2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Horseshoe Council Bluffs

Main Event
Day: 1
123
Event Info

2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Horseshoe Council Bluffs

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
4♥2♦
Prize
$121,177
Event Info
Prize Pool
$550,800
Entries
367
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
All Highlights Social
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Chip Counts From Around the Room

[user249964]
[user249964]
Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante
Player Chips Progress
Jeff Hieberg
Jeff Hieberg
120,000
120,000
 120,000
Mark Bonsack us
Mark Bonsack 		65,000
10,000
 10,000
Brandon Fish us
Brandon Fish 		62,000
32,000
 32,000
Thomas Beckstead
Thomas Beckstead 		60,000
-3,000
 -3,000
David Nicholson us
David Nicholson 		56,000
11,000
 11,000
Doug Carli
Doug Carli 		48,500
48,500
 48,500
Drazen Ilich us
Drazen Ilich 		34,300
5,600
 5,600
Everett Carlton us
Everett Carlton 		26,000
-5,000
 -5,000
Drew Woodke us
Drew Woodke 		18,500
18,500
 18,500
Eddie Blumenthal us
Eddie Blumenthal 		16,000
12,600
 12,600
Bernard Lee us
Bernard Lee 		8,000
-41,000
 -41,000
Nathan Bjerno us
Nathan Bjerno 		7,200
-12,800
 -12,800

Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager Andy Brock Talks Poker

Chad Holloway
Chad Holloway
Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante
Andy Brock is the poker room managed at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
Andy Brock is the poker room managed at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs.

The WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Council Bluffs doesn’t attract big fields, but having the event toward the end of the schedule seems to play to assist with that as dozens of amateurs and pros chase points toward the season-ending National Championship.

PokerNews recently sat down with Andy Brock, the poker room manager at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs, to find out what it’s like when the WSOP Circuit comes to town.

PokerNews: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Brock: I just started here at this property in July. Before then, I spent the majority of my time at Wynn Las Vegas. I was there from 2005-2011, then I went to bestbet Jacksonville. I was only there for 3-4 months when I got the call to come up here. It’s home. I’m originally from Omaha.

I moved to Vegas probably 10 years ago. I liked that, but got the call to Florida. Living on the beach and working that new room there was great, but when I got the call for poker room manager back home, it was pretty hard to turn down. Obviously I didn’t.

What sort of things do you do to prepare for the WSOP Circuit?

We started promoting right when I got here. I worked with tournament director Kevin Ferguson on getting the schedule, met with marketing who were great on getting the schedule on the website, Facebook and around town. We started to promote it in our local community, and of course the World Series marketing was great. We’re one of the last stops for point chasers, so I think that works in our favor. It’s been a long process.

The tournaments are actually held in the Whiskey Roadhouse, which is a cleared-out bar. It’s unique, but seems to work well.

Yeah. It’s spacious. Usually we have concerts here on the weekends, but it’s nice that we can steal it for two weeks. Last year, we heard some complaints that it was a little too cramped, so we actually removed five tables. We kind of gambled with some of our sizes and satellites, but we thought removing some tables would be better for the players.

How do the local players respond to the WSOP Circuit coming to town? Do they like it?

Absolutely. We have plenty of tournament players as we run two $235 Fat-Stack tournaments a month — the second Saturday and last Saturday of the month. We always get over 100 players for those, so they’re happy. We have a good group that play here locally, but also ones that travel the Circuit like Drazen Ilich and Brandon Fish. We’re happy they get to play in their home casino, maybe win some points and play in the National Championship.

How are the cash games during this time?

We’ve been running some great cash games. We had PLO going, which was a great game, a couple of $5/$10 no-limit, $2/$5 no-limit games. When I got here, we made a big change based upon players’ request: You can buy in for 75% of the biggest stack. We’ve had good reaction to that, and it’s made the games a lot more interesting. I encourage those who bust from a tournament to go on into the poker room and play some cash games.

Tags: Andy Brock

Blumenthal Busts

[user249964]
[user249964]
Level 10 : 400/800, 100 ante

We picked up action from this hand on the river where Eddie Blumenthal made an all-in bet for 12,300 on a board that read {5-Diamonds}{4-Spades}{2-Spades}{j-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}, and after a couple minutes of deliberation, his opponent called. Blumenthal turned over ace high and his opponent {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}.

The day is not done for Blumenthal however, as he reentered into Day 1b which is now into Level 4.

Player Chips Progress
Eddie Blumenthal us
Eddie Blumenthal 		Busted

Level: 11

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 100

Ilich Calls a Bluff

mnuwwarah
mnuwwarah
Level 11 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Drazen Ilich min-raised to 1,600 in early position on one of the last hands at Level 10 (400/800/100) and Jeff Heiberg called from the small blind. Both players checked a {K-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds} flop, and the {J-Spades} fell on the turn. Heiberg led out for 2,400 and Ilich quickly called. The river was the {9-Clubs} and Heiberg fired again on the double-paired board, this time 7,200. Ilich contemplated for a moment before announcing a call, and Heiberg simply mucked his cards shortly thereafter.

Player Chips Progress
Jeff Heiberg us
Jeff Heiberg 		105,000
-13,000
 -13,000
Drazen Ilich us
Drazen Ilich 		40,000
5,700
 5,700

Tags: Drazen IlichJeff Heiberg

"I Got Lucky"

Chad Holloway
Chad Holloway
Level 11 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Ari Engel is a WSOP Circuit stud. The famed internet player, who played under the moniker "BodogAri", has 25 cashes on the circuit for $318,659. Oh, and he happens to have five rings, just one behind all-time leader Alex Masek.

Both of those men are still in action here on Day 1a, and Engel seems to be in the midst of a heater. The last timewe checked on him he was sitting below the chip average, but now he's vaulted up to 71,000. When asked how he did it, Engel responded, "I got lucky."

Player Chips Progress
Ari Engel ca
Ari Engel 		71,000
43,000
 43,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Ari EngelAlek Masek

Cortum Takes Chips From Ilich

mnuwwarah
mnuwwarah
Level 11 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

We picked up the action with Drazen Ilich and Kelly Cortum heads up on a {6-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{4-Diamonds} flop. Cortum, from the small blind, had made a 3,000 bet, which Ilich, in the cutoff, raised to 6,500 only to see Cortum reraise to 12,000. Ilich called and the two saw a {K-Spades} turn. Cortum moved all in for Ilich's last 24,000.

"You got it," Ilich said, slowly pushing his cards into the middle. Cortum said after the hand that he flopped a set.

Player Chips Progress
Kelly Cortum us
Kelly Cortum 		68,000
68,000
 68,000
Drazen Ilich us
Drazen Ilich 		24,000
-16,000
 -16,000

Tags: Drazen IlichKelly Cortum

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