Ali Eslami wins WSOPC Western Regional Championship

WSOP Circuit by admin on April 3, 2011

Los-Angeles cash game player and little-known circuit professional, Ali Eslami, has won the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Western Regional Championship held in San Diego, California this week.

The WSOPC held one if its quieter events this week, with only 98 players caring about the Western Regional Championship that kicked-off last Sunday. The lowest turnout for a Regional Championship so far, the San Diego-based event trails behind Atlantic City (Eastern Regional Championship) and Hammond, Indiana (Midwest Regional Championship, held in Hammond, Indiana).

There was no lack of top-quality talent, however, as a considerable arsenal of world poker’s top guns came out on parade. The likes of Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, Jonathan Little, Scott Montgomery, Carlos “El Matador” Mortensen, Shannon Shorr.were joined by recently-crowned 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Champion Erik Seidel.

The final started and finished on Wednesday. Tim West, fresh off his Wynn over unpopular Norwegian Annette Obrestad at the Wynn Classic, held a respectable chip lead and this saw him through to the heads-up against Eslami in the battle for the $282,242 first place prize, the diamond and gold WSOP Circuit ring and the seat at the WSOPC National Championship in May.

The heads-up took two hours, with West and Eslami clashing heads in relenting style but neither being able to make any visible damage in the other’s stack. It appeared inevitable that a biggest-hand-takes-all finale would be forthcoming.

Eslami didn’t have to do much once West had gone all-in with a marginally smaller stack, but much worse hand and by the turn he had become the WSOP Circuit’s Western Regional Champion: