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2008 Harrah’s New Orleans II WSOP Circuit Tournament
May 9 to May 21, 2008
Harrah's New Orleans Casino

Event #1 -- No-Limit Hold’em
The kickoff event at Harrah's New Orleans had 336 players pay $550 each to sit at the tables. Total prize money was $162,960 for the 2 day event. Cash went to the top 36 finishers.

1. Dr. Del Walker -- $50,518
2. Matt "Cub" Culberson -- 26,074
3. Ryan Welch -- 13,037
4. Matthew Stulting -- 11,407
5. Bryce Kammeyer -- 9,778
6. John White --8,148
7. Robbie Betancourt -- 6,518
8. Edward "Trip" Ludwig -- 4,889
9. David Bailey -- 3,259

Event #2 -- No Limit Hold'Em
This two day event had a total of 344 players sign up to participate, each paying $500 for the right. A cash pool of $166,840 was created and divided between the top 36 finishers.

1. Andrew Kloc -- $51,840
2. Teddy Trosclair -- $26,694
3. Jozef Pikula -- $13,347
4. Fatolla "Fati" Shahen -- $11,679
5. Shaun Higgens -- $10,010
6. Richard Estep -- $8,342
7. Paul Luna -- $6,674
8. Homer Salinas -- $5,005
9. Tim Debenport -- $3,337

Event #3 -- No Limit Hold'Em
The 3rd event at Harrah's New Orleans had 187 players pay $500 each to sit down at the tables. A cash pool of $90,695 was divided up between the top 18 finishers.

1. Johnathan Westra -- $29,385
2. Brian Walsingham -- $15,418
3. Brandon Robinson -- $9,070
4. Glenn Hyde -- $7,256
5. B.J. McBrayer -- $6,442
6. Robert Quin -- $5,535
7. Terrance Keratsopolous -- $3,628
8. Branson Guillory -- $2,271
9. Robert Theis -- $1,814

Event #4 -- No Limit Hold'Em
The winner of this tournament was Mark Edwards who received a lot of cash and the gold ring of WSOPC champions. He was a dominate force out of the field of 197 players, especially at the final table. All entrants paid $500 each to contribute to a $95,549 prize pool, with cash going to the top 18.

1. Mark Stephen Edwards -- $30,957
2. Will "the Monkey" -- $16,243
3. John Lively -- $9,555
4. James Dunning -- $7,644
5. Rodney Barkis -- $5,733
6. Lionel DeAgano -- $4,777
7. Dexter Brown -- $3,822
8. Nicholas Wilbur -- $2,866
9. David Joseph -- $1,911

Event #5 -- Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys
A lot of the tournaments being held here are one day in length. Sometimes the turnout can be small as in the 44 who sat down at the tables for Event #5. Everyone paid $500 + $50 to get in, but what made things interesting were the rebuys. There were 71 rebuys made to create a $55,775 prize pool that was split between the top 5.

After the first two eliminations, the last three agreed to chop the remaining pot and have Jason Gladden get credit for winning his first WSOPC title ever.

1. Jason Gladden -- $25,099
2. Jody Simon -- $13,944
3. Ricky Byrd -- $8,366
4. Doug Saidenberg -- $5,578
5. Michael "Car Wash" Schneider -- $2,789

Event #6 -- No-Limit Hold’em

Out of the 393 entrants, David Avera had to be the happiest as he won the first poker tournament that he ever entered in his life. Before this he just played in home games. For his efforts, he will receive a gold ring that is earned and worn by WSOPC champions. This two day event had a $114,363 prize pool that was split between the top 36 players.

1. David Avera -- $35,453
2. Ben Mintz -- $18,298
3. Frank Folino -- $9,149
4. Tony Hatley -- $8,005
5. Dennis Booze -- $6,862
6. Jim Mink -- $5,718
7. Bill Hobbs -- $4,475
8. Barry "Biggs" Cusimano -- $3,431
9. Lou Crispino -- $2,787

Event #7 -- Seven-Card Stud

LSU college student Bobby Toye can now add poker champion to his list of life achievements. There were 66 players in this one day event with only the final table 8 seeing any cash.

The Seven-Card Stud event was added to this year’s Bayou schedule in an effort to diversify the selection of games. Although Texas hold’em events routinely attract hundreds of entrants, poker games such as Stud and Omaha are not nearly as popular. Nonetheless, the WSOP Circuits are determined to provide every poker player with an opportunity to win a gold ring by playing his or her favorite game.

1. Bobby Toye -- $6,904
2. Bobby Shane Flanigan -- $4,161
3. "Mr. T" Bradley -- $2,459
4. Bridget Fredericks -- $1,797
5. Joe Maggio, Jr. -- $1,324
6. Matt Radosevich -- 946
7. Nick Liuzza -- 757
8. Douglas "Rico" Carli -- 567

Event #8 -- No Limit Hold'Em

There were 272 entries for this event, each paying $500 to participate. A prize pool of $131,920 resulted and was split between the top 27 finishers.

1. Michael Vardeman -- $42,214
2. Jason Becher -- $23,218
3. Paul Vo -- $11,873
4. Jared Brintz -- $9,234
5. Steven Klein -- $7,915
6. Ward Sudderth -- $6,596
7. Gaven Arza -- $5,272
8. Quoc Troung -- $3,958
9. Steve Constantino -- $2,628

Event #9 -- No-Limit Hold’em

This one day event had 56 players at the tables. A prize pool of $27,160 came from everyone paying the buy in of $500. Money went to the 9 who made the final table.

1. Joe Lively -- $9,778
2. Rich Richardson -- $5,432
3. Rowdy MacPherson -- $2,988
4. Joe Holmes -- $2,173
5. Ward Kay -- $1,901
6. Nirnay Sinha -- $1,630
7. Chuck Baker -- $1,358
8. Jozef Pikula -- $1,086
9. Thomas Witherspoon -- $815

Event #10 -- No Limit Hold'Em

Event buy in was $1,000 + $80 for the 222 players who hit the tables. It was the top 27 who got part of the $215,340 prize pool created for this two day event.

When heads-up play began, Oliver enjoyed more than a 4 to 1 chip lead over George Bronstein – 460,000 to 93,000. The final hand of the tournament resulted in Oliver making a pair of jacks, winning the top prize. George Bronstein, who admitted he failed to catch many cards at the final table, was satisfied to accept second place. The poker pro from Tampa, Florida received $37,900 as the runner up. Note: Bronstein won a WSOP Circuit event at the Tunica Grand in 2006. This was his ninth overall cash. He also took fourth place in the Pot-Limit Omaha competition at the 2006 WSOP in Las Vegas.

1. Lance Oliver -- $68,909
2. George Bronstein -- $37,900
3. James Henson -- $19,981
4. Brian Leung -- $15,074
5. James Arruebarrena -- $12,920
6. Chris Highers -- $10,767
7. Luis Coriano -- $8,614
8. Claudia Crawford -- $6,460
9. Ronald Nixon -- $4,307

Event #11 -- No Limit Hold'Em

There were 225 players who paid $500 each to enter this event. A prize pool of $109,125 was created and split between the top 27 finishers. But the big surprise was who became the winner of the tournament. Daphne Turner becomes the first female ever to win an open WSOP Circuit Event in New Orleans.

A short summary is from the WSOP:
Turner is a 39-year-old bill collector...She destroyed everyone sitting at what was her first final table ever. Turner personally busted eight of her nine adversaries in a three-hour performance that can only be described as overwhelming.

1. Daphne Turner -- $34,920
2. David Scarano -- 19,206
3. "Kay L" -- 9,821
4. Shaun Helmle -- 7,639
5. Brian McHann -- 6,548
6. David "Guru" Gurievsky -- 5,456
7. David Bourg -- 4,365
8. Tim Repp -- 3,274
9. Jeff Bond -- 2,183

Event #12 -- No-Limit Hold’em

The price for playing in this two day event for the 402 entrants was $550 per player. A cash pool of $194,970 was created and divided between the 45 top players.

1. Jeff Tims -- $58,491
2. Gabriel Andrade -- 31,390
3. Lou "The Big Easy" Esposito -- 15,598
4. William Neal -- 13,648
5. William Johnson -- 11,698
6. J.L. "The Hut" Murtagh -- 9,749
7. Ben Mintz -- 7,779
8. David Ciener -- 5,849
9. Lance A. Campione -- 3,899

Event #13 -- No-Limit Hold’em

There were 284 players each paying $1,000 + $80 to get in on the action for this two day tournament. Prize pool size reached $275,480, with the lion's share going to 21 year old Tyler Smith who admitted this was his first poker tournament ever. (What luck!) He just turned legal age to play poker in January. Previously, Smith had cashed twice at tournaments in Mississippi. Smith was also presented with a gold ring, presented to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in New Orleans.

1. Tyler Smith -- $88,154
2. Will "the Monkey" Souther -- $48,484
3. Dusti Smith -- $24,793
4. Russell Bozeman -- $19,284
5. Jason “J.J.” Brice -- $16 529
6. Skip Gill -- $13,774
7. Jay Lee -- $11,019
8. Nick Ceci -- $8,264
9. Steve Fernandes -- $5,510
10. Johnathan Westra -- $3,306

Event #14 -- Ladies Only No-Limit Hold'em Cajun Queen Classic

The "Cajun Queen Classic," which is the fourteenth event on the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule, concluded today. Jena Delk won the $200 buy-in Ladies Only No-Limit Hold’em competition. The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort. First place paid $16,700. Ms. Delk was also presented with a gold ladies pendant, presented annually to each female champion at the World Series of Poker Circuit here in New Orleans.

1. Jena Delk -- $16,700
2. Rae Payne -- 9,185
3. Elizabeth "Lizzie G" Germann -- 4,697
4. Carol Bollinger -- 3,653
5. Kimberly Zobrist -- 3,131
6. Sherrie Aiken -- 2,609
7. Sue Grisham -- 2,087
8. Sherri Maycroft -- 1,566
9. Dr. Tricia A. Gardner -- 1,044

Event #15 -- Main Event

The Main Event was three days in length and had 249 players each pay $5,000 + $150 for the buyin. Cash went to the top 27 which split up a prize pool of $1,196,650. Here is the event overview courtesy of Nolan Dalla of the WSOP Media division:

This year’s competition attracted several poker pros, including former WSOP gold bracelet winners Josh Arieh, Steve Billirakis, T.J. Cloutier, and Bill Edler. Other famous players included Gavin Smith, Steve Dannenmann, Chris Bell, Allie Prescott, Allen Kessler, Young Phan, and Matthew Stout. Former Bayou Poker Challenge winners Lou Esposito, Peter Feldman, and Walter Chambers also participated.

After 240 players were eliminated, the nine survivors assembled around the final table on the grand stage of the Harrahs Theatre. T.K. Miles started play in the lead with 687,000 in chips. Jeff Tims was the closest threat to the big stack, with 345,000. Opening blinds were 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes. From the very first hand, the action was frantic. In fact, two players busted out on hand number one.

When heads-up play began, Nick Ceci enjoyed a slight advantage over rival T.K. Miles – with 1.2 million to 840,000 in chips. The tournament ended on hand number 109 when Miles was dealt Q-4 and tried to steal the blinds and antes. Ceci called with J-7. Miles did not have the best hand for long, as the flop came J-9-7 giving Ceci two pair. Ceci’s hand held up, which meant a second-place finish for the gambler from Tallahassee, Florida. As the runner up, T.K. Miles was paid $210,610.

1. Nick Ceci -- $382,928
2. Timothy "T.K." Miles -- $210,610
3. Floyd Vanderford -- $107,699
4. Gabe Costner -- $83,766
5. Jeff Tims -- $71,799
6. Lou Esposito -- $59,833
7. Chuck Kelley -- $47,866
8. Ed Jatho -- $35,900
9. Marc Fratter -- $23,933