2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Cherokee

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Cherokee

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
55
Prize
$271,234
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$1,601,355
Entries
1,057
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000

Mikhaylov Flushes Out Alcorn

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

Three players headed to the flop of {10-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{2-Hearts} with around 4,000 in the middle already. The small blind checked and Heather Alcorn pushed all in for 2,600 in the big blind. Dmitry Mikhaylov called on the button and the small blind folded.

Dmitry Mikhaylov: {10-Hearts}{6-Hearts}
Heather Alcorn: {10-Clubs}{3-Spades}

Although Alcorn was dominated, she was cheering for big cards for a potential chop. However, the {a-Hearts} on the turn gave Mikhaylov a flush and Alcorn was drawing dead to the {4-Diamonds} on the river.

Player Chips Progress
Dmitry Mikhaylov us
Dmitry Mikhaylov
36,800
800
800
Heather Alcorn us
Heather Alcorn
Busted

Tags: Dmitry MikhaylovHeather Alcorn

Neese Shows the Bluff

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

Wayne Neese opened to 1,300 from under the gun and Roland Israelashvili three-bet to 3,800 in middle position. Martin Ryan flat-called from the small blind and Neese also called.

The flop came {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}{8-Diamonds} and the action checked to Israelashvilli who bet 6,400. Ryan called and Neese also came along to see the {6-Clubs} on the turn. The action checked around and the {a-Clubs} paired the board on the river.

Ryan checked and Neese counted out a bet of 8,500. Israelashvili folded and Ryan's cards quickly followed to the muck. Neese flipped over {j-Diamonds}{10-Clubs} to show a bluff as the chips were pushed his way.

Player Chips Progress
Wayne Neese
Wayne Neese
50,500
50,500
50,500
Martin Ryan tt
Martin Ryan
27,700
-33,300
-33,300
Roland Israelashvili us
Roland Israelashvili
21,000
-9,000
-9,000

Tags: Martin RyanRoland Israelashvili

Level: 8

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 600

Fox Applies Pressure to Conan

Level 8 : 300/600, 600 ante

The flop read {4-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}{10-Spades}. Marius Conan bet 5,000 and his opponent Mark Fox made a big raise to 25,000. Conan thought it over for several moments before he laid down his hand to leave himself with chips rather than put himself at risk.

Fox showed the {j-}{j-} after the fold.

Player Chips Progress
Mark Fox us
Mark Fox
65,000
65,000
65,000
Marius Conan fr
Marius Conan
16,000
-14,000
-14,000

Tags: Marius Conan

Updated Chip Counts

Level 8 : 300/600, 600 ante
Player Chips Progress
Carlos Loving us
Carlos Loving
174,500
Larry Slater
Larry Slater
138,000
William O'Neal us
William O'Neal
136,000
136,000
136,000
Ken Aldridge us
Ken Aldridge
74,000
28,000
28,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Mark Smith us
Mark Smith
72,800
16,800
16,800
Paulius Vaitiekunas lt
Paulius Vaitiekunas
67,500
37,500
37,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
62,000
13,000
13,000
DJ Alexander us
DJ Alexander
58,500
28,500
28,500
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
57,200
30,200
30,200
Ryan Eriquezzo us
Ryan Eriquezzo
39,100
9,100
9,100
WSOP 3X Winner
Jake Bazeley us
Jake Bazeley
38,500
8,500
8,500
Irene Carey us
Irene Carey
36,800
100
100
Adam Cedric fr
Adam Cedric
16,000
4,000
4,000
Stanley Lee us
Stanley Lee
12,700
Eric Salazar us
Eric Salazar
11,500
-18,500
-18,500

Bialek Wins with His Favorite Hand

Level 8 : 300/600, 600 ante

After an early limp, Jason Bialek raised to 2,000 on the button. The small blind shoved all in for 11,200 which got the limper to fold. After thinking for a minute, Bialek announced, "This is my favorite hand," before making the call.

Jason Bialek: {7-Clubs}{6-Clubs}
Opponent: {4-Spades}{4-Hearts}

The flop came {a-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}{9-Clubs} to give Bialek a flush draw to go with his two over cards to his opponent's pair. The turn was the {6-Diamonds}, leaving his opponent drawing to just one out. The river was the {5-Diamonds} and Bialek scooped the pot to eliminate his opponent.

Player Chips Progress
Jason Bialek us
Jason Bialek
46,500

Tags: Jason Bialek

Level: 9

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 800

Ryan Takes Pot

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

Martin Ryan bet 8,000 into two opponents on a flop of {6-Spades}{k-Spades}{3-Spades} to fold both of them out as he collected the pot to add to his stack shortly before the table was broken and a few notable players were moved to other seats.

Player Chips Progress
John Phan us
John Phan
95,000
95,000
95,000
Martin Kozlov au
Martin Kozlov
29,000
29,000
29,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Roland Israelashvili us
Roland Israelashvili
25,500
4,500
4,500
Martin Ryan tt
Martin Ryan
25,000
-2,700
-2,700

Kessler Looking for a Pair vs Hawkins

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

The action folded around to Allen Kessler who limped in from the small blind. Maurice Hawkins raised to 2,400 from the big blind and Kessler called.

The flop came {q-Hearts}{9-Spades}{3-Clubs} and Kessler check-called a bet of 1,800 from Hawkins. The {3-Hearts} on the turn paired the board Kessler check-called another 3,300 from Hawkins.

Kessler checked blind before the {5-Spades} hit the river and Hawkins checked it back. Kessler tabled {a-Diamonds}{10-Clubs} but Hawkins held {7-Hearts}{7-Diamonds} to claim the pot.

"You calling me with ace-high?" Hawkins questioned.

"If I made a pair, I would've won," Kessler responded.

Player Chips Progress
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
77,500
15,500
15,500
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
43,600
-13,600
-13,600

Tags: Allen KesslerMaurice Hawkins

Tyler Phillips Tops 2,766 Entries to Win Event #2: $400 NLH for $123,216

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante
Tyler Phillips
Tyler Phillips

The $1,700 Main Event is just one of a dozen gold ring events taking place at the Harrah’s Cherokee stop. For over a week, players have been competing for WSOP Circuit hardware and big chunks of prize money.

In Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, a tournament that drew 2,766 entries and generated a $912,780 prize pool.

According to the WSOP winner report, 27-year-old Tyler Phillips entered the final table in the middle of the pack but made it all the way to heads-up play, albeit at a 2:1 chip disadvantage. That didn’t discourage him as he hung tough and eventually claimed the title for $123,216 and his first gold ring.

“It feels amazing,” said Phillips, who also competed in the 2019 Global Casino Championship earlier this week. “Every time I come to Cherokee, I feel like I have a chance. Something has just happened recently. Last year, in the 6-max when I got heads up, I had a two-to-one chip advantage and still lost. To come here and have a two-to-one deficit and be able to take it down it feels like everything just went right.”

He added: “I am just going to play as many tournaments as I can this series.”

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Event #2 Final Table Results

PlacePlayerHometownPrize
1Tyler PhillipsCharlotte, North Carolina$123,216
2Dragan LunicDuluth, Georgia$78,464
3Todd MercerN/A$59,063
4Steven MerrittConyers, Georgia$44,862
5Scott MoersdorfKnoxville, Tennessee$34,387
6David JacksonJacksonville, Florida$26,601
7Curtis KingCharleston, West Virginia$20,769
8Michael WhittonRockmart, Georgia$16,368
9Jamison AlfordCharleston, South Carolina$13,022

Tags: Tyler Phillips