Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day)

Miami, Florida's Roberto Bendeck has earned the first major poker title of his career in winning Event #1 at Circuit Coconut Creek, $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day). Bendeck earns $21,749 to go along with his first Circuit ring.

Bendeck survived a tough final table to earn this title, with the payday more than doubling his prior career WSOP earnings in seven previous cashes. Bendeck amassed a big stack early in the day, then had to negotiate through a three-way battle for the win against a couple of tough regional pros, Chilean native Nick Yunis and two-time ring winner Matthew Lambreck.

Yunis finished second after coming out on the short end of a see-saw duel against Bendeck in which Bendeck doubled up twice while all in before closing out the win. The last hand found Yunis all in himself with    but in trouble against Bendeck's   , and when the board brought nothing over a ten, the title was Bendeck's.

Yunis, who now calls Miami home, earned $13,438, while Lambrecht, now of nearby West Palm Beach, took third for $9,709.

"My style of play lends itself to [building] chip stacks," said Bendeck. "Right before the bubble, I was pushing a lot of spots. I won some, lost some, but that's basically how I got chips.

"To be honest, at the final table, I was pretty card dead. But then the hands that I did have, they basically played themselves. It was a very tough final table," added Bendeck, especially noting Yunis, who sat on Bendeck's immediate left throughout the final, also wielded a large stack, and applied pressure on Bendeck throughout. Yet Bendeck prevailed in the all-in hands, eventually sealing the win.

Late registration has closed in Event #1 and prizepool and payout information has been calculated. Event #1's topline numbers:

• Entrants: 269
• Places paid: 27
• Total prizepool: $88,770
• Winner's prize: $21,749
• Min-cash: $717