Austin McCormick Plays Near-Perfect Game to Take Event 5

ST. LOUIS, MO – Austin McCormick, a 23-year-old from St. Louis, is the winner of Circuit Event # 5 at Harrah’s St. Louis.

“Not trying to sound too cocky, but I did feel that I was the best player at the table,” he said.

Florida poker pro Maurice Hawkins made his first WSOPC Final Table of 2010 with his sights set on a record-tying fourth gold ring to join the ranks of Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mark “Pegasus” Smith who currently each have four.

The 2:00 pm final table began with blinds and antes at 8,000/16,000/2,000. There was considerable action in the early stages of play as the short stacks caused grief for the larger stacks.

The first elimination of the night came after a flop of    . Bret Martin moved all-in for the rest of his 230,000 chip stack. Hawkins was on a flush draw with    and made the call. Martin tabled    for a set. The anticipation quickly died after the   hit the turn, giving Martin quads.

Down to about 140,000, Hawkins moved his remaining stack into the pot with pocket sixes. Austin McCormick made the call with   . A     kept Hawkins in the lead and so did the   on the turn.

But a second 9 hit the river, double-pairing the board to give McCormick the pot. Hawkins’ was visibly disappointed as he made way to the payout table. Ninth place paid $1,837.

Eighth Place
Many of the short stacks continued to double up as blinds moved up to the 15,000/30,000 level. In fact, there were at least 15 double-ups before the eighth place finisher was determined.

Eighth went to Bob Whalen, a 52-year-old former painter turned professional poker player from Milwaukee, WI. Down to 53,000 in chips, Whalen made his move all-in with    and got a call from Larry Weinberg, who turned over   .

Three hearts appeared on the flop,      , giving Weinberg the flush. Blanks hit the turn and river and Whalen was eliminated. Eighth place paid $2,166.

Seventh Place
Scott Ehlermann took a pretty bad beat after calling Bret Martin’s all-in with pocket aces. Martin tabled    and hit both pocket cards on a     flop. Ehlerman was unable to catch a third ace or pair the board and his tournament run was over. Ehlermann is a local attorney. He earned $2,672 for seventh.

Sixth Place
With blinds and antes now at 20,000/40,000/5,000, Paul Blood moved his few remaining chips all in and got two callers, Weinberg and Edward Lackey. After a king-high flop, the two players checked it down to fifth street. Blood got none of the board with    and his day was finished.

Blood is retired from the US Navy. The 53-year-old lives in Oklahoma City, OK and owns a restaurant. Blood collected $4,003 for his sixth place finish.

Fifth Place
Blinds were now at 30,000/60,000. Stanton Thomas, a 32-year-old sales manager from Marietta, GA., was eliminated in fifth place after his    was outflopped on an all-in against Weinberg’s   . Thomas picked up $5,334 for fifth place.

Fourth Place
After taking a number of hits to his stack, McCormick moved all-in for his remaining chips with pocket 4’s and got a call from Martin with   . The fours held for McCormick, giving him new McCormick made the call with   .

McCormick paired his jack on the flop, preserving his tournament life. Martin however, moved all-in a few hands later for his remaining 400,000 with    and lead to the river to eliminate Martin in fourth. Fourth place paid $6,674.

Third Place
With 40,000/80,000 blinds, Lackey was eliminated in third place after running his K9 off-suit into McCormick’s AK suited. The board improved neither player’s hand, sending Lackey to the rail. Lackey is a 41-year-old electrician/blackjack dealer from Union, MO.

Second Place        
McCormick had a 6-1 chip advantage over Weinberg when heads-up play began. Two-handed play continued for only a few minutes before McCormick moved all-in on Weinberg’s BB.

With already a fifth of his stack in the pot, Weinberg made the call and tabled    while McCormick showed   . McCormick paired his 6 on a     flop, leaving Weinberg looking for jack, queen or running straight cards. A   was no help to Weinberg, nor was the   on the river.

For his win, McCormick pocketed a nice $21,570 and a gold WSOP Circuit Event ring. Weinberg collected $13,118 for second.

McCormick plays mainly online, but says he goes to the various Circuit Events from time to time. He attended college for four years before deciding to pursue poker full time.

“I feel good,” said McCormick of his win. He says he plans to play a few more Circuit Events and is currently planning his trip to the 2010 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
        
Still to come are 7 more events and nightly (single-day) non-ring $230 and $340 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s St. Louis runs through April 15th.