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Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:49 PM Local Time
Action folded to Steve Goff on the button and he raised to 33,000. The small blind folded and Kyle Cartwright, who was in the big blind, opted for a raise to 200,000. Goff moved all in for 984,000 and Cartwright quickly called. Just like that, we had the biggest pot of the tournament and it was a classic race situation:
Cartwright:
Goff:
The flop didn't hit Cartwright, but it did provide him a straight draw to any jack. The on the turn was a blank, meaning Goff would double if he could avoid an ace, king, or jack on the river. The dealer slowly burned and put out the . Cartwright shot his arms up in the air in celebration while Goff, who began the day second in chips, was eliminated from the Main Event.
Cartwright extended his already monster chip lead to 3.92 million.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:43 PM Local Time
Chris Viox raised to 75,000 under the gun only to have Kyle Cartwright reraise to 220,000 from the cutoff. The rest of the field folded back to Viox and he made the call for his tournament life.
Viox:
Cartwright:
Viox was in a dominating position and stayed there as the board ran out . Viox doubled on the hand to 500,000 while Cartwright took a small hit down to 2.35 million.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:26 PM Local Time
Short-stacked Nick Jivkov moved all in under the gun for his last 185,000 and received a call from Ron Segni in early position. The rest of the field folded and the cards were turned up:
Jivkov:
Segni:
Although he was behind, Jivkov had two overs and was looking for an ace or nine. The flop was no help and neither was the turn. It was down ti the river for Jivkov's life, but it was not meant to be as the peeled off. Jivkov finished in 9th place and was the first final table casualty.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:18 PM Local Time
The final table of the 2010/2011 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Main Event is now underway. A few hands have been played, but nothing exciting as of yet.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:15 PM Local Time
Level: 27
Blinds: 15000/30000
Ante: 4000
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:13 PM Local Time
Phil Stelzer is 69-years old and hails from Columbia, Missouri. As such, he is affectionately known as "Columbia" Phil. He has been playing poker since 1950 when he used to play for baseball cards. He is married with five children and twelve grandkids (he has two sets of twin grandchildren born eight days apart).
Stelzer's poker ambition is to be a WSOP Champ, much like his favorite player Stu Ungar, and he has a golden opportunity before him here today. Thanks to a fourth-place finish in Event #2 $345 NLHE, Stelzer is in contention for the "Casino Championship" title, which would qualify him for the National Championship $1 Million Freeroll next month in Las Vegas. With an early Steve Goff elimination, all Stelzer would need to do is finish in fourth place or higher. Can he do it?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:13 PM Local Time
Steve Goff is 25-years old and hails from Eureka, Illinois. He finished in sixth place earlier in the circuit stop in Event #23 $345 NLHE for $6,689. Goff, who started playing poker when he was 20 and whose favorite player is 1998 WSOP Main Event Champion Scotty Nguyenn, begins the final table second in chips.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:13 PM Local Time
Troy Weber of West Terre Haute, Indiana, began playing poker in 2000 and admits he learned through trial and error. The 40-year old is married with a daughter named Taylor and a son named Tanner. Aside from hunting and golf, Weber enjoys spending time with his family.
Weber is no stranger to the WSOP-Circuit with $40,488 in winnings dating all the way back to the 2006/2007 season. However, with an eighth-place finish or better, Weber can ensure his biggest cash to date.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:13 PM Local Time
Chris Viox is without a doubt the most experienced player at the table. The 35-year old from Glen Carbon, Illinois plays online under the name "PiMaster" and has considerable success. In 2009 he took down a WCOOP title followed by a SCOOP title in 2010. Both those win were preceded by a UBOC victory in 2007. To top it all off, Viox has transitioned from the virtual felt to live play which included two third-place finishes at the World Series of Poker (2006 PLH & 2008 Razz).
Viox is currently married with two children: Ellie (8) and Joe (5). He has his work cut out for himself here today, starting the final table as the second short stack.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:12 PM Local Time
Asheesh Boyapati is a 25-year old software engineer who final tabled the Chicago Poker Classic, ultimately finishing in seventh place. He didn't start playing poker until 2010 after being introduced via home games, but he has already found considerable success.
Boyapati, whose favorite player is Tom "durrrr" Dwan, starts the final table third in chips.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:10 PM Local Time
If you're a fan of general contractors, then you'll likely be a fan of Ron Segni . . . because that is exactly what he does! The 53-year old from El Cajon, California has been married for 26 years and has two children: a 21-year old son named Miles and a 19-year old daughter named Kimberly.
Segni started playing poker with friends in 2005 and has a peculiar superstition . . . he doesn't like poker racks under the table. Segni, whose favorite player is Phil Ivey, joked prior to the tournament: "Both my kids are away in college. I need to win today to pay next year's tuition."
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:09 PM Local Time
Nick Jivkov was born in Bulgaria but now resides in Des Plaines, Illinois. He is a former owner of a transportation company, but now makes his living as a full-time poker player. The 32-year old is married with two daughters, five-year old Mia and one-year old Sofia.
Jivkov, who won a WSOP-Circuit ring back in November at the IP Biloxi stop, currently sits in 12th place on the National Leaderboard and will likely earn a spot in the National Championship $1 Million Freeroll next month; however, he can lock up a spot with a victory here today.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:08 PM Local Time
Mitch Franks is a 41-year old engineer from Tupelo, Mississippi. He is married with three children, a thirteen-year old and seven-year old twins. He started playing poker 15 years ago, but it wasn't until this past year that he really hit his stride and made eight final tables.
Franks, an avid fan of Mississippi State University athletics where he earned his engineering degree, also enjoys playing another game . . . fantasy baseball. However, when it come to poker, Franks admits: "It's all about the hardware, baby!"
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:06 PM Local Time
Kyle Cartwright, a 23-year old player from Bartless, Tennessee, is no stranger to the World Series of Poker Circuit. Back in February, Cartwright played his first live tournaments at Harrah's Tunica and took home rings in just his third and fourth tournaments. Those events were Event #20 $345 NLHE and Event #44 $345 NLHE totaling $56,789 in winnings, and also earned him the title of "Casino Champion" while simultaneously qualifying him for the National Championship in May.
Cartwright, who says his favorite player is Kenny Tran, enters the final table as the massive chip leader with more than double his nearest opponent.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:04 PM Local Time
The World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's St. Louis started on Sunday with 449 players. Today, the final nine reconvene to play down to a winner. Remaining in the field are a mix of poker players from grizzled veterans to young guns. It is of the latter variety that our chip leader, Kyle Cartwright (2,875,000), belongs. Cartwright is no stranger to the WSOP-Circuit. He won two rings back in February at the Harrah's Tunica stop, winning the Casino Championship and qualifying for the National Championship in the process. If he wins today, the National Championship spot usually awarded to the winner will be thrown back into the National Leaderboard prizepool and award the seat to another points qualifier.
However, there are eight other players dead set on letting that happen. Today, we'll find out who becomes the WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Champion and lays claim to the $142,290 first-place prize.
[H]WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Final Table[/H]
| 1 | Kyle Cartwright | 2,875,000 |
| 2 | Mitch Franks | 460,000 |
| 3 | Nick Jivkov | 206,000 |
| 4 | Ron Segni | 983,000 |
| 5 | Asheesh Boyapati | 1,138,000 |
| 6 | Chris Viox | 346,000 |
| 7 | Troy Weber | 1,006,000 |
| 8 | Steve Goff | 1,270,000 |
| 9 | Phil Stelzer | 637,000 |
The final table is set to begin any minute. As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to bring you all the action, eliminations, and stories straight from the tournament floor.