Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

Charlie Dawson, of Owensboro, Kentucky, has earned his second career Circuit ring by winning Event #5 at Horseshoe Tunica, $400 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed. Dawson's win in this event was worth $17,243 and it marks his second final-table appearance in this stop's first five events, giving him 70 Casino Championship points at this stop and the running lead in that race.

Eventual runner-up Bryan Salerno and Dawson started Day 2 well ahead of this final table's other four players, and they ended up battling for the win. Dawson had gained nearly a 2:1 edge in chips during their heads-up duel when the last hand played out. Dawson had    and opened, and then Salerno, with   , re-raised. "I thought it was time to push back, and I did," Dawson later said about the moment, and he moved all in.

Salerno then called and was in great shape, as the flop came    . The turn was the  , and then Dawson spiked his three-outer for the win (not counting kings for the chopped hand) as the   arrived on the river.

Salerno, of Little Rock, earned $10,651 as the runner-up. Sean Small finished third for $7,527.

"It turned out I had the worst of it, but I got very lucky on that one. I still would have had chips," he added, had not the fortunate river arriived.

Dawson, 49, loves playing at Tunica, and he's attended every one of the January Circuit stops at this venue since the Circuit's creation over a decade ago. This win gives him a chance to emerge as this stop's Casino Champion, earning a trip to this fall's Casino Championship in Cherokee, NC. Dawson also thanked his wife Angie and his two sons, Ben and Max, for allowing him to make the annual or biannual trips to Tunica - a four-and-a-half-hour trip each way - over the years. 

Event #5 has reached an official final table as Day 1 action concludes. Little Rock's Bryan Salerno bagged 968,000 in chips to lead into Day 2. Action resumes at 1 pm on Tuesday. 

Here are the final six players

Seat 1: Charlie Dawson - 886,000
Seat 2: William Anderson - 150,000
Seat 3: Bryan Salerno - 968,000
Seat 4: Roland Israelashvili - 397,000
Seat 5: Sean Small - 190,000
Seat 6: Jeremy Eyer - 280,000

The late-registration window has closed in Event #5 and prizepool information is now available. Here are the topline numbers:

Entries: 190
Prizepool: $62,700
Places Paid: 21
1st Place: $17,243
Min-cash: $574

A complete listing is available under the "Prizepool" tab above.