$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Started
$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Started
The Main Event of the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort WSOP Circuit stop kicks off today bright and early at 11 a.m. in what is always one of the most popular stops on the WSOPc calendar.
August was the last time the circuit rolled around to the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Cherokee. In the main event, Billy Cashwell topped a field of 1,057 entrants and overcame a large heads up deficit vs Forrest Raleigh to take home his first WSOP circuit ring.
Turning the calendar back to last December in Cherokee, it was none other than Jake Bazeley who won the main event for a whopping $311,616.
Play begins at 11 a.m. today for Day 1a, while Day 1b will commence at the same 11 a.m. time on Saturday December 7. Day 1 will consist of 16 levels of play, which are 40 minutes in length for the first 15 levels of play with level 16 being 60 minutes. If the field is reduced to 16% remaining before the completion of 16 levels, play will end at that moment. Fifteen-minute breaks will be every three levels (two hours) with an hour dinner break after level 9 (roughly 5:30 p.m.).
The $1,700 buy in will give each player a 30,000 chip stack and one re-entry is allowed per flight.
PokerNews will be on hand to provide full coverage of the Main Event from start to finish
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
The Main Event has begun with the tournament clock showing 101 entries as the first hand is dealt.
A few familiar faces have taken their seats early on Day 1a
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Russell Sullivan | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Corey Bierria | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Spencer Champlin | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Thomas Alcorn | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Dinh Ba | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Ryan Jones | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Anes Kovacevic | 30,000 | 30,000 |
PokerNews is in town to live report the Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee, but that is just one of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #1: $250 NLH Double Stack, 323 entrants created a $64,600 prize pool that was paid out to the top 49 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Vicky Towery (11th - $976), Moin Kazi (20th - $574), and Robert Hawkins (35th - $352), just to name a few.
After two days of play, Georgia book salesman Lenol Clark came out on top to win a $14,378 top prize and his first gold ring.
“It feels very, very good. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been coming to Cherokee forever and ever and ever, coming three times a year and practicing. It feels good to finally get there,” Clark said after the win. “It is the highest cash that I’ve had. I basically practice and learn to read the other opponents.”
Clark recently spent two months in Las Vegas – he drove his motor home there – practicing his game.
“I played tournaments in 12 different casinos. I did better in the high denomination tournaments than going over and playing with all of the tourists,” he explained. “I went out there, played for eight weeks to practice, enjoyed and came back. I got lucky here a few times, and here we are.”
Final Table Results
Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lenol Clark | Trenton, Georgia | $14,378 |
2 | Damon Sandor | Asheville, North Carolina | $8,886 |
3 | Jean Tenhulzen | Tennessee | $6,354 |
4 | Harold Angle | Anderson, South Carolina | $4,618 |
5 | Nicholas Power | Mcdonough, Georgia | $3,413 |
6 | Milan Mizerovsky | Greenville, South Carolina | $2,566 |
7 | Fikret Kovac | Atlanta, Georgia | $1,962 |
8 | Savan Ratanpara | N/A | $1,527 |
9 | John Shepherd | Knoxville, Tennessee | $1,210 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 100
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
John Van Arnam | 58,000 | |
Warren Sheaves
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
David Lindquist | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Maurice Hawkins | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Melisa Singh | 30,000 |
Chad Bradbury and Warren Sheaves were at the turn on a board that read . Sheaves bet 1,000 which Bradbury called.
The river came the . Sheaves fired again, this time for 2,300. Bradbury called quickly and Sheaves said "good call" as he turned over the which was beaten by the of Bradbury as he collected the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chad Bradbury | 36,000 | 36,000 |
Warren Sheaves
|
28,000 | -2,000 |
The flop read . Joshua Schiffman bet 600 to which Maurice Hawkins quickly raised to 2,100. Schiffman waited a moment before calling.
Before the turn could even be revealed by the dealer, Hawkins piled an assortment of chips into the middle for a bet of 2,200. The turn was the . Schiffman called again.
The river was the . Hawkins slowed down and checked while Schiffman checked behind and turned over ace high with the which was good enough to take down the pot as Hawkins mucked.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Joshua Schiffman | 38,000 | 38,000 |
Maurice Hawkins | 25,000 | -5,000 |