THIRD TIME

TUNICA, MS. – Kyle Cartwright, a poker player from Bartlett, TN is the winner of ring event #5 at Harrah’s Tunica. Cartwright, who played exclusively online until just recently, outlasted a field of 410 players in the two-day, Thursday-start event to take home $25,678 and the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring.

26 players returned on day two of the event and after a few hours of play, were down to a group of nine.

Joining Cartwright at the final table was Florida tournament pro, Maurice Hawkins, who had his eyes set on a record-tying fourth WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Hawkins says that he decided to play at Harrah’s Tunica because in addition to the value of playing in the Circuit Events here, he wanted to accomplish one clear goal, earning a seat to the WSOPC National Championship.

“I thought about going up to Borgata to play but decided that for the same investment, I could enter in as many events here plus back a couple of other players and more importantly, get that seat to the National Championship.”

The season-culminating WSOP Circuit National Championship Event is among the changes of the newly revamped Circuit Events. Through the 15 official Circuit stops of the 2010/2011 season, 100 players will earn an entry into the nationally-televised, million-dollar freeroll bracelet event to be held on May 27th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Through a newly-implemented ranking system, players can qualify for the national championship by earning points based on their performance in the ten official WSOP Circuit ring events held at each stop. Read more about the national championship. See the new points system here.

Hawkins flew into town only a couple of days ago and jumped right into the fray. For the 31-year-old three-time Circuit event winner, it was business as usual as he sat down Friday evening to his seventh WSOPC final table.

However, for 23-year-old Kyle Cartwright, the night would be one of a number of firsts, including the biggest of his budding poker career, a WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Name

Hometown

Seat

Chip Count

James McNeely

Helena, AR

1

225,000

Austin McCormick

St. Louis, MO

2

166,000

Josh Cooper

Jackson, TN

3

951,000

Chris Dandrea

Nashville, TN

4

355,000

Maurice Hawkins

Fort Lauderdale, FL

5

731,000

Tyler Olsen

Little Rock, AR

6

480,000

Darrell Hahs

Friedham, MO

7

336,000

Kyle Cartwright

Bartlett, TN

8

593,000

James Rapp

Dayton, OH

9

272,000

 

Ninth Place                 

The final table got underway at 5:25 pm with blinds and antes at 6,000/12,000/2,000. It wasn’t long into play before the first elimination of the evening when Austin McCormick called Darrell Hahs all-in for his remaining chips on a flop of    .

Hahs revealed a flopped king-high flush, tabling   , which held through the   turn and   river, ending McCormick’s run. McCormick is a 23-year-old poker pro from St. Louis, MO. McCormick made his breakout win in last year’s Circuit Events at Harrah’s St. Louis which he followed up in the 2010 WSOP with a fourth place showing in event #11. For today’s final table finish, McCormick earned $2,428.

Eighth Place

After the turn on a      board, James McNeely was all-in for his tournament life with    against Kyle Cartwright, who had flopped two pair with   . McNeely was left needing a six or a queen on the river to double, but was denied both when the   was dealt out. McNeely made his exit from the final table to collect eighth place prize money, worth $3,040.

Seventh Place

With blinds at 10,000/20,000, Cartwright opened preflop for 85,000 and after a call from Hahs, the two went heads up to a     flop. Cartwright led out for 100,000, bringing Hahs along. On the river, Hahs jammed for 246,000 total and Cartwright called, showing   . Only a four or an ace would salvage Hahs’ tournament bid, but after a benign nine fell on the river, it was over. Hahs is a self-employed farmer from Friedheim, MO. Seventh place paid out $3,859.

Sixth Place

The sixth place finisher was James Rapp. Rapp hit the rail after his queens failed to hold on an all-in vs. Chris Dandrea’s    after thee clubs were dealt out on the board. Rapp earned $4,969 for sixth place. A short while after Rapp’s elimination, the players took their dinner break and returned to blinds of 12.000/24,000.     

 

Fifth Place

Throughout the night, Hawkins found himself on the short end of a number of skirmishes with his final table opponents, most notably Chris Dandrea and Tyler Olsen. Down to 111,000, he made a last stand, moving all-in with pocket nines and got a call from Olsen who tabled pocket fours.

 

Clearly, it was not Hawkins’ night as the flop came down    , leaving him behind were he stayed after a five and deuce hit the turn and river. The hand capped off a number of beats for Hawkins, who audibly bemoaned his luck throughout the night.

 

Falling short of a record-tying victory, the WSOP Circuit veteran from Ft. Lauderdale, FL sucked it up, congratulated his opponents and headed to the payout table to sign off on his $6,493 fifth place prize.

 

Fourth Place

With play down to four, Cartwright was the dominant chip leader with nearly a 2-1 chip lead over his nearest opponent, Dandrea, who had just over 800,000. Olsen and Josh Cooper, who earlier lost a massive pot to Cartwright, were the short stacks.

 

In an incredible turn of events, Olsen got it all-in preflop for around 540,000 with pocket aces and was called by Cooper, who left 86,000 behind with   . The aces held up, leaving Cooper crippled.

 

The very next hand, Cooper was all-in with pocket queens and was called by Olsen, who turned over none else but another pair of rockets. Aces held once again and Cooper’s tournament was finished.

 

Cooper is a 23-year-old poker player from Jackson, TN who made his first major tournament cash in the 2010 WSOP where he had three in-the-money finishes.

 

In July of that year, he won a PLO event at the World Poker Open. His performance in ring event #5 at Harrah’s Tunica earned him $8,610.

 

Third Place

Shortly after play was down to three, Dandrea made an all-in move preflop for the blinds and antes with    and was called by Olsen who turned over   . Dandera was unable to improve on the jack-high board and was eliminated in third. Dandrea is a 37-year-old salesman from Nashville, TN. His third-ever WSOP Circuit cash grossed him $11,596.

 

Second Place

Heads up was between Cartwright and Olsen, who had nearly a 3-2 chip lead over his opponent. Heads up play resumed at 11:20 pm with blinds at 20,000/40,000. Cartwright however had an edge over Olsen, which eventually put him more than a 3-1 advantage. In the final hand of the night, Cartwright moved all-in on a board of      with    and Olsen called for all his chips with   . The river was the  , making Cartwright’s two pair good to take the win, worth $25,678 and the ring.


For his runner-up finish, Olsen who is from Little Rock, AR pocketed $15,869.

 

In his third-ever live tournament, Cartwright booked his first major tournament cash, final table and win.

 

“It was these guys right here who made me make the jump from online to live,” said Cartwright pointing to his ecstatic friends who earlier cheered him on to victory.

 

“I’m ready to party,” said Cartwright matter-of-factly when asked about how he felt after his win, and after picking up his cash, he and his buddies stormed off to celebrate into the night.

Still to come are 34 events and 5 ring events. See the complete Harrah’s Tunica Circuit schedule and previous results here.  The WSOP Circuit at Tunica runs through February 15th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.