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CHESTER, PA – World Series of Poker action continued Wednesday with the conclusion of WSOPC Ring Event #5, $555 No-Limit Hold’em. The winner was Katherine “Kat” Bowen, an owner of an internet service provider from Gladewater, TX.

A recreational player, Bowen had amassed 60 points by the start of the Harrah’s St. Louis WSOP Circuit. Bowen did not anticipate playing in at any other stops as she was unaware that those points could potentially earn her a seat into the WSOP National Championship to be held in July during the 2012 World Series of Poker. 

But after her husband explained to her that those 60 points could potentially earn her a shot at competing for her over a $1 million prize pool and a WSOP Bracelet in front of a nationally-televised ESPN stage, she was back on the Circuit trail. After picking up an additional 17.5 points at Harrah’s St. Louis, she came to Harrah’s Philadelphia with her sights set on earning just enough points for a decent shot at a National Championship seat.

Not only did she meet this goal, she obliterated it with an outright win in Ring Event #5 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. With the 50 points awarded to her for the win, along with $18,197 1st place prize money and the gold ring, she now sits at 127.5 points, putting her in excellent position for a seat.

Event #5 drew 134 players, generating a total prize pool of $64,505.

Bowen nursed a short stack for much of day one and at the start of the final table, but with superb play, she was able to build on that stack until every last chip in play was in her possession.

Name

Hometown

Seat

Chip Count

Kevin McGolgan

Douglassville, PA

1

341,000

Robert Johnson

Bridgewater, NJ

2

71,500

Ed Stanish

Claymont, DE

3

504,500

Brandon Fish

Kearney, NE

4

126,500

Corey Cutrell

Seattle, WA

5

169,000

Larry Goldstein

Medford, NY

6

43,000

Drew Woodke

Omaha, NE

7

47,000

Adam Miller

Broomall, PA

8

111,500

Kattering Bowen

Gladewater, TX

9

66,500

Steve Skowronski

St. John, IN

10

127,000

9th PlaceSoon after Brandon Fish’s elimination from the final table stage in tenth place, Drew Woodke was next to hit the rail after he was unable to build any steam with his short stack. 9th and 10th places paid $1,644 and $1,332 respectively.

8th PlaceAdam Miller, a 25-year-old physical education teacher from Broomall, PA was eliminated in eighth place. This marked the amateur’s third-ever WSOPC cash, all of them earned this season. Eighth place paid $2,059.

7th PlaceThe seventh place finisher was Larry Goldstein, a 38-year-old former sports magazine marketing director who now plays poker for a living. Goldstein has several WSOP-related cashes dating back to 2007. His seventh place finish tonight earned him $2,621.
           
6th PlaceA few months after winning a four-hour heads up duel back at Harrah’s Rincon, Corey Cutrell made the trip here to Harrah’s Philadelphia on the hunt for a second piece of WSOPC hardware. Unfortunately, he fell short of that goal, finishing in sixth place.                              
    
5th PlaceRobert Johnson made his third WSOPC cash here at Harrah’s Philadelphia with his fifth place finish in Event #5. Johnson is a 24-year-old football coach from Bridgewater, NJ. Fifth paid $4,460.
 
4th PlaceOut in 4th was Kevin McColgan. McColgan has a number of WSOP-related cashes totaling over $70,000. His highest WSOP finish so far here in Event # 5 earned him $5,965

3rd Place – Edward Stanish picked up his first-ever WSOPC cash with an impressive third place finish. The 24-year-old amateur boxer from Claymont, DE took home his share of the purse, worth $8,119.

Heads up, Bowen had a marginal lead over her heads up opponent, Steven Skowrownski and quickly increased that lead to nearly a 4-1 advantage. Skowrownski was able to double up to nearly even the score, but play would not continue much longer as the two were soon all-in with Bowen’s    trumping Skowrownski’s   . Far ahead, it was still a bit of a sweat for Bowen, but was able to breathe a sigh of relief after the   hit the river on the nine-high board.

Skowrownski is a 27-year-old poker pro from St. John, IN. For his runner-up finish, he collected $11,247.

For winning Ring Event # 5 here at Harrah’s Philadelphia, Bowen was awarded $18,197 and her first WSOP Circuit Gold ring. In addition, she accomplished what she set out to do, earning enough points to be a virtual lock to compete WSOP National Championship.  

“This has been a really great experience and this is my first Gold Ring so you can’t beat that,” said a beaming Bowen after the win.

Bowen joins four previous Ring Champions in second place for the Harrah’s Philadelphia casino championship, however Ryan Gentry with both a ring win and another cash sits atop of the leader board at 60.

The Casino Champion is the player who earns the most points through the 12 events at Harrah’s Philadelphia. 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 7 events. See the complete Harrah’s Philadelphia Circuit schedule and event results here. The WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Philadelphia runs through May 7th. You can find the complete 2011/2012 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.

*100 top WSOP and WSOP Europe qualifiers have been invited to buy into the WSOP National championship, resulting in a potential prize pool of upwards of $2,000,000. More info at: http://bit.ly/y2YwU8

MORE ABOUT THE WSOP CIRCUIT AT HARRAH’S PHILADELPHIA

Harrah’s Philadelphia is a casino and racetrack located in Philadelphia, PA -- about 15 minutes south of Philadelphia International Airport. It is the 16th (of 17) WSOP Circuit host properties. Harrah’s New Orleans is the last remaining stop of the 2011-2012 WSOPC season.

This marks the second season that the WSOP Circuit has visited Harrah’s Philadelphia.

Harrah’s Philadelphia first opened in 2007, offering slot games and horse racing. Table games were introduced to the casino in 2010 after they were legalized by the state of Pennsylvania.

Harrah’s Philadelphia originally opened as Harrah’s Chester, but is currently in the process of rebranding itself as Harrah’s Philadelphia, which is expected to be complete on May 1st.

Harrah’s Philadelphia’s “12 Rings in 12 Days” series is taking place April 25-May 7.  Tournaments are held in the ballroom located on the second floor of the casino. Cash games can be found in the poker room next to the race book also located on the second floor.

Each Ring Event Final Table will be streamed live from the final table stage area in the ballroom. The live stream can be accessed at: http://www.wsop.com/2011/circuit/live-video/. Because final table start times are tentative, viewers should follow the WSOP on Twitter @wsop to be notified when live streams begin. 

Media Contact:

Alan Fowler

WSOP/Caesars Interactive Entertainment

afowler@caesars.com