Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:58 PM Local Time
This is Dwyte Pilgrim's second WSOP Circuit victory, both coming in this 2008-09 season! For his efforts over the course of this two-day tournament, he takes home $125,775.
A big turning point for Pilgrim was having his ace-rag come from behind to crack second-place finisher Esther Taylor's pocket kings by spiking an ace on the river. From there, Pilgrim hit a small rush to take the chip lead at the final table. He then used his stack to bludgeon the other players into submission.
That wraps up our coverage of Harrah's Rincon WSOP Circuit Event. Thanks for following along. Have a great night!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:55 PM Local Time
It's all over! Esther Taylor was severely short-stacked and moved in with
. Dwyte Pilgrim called with
. The board ran out
, giving Pilgrim the pot and the win! Taylor was attempting to become the first woman to win a WSOP Circuit Event, but was surely happy to take home second-place money of $100,620.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:45 PM Local Time
Rocking the short stack, Charles Williams moved all in for 300,000 preflop with
. Dwyte Pilgrim, a previous WSOP-C ring winner, made the call with
. He flopped a set on a board
, then had to sweat the river when the turn
gave Williams an up-and-down straight draw. The draw missed when the river fell
, eliminating Williams in third place. He earned $75,465.
With that elimination, it's heads-up between Esther Taylor and Dwyte Pilgrim for the championship.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:28 PM Local Time
First in from the button, Charles Williams moved all in for 140,000. Big stack Dwyte Pilgrim was in the small blind, and he made the call, putting Williams' tournament life in the balance.
[u]Showdown:[/u]
Williams:
Pilgrim:
The board came safe for Williams as it ran
. With his kicker playing, the poker room manager earns a timely double-up, back to 300,000 now. Pilgrim dropped a little chunk, but he's still plenty healthy with right at 1,000,000.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:13 PM Local Time
Sometimes at the final table, pots develop so quietly that it's hard to know something big is brewing until players are already in the thick of it. We caught Esther Taylor and Charles Williams playing a big pot on the turn of a board that showed
. Taylor had the button, and bet 38,000 after Williams checked. Williams called that bet to a river card of
, which was a big trap card for Williams. He checked again, then called Taylor's all-in bet of 273,000. Williams made a full house with
, sevens full of tens, but Taylor had eights full of sevens with
. She doubled up to about 700,000.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:05 PM Local Time
Just three players remain here in the Championship event. Half of our ring-winning contingent has just been shown the door, leaving just Dwyte Pilgrim to fight for number two. Pilgrim is well on his way though, holding a commanding chip lead. Here's how the final three stack up:
Dwyte Pilgrim - 1,160,000
Charles Williams - 660,000
Esther Taylor - 405,000
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:00 PM Local Time
Chris Tryba opened with a raise, and Charles Williams moved all in from the big blind. Tryba called, putting Williams at risk of elimination.
[u]Showdown:[/u]
Tryba:
Williams:
The board ran out dry for Tryba, coming
. Williams' pocket pair held up, and he earned a big double-up to 660,000. When the chips were counted down, Tryba was left with just 16,000 funny money, just enough to post the full big blind.
On the next hand, Tryba was indeed all in from the big blind. Both Dwyte Pilgrim and Charles Williams called the 16,000. The board ran
, with the two live players check-checking it all the way. Williams showed
for two pair. Pilgrim had that beat with
for the two pair, nine kicker. Tryba opened up his own hole cards, revealing
for the miss. With that, he becomes our fourth-place finisher, pocketing more than $50,000 for his two-day effort.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:48 PM Local Time
Cards are back in the air four-handed.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:40 PM Local Time
The clock has been paused, and the final four are on a ten-minute break.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:39 PM Local Time
The four players seem content to feel each other out for the time being, so we'll drop a little knowledge on you to pass some time. Half of our remaining four players are actually playing for their second Circuit ring here today.
In the last Circuit stop at Caesars Atlantic City, Dwyte Pilgrim finally broke through to capture his first ring. Pilgrim had gone deep in a couple of Championship Events this Circuit season, and Event #4 at Caesars finally paid him off. Pilgrim outlasted a field of 579 runners to take home the hardware, not to mention the nearly $90,000 top prize.
Across the table from Pilgrim is Chris Tryba, our other remaining Circuit event champion, and his victory is still fresh in his memory. Earlier this week right here in Rincon, Event #8 had a buy-in of $450, and it drew 153 runners. Among them was, you guessed it, Chris Tryba. He charged to the top to take down the title, earning himself nearly $15,000 in the process.
With two out of the four players already owning the hardware, there's a 50/50 shot that someone will earn their second ring here today, putting them in elite company in the poker world.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:28 PM Local Time
With the turn card already dealt, the board read
. Heads-up, Chris Tryba led out with a bet of 20,000. His lone opponent, Dwyte Pilgrim, made the call. The river came the
. Tryba kept the heat on with another bet, 60,000 this time. After just a moment, Pilgrim made the call. To his surprise, Tryba instantly flipped his cards into the muck. Pilgrim revealed
, taking down a nice pot and putting Tryba on life support.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:23 PM Local Time
Here's the way the final four stand right now:
Dwyte Pilgrim - 1,150,000
Esther Taylor - 315,000
Charles Williams - 415,000
Chris Tryba - 240,000
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:13 PM Local Time
"You ever hear of destiny, Scratch?" Dwyte Pilgrim asked Thao Thiem. The two players had taken a raised flop of
and gotten all the chips in, with Pilgrim check-raising all in and Thiem quickly calling. Thiem flopped the nuts with
, but had to fade eight spades two times against Pilgrim's
(not to mention some oddball runner-runner draws).
Apparently, Thiem hadn't heard of Pilgrim's destiny. He quickly learned about it when the
hit the turn, giving Pilgrim an unbeatable flush. The river
sent Thiem packing in fifth place. He earned $40,248 in prize money.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:56 PM Local Time
Dwyte Pilgrim opened the action with a raise from the cutoff. Josh Prager, next to act and on the button, moved all in. That raise folded each of the other players yet to act. With action back to Pilgrim, he quickly called.
Pilgrim:
Prager:
It was bad luck and bad news for Prager, whose pocket sevens would need to be bailed out by the board against Pilgrim's pocket nines. Pilgrim turned to the dealer, on his immediate right, and asked for, "No more shenanigans." He got his wish; the board ran out
to give each player two pair. Pilgrim's queens and nines were the best hand. He eliminated Prager in sixth place, for which Prager received $35,217.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:31 PM Local Time
The players are taking an unscheduled five-minute bathroom break.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:29 PM Local Time
Short-stacked Dwyte Pilgrim moved all in over the top of an open-raise from Chris Tryba. Esther Taylor was next to act and moved all in herself. Tryba quickly folded what he claimed was pocket jacks, leaving Pilgrim's
alone against Taylor's
with Pilgrim at risk of elimination. A flop of
came clean for Taylor; after the
hit the turn, Pilgrim was down to just "an ace on the river" to survive. That's exactly what he got, with a fat, black
popping off of the deck.
"Barry Greenstein!" said Pilgrim, referring to the Bear's book entitled Ace on the River.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:25 PM Local Time
Thao Thiem was the button for an entertaining hand. He opened for 26,000, then folded when Chris Tryba shoved from the small blind and Dwyte Pilgrim also shoved from the big blind. Dwyte thought he might be ahead with
, but Tryba showed down
. Neither player hit a flop of
. Tryba made the nuts on the turn with the
.
"Good game, Dwyte, good game," said Tryba. He apparently didn't realize that Pilgrim still had outs to a chop. One of them, the
, fell on the river, giving both players the same straight.
"Good game, Chris, good game," said a delighted Pilgrim as the dealer split up Thiem's 26,000 and pushed half the pot to each of Pilgrim and Tryba.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:16 PM Local Time
From middle position, Chris Tryba came in raising to 22,000. Action came around to big blind Charles Williams, and he elected to call, creating a heads-up confrontation.
The flop brought
. Williams immediately grabbed all 149,000 of his remaining chips and slid them forward. Just as quickly came the, "I call" from Chris Tryba.
[u]Showdown:[/u]
Tryba:
Williams:
It took Tryba just a minute to realize the bad news as someone mumbled, "He flopped the straight."
"Nice hand, Charles. Nice hand," said Tryba, but there were still two cards to come. The
on the turn added some dangerous outs for Tryba. To Williams' salvation though, the blank
hit the river, and the poker room manager at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno has doubled up in a timely fashion.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:59 PM Local Time
Under the gun, Dwyte Pilgrim started the betting with a raise to 45,000. A few seats over, Thao Thiem reraised to 200,000, sending Pilgrim into the tank. He considered his options carefully for a minute or two before folding, flashing an
. Thiem responded by tabling his
as the dealer pushed him a stack of free chips. It was unclear from Pilgrim's reaction whether or not he made a good fold.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:53 PM Local Time
Chris Tryba opened the pot with a raise from the button, making it 21,000 to play. In the small blind, Pogos Simityan moved all in for just over 60,000, and Tryba quickly called.
[u]Showdown:[/u]
Simityan:
Tryba:
The first four cards were as safe as they come for the all-in Simityan, coming
. Unfortunately for him though, the
spiked the river, making Tryba the winning come-from-behind pair of tens. He has knocked off Pogos Simityan in seventh place, and he'll pocket more than $30,000 for his work.