Just nine days after the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the
World Poker Tour stormed into Biloxi, Mississippi for the
Gulf Coast Poker Championship. This $10,000 buy-in event at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino marks the first
WPT tournament to be played along the U.S. Gulf Coast, giving local fans a chance to witness some of their favorite poker stars, and local players a chance to actually play against them.
While this is a new stop for the
WPT, it is hardly a rookie operation - respected tournament director Johnny Grooms is running the show with an experienced staff. Grooms was the tournament director for the 2005
World Series of Poker, successfully overseeing the most difficult transition in
WSOP history as it moved from Binion's Horseshoe to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
Play began at 2 p.m. CT, effectively reducing the jet lag factor for West Coast players used to tournaments starting at noon. By the time registration had closed at the end of the first level, there were 256 entrants in the event, creating a total prize pool of $2,433,536. The top 27 players will finish in the money, with the first-place finisher being awarded $778,737.
Though the structure was fairly typical ($20,000 in chips, 90 minute levels, opening blinds at $50-$100), the field played faster than expected early in the day. In the first level alone, the bustouts included
Gavin Smith,
Tuan Le, and
Jimmy Tran.
Smith's early departure was a bit ironic, because his table (which he shared with
Barry Greenstein) was chosen as the featured table, to be moved to center stage during the first break. As Smith didn't survive that long, Greenstein was the sole headliner when the table was moved. The featured table featured quite a bit of action, however, as the random draw kept bringing notable players into the open seats - and the turn of the cards kept sending them to the rail. Players who spent time at the featured table before busting included Greenstein,
Amnon Filippi,
Tex Barch, online pro Tom "Durr" Dwan, and
Jim "KrazyKanuck" Worth.
The notable names that ruled the day were
Bill Edler,
Mark Seif, and
Vanessa Rousso, and all three finished the day in the top 11. Edler built his chip stack rather smoothly and steadily throughout the day, relaxed and comfortable as he used his big stack to his advantage. Seif was back in the pack the first half of the day, only to sprint to the top of the leader board during Level four, crossing the $100,000-chip mark about the same time as Edler. Many of Seif's chips came from
Jared Hamby, as the two clashed in several big hands, with Seif getting the best of it. (Don't prematurely mourn for Hamby, though; even though he survived with only about $20,000, he was in a similar position at the
WPT event at Mandalay Bay a few months ago, where he went on to finish in second place.)
Vanessa Rousso would catch up to Edler and Seif in level five, eliminating
Kenna James in the hand of the day - at least in terms of spectator appeal. With the board showing K
7
3
8
on the turn, the big blind checked, Rousso bet $3,000, and Kenna moved all in for about $15,000. The big blind folded, and Rousso spent several minutes to make her decision while Kenna blatantly encouraged her to call. While Kenna was entertaining the gathered fans, Rousso talked herself through the hand out loud, weighing her chances against all of Kenna's possible holdings. She finally called with K
J
after correctly deducing that the big blind folded the A
, but she was still behind when Kenna showed 8
5
for a made eight-high flush. But the 4
on the river put four clubs on the board, giving Rousso a higher jack-high flush, busting Kenna and pushing her over the $100,000 mark.
At the end of the five levels, there were 131 survivors. Here are the top 11, along with a few notables above the average count of $39,084:
1. Thomas Ballan - $122,225
2. Vanessa Rousso - $100,500
3. Hank Sitton - $100,450
4. Bill Edler - $99,975
5. Clint Schafer - $99,225
6. Ben Armstrong - $96,875
7. Doc Jennings - $94,100
8. Joe Pharo - $88,450
9. David Robbins - $85,100
10. Shelton Murdock - $84,875
11. Mark Seif - $84,000
Eric "Rizen" Lynch - $76,400
T.J. Cloutier - $72,250
Kathy Liebert - $57,225
Mimi Tran - $50,725
J.C. Tran - $46,750
Play resumes Friday, Sept. 7 at noon (the later start only applied to day one). Return to
CardPlayer.com and
WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage of all the action, with chip counts, hand updates, photos, and webcam interviews with Kimberly Lansing.
BACKDROP: BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI
Earlier, I mentioned the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. While the city of New Orleans dominated the national news during that crisis (and rightly so), it wasn't the only community affected. The entire Gulf Coast of Mississippi was devastated, including Biloxi.
Many of the buildings in Biloxi were knocked down by the wind or washed away by the water. Several floating casinos were lifted out of the water and dumped inland. The Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge was crippled and impassable; in fact, the bridge is still in the final stages of its reconstruction.
When the storm passed, the coastline was unrecognizable, with sandy beaches washed away and buildings reduced to rubble. But unlike most of the other casinos and beachside hotels, the Beau Rivage survived intact - beaten up, but not battered down.
The Beau Rivage stayed standing, but there was still millions of dollars in damage due to severe flooding on the lower levels. The Beau Rivage was cleaned up and reopened on the one-year anniversary of Katrina, drawing tourists and tax dollars back into the community to fund further reconstruction. Of course, Biloxi hasn't fully recovered, but thanks to the additional tax revenue and tourist spending, Biloxi is healing faster than most Gulf Coast towns.
If you're in the area, take some time to visit the Katrina Memorial located on the Biloxi Town Green, about a block away from the Beau Rivage Casino. It was constructed by the television show "Extreme Makeover" about six months after the storm, and it includes a sculpture constructed from personal keepsakes donated by victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Biloxi is rebuilding itself stronger than before, better prepared for the next hurricane than the last one. Hopefully, the Beau Rivage will become a perennial stop on the
WPT, bringing more tourism dollars to aid in future reconstruction.
