LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN

TUNICA, MS – Tournament Director Kevin Ferguson said it was the second biggest comeback he had ever seen in his twenty years in poker. Down to less than two big blinds at one point during final table play, Robert Hahs survived seven all-ins to win Event #15 at the World Series of Poker Circuit Events at Harrah’s Tunica.

Hahs is a farmer from Jackson, MO. Through Day One, he relied mostly on skill to make it through the 230-player field, but it was a bit of luck that helped him during the final table.

Perseverance and patience certainly played a part too, and when Hahs needed to make a move, he certainly received his share of good fortune to go along with his good timing.

Heading into the final table, the final nine looked like this:

Ninth Place

Final table play began with blinds and antes at 3,000/6,000/1,000. Lee Efford took a 200,000 chip stumble after he ran his K-Q into Rusty Farrin’s pocket kings on a queen high board. Soon after, Efford moved his remaining stack all-in after flopping top pair with     on a       flop.

He got a call from David Dao who showed     for two pair. A three on the turn and ace on the river resulted in the first elimination of the night. Efford collected $1,341for ninth.

Eighth Place

Down to only a few blinds, Alex Gyr moved his remaining chips all-in under the gun preflop. Jeff Ehman called, but folded after Farrin re-raised all-in. Gyr was left looking to pair his one over card with     vs. Farrin’s pocket kings.

A jack on the flop gave Gyr a couple of more outs, but the kings held through the river. Gyr earned $1,581 for eighth place.

Seventh Place

Ehman was eliminated in third place after running his pocket 3’s into Mark Endleman’s pocket pair of aces. The Brownsburg, IN consulting firm owner took home $1,951 for his two-days of play.

Sixth Place

All-in with pocket 10’s vs. Perry Ernest’s pocket queens, David In Choz lost any sliver of hope for a double-up after the flop came      .

Blanks hit on the turn and river, sending him out in sixth place. In Choz is a 46-year old finance manager from Atlanta, GA, he took home $2,923.

Fifth Place

With blinds and antes at 6,000/12,000/2,000, Endleman and Ernest were the big stacks at the table with about 735,000 each. Farrin and Dao had 345,000 and 315,000 respectively while Robert Hahs was the short stack with 215,000.

Hahs, however, was not ready to give in. After doubling up through Endleman with queens, he moved up the prize pool after Farrin got it all-in pre-flop with     vs. Endleman’s    . The jack- high board missed both players, eliminating Farrin in fifth place. Fifth paid $3,895.

Fourth Place

With two short stacks and two monster stacks remaining, it was a double-upalooza with eight double-ups transpiring before the next elimination.

When it was all said and done, Dao went from 50,000 in chips to about 800,000 while Ernest ended up the short stack with about 350,000 chips.

It was Endleman who ended up taking the brunt of it all.

Despite being the chip leader at the start of the all-in barrage, he took a few hits to his stack and was eliminated after his pocket queens were cracked when Hahs completed a straight on the river.

Hahs, who at one point was down to a mere 30,000, came out with the chip lead going into three-way action.

Endleman is a 34-year old poker pro with numerous cashes and final table appearances. He collected $4,687.

Third Place

After a flop of      , Ernest moved all-in with    . Dao quickly called with     with the flopped straight. There was no help for Ernest on the turn or river and he was eliminated. Ernest is a 48-year old financial advisor from Naperville, IL and a two-time WSOP Circuit Event champion. He collected $6,818 in his bid for a third gold ring.

Second Place

After about nearly 8 hours of play, heads-up action got underway. Dao and Hahs had considerable chip stacks with blinds and antes at 12,000/24,000/4,000. After doubling through each other twice, the two decided to chop the remaining prize pool. The final hand of the night saw Dao all-in with     vs. Hahs’ pocket 7’s. Sevens held for Hahs, giving him the win. Dao is a retired physician from Elizabethtown, KY. He finished second to Kai Landry in the 2008-2009 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Harrah’s Tunica.

This was Hahs’ first major tournament victory.

"I feel great," said Hahs. "It’s a beautiful ring and I’m proud of this win."

Still to come are 5 more events and single-day non-ring $125, $230 and $340 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Tunica runs through February 10th.