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STANLEY QUINN WINS WSOP CIRCUIT MAIN EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP AT HARVEYS

Andrew Barber Wins Lake Tahoe's Best All-Around Points Race.

Nov 23 2010 04:50 PM EST

STANLEY QUINN WINS WSOP CIRCUIT MAIN EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP AT HARVEYS

Stan Quinn Wins WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship Gold Ring at Harveys

Andrew Barber Wins Lake Tahoe’s Best All-Around Player Points Race

Winter Blizzard in High Sierras Fails to Cool Off Two National Championship Qualifiers – Quinn and Barber

Stateline, NV – The winner of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event Championship held at the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Resort and Casino is Stan Quinn, from Danville, CA.

Quinn collected $86,789 in prize money. He was presented with his first gold ring, which is the supreme token of achievement awarded for winning a WSOP Circuit event. Quinn also received an automatic seat qualification into the 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship, to be held in Las Vegas next May.

Quinn is a 51-year-old professional poker player. He formally worked in IT management. Quinn earned his way into the championship by winning a mega-satellite in the Harveys Poker Room. Shortly after making the decision to play poker full-time, he cashed in this year’s WSOP Main Event – finishing in 549th place.

This marks Quinn’s debut year on the WSOP Circuit. Quinn cashed in one of the earlier gold ring events at Harveys, finishing in 14th place in a $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. With this victory, he now has more than $100,000 in WSOP-related earnings for the year.

…………

The $1,600 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament began on Sunday at noon and ended Tuesday night. The tournament attracted a larger-than-expected field size totaling 246 entrants.

Tournament attendance was expected to suffer due to a record snowstorm which punished the Lake Tahoe area for more than four days. Around Harveys Lake Tahoe, nearly three feet of snow hit the ground and created white-out conditions during most of the weekend. Snowfall hit more than six feet at the higher elevations. Wind gusts on the upper ridges of the High Sierras were 80-90 mph, at times. According to some reports, this was the heaviest November snowfall in the last 100 years.

This made the trek to South Lake Tahoe treacherous for all but the most daring drivers, winter sportsmen, and poker players. Some roads were closed, and those paths that were open required snow chains. Nevertheless, players came and made this one of the busier weekends of the year.

Despite the severe weather, the number of participants in the Main Event Championship increased significantly over last year. Furthermore, the $354,240 prize pool was up by 15 percent over the previous figure, even though this year's buy-in ($1,600) was reduced from the previous year ($5,000).

The first day opened with 246 players playing down to 51 survivors -- which took about 12 hours. The first day chip leader was Dan Black, who would end up making it to the final table – ending up in fourth place. The second day of play whittled the field down to the final nine -- which lasted about 10 hours. The second day chip leader was Michael Traylor, who enjoyed a 2-to-1 advantage over his closest rival when the final table started on the third day of competition. Traylor ended up as the third-place finisher.

The final table began at 12 noon on Tuesday and ended about 5 hours 15 minutes later. When the nine finalists took their seats, the chip counts were as follows:

SEAT 1: Dan Black (Cloverdale, CA) – 585,000 in chips
SEAT 2: Donna Jetter (Nashville, TN) – 111,000 in chips
SEAT 3: John McNeilly (Sonoma, CA) – 263,000 in chips
SEAT 4: Joe “13” Mongkol-ua-aree (Gardnerville, NV) – 287,000 in chips
SEAT 5: Michael Traylor (Houston, TX) – 1,843,000 in chips
SEAT 6: Drew Caseri (Merced, CA) – 164,000 in chips
SEAT 7: Grant Hillman (Oakland, CA) – 484,000 in chips
SEAT 8: Ned Mantua (Bedega Bay, CA) – 945,000 in chips
SEAT 9: Stan Quinn (Danville, CA) – 377,000 in chips

Blinds began at 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante. Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place – Joe “13” Mongkol-ua-aree, from nearby Gardnerville, NV was the first player to exit. He went out after only about 20 minutes. Mongkol-ua-aree lost most of his stack with

. He moved all-in and got a quick call by Dan Black, who showed

. Just a few hands earlier, Black had lost half of his stack when his K-K lost to Q-Q (a queen flopped). Black avoided a devastating repeat this second time around as his K-K survived a board which showed

. Mongkol-ua-aree was left with just 75,000 in chips and went out a few hands later when his A-Q lost to Michael Traylor’s straight.

Mongkol-ua-aree is a 38-year-old small business owner. He has been playing on the WSOP Circuit for four years. Mr. Mongkol-ua-aree loves playing poker with his wife Yvette, who has also cashed at Harvey’Lake Tahoe. He once served proudly with the 82nd Airborne Division. Monghol-ua-aree collected $7,942 in prize money for ninth place.

8th Place – Grant Hillman, from Oakland, CA went out next. He was lowest in chips and moved all-in on a semi-bluff, which lost. Hillman was dealt

. After the flop came

, Hillman moved all-in. Michael Traylor was delighted to call and tabled

, good for top two pair. The cards ran out

, pushing another pot to Traylor and putting Hillman out in eighth place with $9,929 in prize money.

Grant Hillman is a 38-year-old bio-informatics manager, which means he applies computer science and statistics to the field of molecular biology. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and a Masters Degree from the University of Colorado. Hillman won his way into the Main Event through a single-table satellite. This is his second year to play on the WSOP Circuit.

7th Place – Donna Jetter began play with the lowest stack. She managed to move two spots up the money ladder. Jetter doubled up three times during her two-hour session. She had a chance to go over 1,000,000 in chips at one point, but lost a critical race and fell back to a short stack. Jetter went out when she moved all-in with

. Michael Traylor faded her raise and called with

. The flop gave Jetter several more outs, but she missed as two blanks hit the turn and river. The final board showed

, giving Traylor more chips, and bankrupting Jetter. Seventh place paid $12,611.

Donna Jetter specializes in renovating homes in and around the Nashville area. She has been playing on the WSOP Circuit for the past three years. She won the Ladies Championship at Harrah’s Tunica last January. Jetter is the only female to make a WSOP Circuit Main Event final table this season (through four championship events)

6th Place – Ned Mantua was eliminated in sixth place when he was down to his last 150,000 and needed to find a hand. He found one shoved with

. Michael Traylor -- who covered his opponent by more than a 10 to 1 margin -- called and showed

. The final board came

, giving Traylor top two pair. Thus, Mantua ended up in sixth place.

Ned Mantua is a 68-year-old gas station manager. He is a proud father of four, and a grandfather to four. Mr. Mantua enjoys fishing, but he found no fish at this final table. Mantua earned $16,277 in prize money.

5th Place – Drew Caseri’s last five minutes at the final table were a nightmare. He managed to run his initial stack size of 164,000 up to more than 800,000. He would have had 1.4 million except for a brutal beat which took place about three hours into play. Caseri re-raised all-in holding 9-9 and had John McNeilly covered, who showed 6-6. It appeared that Caseri would knock out McNeilly and move into second place in chips. But a six on the river completely reversed the fortunes of both players. Two hands later, Caseri was down to 200,000 and moved all-in again, with

. Michael Traylor called and showed

. The flop was good for Caseri, but once again, the river card was a killer. The board ran

, giving Traylor what remained of Caseri’s stack.

Drew Caseri is a 25-year-old college student. He won his way into this tournament via a $235 mega-satellite. Mr. Caseri loves poker, but says he actually came to Lake Tahoe to snowboard. However, he didn’t get to snowboard much on this trip because of his success in this tournament. Caseri earned $21,361 in prize money.

4th place – Dan Black was eliminated during the fifth hour of play. He was all-in on an unusual hand where both players had straight-flush draws. Black was dealt

and was up against Michael Traylor, with

. After the flop came

Black moved in with top pair and the straight-flush draw. But Traylor had the made straight which held up as the final two cards were

and

. Black collected $28,513 in prize money.

Dan Black is a 61-year-old retired construction specialist and former fireman. He prefers to play in cash games and paid his way into this event through his cash game winnings. Mr. Black owns his own ranch which is 5,000 acres, where he escorts visitors on hunting trips around his property. This marks his fifth year to play on the WSOP Circuit.

3rd Place – Despite being the powerhouse force during much of the final table, Michael Traylor ended up finishing in third place. At one point during the finale he held a 4-to-1 chip lead over his closest rival. In fact, Traylor was dealt a flurry of big hands during his stay. Trouble was, several of the hands were cracked and he ended up losing a number of big pots at critical times during the finale. He managed to double up players at the worst possible times, which was no fault of his own since he always seemed to have big cards. Traylor was finally eliminated while low on chips holding

. The flop came

, with the

on the turn and the

on the river. Stan Quinn’s

– good for ace-high -- took what remained of Traylor’s once-towering stack.

Michael Traylor is a 28-year-old professional poker player. He previously worked in sales and was an actor. Mr. Traylor has only recently begun a full-time poker career, but says he is in the game to stay and is determined to improve one step at a time. Traylor took a solid step forward with his third-place finish in this tournament. He collected $38,743.

2nd Place – John McNeilly was the runner up. He collected a very respectable consolation prize totaling $53,625.

The final hand of the tournament came quickly and unexpectedly. After five hours of final table action, a routine looking hand developed when the flop came

. McNeilly moved all-in and showed

(after his bet was called), good for top pair. Unfortunately, Stan Quinn had

-- good for an overpair. McNeilly added several outs to his shot of seizing the chip lead after the

fell on the turn. But the river bricked with the

, which gave the victory to Quinn and put McNeilly out in second place.

John McNeilly is a 54-year-old part-time player who says he is currently out of work. He previously worked as a manager at a winery. He was also a high school basketball coach at one time. Mr. McNeilly has been playing on the WSOP Circuit for two years. He wished to acknowledge the support he received from his wife, two daughters, and older brother, who is diagnosed with ALS, who followed his progress online.

1st Place – Stan Quinn won his first major poker tournament and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. First place paid $86,789 in prize money.

...............

The overall winner in the point race for this year’s Harveys Lake Tahoe series is Andrew Barber, from Rocklin, CA. He edged out two rivals, Tom Masinter and John Deng, both of whom won gold ring events. Barber won the point tally with a second and a third place finish in two early events. He also cashed in the Main Event at this year's Harveys series.

Joining the Main Event champion Stan Quinn, Barber earns an automatic bid into the WSOP Circuit National Championship.

This year, all players on the WSOP Circuit who cash will accumulate points which are used to qualify towards the WSOP Circuit National Championship. The tournament is to be held in May 2011 in Las Vegas. The $1 million freeroll tournament will be nationally televised and will be open to only 100 qualifiers. For the first time ever, a WSOP gold bracelet will be presented to the winner.

…………

This was the final WSOP Circuit gold ring event held this year at Harveys Lake Tahoe. The WSOP Circuit gold ring winners at Harveys Lake Tahoe were as follows:

Phillip Hui (Event #1 champion -- NLHE)
Manh Tran (Event #2 champion -- NLHE)
James Sparks (Event #3 champion – Omaha High-Low Split)
Devin Jackson (Event #4 champion – H.O.R.S.E.)
Cyle Curtis (Event #5 champion – NLHE)
Matthew Hughes (Event #6 champion – Six-Handed NLHE)
Joel Casper (Event #7 champion – NLHE)
Tom Masinter (Event #8 champion -- NLHE)
Stan Quinn (Event #9 MAIN EVENT champion – NLHE)

…………

A total of 2,197 players participated in the ten WSOP Circuit events played at this year's Harvey's Lake Tahoe series. That means each event has attracted an average of 220 players.

The impressive attendance figures at Harveys Lake Tahoe are consistent with big turnouts at all WSOP Circuit stops, so far. All four WSOP Circuit events now completed 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-Resort and Spa in Biloxi also produced impressive numbers.

This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop to be held at Harveys Lake Tahoe. It is one of only three stops which have been a part of the WSOP Circuit season every year. The others are Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego) and Harrah’s Atlantic City.

Harveys Lake Tahoe 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. 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. Now some 41 years later, poker remains alive and well in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area.

…………

The 2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit schedule – which includes all upcoming tour stops and dates -- can be viewed here.

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 HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE RESORT & CASINO

Harveys Resort & Casino is the largest resort casino property at Lake Tahoe. A wide variety of resort features include: 740 rooms and suites; nearly 75,000 square feet of casino space; five great restaurants including the stunning 19 Kitchen • Bar (overlooking beautiful Lake Tahoe), Hard Rock Cafe, Sammy Hagar’s famous Cabo Wabo Cantina and the elegant Sage Room Steakhouse (est. 1947); a full-service health club and pool; elaborate convention center services; Harveys Cabaret theatre (home of the Improv Comedy Club); race and sportsbook; poker room; wedding chapel; and family arcade. Harveys also presents the celebrated Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series, which features superstar artists including Elton John, Eagles, Bob Dylan, Kenny Chesney and many more. In 2010, Harveys Resort & Casino was awarded 35 Casino Player Magazine Best of Gaming Awards including: Best Steakhouse (Sage Room); Best Headliners; Best Video and Reel Slots; Best Race/Sportsbook; Best Poker Room and Best Poker Tournaments. For more information and reservations, please visit: www.HarveysTahoe.com.

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