November 08 2012, Josh Cahlik

The inaugural 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event came to a close Wednesday. The historic tournament was not only the first WSOP Circuit event held in Canada, but it also ended up holding the distinction as the largest live cash buy-in tournament ever held on Canadian soil.

After weaving his way through a field of 1,032 players, John Crncic will forever be known as first champion of the significant event at River Rock. Not only will Crncic be revered in Canadian poker history, but he also earned a nice payday of $286,382, a gold WSOP-C ring, and a seat to the WSOP National Championship.

The tournament began with players choosing to play on one of three starting days, with the option of reentering on a subsequent Day 1 flight if they were to bust. Many notable made the trip, including Jason Koon, Doug Lee, Matt Affleck, David “Doc” Sands, Scott Clements, Gavin Smith, Huy Nguyen, Robert Cheung, Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome, Adam Levy, Laurence Grondin, and Terrence Chan. Despite the best efforts of those players and many more, they were unable to survive a single Day 1 flight with chips.

Day 2 saw the return of 246 players with the fields from the three starting flights combining. The top 108 players in the field made the money, so each player had that immediate goal on their mind. Early exits came from players like Noah Vaillancourt, Matt Jarvis, Mark Bonsack, Alex Sutherland, and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Greg Mueller.

Once the money bubble burst, the players began dropping like flies. Among those eliminated in the money were Darren Kennedy (107th), Daniel Idema (103rd), Day 2 chip leader Jingjing Liu (79th), Scott Stanko (69th), Scott Stiglitz (67th), Kelly Kellner (54th), Joel Micka (42nd), and Isaac Baron (37th).

The final 30 players then returned for Day 3 for a relatively short day of poker where they played down to the final table. By the end of the day, Sonny Sekhon, the man who came into Day 3 as the chip leader, was taking the top stack into the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

The first victim of the final table was Glenn Sullivan, who made his exit roughly one hour into play on Day 4. Sullivan came into play as the shortest stack at the table and moved all in from the button. Mal Hagan called him from the big blind and showed . Sullivan tabled and was in need of some help. Sullivan struck gold on the flop, hitting his set of fours and jumping into the lead. The on the turn gave Hagan open ended straight outs, but he managed to hit the on the river, giving him a bigger set to send Sullivan to the rail as the first victim of the final table. Sullivan took home $28,236 in winnings for his ninth place finish.

The final table then came to a crawl as play tightened up and the final eight players dueled for a whopping four hours before finally seeing the next casualty. Michael Collins saw his stack get blinded down to almost nothing and when he finally moved all in it was for less than a minimum raise. Collins held against Crncic’s . The board came and Collins officially became the eighth place finisher.

Tyler St. Clair finished in seventh place when he moved all in from the small blind holding only to have Sekhon wake up with in the big blind. A board of sent St. Clair to the cage to collect $45,031 in prize money.

Perhaps the most agonizing elimination of the final table came just after the dinner break when Calvin Anderson moved all in from the cutoff for his last 1.6 million in chips. Ryan Biermann went into the tank for well over two minutes before finally announcing a call.

Showdown

Anderson:
Biermann:

Anderson saw his dreams come true as he made a set of tens on the flop. The rolled off on the turn, giving Biermann a gutshot draw to make Broadway and win the hand.

“Just pair the board,” said Anderson timidly.

Unfortunately for Anderson the dealer did not listen, as the struck fifth street and caused players in the room to explode with shock. A stunned Anderson took home $57,864 in winnings.

Sekhon was the chip leader to start the day and was sailing along nicely until he lost back-to-back hands that spelled the end of his tournament. Sekhon lost most of his chips when he ran into the pocket kings of Biermann, and then was essentially forced to move his last two blinds all in the very next hand[/URL] with . The worst starting hand in hold’em did not improve for Sekhon and he was eliminated in fifth place.

Hagan fell to the hands of Biermann when he moved all in with and was called by Biermann’s superior . Hagan failed to improve and went home as the fourth place finisher. Not long after, Justin Ciolfitto was eliminated in third place when his could not outdraw the of Crncic.

Heads up play began with Biermann taking a sizable lead over Crncic. That all changed, however, when Crncic scored a crucial double up by flopping top pair and having it hold[/URL]. From there on out it was Crncic who dictated the action on the felt. The match finally came to a head when Crncic opened to 800,000 on the button only to have Biermann move all in for about 6.8 million total. Crncic called and the hands were revealed:

Showdown

Crncic:
Biermann:

Biermann’s hopes of doubling up were dashed when the dealer fanned out , giving Crncic two pair and the best hand. The turn brought the , meaning that Biermann would have to catch one of the two remaining queens to stay alive. The hit the river and he was forced to settle for second place and a payday of $177,060.

Final Table Payouts

For extensive coverage of the WSOPC River Rock Main Event, check out our Live Reporting page. And be sure to tune into our coverage starting Nov. 17th as the WSOPC Main Event at Harvey’s in Lake Tahoe kicks off!

Lead photo courtesy of the WSOP blog.

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November 07 2012, Brett Collson

Doyle Brunson tweeted Tuesday that he is once again battling cancer. We’re covering that story, plus big news for poker players in Maryland, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Full Tilt Poker reopened on Tuesday. Which pros will be keeping their bankroll on the site to play? PokerNews’ Chad Holloway found out.

With the year coming to a close, Dan Smith still has a huge lead in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. Mickey Doft takes a look at some of Smith’s closest contenders.

On Tuesday, the World Poker Tour released the 2013 schedule for its 11th season. Take a look at all of the stops here at PokerNews.com.

The PokerNews Podcast returned to the airwaves on Wednesday. This week, the crew discussed the conclusion of the WSOP Main Event, the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker, and more.

The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event played down to a final table on Tuesday. Find out who is contention for the ring in our WSOPC recap.

The 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker HKD$100,000 Main Event kicked off on Wednesday. Take a look at the leaders from Day 1 in our ACOP recap.

Doyle’s Fight

Doyle Brunson has faced many tough challenges in his life, but none more grueling then his long bout with cancer.

On Tuesday, Brunson revealed via Twitter that was recently diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. It was the fourth time Brunson has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. He described this particular type as a “slow growth that is usually OK but it’s still something you’d rather not hear.”

Brunson has beaten cancer three times in the past 50-plus years and seems confident that he’ll do it again. Each time, he’s been told the illness is malignant, but the 79-year-old continues pushing forward, beating some of the toughest cash games in the world along the way.

Doyle received a large amount of support on Twitter Tuesday:

Maryland Gets Dealt In

The most expensive political advertising campaign in Maryland’s history has resulted in the passage of a measure that will legalize table games like poker at the state’s casinos.

On Tuesday, Maryland voters passed Question 7, also known as the Gaming Expansion Question, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin statewide. The measure needed to be passed both by state voters and by voters in Prince Georges County, where it succeeded by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin.

According to WBAL in Baltimore, more than $90 million was spent by opponents and supporters of the Question 7 issue. Among the rivals of the measure is Penn National Gaming, which said Wednesday that it was “disappointed” in the results of the ballot. Penn National operates a casino in West Virginia and is hinting at taking legal action against the measure, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“There remains a question as to the validity of the outcome given a legal challenge that has been filed by an outside group as to what constitutes a ‘qualified voter’ in this election,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll be exploring that issue in the coming days.”

If all goes as planned in Maryland, table games could be introduced at the state’s three existing casinos early next year and when a new casino opens in Baltimore near M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Ravens. Tuesday’s measure will also allow for a new casino to be constructed at National Harbor along the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.

Maryland is the home of some of the top poker minds in the world, including Christian Harder, Anthony Gregg, and 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson, who expressed his excitement after the measure passed Tuesday evening:

USA Today has more.

Roothlus Contest Winner

Two weeks ago, Adam “Roothlus” Levy teamed up with 99designs and launched a contest to see who could design the best personal logo for the professional poker player’s personal website. In the end, a total of 23 designers submitted 102 different logos, and fans voted for the winning logo:

“Helsing,” the winning designer, earned $200 for being selected. This is the fourth contest that Helsing has won on 99designs.com, and the designer has earned $690 in the process.

For more on the competition, check out the article here at PokerNews.com. And check out Levy’s site at Roothlus.com.

Moorman Falls Short

Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman is the all-time winningest tournament player in online poker history, cashing for more than $7.5 million. But even thought he’s added another $2.7 million in live tournament cashes, Moorman has struggled securing a major Main Event win on the live circuit, finishing runner-up in events like the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and WSOP’s $10,000 Six-max Championship in Las Vegas.

Moorman got another chance at glory Wednesday at the PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour Online Main Event in Bristol. The British superstar entered the final table third in chips after securing his set online last month, and eventually found himself heads-up with Wojtek Barzantny. However, after a lengthy back-and-forth battle, Moorman came up short again when his was upended by Barzantny’s . Moorman collected £55,471 for yet another runner-up finish, and Barzantny earned £77,126 and a seat to the champion of champions event.

Here’s a look at the final table results of the inaugural UKIPT Online Main Event:

For more on the UKIPT, visit the PokerStars Blog.

Welcome to Macau!

The 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker Main Event kicked off on Wednesday. Before hitting the tournament floor, Lynn Gilmartin took a tour around the “Oriental Las Vegas.”

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