Both Dennis Phillips and Greg Raymer are seated near our desk. The duo, who are seated at Tables 76 and 75 respectively, have been chatting back and forth throughout the early levels of the Main Event.
Yesterday, Phillips served as a co-host, along with John Adams, in Raymer's Fossilman Training Seminar that was held here at Harrah's. PokerNews listened in on that course and see a number of the students playing in today's field. Time will tell if the knowledge of a former world champion will pay dividends.
Bobbie Talbot, the WSOP-C IP Casino Champ who has already punched his ticket to the National Championship next month, has been eliminated from the tournament. He swung by our desk and informed us he had lost about 17,000 of his stack after flopping set over set and lost the remaining 3,000 after running into a flush. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased.
"There's always tomorrow," Talbot said as he went to register for tomorrow's event.
After a player in middle position had limped and the button raised to 200, Mike Souza looked down at in the small blind and reraised to 700. Both the aforementioned opponents made the call and the flop came down . Souza immediately fired out 1,000 and this time just the button called.
When the dealer burned and turned the , Souza bet 3,000, the button called, and the was revealed on the river. Souza didn't slow down, betting 5,000, but the button decided it was time to concede the hand. Just like that, Souza picked up about 5,000.
Ari Engel raised to 275 from middle position and received a call from the player in the big blind. Both players proceeded to check the flop, leading to the on the turn. Engel check-called a bet of 400 and the was put out on the river. There was another series of bets and raises before the dealer quickly turned over the hands:
We didn't catch the hand, but we recently saw T.J. Cloutier talking to his wife and we wouldn't be surprised if he was relating a bad beat story as his starting stack of 20,000 has been cut in half. He is sittin with just 10,300.
Throughout the day we'll be recapping a few of the ring events that have occurred throughout the past week. Here is a look at the first:
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 against the of Dawson. The board ran out and Pearse took the title and an early lead in the WSOP-Circuit St. Louis Casino Championship Leaderboard with 50 points.
Tournament officials recently announced that they will extend registration until 3 PM CST due to a series of accidents on the St. Louis freeways that have stalled traffic and prevented some players from making it to the venue.
On a board reading , an unknown player checked and Ari Engel, known affectionately as "Bodog Ari", bet 225. His opponent then made a huge check-raise to 2,225, Engel called, and the hit the river. The aggressor fired out 3,100 only to muck when Engel made the call and showed for a straight.
Dennis Phillips
Greg Raymer
T.J. Cloutier
Sam Barnhart (WSOP-C Harrah's Tunica Winner)
Bobbie Talbot (WSOP-C IP Biloxi Casino Champ)
Nadya Magnus (Big Game Loose Cannon)
Kurt Jewell (WSOP-C Hammond Winner)
Mark "Pegasus" Smith (Tied for most WSOP-C rings with four)
Jean "Prince" Gaspard (2009 WSOP-C New Orleans Winner)
Ari Engel
Stephen Kats
Joel Merwick
Ben Smith
John Adams
Chris Viox
Mike Souza
. Souza immediately fired out 1,000 and this time just the button called.
, Souza bet 3,000, the button called, and the 
was revealed on the river. Souza didn't slow down, betting 5,000, but the button decided it was time to concede the hand. Just like that, Souza picked up about 5,000.
flop, leading to the 
on the turn. Engel check-called a bet of 400 and the 
was put out on the river. There was another series of bets and raises before the dealer quickly turned over the hands:
of Dawson. The board ran out 
and Pearse took the title and an early lead in the 
, an unknown player checked and Ari Engel, known affectionately as "Bodog Ari", bet 225. His opponent then made a huge check-raise to 2,225, Engel called, and the 
hit the river. The aggressor fired out 3,100 only to muck when Engel made the call and showed 
for a straight.