World Series of Poker Circuit -- Chris Johnson Wins Caesars Las Vegas Main Event

The World Series of Poker Circuit $1,500 no-limit hold’em main event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has come to a close and the champion is Chris Johnson. He topped a large field of 496 players and took home $153,599.

There were many notable professionals in the large field and some of them survived to the final 54 spots in the tournament to cash in Las Vegas. Those pros included J.J. Liu (12th place), David Williams (22nd place), Scott Epstein (29th place), Amanda Baker (35th place), Erica Schoenberg (38th place), David Levi (42nd place), Jimmy Fricke (44th place), and Cody Slaubaugh (47th place). Johnson survived longer than all of these top players and he took home the gold ring at the end of tournament. Read on below to see how he captured the tournament title.

Here is a look at the chip counts when play began:

Seat 1: James Martini (Incline Village, NV) – 922,000
Seat 2: Chris Johnson (Las Vegas, NV) – 1,600,000
Seat 3: Alex Santiago (West Hartford, CT) – 1,478,000
Seat 4: Jon Seaman (Scottsdale, AZ) 617,000
Seat 5: John Kulish (Green Bay, WI) – 1,168,000
Seat 6: Brian England (Hazlet, NJ) – 1,390,000
Seat 7: Dave Stann (Hollywood, CA) – 510,000
Seat 8: Matthew A. Leecy (Ottawa, KS) – 470,000
Seat 9: Derrick Kwenzel (Grand Forks, ND) – 486,000
Seat 10: Adam Hui (Markham, ON Canada) – 1,393,000

Derrick Kwenzel (10th place — $11,492) and Matthew Leecy (ninth place — $14,249) were both eliminated during the first hour of play at the final table. During the second hour of play the biggest name in the field took his final bow. Dave Stann chose to move all in with A 10 preflop and he was up against the pocket kings of Brian England. The board brought another King for England and Stann was eliminated in eighth place, which was good for $17,906.

Alex Santiago (seventh place — $22,820) and James Martini (sixth place — $29,498) each fell next to round out the eliminations for the second hour at the final table. England kept on a roll after that when his K-4 came from behind to top the K-5 of Adam Hui on a A-10-4-10-Q board. Hui took home $38,699 in fifth place.

John Kulish fell next (fourth place — $51,418) to keep the march to a champion going strong. Jon Seaman was the short stack among the final three competitors but he put up a stubborn fight before he fell in third place ($69,360). Seaman’s final stand came with K-J on a 9-6-3-3-4 board, but Johnson held A-2 and he won the hand with ace-high.

Heads-Up Chip Counts:

Chris Johnson: 8,250,000
Brian England: 1,750,000

The heads-up match lasted less than five minutes thanks to the mismatched chip stacks between the final two. On the final hand England raised to 100,000 on the button and Johnson reraised to 240,000. England reraised all in for 1.5 million and Johnson made the call to cover his opponent. Their cards:

Johnson: A K
England: A J

Board: K J 10 9 2

England was dominated from the beginning of the hand and the board changed nothing. Johnson won the hand and he was awarded a gold ring and $153,599 as the champion of the event. England was eliminated as the runner up and he took home $94,944 in prize money.

The next WSOP Circuit main event will take place at the Harrah’s in Chester, PA from May 8-10.

Final-Table Results:

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