$1,700 Main Event Day 1a | 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Ameristar St. Charles

09-06-2019 18:47 UTC-5

Andros Ioakimides Wins First Ring in Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed

Anthony Thompson

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

PokerNews is on site at the Ameristar St. Charles for the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop, and while we’re only doing live updates from the $1,700 Main Event, it’s not the only tournament that’s been playing out inside the casino.

For the past week, a slew of side events has taken place and awarded gold rings to the lucky winners. One such tournament was Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed, which drew 232 entries and offered up a $76,560 prize pool.

Among those to cash but fall short of making the final table were Chris Wise (11th - $1,281), Greg Radosh (17th - $871), Sean Small (20th - $871), Heather Alcorn (21st - $749), Craig Welko (25th - $663), and Vincent Moscati (34th - $605).

Coming out on top for $18,119 and his first gold ring was 54-year-old Andros Ioakimides.

“I try to pick my spots, play position, and if I see weakness I usually raise,” Ioakimides said about playing the big stack “I’m pretty active on the table. I like to keep moving. If I find resistance I kind of slow down… Yeah, it was pretty smooth sailing [to the end].”

The win was fitting as his career-best score — $57,833 for finishing eighth in a 2016 WSOP Six-Max event – came in the same format.

“I think my style suits a Six Max because I am pretty aggressive,” said Ioakimides, who came to the United States when he was 20 years old. “You have to play hands with Six Max. You cannot just sit back and wait for aces and kings.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Andros Ioakimides	Ballwin, Missouri	$18,119
2	Edward Shade	Hurricane, West Virginia	$11,199
3	Kelly Wolfe	Cincinnati, Ohio	$7,641
4	Jeffrey Trudeau	Winter Garden, Florida	$5,336
5	[Removed:201]	Bloomington, Illinois	$3,816
6	Albert Morrow	Florissant, Missouri	$2,796
7	Dustin Hess	Wheatland, Indiana	$2,101
8	Raymond Herndon	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	$2,101
9	Maurice Hawkins	West Palm Beach, Florida	$1,619

Tags: Andros Ioakimides

09-06-2019 15:41 UTC-5

Personal Dog Trainer Matt Koch Fetches a Ring in Event #3: $400 NLH

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

PokerNews is on site at the Ameristar St. Charles for the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop, and while we’re only doing live updates from the $1,700 Main Event, it’s not the only tournament that’s been playing out inside the casino.

For the past week, a slew of side events has taken place and awarded gold rings to the lucky winners. One such tournament was Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew 157 runners and created a $51,810 prize pool.

Among those to cash but fall short of making the final table were Dennis Phillips (11th - $898), Brian McDaniel (13th - $763), Kyle Everett (18th - $667), and Tammi Ledbetter (24th - $555).

The tournament ended with Matt Koch, a 43-year-old personal dog trainer, on top. Not only did he capture his first ring, he notched his first-ever WSOP cash, good for $13,567.

“Really more than anything, I just got lucky,” Koch stated. “I got very lucky with hands, with flips, with everything. That table was filled with talent… I will chalk this one up to just a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck.”

He continued: “This is kind of my first foray back into [poker]. I think the last time I played a tournament was two years ago. I’ve kind of taken a hiatus from poker for about four, or five, years; been pretty busy at work.”

“I was extremely excited. I took a bunch of days off of work, which is abnormal for me … I did take next weekend off, so I’m thinking about playing in the Main Event. I think that I’ll probably have to now.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Matthew Koch	Byrnes Mill, Missouri	$13,567
2	Charles LeRoi	St. Louis, Missouri	$8,385
3	Matthew Green	Canton, Georgia	$5,829
4	Jerod Smith	Troy, Illinois	$4,147
5	Robert Keeling	Portland, Missouri	$3,020
6	Christopher Underwood	Mooresville, Indiana	$2,253
7	Jake Ortiz	O'Fallon, Illinois	$1,351
8	Andros Ioakimides	Ballwin, Missouri	$1,351
9	Jeffrey Copeland	Saint Peters, Missouri	$1,087

Tags: Matt Koch

09-06-2019 13:25 UTC-5

Cory Bogert Captures First Gold Ring and $50k in Prize Money in Event #2: $400 NLH Multi-Flight

Anthony Thompson

Level 4 : 100/200, 200 ante

PokerNews is on site at the Ameristar St. Charles for the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop, and while we’re only doing live updates from the $1,700 Main Event, it’s not the only tournament that’s been playing out inside the casino.

For the past week, a slew of side events has taken place and awarded gold rings to the lucky winners. One such tournament was Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Multi-Flight, which drew 1,093 entries over five starting flights and offered up a $360,690 prize pool.

Among those to cash the tournament were Tuan Duong (10th - $4,832), Carlos Loving (15th - $4,063), Josh Turner (18th - $3,476), Austin McCormick (31st - $2,580), Kyle Ahner (41st - $1,693), Ryan Hicks (54th - $1,546), and Rodney Spriggs (73rd - $938).

In the end, 28-year-old student Cory Bogert defeated five-time ring winner Jeff Trudeau to claim the title, a $50,034 top prize, and his first gold ring.

“I’m an online guy. I play mostly cash. I don’t play a lot of tournaments,” said Bogert. “I was going to play everything. I mean, I’m in school, so anything that school permits me to play.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Cory Bogert	Chesterfield, Missouri	$50,034
2	Jeffrey Trudeau	Winter Garden, Florida	$30,773
3	Michael Johns	Clarksville, Tennessee	$23,402
4	Blake O'Brien	Maryland Heights, Missouri	$17,968
5	Peter Brooks	St. Louis, Missouri	$13,962
6	Lonny Weitzel	Texarkana, Texas	$11,085
7	Cory Aurentz	Springfield, Missouri	$8,756
8	Jerod Smith	Troy, Illinois	$7,075
9	Zachary Carey	Sullivan, Missouri	$5,846

Tags: Cory Bogert

09-06-2019 11:53 UTC-5

Carlos Loving Captures 3rd Gold Ring After Event #1: $400 NLH Double Stack Victory

Anthony Thompson

Level 2 : 100/100, 100 ante

PokerNews is on site at the Ameristar St. Charles for the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop, and while we’re only doing live updates from the $1,700 Main Event, it’s not the only tournament that’s been playing out inside the casino.

For the past week, a slew of side events has taken place and awarded gold rings to the lucky winners. One such tournament was Event #1: $400 NLH Double Stack (1 Day), which drew 206 entrants and created a $67,980 prize pool.

The top 31 players got paid includingLaura Curry (11th - $1,120), Zachary Cramer (15th - $940), Greg Wood (19th - $713), Elie Williams (24th - $646), Ryan Burcham (26th - $600), and Steven Klasek (31st - $562).

In the end, it was 42-year-old poker pro Carlos Loving of Tampa, Florida coming out on top to win $16,622 and his third gold ring.

“I was playing in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker and my friend told me to come to Choctaw with him for the first Circuit event,” Loving said after the win. “So, I drove with him to Choctaw and I did well, and I figured I might as well keep playing to try to accumulate points to try to qualify for the Global.”

He now has 72.5 points and is in great shape to earn a 2020 Global Casino Championship.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Carlos Loving	Tampa, Florida	$16,622
2	Larry King	St. Libory, Illinois	$10,271
3	Lonny Weitzel	Texarkana, Texas	$7,226
4	Susan Sutton	St. Louis, Missouri	$5,188
5	Charlie Dawson	Owensboro, Kentucky	$3,804
6	Roger Bennett	Trenton, Missouri	$2,849
7	Michael Sumner	Franklin, Tennessee	$2,181
8	Aaron Corson	St. Louis, Missouri	$1,707
9	Nina Hall	Lake Saint Louis, Missouri	$1,367

Tags: Carlos Loving

09-06-2019 08:35 UTC-5

Welcome to Day 1a of the WSOP Circuit $1,700 Main Event Ameristar St. Charles

Anthony Thompson

The 2019/20 season of the World Series of Poker Circuit has already completed three of the 35 scheduled stops of the series with its fourth being at a location the WSOP has not graced in some time, St. Louis. It's been five whole seasons since the Circuit has made an appearance in the St. Louis area but the drought is over as Day 1a of the $1,700 Main Event is set to kick-off at 11 am today in St. Charles at the Ameristar Casino.

The last time the WSOP stormed Missouri was back in February of 2015 at Lumiere Place, where Josh Turner bested 415 runners to claim his second gold ring along with $136,945 in his hometown of St. Louis.

Lumiere Place 2014/2015 Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Josh Turner	$136,945
2	Javier Zarco	$84,629
3	David Lee	$61,839
4	Jesse Watson	$45,916
5	Zachary Campbell	$34,623
6	John Longowa	$26,500
7	Scott Vetter	$20,580
8	Ben Beighle	$16,210
9	Michael Rieck	$12,948

Day 1a kicks off at 11 am local time, where players will start with 30,000 in chips and blinds will be 100/100 with big blind antes beginning in Level 2 (100/100). There will be 15-minute breaks after every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break at the end of Level 9. Registration will remain open until the beginning of Level 13 allowing players one re-entry until then.

Both starting days are scheduled to play through 16 levels. The first 15 levels will have 40-minutes blinds with level 16 lasting 60-minutes. Once the final level is completed, all remaining players will bag up for the night and return for Day 2 action on Sunday, September 8th at noon.

Main Event Day 1 Structure

Level	Length	Small Blind	Big Blind	BB Ante
1	40 minutes	100	100	0
2	40 minutes	100	100	100
3	40 minutes	100	200	200
4	40 minutes	100	200	200
5	40 minutes	200	300	300
6	40 minutes	200	400	400
7	40 minutes	300	500	500
8	40 minutes	300	600	600
9	40 minutes	400	800	800
10	40 minutes	500	1,000	1,000
11	40 minutes	600	1,200	1,200
12	40 minutes	800	1,600	1,600
13	40 minutes	1,000	2,000	2,000
14	40 minutes	1,000	2,500	2,500
15	40 minutes	1,500	3,000	3,000
16	60 minutes	2,000	4,000	4,000

The 2019/20 WSOP Circuit Season At Ameristar Casino

Today marks the start of the $1,700 Main Event at the Ameristar Casino, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty of action that has already taken place. Here is a list of all the winners that have won events so far at the Ameristar Casino.

Tournament	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	Prize
Event #1: $400 NLH Double Stack	206	$67,980	Carlos Loving	$16,622
Event #2: $400NLH	1,093	$360,690	Cory Bogert	$50,034
Event #3: $400 NLH	157	$51,810	Matthew Koch	$13,567
Event #4: $400 NLH 6-Handed	232	$76,560	Andros Ioakimides	$18,119
Event #5: $400 PLO	117	$38,610	Cory Bogert	$10,674
Event #6: $400 NLH Bounty	160	$36,800	Christopher Parsley	$9,634
Event #7: $400 NHL	108	$35,640	Rob Keeling	$10,021
Event #8: $400 NLH Monster Stack	281	$92,730	Rob Keeling	$21,357
Event #9: $600 NLH	132	$67,980	Jeffrey Trudeau Jr.	$18,265
$250 Seniors Event	273	$54,600	Dave Simon	$12,733

PokerNews will be here all weekend long catching all the action straight from the tournament floor, so be sure to stay tuned as the action gets underway here at Ameristar St. Charles!