Event #30: $1,600 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event

The World Series of Poker Circuit, Harrah's St. Louis continued today with the final nine players of a 449-player field. Each was competing for their share of a $646,762 prizepool, including a first-place prize worth $142,290. Entering the final table as the monster chip stack we two-time WSOP-Circuit ring winner and National Championship qualifier Kyle Cartwright; however, he had some stiff competition from a table full of local players, circuit grinders, and one established online pro by the name of Chris "PiMaster" Viox. Here are how things looked at the start of the day:

[H]WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Final Table[/H]

The day got off to a lightning-fast start when a hort-stacked Nick Jivkov moved all in under the gun for his last 185,000 and received a call from Ron Segni in early position. The rest of the field folded and the cards were turned up:

Jivkov:   

Segni:   

Although he was behind, Jivkov had two overs and was looking for an ace or nine. The     flop was no help and neither was the   turn. It was down ti the river for Jivkov's life, but it was not meant to be as the   peeled off. Jivkov finished in 9th place and was the first final table casualty.

The next elimination came as quite the surprise when action folded to Steve Goff on the button and he raised to 33,000. The small blind folded and Cartwright, who was in the big blind, opted for a raise to 200,000. Goff moved all in for 984,000 and Cartwright quickly called.

Cartwright:   

Goff:   

The     flop didn't hit Cartwright, but it did provide him a straight draw to any jack. The   on the turn was a blank, meaning Goff would double if he could avoid an ace, king, or jack on the river. The dealer slowly burned and put out the  . Cartwright shot his arms up in the air in celebration while Goff, who began the day second in chips, was eliminated from the Main Event in eighth place.

The eliminations kept mounting as Mitch Franks was the next to go in seventh place after running pocket tens into the pocket kings of "Columbia" Phil Stelzer. Following him out the door in sixth was perhaps the most established player at the table in Viox, whose    couldn't outflip Cartwright's   .

Cartwright wasn't the only one eliminating players. Asheesh Boyapati got busy when he raised to 76,000 on the button only to have Troy Weber reraise to 225,000 from the small blind. When action was back on Boyapati, he moved all in and Weber called for his tournament life.

Boyapati:   

Weber:   

Weber was ahead, but not after the flop came down    . Boyapati had paired his jack to take the lead and left Weber looking for a five. The   turn was no help and neither was the   river. Boyapati took down the pot, chipping up to 1.8 million, while Weber made his way to the payout desk in fifth place.

Four-handed played last awhile before Segni raised to 125,000 under the gun only to have Stelzer move all in for 900,000. Segni, who had less chips, called for his tournament life and the cards were flipped:

Segni:   

Stelzer:   

It was a race and Stelzer pulled out in front when the flop came down    . However, that all changed when Segni his the   on the turn for a set. After the   was put out on the river, Segni took down the 1.5 million pot while Stelzer was left with just 200,000. A few hands later, Stelzer moved all in under the gun with    and was called by the    of Boyapati. The board ran out       and Stelzer became the fourth place finished. As a consolation, Stelzer became the WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Casino Champ with 82.5 points and locked up a spot on the National Championship $1 Million Freeroll in May.

Segni was the next to go after running    into the    of Cartwright, leaving the latter to play heads-up againt Boyapati with a nearly 5-1 chip lead. The match didn't last long, less than five hands in fact.

In the end, Cartwright became the World Series of Poker circuit Harrah's St. Louis Main Event Champion, was awarded his third gold ring, and claimed the $142,290 first-place prize. In addition, given that Cartwright had previously qualified for the National Championship, the spot usually awarded to a Main Event winner will instead be applied to the National Leaderboard, meaning another point earner will be awarded a spot, courtesy of Cartwright.

[H]WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Final Table[/H]

That does it for our coverage here in St. Louis, but be sure to catch our updates from the NAPT Mohegan Sun as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the action from that Main Event and High Roller Bounty Shootout.

While the answer is a negative, the remaining three players will take home a good chunk of cash.

1st- $142,290

2nd- $87,927

3rd- $64,249

Asheesh Boyapati raised to 120,000 under the gun and received calls from both Ron Segni and Phil Stelzer. When the flop fell    , Segni moved all in for 125,000 and was called by both his opponents, who proceeded to check down the   turn and   river.

Stelzer turned over    while Boyapati showed   ; however, they were both behind the    of Segni.

Asheesh Boyapati	1,400,000	-300,000
Phil Stelzer	900,000	100,000
Ron Segni	700,000	225,000

Phil Stelzer moved all in for 400,000 on the button holding    and was called by the    of Kyle Cartwright in the small blind. The board ran out       and Cartwright lost yet another race. Stelzer is up to 800,000.

Ron Segni moved all in under the gun for his last 234,000 holding    and received a call from the    of Asheesh Boyapati on the button. The blinds got out of the way and it was heads up as the board ran out      . Segni's ace-high held and he double to 500,000. With that hit, Boyapati is down to 1.5 million.

Phil Stelzer made a standard raise on the button and and Ron Segni called from the big blind, leaving himself just 62,000 behind. When the flop fell    , Segni shipped that remaining 62K and Stelzer made the call.

Stelzer:   

Segni:   

Segni had hit his ace to take the lead. The   turn and   river ensured his double, though he is still short with 375,000. Meanwhile, Stelzer took a small hit down to 900,000.

Action folded to Chris Viox in the cutoff and he raised to 60,000. Kyle Cartwright then moved all in from the big blind and Viox called off his remaining stack.

Viox:   

Cartwright:   

As is so common, this all-in situation was a coinflip. With Viox at risk and needing to improve, the flop came down    . He had missed and needed some help on the turn. He got a little as the   hit and awarded him some extra outs. Unfortunately for him, the   on the river blanked and he was eliminated in sixth place. On the other hand, Cartwright continues to roll and is up to 4.7 million.