Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans
Main Event
Day: 3
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
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
On Sunday, the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans $1,600 Main Event continued as the final 72 of a 694-player field returned to battle down to a final table. Day 3 proved to be a fairly expedient affair as the field was whittled down to the final nine in less than 12 hours. Among those returning to battle for the $204,748 first-place prize are Andrew Nguyen, Daniel Lowery, Justin Truesdell, Michael Hallen and Shane Smith ; however, no one has a better shot at the money, and a seat into this year’s National Championship, than Anthony Vidmer, who emerged as the chip leader with 2,523,000.
Things kicked of with a bang in the Big Easy as players immediately began to hit the rail. Among the early eliminations were notables such as Daniel Weinman (70th-$2,797), Mike Holm (57th-$3,046), Darvin Moon (55th-$3,046), Robert Castoire (53rd-$3,336), Kat Bowen (40th-$3,695), Joe Phelps (38th-$3,695) and Day 1a chip leader Jay Kaplan (36th-$4,135).
Speaking of chip leaders, Justin Wainscott began the day with the biggest stack by quite a margin; however, that doesn't always translate to success as he found out. Wainscott lost a good portion of his stack after his 
failed to overcome the 
of an opponent.
Losing that hand knocked him back down to size, which is when Danny Alvarez swooped in and finished Wainscott off. It happened when four players took a 
flop and Wainscott checked from the small blind. He ultimately ended up check-raising all in for around 170,000 and was called by the 
of Alvarez. He got it in good, but a on the river sent a disappointed Wainscott out in 34th place for $4,135; meanwhile, Alvarez took the chip lead with 950,000.
From there, the action continued as one-by-one players fell to the wayside. Chris Gamboa (31st-$4,674), Maurice Hawkins (26th-$6,202), Joel Merwick (22nd-$7,261), Matthew Chang (19th-$8,609) and Blake Barousse (13th-$12,535) were just a few of the players who came up short of the final table.
However, no one went further and came up shorter than Jacob Naquin, who finished as the final table bubble boy. His elimination in tenth place made Vidmer the chip leader and just like that the WSOP Circuit Harrah's New Orleans final table was set.
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Nguyen | 2,379,000 |
| 2 | Anthony Vidmer | 2,523,000 |
| 3 | George Miro | 629,000 |
| 4 | Ramon Martinez | 809,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Lowery | 1,939,000 |
| 6 | Dominic Gabaldon | 975,000 |
| 7 | Michael Hallen | 1,590,000 |
| 8 | Justin Truesdell | 2,027,000 |
| 9 | Shane Smith | 1,037,000 |
Final table action is set to begin at 2 p.m. CST on Monday and one player will walk away not only with the $204,748 first-place prize, but also seats into this year’s National Championship and WSOP Main Event. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to check back then.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Anthony Vidmer was under the gun and opened for 85,000. Jacob Naquin was next to act and wasted little time in moving all in for approximately 400,000. Action folded back around to Vidmer and he snap-called.
Showdown
Vidmer | 
Naquin | 
Naquin had been on an up-and-down ride in the latter stages of Day 3, capturing the chip lead and then dropping back down. Now, his tournament life was on the line and he needed some big-time help. Unfortunately for him, he would receive none as the board ran out 
. With his elimination in tenth place, the WSOP Circuit Harrah's New Orleans final table is set.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Andrew Nguyen opened for 75,000 and George Miro called from the button. The blinds released and the flop fell 
. Nguyen led out with 135,000 and Miro called. The turn brought the and Nguyen bet 330,000. Miro instantly announced all in and Nguyen took just a moment to call.
Nguyen: 
Miro: 
Nguyen was ahead but had a lot of outs to fade. Nguyen's rail called for a deuce and the dealer obliged and peeled off the 
. Nguyen may be the leader at this point and Miro dropped down to just 530,000.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Michael Hallen opened for 60,000 from middle position and cleared the field all the way around to Jacob Naquin in the big blind. He squeezed out his card, glanced at his opponent and then announced, "All in."
"Call," Hallen snapped, committing his remaining 599K.
Showdown
| Naquin |  |
| Hallen |  |
Hallen was ahead and even managed to catch a pair of nines on the 
, though that didn't really matter as he was still looking to dodge the overs of Naquin. He did so on the 
turn, and even managed to survive the 
river. With that, Hallen is off the short stack with 1.35 million and has put Naquin on it with just 400,000 remaining.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
While we've been covering the Main Event, another tournament has been taking place across the tournament floor . . . the Ladies Event. That event just came to an end and saw Cari Bershell of Metairie, Louisiana top a field of 70 players to capture the $4,100 first-place prize.
Sporting a PMS Pokerwear shirt with the slogan "Sorry guys, size does matter" pasted next to a graphic of a chip stack, Bershell dominated the final table, which comes as no surprise given her experience. You see, Bershell was a contestant on a poker TV show not too long ago where she won $27,000. Clearly she has some poker chops as she made it look all too easy down here in the Big Easy.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Unofficial Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Nguyen | 1,300,000 |
| 2 | Anthony Vidmer | 2,000,000 |
| 3 | Jacob Naquin | 1,200,000 |
| 4 | George Miro | 1,700,000 |
| 5 | Ramon Martinez | 1,070,000 |
| 6 | Daniel Lowery | 1,550,000 |
| 7 | Dominic Gabaldon | 1,100,000 |
| 8 | Michael Hallen | 550,000 |
| 9 | Justin Truesdell | 2,350,000 |
| 10 | Shane Smith | 900,000 |
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Action folded to Justin Truesdell on the button and he opened with a raise. A short-stacked Lance Simon then moved all in from the small blind, inspiring the big to get out of the way, and Truesdell made the call. Simon rolled over , which was ahead of Truesdell's 
. Much to the at-risk player's dismay, the flop delivered an ace and he was sent packing in 11th place.
The remaining ten players are now combining to the "unofficial" final table, which means we need to lose just one more before calling it a night.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Andrew Nguyen opened for 50,000 and Shane Smith called from the big blind. The flop came 
, Smith bet 75,000 and Nguyen called. The turn came 
, pairing the board, and Smith pushed out 115,000. The river came 
and Smith finally slowed down and checked. Nguyen checked behind and the hands were tabled.
Smith turned up and Nguyen had him outkicked with . Nguyen is up to 1.4 million.
Level 26
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
We found Jacob Naquin and George Miro at a flop of 
. Naquin led out for 117,000 and Miro raised to 240,000. Naquin thought for a short moment and called. The turn came , Naquin shoved and Miro snap-called - tabling 
.
Naquin was drawing live holding but bricked when it came . Miro moved up to 1.7 million and Naquin slipped to 1.6 million.
