Main Event
Day 1 Started
2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans
Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans
Buy-in
$1,600
Prize Pool
$998,770
Entries
694
Level
32
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Welcome to the WSOP Circuit Harrah's New Orleans Main Event!
Welcome to New Orleans for the final stop of the 2011/2012 World Series of Poker Circuit stop. This marks the 17th stop of the year, and thousands of players have packed into Harrah’s over the past week for their last shot at earning points toward the National Championship.
As WSOP media guru and poker historian Nolan Dalla said in a recent press release:
“The current season began last September at Horseshoe Bossier City (Shreveport), and now comes full circle back to Louisiana for the grand finale. Indeed, New Orleans has become a favorite destination for poker players and regulars who travel on the WSOP Circuit. For each of the past eight seasons, Harrah’s New Orleans has been the last party stop of the poker circuit celebration. This year, New Orleans wraps up what have been seventeen WSOP Circuit event destinations, attracting tens of thousands of poker players from all over the United States, and beyond.”
“There's a lot at stake for poker players in the Crescent City and those who are about to come – including gold rings, prize money, and ranking points. Since the season began, all tournament players have been in the running for 100 guaranteed pre-paid seats in the one-million guaranteed WSOP Circuit National Championship finale. In a sense, every National Championship seat is valued at $10,000 — since that’s the proportion of the million dollar-plus prize pool each player represents. Another 100 players are eligible to buy into the tournament (top ranked players from each of the past two WSOPs in Las Vegas), which means the event will cap out with well over a million dollars at stake.”
Last year, this stop served as a $10,000 Regional Championship, a format that is now defunct. Nonetheless, that event drew 75 players and saw AJ Jejelowo, who we’ve spotted here at the venue throughout the week, emerge victorious to claim the $235,956 first-place prize.
The stop also hosted a $1,600 Main Event, which attracted 382, and it was young Jonathan Poche who outlasted them all to take home the $121,017 prize and earn a spot in the National Championship; interestingly, he went on to take fifth in that event for $75,000.
Among the 100 guaranteed seats for this year’s National Championship are two that will be given away here in New Orleans. One is for the eventual “Casino Champ,” while the other will go to the winner of this Main Event. It’ll take four days of play to determine who that will be, and we’ll get started in just over a half hour.
Join us then for all the action and eliminations from Harrah’s New Orleans.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Cards Are In the Air
![[user196975]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Cards are in the air for the start of Day 1a.
Notables in the Field
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Aaron Massey
Kenny Milam
Mark "Pegasus" Smith
Sam Barnhart
Abraham Araya
Chris Conrad
David Clark
John Dolan
Tripp Kirk
AJ Jejelowo
Charles Moore
Kat Bowen
Preston Durden
Matthew Hankins
Andy Hwang Wins Largest Tournament in New Orleans History
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
There have been a slew of preliminary events here in New Orleans prior to today's Main Event. One of these events was Event #1 $355 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 945 players and became the largest poker tournament ever held in New Orleans by surpassing the previous record of 833 players set on May 18, 2005.
After four days of intense play, a stacked final table was set that saw Yung “Andy” Hwang, Charles “Woody” Moore, and Josh Evans make it all the way to three-handed play. Moore has proven himself time and again on the circuit, having won last year’s WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event and making multiple final tables this year, but he came up short of his second gold ring. The good news is that, in addition to his $23,853 payday, Moore’s third-place finish earned him enough points to qualify for the National Championship for the second year in a row.
That left Hwang and Evans to do battle heads up, which lasted about 45 minutes. In the final hand, Evans moved all in with 
only to run into Hwang’s 
. The board ran out an uneventful 
, and Evans was dispatched in second place for $32,317 with enough points qualify him for a seat in the National Championship
Meanwhile, Hwang collected the $52,249 first-place prize and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. What’s more, the Houstonian earned enough points to join Evans and Moore near the top of the National Leaderboard and essentially locked up a spot in the National Championship.
Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans events completed thus far:
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $300+$55 | 945 | $274,995 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yung Hwang | Sugar Land, TX | $52,249 |
| 2 | Josh Evans | Plano, TX | $32,317 |
| 3 | Charles “Woody” Moore | Las Vegas, NV | $23,853 |
| 4 | Steve Hesse | Houston, TX | $17,847 |
| 5 | Lacey Coffey | Houston, TX | $13,521 |
| 6 | Dwayne Vetter | Houston, TX | $10,372 |
| 7 | Jose Serratos | Detroit, MI | $8,054 |
| 8 | Todd Cowan | Metairie, LA | $6,333 |
| 9 | John Finnan | Metairie, LA | $5,037 |
Straight Over Straight
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
We'd barely gotten through the tournament area to get a list of players when we saw Mark "Pegasus" Smith leaving the table. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Straight over straight."
We asked if he would be playing the second flight, he hasn't yet this year, and said, "Aw, maybe. I don't know."
We're hoping to see him back to get a final tuneup before action kicks off at the Rio in a few short days.
Early Hit for Foxen
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Earlier at the Harrah's New Orleans stop, Alex Foxen managed to capture a gold ring by winning the six-max event. He is in action today but off to a bad start. We recently stumbled by his table to see a board reading 
. An unknown played in Seat 3 had bet 4,000 only to have Foxen raise to 10K. The unknown player then moved all in and Foxen snap-called with 
. Unfortunately for him, it was no good as his opponent rolled over 
for a straight.
Foxen was clearly displeased, but the good news he was still left with 8,500.
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Already Surpassed 2011 NOLA Main Event
Level 2
: 50/100, 0 ante
Last year's Main Event garnered 382 players and after one level we've already surpassed that mark. The board reads 390 entrants at the moment so we hope you bet on the over.