2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Foxwoods

Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Foxwoods

Final Results
Winner
Justin Carey
Winning Hand
a8
Prize
$143,293
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$709,020
Entries
468
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000

Main Event

Day 3 Completed

Justin Carey Takes Down WSOPC Main Event in Foxwoods for $143,293!

Level 33 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
WSOPC Foxwoods Main Event Winner Justin Carey
WSOPC Foxwoods Main Event Winner Justin Carey

The third stop of the 2019/20 World Series of Poker Circuit crowned a new champion at Foxwoods in the $1,700 Main Event as Justin Carey emerged victorious, denying Maurice Hawkins his fourteenth gold ring. Carey outlasted a field of 468 entries to take down the biggest piece of the pie, pocketing $143,293 along with a his second career ring, and a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

Carey is a native of Somerville, Massachusetts and only logged his first tournament result in January of 2018. Although he may be new to the game he showed great resilience and an overall calmness throughout the entire event.

"It’s awesome. I feel like I played really, really well the entire tournament," he said. "On Day 2, I had a couple of bumps where I lost some really big pots, I just stayed focused and just played the best I could."

“I thought I played almost perfect at this final table,” he added. When talking about his success, Carey credits the company he keeps. “I’ve made friends with a lot of poker players that are better than me, and they’ve helped me a lot with my game.”

Carey came into heads-up play against Hawkins, the all-time Circuit leader with 13 rings, with an almost five-to-one lead. Hawkins chipped away and took a big lead himself, but Carey eventually got the job done.

“I just wanted to crush Maurice really bad,” admitted Carey after denying Hawkins a record-extending ring.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerHometownPrize (USD)
1Justin CareySomerville, Massachusetts$143,293
2Maurice HawkinsCoral Springs, Florida$88,557
3David PlotkinChicago, Illinois$64,663
4Andrew OstapchenkoCarlsbad, California$47,859
5Dan ChalifourSpofford, New Hampshire$35,947
6Gregory NerenbergLake Success, New York$27,297
7Joseph RudyUnited States$21,058
8Ralph MacriRedding Connecticut$16,449
9Sean ThomsonWorcester Massachusetts$13,079

Final Table Action

The final day started off exactly how Day 2 ended, with guns blazing and chips blasting into the middle. Sean Thomson showed no fear as he sat down to his first big blind and was instantly faced with a raise from Hawkins. Thomson elected to play, calling down on every street, including a pot-sized bet on the river. Hawkins tabled a full house, dominating the two pair of Thomson who was now the short stack of the table and would take an exit just a few hands later against the jacks of Joseph Rudy.

Ralph Macri took charge through the next round of play as he played in almost every pot, jumping from average to short stack and back again in just a matter of hands. Macri said he pot-committed himself preflop with queen-jack against the pocket aces of Andrew Ostapchenko, doubling Ostapchenko while moving back into the short-stack role again. Macri moved his remaining chips all in on the next hand with ace-queen and was called by the ace-jack of Hawkins. The flop ran out jack-high and the rest is history as Macri was eliminated in eighth place.

Just hands after Macri was eliminated it was Rudy putting himself at risk. Rudy opened from under the gun and David Plotkin moved all in. Rudy called with his Big Slick and was in excellent shape as Plotkin turned over ace-jack. The first four cards ran out clean and Rudy only needed to dodge a johnny on the river to secure a double up. Lady luck had other plans for Plotkin as the jack landed on the felt, eliminating Rudy from the tournament on a disgusting river.

Plotkin took his newly acquired chips and jumped in multiple pots, finding himself on the losing end of the majority. Plotkin fell back down to under fifteen bigs and elected to shove from the button with king-nine of spades. Gregory Nerenberg called the all-in with his ace-ten of clubs and was ahead until a runner-runner straight came down, sending a double to Plotkin that left Nerenberg short.

Carey started to really climb during the six-handed portion of the tournament and would be the executioner when Nerenberg shoved his remaining stack all in. Nerenberg's ten-eight was dominated by the Carey who was holding ace-eight and failed to improve as he took an exit in sixth place.

Over two hours of back-and-forth play passed before another player took an exit. Dan Chalifour began the day atop the leaderboard and had been there throughout the first five levels of the day without ever really falling in the standings. However, three hands with Ostapchenko was the demise of Chalifour's tournament life.

The first saw Chalifour with cowboys against the queens of Ostapchenko and the board shifted the lead on every street, but in the end, Ostapchenko took down the first pot with a rivered full house, leaving the start of the day chip leader short. Chalifour doubled the very next hand through Ostapchenko and the two pushed it all-in again for the third hand in a row with Chalifour holding two overs to Ostapchenko's pair of fours. The board ran out dry and Chalifour headed to the payout desk in fifth place.

Ostapchenko held the lead at the start of five-handed play but his stack quickly depleted, doubling Carey and Hawkins up almost simultaneously. Ostapchenko then found himself at the bottom of the food chain and in need of a double. The California native moved the last of his chips into the middle with pockets sixes, only to run into the higher pair of nines of Hawkins. Ostapchenko failed to land a six and he was eliminated from the tournament in fourth place for a respectable $47,859.

Three-handed play began with Carey leading the way, Plotkin close on his tail, and Hawkins sitting as the short stack. Plotkin opened from the button, Carey three-bet him and Plotkin called to see the ten-high flop. Carey check-raised all-in and Plotkin obliged. Carey tabled top two pair and Plotkin sighed as he turned over pocket aces. The board failed to improve Plotkin as he was eliminated in third place for $64,663.

All-Time Ring Leader Maurice Hawkins
All-Time Ring Leader Maurice Hawkins

Heads-up play started with Carey sitting atop a monster pile of chips and Hawkins in need of some love. Hawkins instantly drew first blood from his opponent and elected to turn up the pressure soon after, pushing his way into the lead over the span of many small pots. Carey fell to the danger zone and didn't seem phased as he fought his way back into contention, taking the lead back from Hawkins.

Once Carey had the lead it never was returned to the 13-time ring winner as Hawkins dropped down to just fifteen blinds before calling his remaining chips all in with ace-queen against the ace-eight of Carey. An eight-high flop rolled out, shifting the lead to Carey and Hawkins failed to catch up as he was eliminated in second, receiving $88,557 for his efforts.

Andrew Lauer Wins Casino Championship

Andrew Lauer
Andrew Lauer wins his third gold ring.

The other player to capture a 2020 Global Casino Championship seat while at the WSOP Circuit Foxwoods stop was Andrew Lauer, who finished atop the leaderboard with 122.5 points after amassing $44,073 in earnings.

That included winning Event #2: $600 NLH 6-Handed for $14,058 and his third gold ring. He also finished sixth in Event #5: $600 NLH for $3,495, 16th in the Main Event for $7,090, and third in the $3,250 High Roller for $19,430.

“It feels amazing. I can only play a few events so when I came down I said the six-max is the one,” Lauer said after the win. “The third one was kind of elusive. I got heads-up down in Florida – didn’t get it. Made a couple of other final tables – couldn’t get it. So, to actually get it feels amazing. Gotta keep going for more though – get four and five.”

WSOPC Foxwoods Ring Winners

TournamentEntriesPrize PoolPlayerPrize
Event #1: $400 NLH207$68,310Andrew Heckman$16,566
Event #2: $600 NLH 6-Handed92$47,380Andrew Lauer$14,058
Event #3: $600 NLH1,754$903,310Bob Ricciuti$134,413
Event #4: $400 NLH Turbo322$106,260Max Wiosna$23,664
Event #5: $600 NLH156$80,340Michael Zaino$21,050
Event #6: $400 NLH One-Day237$78,210Luke Graham$18,364
Event #7: $400 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better124$40,920Darrell Lee$11,143
Event #8: $400 Monster Stack443$146,190Donald Devish$29,969
Event #9 $1,700 Main Event468$709,020Justin Carey$143,293
Event #10: $600 NLH141$72,615Kevin Lutz$19,476
Event #11: $3,250 High Roller44$132,000Dave Stefanski$47,652
Event #12: $250 NLH256$51,200Sean Carlson$11,771
Event #13: $400 NLH Turbo101$33,330Mark Amaral$9,523
$250 Seniors Event464$92,800Scott Robbins$18,811
$250 Ladies Event117$23,400Ashley Haller$6,466

This wraps it up for the PokerNews coverage of the Main Event in Foxwoods, but tune into the High Roller as the final two are battling it out. Next stop is at the Ameristar Casino in the St. Louis area, where there will be full coverage of the $1,700 Main Event, so tune in for all of the action.

Tags: Andrew HeckmanAndrew LauerAndrew OstapchenkoAshley HallerBob RicciutiDan ChalifourDarrell LeeDavid PlotkinDonald DevishGregory NerenbergJoseph RudyJustin CareyLuke GrahamMaurice HawkinsMichael ZainoRalph MacriScott RobbinsSean Thomson

Maurice Hawkins Eliminated in 2nd Place ($88,557)

Level 33 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Maurice Hawkins
Maurice Hawkins

Justin Carey moved all in from the button and Maurice Hawkins snap-called for his last 2,850,000. The two tabled their cards in what could be the last hand of the night.

Maurice Hawkins: {a-Spades}{q-Hearts}
Justin Carey: {a-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}

The dealer fanned out {8-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{3-Hearts} on the flop and Hawkins instantly stood up as Carey took the lead with his flopped eight.

A {7-Clubs} landed on the turn and Hawkins needed a lady to keep his night going.

The river peeled off a {9-Hearts}, failing to improve Hawkins as he was eliminated just one player short of ring number 14.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Carey us
Justin Carey
14,040,000
4,400,000
4,400,000
Profile photo of Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
Busted

Tags: Justin CareyMaurice Hawkins

Carey Pulling Away from Hopkins

Level 33 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Maurice Hawkins opened to 500,000 from the button, Justin Carey defended his big blind and the dealer fanned out {a-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{4-Diamonds} on the flop.

Carey check-called a bet of 200,000 from Hawkins and the {5-Spades} peeled off on the turn. Both players checked to the {8-Spades} river card and checked again to showdown. Carey tabled {k-Hearts}{q-Clubs} for king-high and Hawkins mucked, sending another pot to the chipleader.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Carey us
Justin Carey
9,640,000
3,340,000
3,340,000
Profile photo of Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
4,400,000
-3,340,000
-3,340,000

Tags: Justin CareyMaurice Hawkins

Carey Climbs Up, Hawkins Knocks Him Back Down

Level 33 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Justin Carey checked his big blind after Maurice Hawkins limped the button and the dealer spread out {k-Spades}{10-Spades}{3-Hearts} on the flop. Both players checked to the {9-Spades} turn card and Carey then bet 200,000.

Hawkins called and the {9-Clubs} hit the felt as a river card. Carey bet 700,00 and Hawkins quickly raised to around 1,550,000. Carey snap-folded, sending the pot to Hawkins.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
9,120,000
-340,000
-340,000
Profile photo of Justin Carey us
Justin Carey
4,920,000
340,000
340,000

Tags: Justin CareyMaurice Hawkins

Level: 33

Blinds: 100,000/200,000

Ante: 200,000

Hawkins Takes the Lead

Level 32 : 80,000/160,000, 160,000 ante

Maurice Hawkins used aggression to chip away at the stack of Justin Carey, evening out the fight and just hands after he took down a monster.

The turned board read {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}{4-Clubs}{7-Spades} and there was around 800,000 in the middle. Hawkins checked to Carey, he bet 325,000 and Hawkins check-raised to 1,270,000.

Carey called after a moment of thought and the {6-Diamonds} completed the board. Hawkins instantly pushed in 2,100,000 and Carey folded, sending the biggest pot of heads-up play thus far to Hawkins.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
8,140,000
4,040,000
4,040,000
Profile photo of Justin Carey us
Justin Carey
5,900,000
-4,040,000
-4,040,000

Tags: Justin CareyMaurice Hawkins