COGNAC IS THE KEY
New Orleans, LA (December 9, 2009) – By any definition, 59-year-old Santiago Prats has lived a pretty cool life. He was born in Mexico City. Prats spent his early years in the coastal resort of Cancun, where he ran a cruise business and tourist agency. Prats regularly escorted tourists who were visiting Mexico on vessels bound for small offshore islands located in the Gulf of Mexico, where they camped out overnight and dined on lobster, washing down the crustaceous delicacies with the finest spirits.

Prats eventually sold off his successful leisure business in Mexico and relocated to the United States. He settled down in Mandeville, LA on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Since his arrival in the U.S. more than twenty years ago, Prats has been selling real estate. Prats eventually became interested in poker and now spends much of his free time playing cash games inside the Harrah’s New Orleans poker room.

Until today, Prats had pretty much been anonymous in the poker world, except to those who played with him in his regular No-Limit Hold’em game. But Prats finally earned his breakthrough victory on Thursday night, as the official winner of the first event of this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge.

Prats won the $230 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament, which is Event #1 on the 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule. Prat overcame a nice-sized field of 212 players and collected an official payout amounting to $9,973. Late in the tournament, the top three finishers actually agreed to a deal, with Prats taking the top prize.

The fourth Bayou Poker Challenge began on Wednesday, December 8th. The tournament was played over a two-day period. It took about 12 hours to play down to the final table, which consisted of nine players. When final table action began, Prats had about an average-sized stack. It took him about three hours to earn his first major poker tournament victory.

The tournament generated a total prize pool of $41,120. The tournament’s top 27 finishers collected prize money. The top nine players finished in the following order:

9th Place – Kenny Milam, a 55-year-old trucking contractor from La Place, LA drove away in ninth place. Milam lasted only a few hands at the final table. He moved all-in with pocket nines, which lost to A-K when an ace flopped. Milam, a proud Vietnam veteran, has cashed numerous times in WSOP Circuit events and has made it to six final tables. He also won two tournaments last month at a casino in Mississippi. Milam has yet to win any WSOP-related events so far, but is determined to keep trying. Ninth place paid $1,028.

8th Place – Bruce Little, a 51-year-old New Orleans police officer, was busted in eighth place. He went out in a blaze of glory. Little was eliminated holding two pair on the turn (kings and deuces) which ended up losing to a royal flush. This was his fourth time to make it to a final table. He also cashed at the 2007 WSOP in Las Vegas. Little earned a nice reward totaling $1,336.

7th place – Jesus Cabrera, a 45-year-old self-employed businessman from Atlanta, GA, took seventh place. Cabrera was low on chips and was eliminated in a three-way pot when his A-9 failed to connect with the board. Cabrera, who won an event last month in Mississippi and has cashed previously here at Harrah’s New Orleans in a WSOP Circuit event, collected $1,645 in this tournament.

6th Place – Mario Alberto Estrada, 29-year-old restaurant manager from Laredo, TX cooked up a sixth-place finish. Estrada started off play with the lowest stack, but moved four spots up the money ladder. He moved all-in on his final hand with A-10, which ended up losing to a king-high flush. Estrada pointed out afterward that poker is actually his "second love." Estrada’s "first love" is his daughter. His winnings in this event totaled $2,056.

5th Place – John Sutton, a 62-year-old retired airline pilot formally with United Airlines who now lives in Destin, FL, jetted off in fifth place. Sutton flopped a pair of jacks on his final hand, but his opponent ended up spiking a pair of aces on the river, which eliminated Sutton. His payout amounted to $2,570.

4th Place – Sid "Spiderman" Webb, a 54-year-old poker pro from Baton Rouge, LA took fourth place. Webb, who is nicknamed "Spiderman" (spider + web, get it?) tried to trap his opponent with a venomous pocket pair on his final hand, but which instead ended up being Black Flagged. Spiderman moved all-in, was called, and tabled pocket queens. The black widows looked good until the turn, when an ace hit the board, giving Justin Jones a pair of jacks with his A-J. Webb failed to improve and had to settle for a fourth-place payout totaling $3,187. This marked Webb’s tenth time to cash in a major poker tournament, and third final table appearance.

3rd Place – Justin "JJ" Jones, a 26-year-old professional poker player from Rockdale, TX finished in third place. He agreed to a deal with Shane Lewis and Santiago Prats to divide the remaining prize money. Jones recently won an event at the Caesars Poker Classic in Las Vegas, where he took first place in a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. His payout for third place amounted to $3,907.

2nd Place – Shane Lewis, a 31-year-old self-employed businessman from Baton Rouge, LA, was the runner up. Lewis had the chip lead much of the way at the final table. After his two rivals drew close in chips, the deal was made which ended the tournament. Lewis officially collected $6,169.

1st Place – Santiago Prats, a 59-year-old real estate broker from Mandeville, LA was the winner. He collected $9,937 and bragging rights for his first major tournament victory.

Prats admits that his favorite beverage is Hennessy (a cognac). He regularly enjoys drinking a Hennessy or two while playing poker at Harrah’s New Orleans. Following his victory, Prats had justifiable reason to order a cocktail. "Cheers," Mr. Prats.

The 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge continues for 11 more days and concludes on December 20th. There’s still plenty of time to make plans to come to Harrah’s New Orleans and join the action.