Event #1: $365 No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels)

Local part-time player posts a win close to home, takes early points lead

Curtis Terry is the newest first-time winner on the WSOP Circuit. Terry outlasted a field of 275 entries in the series’ opening event at Harrah’s New Orleans, winning his first gold ring and the top prize of $19,803. The victory also earned him 50 points and an early lead in the race for Casino Champion at this venue.

The champ is a 54-year-old car salesman from nearby Metairie, a western suburb of New Orleans. “I’ve got a good heart,” he said when asked to describe himself. “I believe in the good man upstairs. That’s what I live by.”

Terry is proud to be a self-made man, too, having started his own car business in his backyard when he was just 17 years old. That small gig eventually became his full-time career, and poker remains nothing more than a hobby despite some significant success as a part-time player. “It’s something I do on the side just for fun,” he explained. “I’ve been playing poker for 11 or 12 years.”

He didn’t even have to think about how long its been. The number is an easy one to remember for residents of this area who, like Terry, measure time a little differently than most.

Just shy of 12 years ago, in the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the region, taking more than 1,200 lives and causing physical damage soaring into 12 figures. It’s become the new calendar in these parts, with milestones marked in reference to the storm rather than the date on the wall.

It’s no coincidence that Terry found poker in the aftermath of the devastation. “I was a big golfer,” he continued. “When Katrina hit, all of our golf courses got wiped out and a lot of my friends moved away. So, basically, I didn’t have anything else to do.”

After being displaced from home for a few weeks himself, Terry returned to the city as quickly as possible to assist in the rebuilding process. Although he had his group of car dealerships to tend to, he decided to started a clear-cutting company on the fly and got straight to work putting the pieces of his city back together.

In the time since, Terry has gone back to work in his car lots, and he’s continued to see his poker game progress despite limited opportunities to play. This most recent result is the second-largest on his record, and it brings him to within striking distance of six-figure career earnings. Much of that has been won right here at Harrah’s New Orleans.

“Basically, I was just playing solid,” Terry said in his postgame interview after his victory. “Picking my spots and being aggressive when I had to be aggressive. And things worked out for me.”

Terry was second in chips when the final table was reached, and he wasted no time moving himself to the top of the counts. He had close to 100 big blinds after eliminating Matt Michel in seventh place, and he went on to dispatch long-standing chip leader Joey Wideman in fourth place not long thereafter.

The third-place knockout went to Terry, too, flopping trip queens against queens up to send Easton Oreman to the cashier and set up a heads-up match against Robert Browning. Browning entered the duel with about a 2:1 chip deficit, and Terry put him away within just a few hands.

A man of God, Terry credits “the good man upstairs” for much of his success, as well as for helping him find his lovely wife and source of inspiration, Trish. Twice, in fact.

“I was married, and God gave me a second chance,” he said. “I’m back with her again after seven years.” The couple now makes poker travel a part of their relationship, taking short trips a handful of times per year. “Since I got a second chance with my sweetheart, I let her come with me now,” he smiled.

Easton Oreman (pictured) raises to 231,000 on the button, leaving just 1,000 behind to cap his cards, and Curtis Terry calls in the big blind.

The flop is    . Terry checks, Oreman drops his last chip into the pot, and Terry calls to put him at risk.

Oreman:    (queens up)
Terry:    (trip queens)

The   turn and   river complete the board, and Terry wins the pot with queens full. Oreman is eliminated in third place, while Terry takes about a 2:1 chip lead into the heads-up match against Robert Browning. The series' first gold ring is up for grabs.

Curtis Terry - 1,550,000 (65 bb)
Robert Browning - 800,000 (33 bb)
Easton Oreman - Eliminated

Matt Michel moves all in for just over 100,000 in middle position, and Curtis Taylor calls on the button to put Michel at risk.

Michel:   
Taylor:   

The board runs out      . Michel turns a flush draw but can't get over the hump. Michel wins the pot with a pair of kings, eliminating Michel in seventh place.

Curtis Taylor - 1,100,000 (92 bb)
Matt Michel - Eliminated

During Level 17, the field sneaks into the money, and they're quickly reduced to the final three tables shortly thereafter. The 27 remaining players are now drawing for new seats around the final three tables.

Ring winners Cory Waaland and Ben Keeline both turned up late in the day, and both are still among the remaining field. Waaland is a seven-time ring winner, and he needs to keep adding to that total if he intends to keep pace with the likes of Maurice Hawkins, Valentin Vornicu, and Alex Masek atop the Circuit's all-time list.

Level 8 has just begun, and this represents the last chance to join (or re-join) the Event #1 field. There is another break following this level, after which registration will be closed.

The board shows 264 entries so far, with just over a half hour left in the registration period.

Cards are in the air for Event #1.