With the World Series of Poker (WSOP) about to begin at the Rio in Las Vegas, there was one more piece of business for WSOP officials to conclude: the WSOP Circuit National Championship. Little Rock’s Sam Barnhart emerged victorious Sunday night at Caesars Palace, claiming the $300,000 first prize and a spot in the history books as the first-ever WSOP Circuit National Champion.
The WSOP Circuit National Championship is a $1,000,000 freeroll for the top 100 players of the 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit season. There were four ways to qualify:
1. Win a $1,500 WSOP Circuit Main Event – 15 qualifiers
2. Top points earner at each WSOP Circuit stop – 15 qualifiers
3. Reach the final table at one of four Regional Championships – 36 qualifiers
4. Top points earners across entire season – 37 qualifiers
If you do the math, you will see that those numbers do not add up to 100. This is because there was some overlap amongst the first three categories, as a few players qualified in multiple ways. Thus, additional spots were opened up for at-large qualifiers in method four. On top of all that, there were several players tied at 100 points (the minimum qualifying season score) for the final two at-large entries, so the tiebreaker of most prize money earned during the season was used. David Paredes and Dan Perper made the cut, both having won $39,346 this season.
Matthew Lawrence was the first to depart from the final table, just a few hands into play. Having been crippled by an unlucky river card against Charles Moore on the first hand of the day, Lawrence pushed all-in pre-flop from the small blind for about 70,000 chips with A-9. James Anderson, who had already raised, made the call with J-J, coincidentally the same hand Lawrence lost with earlier. As Moore did before, Lawrence hit his Ace on the river, but unfortunately for him, Anderson had already flopped a set and Lawrence was eliminated in ninth place.
Shortly thereafter, Adam Hui raised to 10,500 pre-flop, only to see the chip leader, Jonathan Poche, re-raise to 28,000. Hui called and the two saw a flop of A-K-J. Poche led out with a bet of 33,500, Hui min-raised to 67,000, and Poche shoved. Hui made a quick call and turned over K-J for a strong hand, bottom two-pair. Poche’s hand was stronger, though, as he had pocket Aces, giving him top set. Nothing was to be had for Hui on either the turn or river, and he hit the rail in eighth place.
Again, it wasn’t long, about 20 minutes, until the next knockout. After a pre-flop raise from Moore, Drazen Ilich moved all-in for around 90,000 chips with 3-3, and Moore called with A-K. The flop of K-T-6 gave Moore the lead and that was it for Ilich, as neither of the remaining threes in the deck surfaced on the turn or river. Ilich was eliminated in seventh place.
After that, it was almost three hours until the next player busted. Moore was all-in pre-flop with A-K and was called by Anderson and his pocket Queens. Nothing happened the rest of the way to even give Moore a sweat and the Championship was down to five players.
The fifth place finisher was arguably the biggest surprise of the day, Jonathan Poche. Poche was the overwhelming chip leader going into the final table, with the quarter of the total chips in play. He had trouble finding any traction, though, and kept getting picked on as play went along. Eventually, he found himself all-in after a flop of K-5-3, holding K-T for top pair, but to his dismay, Sam Barnhart had him dominated with K-Q. There was no magic in the remaining two community cards for Poche and he was eliminated in fifth, $75,000 richer than he was when he started the tournament.
A half hour after the dinner break, during level 20 with blinds at 8,000/16,000 and antes at 2,000, Anderson raised to 35,000 chips pre-flop and was called by La Sengphet from the big blind. After the Q-5-4 flop, Sengphet checked and Anderson bet 39,000, prompting Sengphet to move all-in. Anderson made an easy call, revealing K-Q for top pair, while Sengphet had 8-5 for middle pair. There was no suspense on the river, as Anderson nailed another Queen on the turn to give him trips and the pot.
The next to be eliminated was Josh Evans, who went all-in over the top of Anderson’s pre-flop raise with A-2. He was in bad shape, though, as Anderson had Q-Q, and while Evans did hit a 2, it didn’t happen until the river, so he was the Championship’s third place finisher, winning $135,000.
Going into heads-up play, James Anderson had a small chip lead over Sam Barnhart, 1,021,000 to 977,000. Despite the comparable chip stacks, the match only lasted less than half an hour. The turning point came when Anderson raised to 50,000 pre-flop and Barnhart pushed for 860,000 with just A-3 suited. Anderson insta-called with pocket Kings. The flop was interesting: 2-3-4, which gave Barnhart a pair and a straight draw in addition to his overcard. The turn was nothing exciting, but the river produced an Ace, giving Barnhart the pot and a commanding chip lead, 1,726,000 to just 272,000.
Just a few hands later, it was all over. Barnhart moved all-in pre-flop with K-Q and Anderson made the call with A-T suited. The flop of K-J-7 was immediately kind to Barnhart, pairing his King. While Anderson had picked up some more outs, none of them appeared and Barnhart became the WSOP Circuit National Champion.
WSOP Circuit National Championship Final Table Standings
1. Sam Barnhart – $300,000
2. James Anderson – $200,000
3. Josh Evans – $135,000
4. La Sengphet – $100,000
5. Jonathan Poche – $75,000
6. Charles Moore – $55,000
7. Drazen Ilich – $42,500
8. Adam Hui – $35,000
9. Matthew Lawrence – $30,000
