2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Harrah's New Orleans

Regional Championship
Day: 1
Event Info

2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Harrah's New Orleans

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a9
Prize
$235,956
Event Info
Buy-in
$9,700
Prize Pool
$698,398
Entries
75
Level Info
Level
25
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
3,000

Regional Championship

Day 1 Started

The Final Region

Ali Eslami -- Western Regional Champion
Ali Eslami -- Western Regional Champion

Welcome back inside lovely Harrah's New Orleans for the last stop on our Live Reporting tour before the show heads to Las Vegas. Today is the start of the $10,000 Southern Regional Championship, the fourth and final of these big ticket made-for-TV events. In October, Jim Anderson won the Midwestern Regional in Hammond, Indiana, and Chris Bell won his first gold ring two months later at the Eastern Regional in Atlantic City. In March of this year, Ali Eslami bested a tough final table to capture the title of Western Regional Champion. That bring us to today with one more Regional Champ to crown.

And this one's shaping up to be some pretty good value. With our starting time less than 20 minutes away, we've got just 36 players registered so far. The window is open until the first break on Day 2, though, so that number will continue to tick upward for the next 26 hours or so. In the end, we'd expect to see somewhere around 120 players, though the line shifts pretty drastically depending on who you're talking to.

Either way, it's going to be a solid field. We've already seen Shannon Shorr (fresh off his deep run in the $25,000 WTP Championship yesterday), Todd Terry, Jon Aguiar, David Baker, and a few of the other usual suspects. They'll be happy to know that at least eight seats were given away yesterday in mega-satellites.

The doors are open, and the players (we're up to 37 now) will be trickling into the room shortly. There are still flights and hotel rooms available and plenty of time to get down here and play this event. If you're not lucky enough to have $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket, then just sit back, get cozy, and enjoy the tale of these four days.

Don't wander away; the Southern Regional Championship waits for no one!

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

In the Room

Level 1 : 25/50, 0 ante

More notables are trickling in:

Matt Waxman
Steve Brecher
Allen Kessler
Maurice Hawkins (who qualified for $500 last night)
Todd Terry
Chad Brown
David Peters
John Dolan

"Board Ran Out Really Well..."

Level 1 : 25/50, 0 ante

Todd Terry opened to 125 in middle position and was called by the player in the cutoff.

The flop came down {K-Diamonds}{Q-Clubs}{J-Diamonds} and Terry bet 175. His opponent called to see the {Q-Spades} pair the board on the turn. Terry checked, as did his opponent. The river brought the {10-Diamonds} and both checked again.

The cutoff showed {J-Clubs}{5-Clubs}, but Terry tabled {A-Hearts}{10-Spades} for a straight. "Board ran out really well," said Terry with a smile on his face.

Tags: Todd Terry

Good Start For Aguiar

We caught up with the action on a {J-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}{7-Spades}{9-Diamonds} board. Jon Aguiar checked to Matt Waxman who bet 500. A call from Aguiar landed the {Q-Clubs} on the river and he bet 100.

"Is that a block bet Jon? Trying to slow me down?" asked Waxman. A few moments later he said, "It's not going to work," and raised to 1,500. Aguiar took about a minute before re-raising to 6,100. Waxman spent a good few minutes in the tank. "A little early to be bluffing," he said. He appeared to be so close to folding, but opted to call.

Aguiar tabled {Q-Hearts}{Q-Spades} for the rivered full house, sending Waxman's card to the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Jon Aguiar
Jon Aguiar
38,000 8,000
24,000 -6,000

Tags: Jon AguiarMatt Waxman

Epparla Doesn't Want to Show

Level 1 : 25/50, 0 ante

Under the gun, Steve Brecher opened to 125, and he found one call from Ramana Epparla in position. The flop came out {5-Hearts} {3-Diamonds} {4-Clubs}, and Brecher continued out with 200 chips. Epparla called, and he called another 400 after the {10-Spades} turn.

On the river, the {4-Diamonds} drew a check from Brecher, and Epparla stabbed at the pot with 850 of his own chips. Brecher made the call, and both players froze as Epparla didn't want to show. After an uncomfortably long pause, he just mucked, and Brecher didn't even need to show his hand to drag that pot.

Tags: Steve BrecherRamana Epparla

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0