February 12 2012, Chad Holloway

The World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Main Event kicked off on Saturday with two starting flights attracting 625 players, though players are still allowed to register right up to the start of Day 2. The turnout exceeded last year’s total of 480 by a large margin, though re-entry was not available in 2010/2011. After each nine-level flight had concluded, Dantonio Brown emerged as the overwhelming chip leader, bagging an astounding 277,100 in chips.

The first starting flight drew 421 players including last year’s champ and National Championship winner, Sam Barnhart, as well as Kyle Cartwright, who made a big splash at this stop last year by winning two rings and capturing the “Casino Championship” title. Cartwright managed to survive the opening flight, albeit with a mediocre 24,000. Barnhart was eliminated and exercised his option to re-enter of Day 1b.

Other players who were eliminated in the first flight and re-entered included Eric Crain, John Dolan, Aaron Massey, Earl Barron, and Traci Brown, just to name a few. The decision proved fruitful for most of the above mentioned players, including Barnhart, as everyone but Crain made it to Day 2 on their second try.

They joined a laundry-list of notables who needed just one bullet to advance including Roland Israel (85,000), Houston White (79,800), Beverly Cheney (46,800), Kurt Jewell (39,500), “Captain” Tom Franklin (37,000), Doug “Rico” Carli (35,500), Al Theriac (31,300), and Huy Nguyen (30,900).

The chip leader got off to an idyllic start and his chip stack grew exponentially. In just a few levels, he was all the way up to 100,000, and then was involved in a hand on a flop of . Brown and his opponent, on the button, got all their chips in the middle, creating a monster pot of around 90,000.

Showdown

Brown had the granddaddy of all hands, aces, but the button had flush outs. Unfortunately for the latter, Brown was running hot and he dodged both the turn and river, which came and respectively. The button made a hasty exit while Brown chipped up to 170,000. From there he chipped up and rode the chip lead all the way to the end of Day 1.

Approximately 316 players advanced to Day 2, but not everyone was so lucky. Mark “Pegasus” Smith, Shaun Johnston, Bob Talbot, and La Sengphet all fired one bullet and failed to advance. Sengphet met her end when she was all-in preflop holding and up against Chris Bigler who was holding . The flop didn’t hit Sengphet, but it did give her a gut-shot straight draw. Unfortunately for her, neither the turn nor river were what she needed, and she was eliminated from the tournament; meanwhile, Bigler went on to bag up 70,900.

Brown may be the overwhelming chip leader, but there are plenty of others sitting with decent stacks including Ray Weaver (138,500), Bo Chevallier (96,500), and David Walker (95,600).

Day 2 will kick off at 1200 CST (1800 GMT) on Sunday, so be sure to follow all the action live on Pokernews.com!

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today! In the meantime, see who qualifies for the National Championship this week by following our Live Reporting Team’s coverage from Harrah’s Tunica.

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February 11 2012, Chad Holloway

For the last week, the World Series of Poker Circuit has called Harrah’s Tunica home. The 12-event stop kicked off on Feb. 2 and culminates with the Main Event, which kicked off on Saturday, Feb 11. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing coverage of the Main Event, but we thought we’d set the stage with a look back at the preliminary events.

As many of you know, Tunica suffered a devastating flood last spring and all nine casinos temporarily shut down because over eight feet of water crept through the properties. Harrah’s Tunica was one of the hardest hit, but bounced back admirably. The latest WSOP Circuit is proof of this, as numbers have surpassed expectations in every event, including the opening event which drew an startling 1,128 players. That event was won by Chip Ervin of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who took home $59,660 for his efforts.

Another impressive victory came a few days later when 24-year-old Matthew Weber of Sacramento, California, outlasted 359 players in Event #4: $345 No-Limit Hold’em to capture the $23,719 first-place prize. He eliminated poker veteran “Captain” Tom Franklin in eighth place when his pocket tens held against Franklin’s . Weber also eliminated Richard Ricardo, Jesse Jackson, and Steve Melton on his way to victory. In fact, Weber eliminated seven of his eight opponents at the final table. A remarkable feat indeed.

Here’s a look at the WSOP Circuit Tunica events that have been completed thus far:

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Ring Event #1: No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	1,128	$328,248

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Chip Ervin	Tuscaloosa, AL	$59,660
2	Willie Lawrence	Tallahassee, FL	$36,848
3	Eddie Carroll	Dayton, OH	$27,381
4	Travis Eller	Cookeville, TN	$20,595
5	AP Phahurat	Rogers, AR	$15,681
6	Thomas Mosier	Bloomington, IN	$12,082
7	Terry Kim	Ocean Springs, MS	$9,418
8	Rodney Shows	Hattiesburg, MS	$7,424
9	Jesse Menley	Hillsboro, MO	$5,917

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Ring Event #2: No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	701	$203,991

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Paul Sokoloff	Toronto, ON	$41,544
2	Terry Griffith	Magnolia, AR	$25,705
3	Jerry Ard	Monticello, MS	$18,854
4	Gary Lambert	Quincy, IL	$14,021
5	Andrew Bucaric	Brentwood, TN	$10,568
6	Jeffrey Overton	Hamilton, AL	$8,071
7	Bradford Albrinck	Cincinnati, OH	$6,245
8	Jayaram Kottimugalur	Columbus, IN	$4,896
9	Randy Ritterbush	Forsyth, MO	$3,887

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Event #3: No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$500+$55	230	$111,550

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Andrew Mcilvain	Brentwood, TN	$27,552
2	Justice Litle	Reno, NV	$17,028
3	Caufman Talley	Lafayette, LA	$12,393
4	Patricia Till	Avon, IN	$9,165
5	Chris Sebeny	Bloomington, IL	$6,884
6	Richard Holliday	Lawrenceville, GA	$5,251
7	Michael Schneider	Covington, GA	$4,066
8	Houston White	Madison, TN	$3,196
9	Michael Kaczmarek	Concord, NC	$2,549

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Ring Event #4: No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	359	$104,469

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Matthew Weber	Sacramento, CA	$23,719
2	Steven Williams	Little Rock, AR	$14,662
3	Steven Melton	Noble, OK	$10,697
4	William Buckmaster	Atlanta, GA	$7,934
5	Jesse Jackson	Cathage, NC	$5,977
6	George Perkins	Kennesaw, GA	$4,571
7	Richard Ricardo	NA	$3,547
8	Tom Franklin	Gulfport, MS	$2,792
9	Brandon Horton	Anderson, SC	$2,229

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Event #5: No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	394	$114,654

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Kasey Stanford	Ozark, MO	$24,929
2	Jennifer Parrish	Alma, AR	$15,404
3	Jospeh Hebda	Saint John, IN	$11,256
4	Michael Kelly	Painesville, OH	$8,357
5	Michael Hibler	Springfield, MO	$6,302
6	Danny Routte	Lake Ozark, MO	$4,823
7	Russell Ivy	Carrizo Springs, TX	$3,746
8	Ronnie Bone	Hazelwood, MO	$2,950
9	Jonathan Dahlberg	Saint Charles, MO	$2,357

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Ring Event #6: No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	344	$98,754

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Michael Urbaniak	O Fallon, MO	$22,714
2	Benjamin Kramer	Terre Haute, IN	$28,101
3	Matthew Weber	Sacramento, CA	$11,256
4	William Phillips	Metairie, LA	$7,598
5	Frank Smith	Hazel Green, AL	$6,302
6	Charlie Dawson	Owensboro, KY	$4,823
7	Jason Ivie	St. Louis, MO	$3,397
8	Tim Coleman	Nashville, TN	$2,674
9	Christopher Hewitt	Belleville, IL	$2,135

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica Ring Event #7: No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool

$300+$45	433	$126,003

PlacePlayerHometownPrize

1	Andrew Smith	St. Louis, MO	$27,426
2	Steve Melton	Noble, OK	$16,947
3	Chris Ashley	Martinez, GA	$12,383
4	David Clark	Dallas, TX	$9,194
5	Drew Dumanski	Richardson, TX	$6,933
6	Floyd Arnold	Marietta, GA	$5,306
7	Omar Zazay	Dallas, TX	$4,121
8	Tom Luce	Sharpsville, IN	$3,246
9	Joseph Tyson	Chesterfield, VA	$2,593

With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Harrah’s Tunica Casino Champion is undecided. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. That event is limited to 100 players, and so far only a handful of players have qualified:

National Championship Qualifiers

Kevin Calenzo

Caesars Palace Main Event Winner

In addition to the qualifiers, players who earn enough points on the National Leaderboard will be able to buy-in to the National Championship:

WSOPC National Leaderboard Top Ten*

PlayerPointsRingsCashedEarnings

David Clark	165	1	7	$56,209
Russell Ivy	130	0	7	$72,703
Benjamin Kramer	127.5	1	7	$58,063
Daniel Lowery	120	0	5	$238,921
Alexandru Masek	117.5	1	5	$125,015
Jeremy Burleson	117.5	2	3	$48,474
Robert Newman	115	1	4	$45,619
Jennifer Parrish	115	0	9	$38,531
Matthew Chang	112.5	1	6	$23,149
Justin Gardenhire	110	1	4	$120,807

*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica stop.

Don’t miss your chance to qualify for the National Championship. There are still plenty of opportunities to play, including any of the remaining stops on the WSOP Circuit schedule.

Remaining 2011-2012 WSOPC Schedule

EventLocationDates

Circuit Event	Palm Beach Kennel Club	Feb. 16 – 27, 2012
Circuit Event	Caesars Atlantic City	March 1 – 12, 2012
Circuit Event	Harrah’s Rincon	March 15 – 26, 2012
Circuit Event	Horseshoe Council Bluffs	March 29 – April 9, 2012
Circuit Event	Harrah’s St. Louis	April 12 – 23, 2012
Circuit Event	Harrah’s Chester	April 26 – May 7, 2012
Circuit Event	Harrah’s New Orleans	May 10 – 21, 2012

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today! In the meantime, see who qualifies for the National Championship this week by following our Live Reporting Team’s coverage from Harrah’s Tunica.

*Photo courtesy of Eric Harkins and ImageMasters.

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