TUNICA, MS. – World Series of Poker Circuit Event action continued at Harrah’s Tunica with the conclusion of Event #8, $555 buy-in Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em. The winner was Dalton Mills, a former bartender turned poker pro from Jacksonville, FL.
New to this WSOP Circuit season, players have long expressed demand for a Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em event. The WSOP listened and the Heads-Up format was included in a number of stops for 2011/2012.
132 players ponied up the $555 buy-in, generating a total prize pool of $64,020.
Determined by the size of the field, the Heads-Up Event at Harrah’s Tunica consisted of seven rounds. Each player started with $5,000 in chips and was allowed to receive an additional $5,000 in chips anytime during the first round.
The winner of each matchup moved on to the next round with the surviving players starting with double the previous round’s starting stack all the way down to the final round of two.
2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Chris Moneymaker, made short work of his first-round opponent, Nelson Herschberger, but was prevented from going any further after being eliminated by Michael Horchoff of River Ridge, LA.
Another notable pro, Roland Israel, was unable to fare any better after falling to poker player Rory Monahan in round one. 2010-2011 WSOPC Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Champion, Kurt Jewell played his way through to the third round of matchups, but was unable to break the money bubble after being eliminated by Clinton Baker of Denton, TX.
Sixteen players survived the three rounds needed to make it in the money. Once there, the competition heated up and after the money round match ups were decided, eight remained. Mills made short work of Thomas Williams and was joined by AP Phahurat, Andrew Schwartz and Cory Wood in the final four.
The final matchup was between Wood and Mills and after nearly two hours of play, Mills was declared the winner.
Wood is a 26-year-old poker pro from Murfreesboro, TN. During the 2011 WSOP, he made a final table run in the $10,000 Pot-Limit-Omaha championship, where he finished in 7th place, worth $116,359. His runner-up finish in Event #8 at Harrah’s Tunica added $11,077 to his total WSOP career earnings.
Mills made a deep run in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, where he finished 237th place, worth $48,847. For his win today at Harrah’s Tunica, he pocketed $17,927 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.
In addition to the money and the Ring, Mills picked up 50 points in the WSOPC National Championship and Harrah’s Tunica Casino Champion points races. With 50 points in the bag, Mills still has a ways to go to catch up to current Harrah’s Tunica Casino Champion points leader, Matthew Weber who has 80 points with 1st and 3rd place finishes at this year’s Tunica Circuit series.
The Casino Champion is the player who earns the most points through the 12 events at Harrah’s Tunica. This player will earn an automatic seat to the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship to be held in late May. More information about the WSOPC National Championship can be found here. An explanation of the points system can be found here.
Still to come are 4 events. See the complete Harrah’s Tunica Circuit schedule and previous results here. The WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Tunica runs through February 13th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.
Media Contacts:
Patrick Collins
Harrah’s Tunica
662-357-6924
pcollins1@caesars.com
Alan Fowler
WSOP/Caesars Interactive Entertainment
702.498.7532
afowler@caesars.com
About the WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport's top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker's longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2010, the event attracted 72,966 entrants from 117 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $187 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. The WSOP Circuit Tour is entering its seventh season in 2010-11, and will feature 12 stops throughout the U.S., plus for the first ever, a stop in South Africa. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.wsop.com.
About Harrah’s Tunica
Harrah’s Tunica is located 20 minutes south of Memphis, Tennessee and was originally opened in 1996 as Grand Casino. On May, 23, 2008 Paula Deen cut the official grand opening ribbon at Harrah’s Tunica featuring the first of its kind Paula Deen Buffet and an interactive gaming floor that is the largest in the region. Spanning over 2,000 acres Harrah’s Tunica features the Links at Cottonwoods championship golf course designed by Hale Irwin, Willows Sporting Clays and Hunting Center, the Mid-South Convention Center offering over 65,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, three elegant hotels totaling 1356 hotel rooms, the 200-space Mid-South RV Resort, Bellissimo Spa and Salon, and a 2,400 seat event center that features headline entertainment
About Caesars Entertainment:
Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest casino entertainment company. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Harrah's®, Caesars® and Horseshoe® brand names. Caesars also owns the World Series of Poker® and the London Clubs International family of casinos. Caesars Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. Caesars is committed to environmental sustainability and energy conservation and recognizes the importance of being a responsible steward of the environment. For more information, please visit www.caesars.com.