Posted by pokerguru on May 2, 2009
At one of the final events of the WSOP Circuit, Mike “The Grinder” Mizrachi walked into the casino as the chip leader. Having been absent from a major leader board in quite some time, you could feel the crowd rooting for the charismatic player. While he failed to take down the tournament, his second place finish proved to everyone that he is back on top of his game.
Mizrachi started the day on a mission and that mission was to take out as many players as he could and continue to eliminate players and keep his stack growing. The first player to meet his demise at Mizrachi’s hand was Matt LaGarde. He stared the hand way ahead with a AQ in the hole, but fell quickly behind with a flop of KJ2. Both the turn and river failed to improve his hand and Mizrachi’s K10 took down the all in.
Play was heating up all over the tables after that and slowly but surely, one player after another got their chips in with the worst of it and quickly met the rail. As each player got knocked out, Mizrachi was one step close to taking down the championship.
The final table had an impressive lineup, especially considering that amount of talent that was across the pond at the EPT Monte Carlo event. Again, Mizrachi proved to be too much on more than one occasion and continued to eliminate players. His most notable victim was Men “The Master” Nguyen, who went out in third place.
While the final table seemed to fly by, the heads up action was anything but faced paced. Apparently seeing all of that money on the table tightened up both players a bit and it took well over 3 hours for the tournament to be decided. It was actually some of the most remarkable play that we have seen in quite some time in heads up action.
The final hand had both players looking down at paint, unfortunately for Mizrachi, his was not quite as formidable as Justin Bonomo’s. Mizrachi moved in with J9 and had the unfortunate luck to be looking across the table at KQ. The flop immediately lessened his hopes as it came out K-10-9. He got a little help on the turn with an A, but was reduced to a 5 outer on the river. Needing a Q or one of the two remaining 9’s, he was disappointed with a 3d. Both players ended up making a flush, but Mizrachi was on the short end of it with his only being J high to Q high.
He may be disappointed that he did not manage to hold on, but the $143,512 probably made that a little easier to take. Not only that, but he has some stake money for the WSOP that is right around the corner. Bonomo took down $237,692 for first place and also gets to wear the coveted ring. We can expect to see big things from both of these guys at the WSOP.
Posted by James on December 23, 2008
As is customary in the month of January, the World Series of Poker Circuit Event will be headed to Tunica, MS from January 20th to February 3rd. The event will be held at Harrahs Tunica. This resort features a golf course, two hotels, a kids arcade, and is one of the most awe inspiring properties that Harrahs owns.
This year’s event will be the only game in town as the WPT decided to not renew the Tunica stop on the current season of the World Poker Tour. For years, the WPT and the WSOP competed for the tournament dollars of local poker players. This year, the WSOP should show a strong crowd for most events. Expect many pros to be among those in attendance during the events.
For more information, go to www.worldseriesofpoker.com. For those that may think about going to the event, discounts are usually offered for players playing in the events. Shuttle services are also available from the hotels to the casino. If you have never been to Tunica or to a WSOP Circuit event stop, this is one that you shouldn’t miss.
The scheduled for the circuit stop is below:
Date Event Buy-In Time
Tue, Jan 20th Event #1 – No Limit Hold’em $340 12:00 PM
Tue, Jan 20th Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Wed, Jan 21st Event #2 – No Limit Hold’em $340 12:00 PM
Wed, Jan 21st Omaha HI/Lo split Pot Limit $230 4:00 PM
Thu, Jan 22nd Event #3 – No Limit Hold’em $340 12:00 PM
Thu, Jan 22nd 7-stud Hi Lo Split $230 4:00 PM
Fri, Jan 23rd Event #4 – No Limit Hold’em $550 12:00 PM
Fri, Jan 23rd 6-Hand No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Sat, Jan 24th Event #5 – No Limit Hold’em $340 12:00 PM
Sat, Jan 24th Seniors No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Sun, Jan 25th Event #6 – No Limit Hold’em $440 12:00 PM
Sun, Jan 25th Ladies No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Mon, Jan 26th Event #7 – No Limit Hold’em $230 12:00 PM
Mon, Jan 26th Seven Card Stud $230 4:00 PM
Tue, Jan 27th Event #8 – No Limit Hold’em $230 12:00 PM
Tue, Jan 27th Pot Limit Omaha $230 4:00 PM
Wed, Jan 28th Event #9 – No Limit Hold’em $340 12:00 PM
Wed, Jan 28th H.O.R.S.E $230 4:00 PM
Thu, Jan 29th Event #10 – No Limit Hold’em $440 12:00 PM
Thu, Jan 29th No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Fri, Jan 30th Event #11 – No Limit Hold’em $550 12:00 PM
Fri, Jan 30th No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Sat, Jan 31st Event #12 – No Limit Hold’em $1,080 12:00 PM
Sat, Jan 31st No Limit Hold’em $230 4:00 PM
Sun, Feb 1st Mega Satellite $550 12:00 PM
Sun, Feb 1st Mega Satellite $550 3:00 PM
Sun, Feb 1st Mega Satellite $550 7:00 PM
Sun, Feb 1st Mega Satellite $550 9:00 PM
Mon, Feb 2nd Event #13- Circuit Championship $5,150 12:00 PM
Tue, Feb 3rd Event #14- No Limit Hold’em $230 12:00 PM
Posted by James on October 18, 2008
The WSOP Circuit recently completed a stop at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Unlike many circuit events over the years, this event saw a sharp decrease in the number of overall participants. The prior record low for the Main Event of a WSOP Circuit event was 99. This event drew a paltry 84 players. Noticeably absent from this event were big name stars of the poker world. The only significant name in the field was Bernard Lee and he was eliminated before the end of Day 1.
Just to give an idea of how small this field was, play that was scheduled to last until 3 a.m. in the morning on Day 1 was suspended at around 10 pm. Day 2 was also another very short day, lasting just under 5 hours. A husband and wife pair made it deep into Day 2 in the David and Stacy Kopacz, but only David would make the final table.
Due to the small field size, only 9 players finished in the money and in the end this is what the final table looked like:
Seat 1: Jerry Martin 139,500
Seat 2: David Kopacz 151,000
Seat 3: Samuel Oberlin 229,500
Seat 4: Jamin Stokes 189,500
Seat 5: Dean Schultz 114,000
Seat 6: Joey Couden 128,000
Seat 7: Derek Whelan 117,500
Seat 8: Ray Lynn 17,500
Seat 9: Len Ashby 177,000
In the end, play ended up three handed between David Kopacz, Samuel Oberlin, and Jerry Martin. Martin had a massive chip lead and in one hand took a dominating lead when he eliminated David Kopacz after flopping a set with pocket queens.
Heads up play saw Martin enter with almost a 5 to 1 chip lead over Oberlin. Martin had just over 1 Million in chips and Oberlin was just over 200,000. It only took one hand to put Oberlin back in contention. Oberlin moved in with pocket queens and was called by the K-J of Martin. Queens held and Oberlin had over a half million in chips.
Oberlin took the lead with some strong betting a few hands later and then another huge confrontation occurred between the two. With the flop showing Jc-4c-5h, Martin moved all-in against Oberlin and Oberlin called. Again, Oberlin was holding pocket queens. Martin was holding J-7 and needed help. Help did not arrive and Samuel Oberlin overcame a massive chip deficit to win the first WSOP Circuit Title of the season.
Oberlin took home $143,064 as well as the gold circuit championship ring. His win goes to prove that when you reach heads up play, many times the player that catches the cards wins up the winner.
The WSOP Circuit will be heading to Hammond, IN next. Starting the 24th, the first circuit event in the Chicago, IL area will take place. Details about the event can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com. It will be interesting to see the interest in the Chicago area for this event. Hopefully the recent trend in low attendance will start to reverse. With the current state of the economy, it is hard to tell.
Posted by James on October 5, 2008
The World Series of Poker Circiut season has kicked off with its first stop in Elizabeth, IN. The WSOP Circuit are groups of tournaments held at various locations around the U.S. This gives players exposure to the World Series of Poker, but on a smaller scale. Most tournaments are around the $500 buy-in range, but there are higher buy-ins with the Main Event of the circuit event coming in at a $5,000 buy-in.
The winner of each circuit event receives a gold ring in addition to the first place prize money. Winners of the Main Event of each Circuit series will receive an entry into the Main Event of the next year’s World Series of Poker Las Vegas. This year’s circuit schedule is below:
October 2 — October 14, 2008 HORSESHOE SOUTHERN INDIANA
October 24 — November 2, 2008 HORSESHOE HAMMOND (Chicago area)
November 6 — November 16, 2008 HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE (Nevada)
December 5 – December 18, 2008 HARRAH’S ATLANTIC CITY
January 20 – February 9, 2009 HARRAH’S TUNICA (Mississippi)
February 12 – February 25, 2009 HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS (Iowa)
March 4 – March 14, 2009 CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY
March 19 – March 29, 2009 HARRAH’S RINCON (San Diego)
April 12 – April 29, 2009 CAESARS PALACE (Las Vegas)
May 8 – May 20, 2009 HARRAH’S NEW ORLEANS
Many of the events in the WSOP Circuit are No Limit Holdem, but the Circuit does try to mix the events up on occasion offereing H.O.R.S.E., Limit Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, 7 Card Stud, and on rare occasions Stud 8 or Better. The larger of the circuit events is held in January in Tunica MS. I personally have played in 3 Circuit events in Tunica, and I must say that the staff at Harrah’s run a fantatic tournament. They have an entire area set aside for the events and it truly feels like a mini World Series of Poker.
Many view the WSOP Circuit as the minor leagues. You will find that many of the preliminary events are headlined and won by virtual unknown players. It is not uncommon for a first time poker player to play in an event and take one down. This is partially what the circuit was intended for, to give players at all levels a chance at WSOP glory.
Professionals tend to fly in for the Main Event of the various WSOP Circuit Events. The $5,000 buy-in is part of the attraction. The other is the opportunity for media exposure as many of the Main Events are covered by various media outlets.
Also, like the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, you can satellite your way into any event at the WSOP circuit. $65 satellites can win you an entry into the $500 events. $125 satellites win you’re an entry into the $1,000 event. You can play all the way up to $550 satellites to take your shot at the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. Mega satellites are also held.
For those of you that like to hustle cash games, the WSOP Circuits usually have a decent spread of cash games going at all times as well. So no matter what your game, there should be a Circuit event for you. Check www.worldseriesofpoker.com for more information about the WSOP-C.
