Event #9: $580 No-Limit Hold'em

Event #9
No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in: $500 (+$80)
Total Entries: 126
Prizepool: $63,000

David Cossio, a former math professor, wins his first career gold ring with an analytic approach in Event #9.

Biloxi, Mississippi (September 16, 2016) – David Cossio topped a 126 player field in Event #9 to pocket $17,639 and claim his first Circuit gold ring. The tournament lasted two days and concluded Friday evening on the IP main stage after a strenuous, heads-up battle between Cossio and Mike Horchoff, which lasted nearly three and a half hours.

“Pretty tough, pretty good player and good kid,” Cossio said about his formidable opponent. “It was back and forth, back and forth. It was a good match.”

The two, distinguished poker players seemed to be in a dead lock that would never end. Both were chasing their first gold ring, and refused to go down without a fight. However, only one could walk away the victor.

With his second-place finish, Horchoff recorded his 15^th Circuit cash and 25^th WSOP cash, while Cossio banked his 22^nd Circuit cash and 38^th WSOP cash. With over, $600,000 in earnings at the World Series of Poker, it was only a matter of time before Cossio bagged his first title. He came dangerously close when he finished second in the Main Event at Horseshoe Hammond in 2013, which is still his biggest cash to date ($260,100).

Cossio was born in Mexico, but has been in the States for a long period of time, living in Texas and now Las Vegas, NV. He currently plays poker as a full-time profession. Formally a math professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and Mexican Math Olympiad Coach, it is safe to say Cossio has a systematic mind. Cossio was asked how much his mathematics background aids in his poker game.

“Math is pretty important. I’m a pretty analytical guy,” said Cossio. “My poker is pretty math oriented.”

Cossio’s systematic approach to the game has worked very well for him so far, and was good enough to catapult him to a WSOP title. Along with the gold ring and sizable payday, Cossio was awarded 50 points toward the Casino Championship.

here's a look at the final table results:

1st: David Cossio - $17,639
2nd: Mike Horchoff - $10,309
3rd: Raj Chidambaram - $7,870
4th: Melissa Poff - $5,783
5th: "Boston Rob" Mariano - $4,323
6th: Josh Lowing -  $3,287
7th: James Beetz - $2,541
8th: Paul Hudspeth - $1,996
9th: Kyle Cartwright - $1,593

Complete results can be found above, under the "Results" tab.

After a grueling heads up battle, Mike Horchoff had to settle for the runner-up position. He takes home $10,309 and earns himself 37.5 Casino Championship points.

Melissa Poff went out in fourth place, taking home $5,783. Shortly after, Raj Chidambaram was eliminated in third place. He received $7,870 and 30 Casino Championship points for his finish.

This leaves Mike Horchoff and David Cossio to duke it out for the Circuit title and WSOP gold ring.

James Beetz has gone out in seventh place, earning $2,541 and 20 points. After making his third final table and cashing for the third time, Beetz has taken the lead from Steve Giddings in the Casino Championship race. Beetz now has two seventh and a second place in-the-money finish, bringing his points total to 77.5.

The official final table has been determined. James Beetz makes his third final table appearance of the IP Biloxi series. Owner of six Circuit gold rings and a WSOP gold bracelet, Kyle Cartwright, has the current chip lead. Joshua Lowing will begin the final table as the short stack. Another notable at the final table is long time TV personality, "Boston Rob" Mariano who sits with a decent stack of 40 big blinds.

Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts for the final 9 players:

Seat 1: Kyle Cartwright – 311,000 (62 bbs)
Seat 2: James Beetz– 160,000 (32 bbs)
Seat 3: Mike Horchoff – 179,000 (35 bbs)
Seat 4: Paul Hudspeth – 131,000 (26 bbs)
Seat 5: Joshua Lowing  – 64,000 (12 bbs)
Seat 6: Melissa Poff – 120,000 (24 bbs)
Seat 7: Rob Mariano – 200,000 (40 bbs)
Seat 8: Rajappa Chidambaram – 179,000 (35 bbs)
Seat 9: David Cossio – 200,000 (40 bbs)

Registration was shut down at the beginning of Level 9 in the ninth event here at the IP series and the prizepool has been finalized. The tournament attracted 126 entries. The larger than usual buy-in at $580 brings out a total prizepool of $63,000. First place will earn $17,639, a WSOP Circuit gold ring, and 50 Casino Championship points. The top 15 finishers will earn a cash, with a minimum cash-prize of $651.

Here is a look at the full breakdown of payouts:

Day eight here at the IP Biloxi Circuit features the start of the $580 buy-in, No-Limit Hold'em tournament, which is the ninth gold ring event at this 12-event series. Beginning at 11:00 a.m. is Event #9: $365 No-Limit Hold'em. The tournament will run for two days and the eventual champion will be awarded a WSOP gold ring, as well as 50 Casino Championship points.

Here is a quick rundown of Event #9:

• Buy-in $580
• Players start with 10,000 tournament chips
• Blinds start at 25/50
• Registration remains open until the start of Level 9
• Levels 1-12 will be 30 minutes long, Levels 13-21 will be 40 minutes long, and Levels 22+ will be 50 minutes long
• A 60 minute dinner break is scheduled at the end of Level 12
  
• Scheduled to be a two-day tournament
• Day 2 starts Friday, September 16th at 2:00 p.m.
• Global Casino Championship points are awarded to all players earning a cash
• The winner will receive a WSOP Circuit gold ring
• No Re-entry is allowed

As this event progresses, this updates page will include prizepool information, end of the night chip counts and the winner's report.