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Christopher McMillian likes to follow the Circuit trail in Indiana, and tonight the trail led him to victory in the third event of the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Circuit, $1,000 no-limit hold'em. First place was worth $52,388, a $5,150 main event seat and a handsome gold trophy ring. In this case, however, the ring ended up with Bryan "Squirrely" Sapp after a three-way deal was made. For tax purposes Sapp will be shown to come in first, though in actual play he finished third.

McMillian, 39, hails from Huntington, West Virginia and works in sales for a wholesale company. He prefers tournaments because he feels he's better at it than in cash games since he says he's very aggressive, can mix up his game, and also sense weakness in players, though he found tonight's final table very tough. McMillian learned poker 25 years ago playing with friends.

Prior cashes include a win at the Denny Crum Poker Open here last month and a nightly event at the Rio in Las Vegas. McMillian is married with one child and looking forward to a new baby due in December.

This event lasted until 3 a.m. on day one, with the nine finalists returning the following day. At that point, Nick Jivkov led the field with 299,500 chips. Blinds started at 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes, a full round left on the clock.

Here were the starting chip counts: 

Seat 1. Chris McMillian - 188,000
Seat 2.  Franklin Caldwell - 200,500
Seat 3.  Nick Jivkov - 299,500
Seat 4. Nathaniel Burgard - 106,000
Seat 5. Patrick Hoffman - 234,000
Seat 6. Sameer Al-Dbhany - 74,500
Seat 7. Joseph Wimsett - 64,000
Seat 8. Bryan Sapp - 142,000
Seat 9. Neal Harding - 238,000

In early action, Nathaniel "Shaggy" Burgard lost most of his chips when his pocket 4s were outrun by Joseph Wimsett, who moved in with A-K and flopped a king. A dozen hands later he raised with J-9 and was called by Patrick "3-Pounder" Hoffman, who held pocket aces. Burgard was all in with a straight when the board showed K-Q-10, but then a river jack gave Hoffman a bigger one, and our first player departed.

Burgard, 30, is a truck driver from Columbus, Ohio who began playing four years ago at a friend's house. This is his third Circuit try, and in the $500 event the day before he finished 23rd.

"Shaggy" also likes golf and soccer. Today he earned $3,234 for finishing ninth.

The next player out left when Hofffman again outdrew an opponent with a river ace. This time, Franklin "Dee" Caldwell held K-10, and Hoffman A-J. A flop of A-Q-J gave Hoffman top two. . Hoffman bet and Caldwell moved in holding a Broadway straight. And then an ace hit the river to give Hoffman a full house. Perhaps Hoffman studied Barry Greenstein's acclaimed book, "Ace on the River."

Caldwell is a 50-year-old developer from Lexington, Kentucky who is married with three children. He taught himself poker five years ago, estimates he's played 15 to 20 Circuit events, and won a $500 tourney in Tunica. Eighth place paid $4,851.

Blinds were now 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes. For the third time in a row, a player went broke by being outdrawn. This time the victim was Jivkov, who moved in with pocket kings and was called by Neal Harding, who held Ad-8d. The board came A-8-J-4-8, and Harding had a winning filly, leaving Jivkov in seventh place. .

Jivkov, 30, was born in Bulgaria and now lives in Des Plaines, Illinois. Formerly a business owner, he is now a professional player as well as an independent film producer and musician.

Jikov, married with one child, learned poker from a friend a few years ago, this is his second Circuit, and he's made a few final tables along the way. Seventh place was worth $6,468.

Not long after, a very short-chipped Sameer "Sam"Al-Dbhany was all in pre-flop with ace-rag against two callers who checked the pot down. Al-Dbhany exulted when an ace flopped, but it wouldn't be good enough. Three hearts hit the board, Hoffman turned over a Jh-6h flush, and we were down to five.

Al-Dbhanty, 37, is a medical technologist. He was born in Yemen and now resides in Frankfort, Kentucky. He learned poker three years ago watching TV and has played eight Circuits. His poker highlight was winning the Midwest Regional Poker Championship which paid 137,000 plus a seat into the WSOP championship. He's married with three children and enjoys playing chess. Finishing sixth in this event was worth $8,085

Joseph Wimsett was next out. He pushed in his last 120,000 with A-K and got a call from Sapp, who held pocket 8s. For the first time, a player went out when the better hand held up. All rags hit and after the board showed 7-5-5-2-3, the small-favorite pocket pair prevailed.

Wimsett, 51, is from Bardstown, Kentucky, where he is president of Up-Rite Systems, Inc. He's played for 35 years, winning a seat into this event via satellite. His poker achievements include winning Saturday tournaments at Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, and also mading a final table at the Denny Crum Poker Open. Wimsett, married with three children, took home $9,701for fifth.

Blinds now were 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes., Right after that, McMillian opened for 60,000, Harding made it 160,000 to go, and McMillian pushed in. He had pocket 10s, Hardng  had pocket 6s, and after a board pf Q-4-2-2-10 gave McMillian a full house, Harding was down to 38,000. He put it all in on the next hand and had two callers. The board came J-5-3-K-J. McMillian showed J-8 for trips and Harding, mucking his hand without showing, was out in fourth place.

Harding, is from Louisville and has been playing poker for five years. He is the former owner of a chain of Hooter's Restaurants. He won a seat into this event via satellite, and placed first at a \Denny Crum Poker Open event. Cashing fourth, he was paid $12,935.

Three-handed, all remaining players had decent chips, with McMillian holding the most. After blinds moved up to 10,000-20,000 with 3,000 antes, Sapp went out with the most disastrous bluff imaginable. With the board showing K-7-J-J-K, he bet 60,000 holding only pocket deuces, unable to even beat the board, and then tried a desperation all-in move after Hoffman raised. "I'm done," he said, when Hoffman called. He was well done. Hoffman, with K-10, had filled.

Sapp, 26, from Louisville, Kentucky, divides his time between real estate and poker. He taught himself how to play five years ago, has played some 20 Circuits, and once chopped a main event here for $113,000. Tonight he cashed out with $16,169 for finishing third.

Heads-up, Hoffman had roughly 900,000 chips to 650,000 for McMillian. But things turned around on a hand that brought a flop of A-8-6. Hoffman moved in holding A-5, and ran into McMillian's set of 8s. A few hands later it was all over. Hoffman moved in with pocket 10s and McMillian called with A-6, making aces-full when the board came Q-9-6-A-A.

Hoffman is 23, from North Mankato, Michigan, and was a truck washer before turning pro. He learned the game six years ago playing with friends, and this is his third Circuit. For second place, he earned $27,487.