and he never looked back from there.
It looks like Anderson has made the right choice when he decided to turn to poker rather than tips. This televised final table, his second of the season, will no doubt showcase his poker skills as he looks to complement his ring with a WSOP gold bracelet.
Seat 7: Sam Barnhart (166,000)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Sam Barnhart is a 50-year old software analyst from Little Rock, Arkansas. Single with no children, Barnhart has been playing poker for over 15 years. How did he get so good? Simple, he chalks it up to experience. All of his hard work paid off back in February when Barnhart he outlast a field of 480 players to capture the Harrah’s Tunica Main Event title for $148,612.
In an interview with PokerNews, Barnhart explained how he came to play the Harrah’s Tunica Main Event, which ultimately led to him being at the final table here today: “It was the greatest experience and one of the freakiest stories. I had packed up, checked out of the hotel, was on my way home, and in a split moment decided to drop by the poker room, and Teresa [who works there] had a $180 satellite going. I had $300 left and decided to get into that, and ended up winning the single-table satellite. From there, I parlayed it in to where I am today.”
When asked how he felt about playing in the National Championship, Barnhart added: “That is an opportunity that is a part of any poker player’s dreams. Just like it is winning one of these rings. Yeah, maybe you’re going to be a little intimidated dealing with some of the top players that have had some extreme successes, but it’s an opportunity I think that any poker player would love to have.”
Seat 6: La Sengphet (245,000)
La Sengphet of Dallas, Texas took the World Series of Poker Circuit by storm back in February over Valentine’s Day weekend when she took down Ring Event #8 at Harrah’s Tunica. What made the occasion so special was the fact that Sengphet captured her first ring, matching the feat her boyfriend, David Clark, accomplished weeks earlier by winning the Ring Event #1 at the Choctaw stop.
With the victory, Sengphet became the first woman to win a gold ring since Daphne Turner at Harrah’s New Orleans in May 2010. Not only that, she managed to take $32,394 in prize money. Sengphet would not stop there. She amassed a total of seven cashes throughout the 2010/2011 WSOP-Circuit totaling $67,094, which earned her an “At-lagrg bid” in the National Championship. One of those cashes, a victory in a $345 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, also awarded her a second gold ring.
Sengphet starts the day second in chips and has position on the chip leader; as such, it’s not hard to imagine that she’ll go deep and likely equal or surpass her current WSOP-C earning here today.
Seat 5: Josh Evans (222,500)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Josh Evans qualified for the National Championship via an “At-large bid” after earning 140 points by cashing seven times for $85,142. His largest cash came in April at the New Orleans stop when he captured $54,644 for a third-place finish in the Main Event.
Evans is currently sitting to the left of our chip leader, Jonathan Poche, and the two are not strangers to one another. In fact, both final tabled the aforementioned $1,600 Main Event at Harrah’s New Orleans. Poche went on to win that event, but not before eliminating Evans in third place. In that hand, Poche shoved from the small blind, and Evans called all in for 235,000 from the big. He was working with 
, and Poche's was ahead with a chance at the knockout to bring the match heads up.
The 
paired both men to keep Poche in front, and the turn 
left Evans dead to five outs. The river 
wasn't one of them, and Evans was sent to the rail just shy of the gold ring. Needless to say, Evans will have revenge on his mind.
Seat 4: Jonathan Poche (534,000)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
The chip leader at the final table is none other than Jonathan Poche, who qualified for the National Championship by taking down the Main Event at Harrah’s New Orleans, the last Main Event of the 2010/2011 World Series of Poker Circuit. It only took Poche five and a half hours to outlast all his competitors and claim the $121,017 first-place prize.
Poche started that final table sixth in chips with 656,000 and thanks to a few won races and best-hand holds, he rose to the top. With seven players left, Poche doubled with 
against Jacob Bazeley's 
to give Poche a seven-figure stack. Shortly after that, Billie Payne shoved a 13bb stack with 
. Unfortunately for Payne, Poche woke up with 
in the big blind. Another big hand in the big blind worked well for Poche with five players left as his 
held against Scott Zakheim's .
The key hand for Poche came with three players remaining when he was the short stack.. His 
defeated Josh Evans' when an ace hit the flop. The next hand he eliminated Evans, leaving Bobby Toye as the lone opponent standing in his way. Heads-up play began with both players having nearly identical stacks, but they would only go one direction from there. Poche dominated his opponent with relentless aggression, including two four-bet shoves that really lopsided the chips in his favor. It wasn't long before Toye shoved with and ran into Poche's 
. As was the case for all the dominating favorites at the final table, the best hand held up and the title was clinched for Poche.
Poche has spent the majority of this tournament among the chip leaders and has showed no signs of slowing down. With 26.7% of the chips in play, no one is better positioned than Poche to claim the National Championship.