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Golf Pro Phillip Hui Aces Opener at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe

First WSOP Circuit Event in High Sierras Draws 407 Entrants – 17 Percent Increase over Last Year

SEAT 1:  Andrew Barber (Sacramento, CA) – 691,000
SEAT 2:  Ted White (San Jose, CA) – 241,000
SEAT 3:  Bryan Shank (Citrus Heights, CA) – 358,000
SEAT 4:  Phillip Hui (San Antonio, TX) – 1,157,000
SEAT 5:  Ismael Silva (Oakland, CA) – 120,000
SEAT 6:  Merle Avila (Sebastopol, CA) – 231,000
SEAT 7:  Russell Cooper (Healdsburg, CA) – 136,000
SEAT 8:  Tim O’Brien (San Francisco, CA) – 597,000
SEAT 9:  Nick Coukos (Richmond Hill, Ontario – Canada) – 333,000
SEAT 10:  Soarabh Gupta (San Francisco, CA) – 226,000

Players were eliminated in the following order:

10th Place – The short-stacked Ismael Silva was eliminated quickly.  The auto painter from Oakland, CA was airbrushed off the final table after he moved all-in with A-Q, when ended up losing to pocket kings.   

9th Place – Russell Cooper, a 51-year-old real estate broker from Healdsburg, CA was the second lowest in chips when final table play began.  He moved all-in about 20 minutes into play holding K-4, after catching a four on the flop.  But Cooper ended up losing to pocket jacks.  Cooper, who has traveled extensively and plays poker regularly, collected $2,410 in prize money.

8th Place – Ted White, from San Jose, CA suffered a tough blow on what turned out to be his final hand.  He ended up making his flush, which lost to a full house.  White pushed all-in with A-6 suited diamonds.  He was up against pocket jacks.  The final board showed J-8-7-8-3, with three diamonds.  The flush was to no avail.  White, who works as a meat cutter, was butchered in eighth place, which paid $3,017.

7th Place – Bryan Shank was eliminated in a three-way pot.  Shank was dealt A-2 offsuit and faced two hands -- K-Q suited and pocket threes.  The flop essentially killed Shank’s chance of making a comeback as Nick Coukos flopped a set of threes.  The final board ended up giving Coukos a full house, which tripled him up and put Shank out on the rail in seventh place.  Shank, an insurance agent from Citrus Heights, CA collected a nice poker commission amounting to $3,831.

6th Place – Soarabh Gupta went bust on a hand that pretty much masqueraded as poker’s equivalent of getting run over by a roaring freight train.  Gupta moved all-in holding A-6.  The flop initially looked good for Gupta, as A-J-J came on board, giving him aces up.  Trouble was -- Phillip Hui had been dealt J-J and made quad jacks.  Gupta, from San Francisco, CA staggered away from the final table in sixth place, worth $4,932 in prize money.    

5th Place – About three hours into play, former WSOP Circuit gold ring winner Nick Coukos was eliminated in fifth place.  Coukos made things interesting for awhile, especially after he tripled up and had about 700,000 in chips at one point.  But Coukos ran card dead late and ended up collecting $6,444 in prize money.  Coukos, who won his gold ring at Caesars Palace Las Vegas last year, previously worked as a horse racetrack executive.

4th Place – Merle Avila, an architect from Sebastopol, CA was the fourth-place finisher.  He lost a few big hands late and then finally went out when he was forced to play a weak hand which did not improve.  Avila, who finished sixth in this same event back in 2008, added another impressive finish to his tournament resume.  He earned $8,546 in prize money.

3rd Place – Andrew Barber was the third-place finisher.  The poker pro from Sacramento, CA busted out with 10-9, which was bested by A-K.  An ace flopped, which took away Barber’s last chip.  The former engineer could certainly be proud of his finish, which paid $11,510.

2nd Place – Tim O’Brien, a 32-year-old poker pro was the runner up.  He made a strong late run and was a serious threat to Phillip Hui after he managed to double up at one point.  But O’Brien was never able to gain the chip lead and eventually went out with $15,752 in prize money.

The final hand of the tournament was dealt when Hui had about a 2 to 1 advantage over O’Brien.  Hui was dealt 9h 9s against O’Brien’s 6h 5h.  On the turn, the board showed 8d 8c 7d 6s.  That gave both players a straight draw.  But Hui enjoyed a big advantage with the bigger pair (nines).  O’Brien needed to catch a 4 or 6, but missed when the Jd tumbled down on the river.

The impressive opening number at Harveys Lake Tahoe is consistent with big turnouts at all WSOP Circuit stops, so far.  All four WSOP Circuit events have experienced increases in both attendance and prize money.  Numbers were up significantly at Council Bluffs, Hammond (Chicago), and Southern Indiana.  A new addition to this year’s schedule held at the IP Casino-Reort and Spa in Biloxi also produced impressive numbers.
 
Several inches of snow on the ground and a winter wonderland atmosphere outdoors could not freeze the enthusiasm of hundreds of poker players who showed up this weekend at Harveys Lake Tahoe.  The casino-resort is located on the south shore of crystal blue Lake Tahoe, beneath a wall of snow-capped mountains, making for one of the most astounding views of any poker destination in the world.
 
Northern Nevada has a rich poker history.  Few may remember that the WSOP had its origins, not in Las Vegas, but rather in Northern Nevada.  The first WSOP-style tournament was played in Reno at the Holiday Casino in 1969.  That first gathering of poker players was called the "Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention," and was won by Crandell Addington, later a Poker Hall of Fame inductee.  Poker patriarch Benny Binion was so impressed with the concept that he held the first WSOP the following year at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, in 1970.