Gambling on the Mississippi River

Once Joseph Hachem won $7.5 million in the World Series of Poker main event, it was time to take a break after six straight weeks of poker, culminating in the biggest poker tournament in history.



The break is over. The WSOP Circuit events recently kicked off their second season at the Grand Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. These events will be taking place in Harrah's-owned casinos around the country, averaging about one per month. They follow a familiar format, with a series of preliminary events leading up to a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship.

Chip Jett

Kathy Liebert

John Juanda

Early Action

The WSOP Circuit championship in Tunica drew 179 players, including some of the best in the world: John Juanda, Chip Jett, John Phan, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, Kathy Liebert, Freddy Deeb, Carlos Mortensen, Michael Mizrachi, Robert Williamson III, Mark Seif, Mimi Tran, and Michael Gracz. The prize pool was more than $1.7 million, with $561,175 going to the winner.



There were only four females present in this event. Kathy Liebert was the only one to survive the first day, but she went on to finish in the money, taking home $23,805 for 12th place.



Chip Jett got off to a strong start, doubling up early when his pocket kings ran into pocket kings – and he made a king-high flush to win the entire pot. He carried that momentum to an early chip lead, and stayed among the chip leaders the first two days. He was in third chip position when the money bubble burst, but the next hour and a half devastated him, and he was eliminated in 16th place, earning $17,365.



John Juanda was staying above average on day one with his aggressive play, but hit a late surge after doubling up with 7-4 offsuit in a failed blind-stealing attempt (he made two pair to eliminate the other player). Juanda finished day one in second place, and carried that momentum through to day three.



The Bubble Was Slow to Burst

Only 18 players would be paid in this event, and the money bubble would be tough to crack on day three. Following standard practice, play moved to a hand-for-hand basis when the players were one spot away from finishing in the money. With about half a dozen short-stacked players, the bubble looked like it would burst quickly. It didn't.



The short stacks were catching the cards they needed to stay alive. Cliff Pappas, who had been short-stacked seemingly forever, was constantly on the verge of being blinded off, and then would come through with a big hand to double up, enabling him to survive another round or two. He caught pocket aces and pocket kings, and cracked someone's pocket tens with K-10.



It took 38 hands and more than two hours for the bubble to finally burst. (Pappas, who had survived for so long, eventually busted out when his A-K lost to Gregg Merkow's 7-6 suited.) During that hand-for-hand period, Juanda was relentlessly aggressive, raising well over half of the pots at his table. Without having to play many flops, Juanda increased his chip stack by more than 50 percent, starting with less than $180,000 and sitting at $273,000 once they reached the money. His aggressive play took him on some up-and-down swings after that, but he made it to the final table (nine players) with the fifth-most chips.



The Final Table
The final table took place in the Events Center at the Grand Casino, and it was an unusual setup. There was only a minimal ESPN crew on hand, so it wasn't a traditional TV table, and there were no holecard cams. The players were seated on a theater-style stage, with the audience entirely on one side. Poker fans had an excellent view of the action, looking down on the table without any television cameras to get in the way. And a stationary camera provided a constant look at the community cards, which were projected onto large screens.



Here were the opening chip counts for the final table:

1. Bryant King $376,500 (seat 8)

2. Bobby Law $360,500 (seat 3)

3. Johnny Clements $315,500 (seat 4)

4. Steve Rassi $194,000 (seat 9)

5. John Juanda $158,000 (seat 2)

6. Gregg Merkow $133,000 (seat 7)

7. Jeff Wood $122,500 (seat 1)

8. Sonny Perry $70,500 (seat 5)

9. Darrell Struck $61,000 (seat 6)



John Juanda continued the aggressive play that got him this far, but lost some chips early. Short-stacked, he made a move with K-6 from late position, but Sonny Perry found aces behind him, and Juanda was eliminated in eighth place.



The next hand was a big one, and it would completely reshape the final table. Clements was short-stacked and moved all in for $35,000 with A-5 offsuit from late position. Perry reraised to $85,000 from the button, trying to isolate him, but King came over the top all in. Perry called, showing pocket kings, while King showed pocket aces. With his opponents drawing to very few outs, King was looking to take a dominant lead at the final table. But the K fell on the river, giving Perry a set to take the pot from King.



Clements was eliminated, but King still had $349,000 in chips, enough for third place with six players remaining.



Nevertheless, King took a short break from the table, trying to avoid going on tilt. He should have stayed away longer.



King returned just in time to find himself all in with pocket nines against Merkow's K-Q. A queen came on the flop, and now King was last in the chip standings, but still alive. A few hands later, he moved all in on the turn with the J 9 on a board of J 8 6 10, and was called by Rassi's A 10. The A fell on the river to end King's day in sixth place.



Bryant King was coming off a 21st-place finish in the World Series of Poker main event (which earned him $304,680). He came to the final table as the chip leader, and if his aces had held up, he would have had nearly half the chips in play with six players remaining. But, it wasn't meant to be.



The action slowed down from there, and it took more than 12 hours to declare a winner. Gregg Merkow had the late momentum, taking a 3.5-to-1 chip lead into heads-up play against Bobby Law. Law never got much traction, eventually finishing in second place when his pocket fives were outflopped by Merkow's A-7.



Unfortunately, you won't be able to watch this tournament on ESPN, as they scaled back to absolutely minimal coverage.



There were a few stationary cameras at the final table, and a small crew with hand-held cameras to record the biggest moments. At best, this event will be shown as highlights during another episode. More likely, ESPN wanted to have footage ready in case one of these players went on to win the Tournament of Champions.


Final results were as follows:

1. Gregg Merkow $561,175

2. Bobby Law $309,490

3. Sonny Perry $170,050

4. Jeff Wood $136,040

5. Steve Rassi $102,030

6. Bryant King $85,025

7. Johnny Clements $68,020

8. John Juanda $51,015

9. Darrell Struck $34,010