This week, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Championship Event in Tunica came to a close with a familiar name outlasting an outstanding final table.
The tournament began on Monday with 96 players putting $5,000 on the line to take down a WSOP Circuit championship, a diamond and gold ring and, perhaps more importantly, their buy-in for the 2010 WSOP Main Event. With slightly over $440,000 on the line for the final nine, play was marked in the early going by the professionals taking the lead over the best amateurs the Mid-South had to offer. Top online professional Matt “All In At 420” Stout was atop the leader board, with such players as 2009 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona champion Carter Phillips, two time WSOP Circuit ring winner Dwyte Pilgrim, and Victory Poker sponsored pro Paul Wasicka. Such pros as Gavin Smith, Tommy Vedes, and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler were among those not to survive Day One.
After playing down to 35 players on Day One, the remaining combatants came back on Tuesday to play down to a final table. Wasicka was able to make a serious move during play on Day Two, surging to the top of the mountain while players fell around him. Stout couldn’t maintain his lead, but was able to make his way to the final table as a middle stack. Phillips and Pilgrim also grinded their way into the money, but were faced with an uphill climb if they were to capture the tournament’s title.
With a loaded final table, the battle for the championship in Tunica would not be an easy one. Jerry Saucier made an unfortunate move on a 2d-Kd-8d flop, pushing his remaining chips to the center holding only A-J. Phillips, after hitting a set with pocket Kings, immediately called and sent the Alabama native home in ninth place.
Kingston, Tennessee’s Larry Gurney limped in with pocket Kings and was re-raised by the short-stacked Robert Thornhill, who held pocket eights. Gurney revealed his well-played hand when he called and turned up Cowboys. The misery for Thornhill only got worse when a King on the flop all but sealed the hand for Gurney. An innocent three on the turn ended the hand and eliminated Thornhill in eighth place.
After Thornhill’s departure, the pros in the field began to take shots at each other. Stout, who spent much of the final table losing chips, reached a point where he was forced to shove with A-10. Wasicka, oddly enough rooming with Stout at the tournament, isolated him by re-raising with Big Slick and, once the board ran with no changes, captured the hand. Stout, a 2008 WSOP Circuit ring winner in Atlantic City, was eliminated in seventh place.
Gurney’s fortune at the table continued as he crippled Pilgrim through a bad beat. On a board of 3h-9h-Qc, the duo got their chips to the center of the table with Gurney holding A-9 against Pilgrim’s A-Q. A river nine stole the hand from Pilgrim and doubled up Gurney, putting him in second behind Wasicka. Shortly thereafter, Pilgrim was out in sixth place.
After Phillips (fifth), Shane Zell (fourth), and Richard Robb (third) were eliminated, the heads-up action came down to Wasicka and Gurney. Nearly even in chips at the start of play, Wasicka was able to work his way into a sizeable lead against the Tennessean, at one point holding a 5:1 chip advantage. Wasicka would not be denied, as he ended the event with a flopped two pair of nines and eights to defeat Gurney’s pocket fours.
Here’s the way the payouts went for the final table players:
1. Paul Wasicka – $139,422
2. Larry Gurney – $94,448
3. Richard Robb – $62,965
4. Shane Zell – $44,975
5. Carter Phillips – $35,980
6. Dwyte Pilgrim – $26,985
7. Matt Stout – $17,990
8. Robert Thornhill – $14,616
9. Jerry Saucier – $12,368
With the championship, Wasicka adds to what has become one of the most impressive poker resumes in the game today. After finishing second to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event and winning over $6 million, the man known as “Kwickfish” online captured a prestigious win in the 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Perhaps surprisingly, the Tunica WSOP Circuit stop is the Victory Poker sponsored pro’s first major tournament victory, although Wasicka has racked up over $7.8 million in tournament winnings.
With the end of the tournament in Tunica, the WSOP Circuit heads for Council Bluffs, Iowa, for its next stop beginning February 18th. However, there was a warning for players who want to tackle future Circuit events from its latest champion. After a stop in Los Angeles for the L.A. Poker Classic, Wasicka says, “I’m going to hit the Circuits,” meaning there will be a “Kwickfish” in the waters for future players to combat.
