August 19 2012, Paul Oresteen

The first day of the World Series of Poker Circuit presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof IP Biloxi Main Event is in the books. There were 296 players who took their seats at the felt on Saturday, with 192 playing in first flight and 104 in the second flight. Going into Day 2, 88 players will return and James Barger leads them all after bagging up 228,100.

From the first Day-1 flight, 59 players advance to Day 2 and the second flight advanced 29. Joining Barger at the top of the counts are Jerry Ard (196,500), Charles Moore (184,000) and Brad Johnson (164,000).

Other notables moving on to Day 2 are Tyler Smith, Aaron Massey, Ryan Tepen, Rex Clinkscales, Dwyte Pilgrim, Robert Castoire, Ryan Lenaghan, John Dolan, Chris Parsons, Kat Bowen, Ben Mintz, Chip Ervin, Kyle Cartwright and Jacob Bazeley.

We saw many Circuit regulars fire two bullets and not make it through to Day 2, including Daniel Lowery, Maurice Hawkins, Robert Salaburu, Tripp Kirk, Russell Ivy, Becky Makar, Chris Conrad, Kenny Milam, Jacob Naquin, Miguel Borrero, David Diaz, “The Captain” Tom Franklin and Ashly Butler.

Cartwright and Clinkscales played a hand together where Cartwright’s radar was spot on. Clinkscales opened from middle position to 2,100 and Cartwright called from the big blind. The flop fell and both players checked. The turn brought the and again both players checked. The fell on the river and Cartwright bet 2,700 only to have Clinkscales raised to 12,700. Cartwright folded face up and Clinkscales showed for the rivered straight.

Pilgrim eliminated Jerry Monroe, the defending champ, late in Day 1b. After a flop of Monroe moved all-in and Pilgrim called. Monroe held top pair with but Pilgrim had him beat holding . The turn and river bricked for Monroe and Pilgrim carried his momentum to the end of the night.

Day 2 will have cards in the air promptly a 1200 CDT (1800 BST). The field is scheduled to play 13 levels or to a final table of nine – whichever should come first. Keep up with all of the WSOPC action live on PokerNews.com.

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February 27 2012, Mickey Doft

Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event began with 21 players remaining from the starting field of 778. After about four hours, the final table of nine was reached. One of the notables who fell short of the final table was Brian “Stinger 88″ Hastings. Having bypassed Day 1 entirely, he opted to buy in on Day 2 with a 20-big-blind stack, and made an excellent run, but came up just short in 11th place. Here’s how the final table of nine stacked up:

It was a fast and furious start as pocket aces were aplenty. Chris Parsons was the first to fall when he ran into Jamil Wakil’s . A on the flop was not enough to save Parsons, giving him the ninth-place finish.

On the following hand, Sterling Savill got his eight-big-blind stack into the middle with . Jim Harnden looked him up, but Matthew O’Brien picked up in the small blind and isolated the pot. The board ran out and O’Brien’s aces held to send Savill away in eighth place.

David Stefenski bid adieu in seventh place, getting his chips into the middle holding . Drazen Ilich had him at risk with , but was not happy to see the flop come down . Stefanski took the lead, but lost it right back when the smashed the turn to give Ilich the set. Stefanski still had outs to a flush on the river, and he made it happen when the fell. However, that also filled up Ilich’s boat to end Stefanki’s run.

Six-handed play lasted for about two hours before Drazen Ilich met his end. A preflop raising war between Ilich and O’Brien culminated with Ilich all-in and at-risk holding to O’Brien’s . The flop kept Ilich ahead, but the turn vaulted O’Brien to the lead. Ilich wasn’t saved on the river, and he was eliminate in sixth place – making five WSOPC final tables for him without the elusive first-place finish.

Jamil Wakil was the most aggressive player at the table and his aggression led to him building a sizable chip lead early on. However, two hands in quick succession did Wakil in. First, on an board, Wakil put Rob Williamson to the test following a three-bet shove. Williamson, with about 17 big blinds behind, called all-in with for a Broadway draw. Wakil was well ahead with , but the nailed the turn. A stunned Wakil didn’t catch up on the river, and his day was about to get worse.

Wakil was involved in another hand where his hijack raise was called by Jim Harnden in the big blind. Harnden then overbet the flop. Wakil called to see the turn, and after Harnden bet two-thirds of the pot, Wakil reraised all-in. He was stunned to see Harnden call and turn over , which happened to be well ahead of Wakil’s . The river ended Wakil’s event in fifth place.

The final four players departed for a dinner break and when they returned a half hour later, the chips were flying. Roman Valerstein lost a race with to Harnden’s when a king hit the flop. O’Brien followed him to the payout desk about 15 minutes later after a his river bluff with on a board ran smack into Harnden’s .

Heads-up play began with Harnden holding about a 3.5:1 chip lead and in two hands he had all of the chips. It ended when he three-bet shoved into Rob Williamson’s . The board ran out , giving Harnden a pair of queens to earn the gold ring, as well as $226,395.

Final Table Payouts

The World Series of Poker Circuit’s next stop is at Caesars Atlantic City from March 1 through 12. For the remaining WSOPC schedule, and to find out when you can get in on the action, head over to WSOP.com.

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