LSU College Student Bobby Toye Wins WSOP Circuit Gold Ring in New Orleans

New Orleans, LA – The seventh event on the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule was completed today as 21-year-old Bobby Toye won the $300 buy-in Seven-Card Stud competition.  The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort.  First place paid $6,904.  Toye was also presented with a gold ring, presented to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in New Orleans.

The Seven-Card Stud event was added to this year’s Bayou schedule in an effort to diversify the selection of games.  Although Texas hold’em events routinely attract hundreds of entrants, poker games such as Stud and Omaha are not nearly as popular.  Nonetheless, the WSOP Circuits are determined to provide every poker player with an opportunity to win a gold ring by playing his or her favorite game.  

Toye may have won first place in the tournament.  But just as big as headline is the remarkable ongoing four-year run by Douglas “Rico” Carli, who finished eighth in this event.  Carli now has a mind-boggling 33 in-the-money career finishes in WSOP Circuit events (2005 through 2008).  He also has 19 final-table appearances.  To put this into perspective, the closest rival in each category has half as many.  Indeed, if the WSOP Circuits gave out a “Most Valuable Player Award,” Carli may have won it every single year.

Play began at 3 pm and continued for 14 hours.  The final eight players began play at the final table with Matt Radosevich holding the chip lead with 28,000 in his stack.  Bobby Toye was close behind with 24,500.  The remaining six players all had less than 15,000 in chips.  The exact starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1:   Matt Radosevich  28,000 
Seat 2:   Joe Maggio, Jr.  9,300   
Seat 3:   Bridget Fredericks  5,450  
Seat 4:   Bobby Toye   24,500
Seat 5:   Douglas Carli  9,700 
Seat 6:   Nick Liuzza   10,500 
Seat 7:   “Mr. T” Bradley  14,000 
Seat 8:   Bobby Shane Flanigan 7,500
 
8th Place – Doug “Rico” Carli was all-in with aces up on his final hand, but lost to a full house.  The 52-year-old professional poker player from Alliance, OH received $567 for eighth place.  Note: During the last three years, Carli has 11 cashes as the WSOP in Las Vegas.  In addition to his phenomenal number of cashes and final table appearances on the Circuit, Carli has also won two WSOP Circuit gold rings.  He is one of nine players with two victories each.  One player, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has three WSOP Circuit wins.

7th Place – Nick Liuzza went out in seventh place when his pair lost to a straight.  He had been all-in previously but finally succumbed to the odds against him as a low stack.  The retiree from Kenner, LA collected a payout of $757.

6th Place – It was somewhat surprising that Matt Radosevich was eliminated next.  The 63-year-old retiree ran card dead at the worst possible time and ultimately went out when he missed a club flush draw on his final hand, which lost to two pair.  Radosevich accepted sixth-place money amounting to $946.  Note:  This was Radosevich’s first time to cash at a major poker tournament.

5th Place – Joe Maggio, Jr. was the next player to go out.  The aircraft technician from Fort Mill, SC ran low on chips and was eliminated.  Fifth place paid $1,324.  Note:  This was Maggio’s first time to cash at a major poker tournament.

4th Place -- A few hands later, Bridget Fredericks busted out when she missed her straight and lost to two pair.  The Baton Rouge, LA real estate agent was making her second career cash here at Harrahs New Orleans.  She finished in-the-money in the Bayou Poker Challenge two years ago.  She also won a poker tournament recently at the IP Poker Classic in Biloxi.  Fourth place in this event paid $1,797.  Note:  Fredericks became the first female poker player to make it to a final table at this year’s tournament series.  She also wanted to point out that her mother and grandmother also enjoy playing poker and have both made it to final tables at other poker tournaments
 
3rd Place – “Mr. T” Bradley lost a few big hands and was left as the shortest stack.  On what turned out to be his final hand of the tournament, “Mr. T” made two pair (aces up) which lost to Bobby Shane Flanigan’s full-house.  “Mr. T” is certainly used to swimming with the sharks.  The former deep sea diver made his living for many years taking groups on on trips off the Central American coast, near Belize.  Now 78-years-old, he enjoys playing poker regularly inside the Harrahs New Orleans poker room.  “Mr. T” received $2,459 in prize money for third place.  Note:  This was “Mr. T’s” first major tournament cash.

2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Bobby Shane Flanigan enjoyed a slight chip advantage over Bobby Toye.  It took about 20 minutes for the final hand to come, during which time Toya won a majority of the hands.  Toye was dealt (K-Q) 4-10-4-K (6) which ended up making two pair -- kings over fours.  Flanigan was dealt (K-3) Q-5-Q-10 (4) which made only one pair – queens.  Flanigan ended up taking $4,161 in prize money for second place.  He is a 28-year-old cab driver from Tennessee.  Note:  This was Flanigan’s first time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event and second major cash ever.

1st Place – The winner was Bobby Toye, who turned legal age to play poker just seven months ago.  He currently attends LSU in Baton Rouge where he is studying English.  Toye wants to become a teacher someday.  He also enjoys fiction writing.  Presently, he is an unpublished author.  But he hopes to keep on writing and someday write successfully.  Note:  Toye has enjoyed a terrific month in tournament poker.  Just three weeks ago, he won first place at an event in Biloxi, MS.  Now, he has won a WSOP Circuit event.  Other than attending college, one must wonder what is next on the poker horizon for Bobby Toye.

For more information, please contact: 
Nolan Dalla -- WSOP Media Director at (702) 358-4642
Or visit our official website:  www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Harrah’s New Orleans Poker Room Manager – Rick Korte
Bayou Poker Challenge Tournament Director – Raymond Gasser

Jeffrey Pollack – Commissioner, WSOP
Ty Stewart – Director, Sponsorship and Licensing, WSOP
Craig Abrahams – Director, Broadcasting and New Media, WSOP
Seth Palansky – Director of Communications, WSOP