Elilton Gouveia Defeats 2,273 Entries In WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee Kickoff Event

The kickoff event of the 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee series was a $400 buy-in no-limit hold’em re-entry event. The tournament sported a $500,000 guarantee, which was easily surpassed when 2,273 entries were made to create a final prize pool of $750,090. In the end, the lion’s share of that money was awarded to Elilton “Tom” Gouveia, who emerged victorious from the sea of entries to take home his first WSOPC gold ring and the top prize of $104,807.

“It feels amazing. I mean, I’ve been dreaming about that,” Gouveia told WSOP reporters after winning the ring. “Last Friday was my birthday. I was telling my wife, ‘Okay, I just want to go and play. It’s going to be kind of a present.’”

This was by far the largest score of Gouveia’s tournament career, blowing away the $21,174 he earned for finishing 12th in the WSOPC Harrah’s Cherokee main event at this series last December. The Acworth, Georgia resident now has live tournament earnings of $182,503.

In addition to the money and the ring, Gouveia was also awarded 432 Card Player Player of the Year points as the winner of this event. This was his first POY-qualified score of 2018.

Gouveia came into the final table of this event in second chip position behind Irene Carey, who had finished runner-up in an event at the WSOP Global Casino Championship, which like this event took place at the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. Carey ultimately ended up finishing second in this tournament as well, taking home $67,445 for her latest deep run.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

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