(Yes, the headline says Toby Clark won this event, while the payout list has Christopher McMillian in first place, but it's not a mistake. Read on and find out why.)
Toby Clark has a bachelor's degree in communications. He's not sure yet what he'll do with it, but he thinks poker is a good start because he views the game as a form of communication heavily dependent on people skills. Those skills helped him when he got heads-up with Chris McMillian. Because he enjoyed a 3-2 chip lead, Clark sensed his opponent was pressing to catch up, so Clark tended to call with hands a bit weaker than he normally would call with.
This paid off on the final hand when Clark called a raise with K-3. He flopped two pair, made a small raise after McMillian bet out, inducing McMillian to come over the top all in with just ace-high.
Clark, 27, is from Elizabethtown, Indiana. He had been working for UPS, but left that job to have time to explore poker. He's won two small tournaments, but this is by far his biggest cash. He is single, taught himself poker four years ago, and he also enjoys tennis, basketball and "making sandcastles on the beach."
First place in the fourth event of the WSOP tour here at Caesars Indiana paid an official $43,205, though Clark actually collected nearly $10,000 less after agreeing to a complicated deal. After some 30 minutes of negotiation, McMillian proposed that he get $33,000 and sign for first, Clark $36,968 and sign for second, and then the two would play for the coveted championship ring, title and $5,150 seat in the main event. The big factor here is that Circuit event rules call for a player to sign for the full official amount of his finish, making that player responsible for whatever taxes apply.
Final table play commenced with blinds of 1,500-3,000 and 500 antes, 13 minutes left on the clock. Arriving with by far the most chips was Bill Kanipe.
Here were the starting chip counts:
SEAT 1 Matt Humphrey 55,500
SEAT 2 Dave Seib 80,500
SEAT 3 Chris McMillian 37,000
SEAT 4 Hershel Callahan 23,000
SEAT 5 Brad Gillespie 60,000
SEAT 6 Bill Kanipe 140,500
SEAT 7 Antonio Pansera 56,500
SEAT 8 Donnie Sinkhorn 21,500
SEAT 9 Toby Clark 103,500
We lost our first player on the eighth hand. Donnie Sinkhorn, a billiards instructor, was behind the 8-ball when he raised all in with Q-3, only to see Antonio Pansera turn up Q-7. Pansera then made a trick shot, sinking his ball into the corner pocket with a straight when the board came J-5-4-6-8.
But that was far from Pansera's most notable achievement today. He pulled off an incredible feat by playing two final tables on the same day. He entered today's event, which started at noon. Later, he got up to take his seat at the final table of event #3, which commenced at 4 p.m. Pansera finished fourth in that event, then reclaimed his seat in this tournament after being blinded off down to 56,500 chips.
Sinkhorn, 31, is married with three children and lives in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a bachelor of science degree in engineering, mathematics and computer science, and his other hobby, naturally, is pool. He's been playing four years, learning from friends, and his poker highlight was doing "some good gambling" with Phil Gordon when he was here to give a seminar and play the main event in October. Sinkhorn earned $2,700 for ninth.
On hand 11, Hershel Callahan opened for 18,000 with J-10, and Dave Seib pushed him all in holiding K-Q. The better hand held up when all rags came, and Callahan took home $4,050 for eighth.
Callahan, 35, is from Mt. Vernon, Kentucky, and works for the Trane Co., a heating and cooling manufacturer. He's married, has three children, has been playing poker three years and learned to play at home games.
It took another 33 hands to lose the next player, but that was probably the key hand of the night. Right after blinds went to 3,000-6,000, Pansera, who had managed to build his chip count up to 82,500, moved in with As-8s. He was called by Clark, who had Ad-Ks, and had Pansera just covered. A board of K-9-6-6-3 left Pansera in seventh place and gave Clark the chip lead which he would never relinquish.
Pansera, as noted in the prior report, is a disabled Vietnam vet who resides in Logan, West Virginia. He got $5,401 for seventh, on top of the $9,193 he got for fourth in event No. 3 earlier in the day. Not bad for a day's work.
Three players would go out next, all in a row. On hand 58, Seib, holding K–J, raised and tried to move in, but mishandled his chips and only got part of them in. McMillian thoughtfully helped him out by raising him the rest of the way. McMillian had A-Q, which held up when all rags appeared on board.
Seib, from Trafalgar, Indiana, is in the tool and die business. He's single, has one child, and learned poker two years ago from friends. His hobbies are flying, boating and softball. Sixth place paid him $6,751.
One hand later starting chip leader Kanipe, who had been steadily going down, went out in fifth place. He moved his remaining 80,000 in with As-4s. Clark called with pocket eights and turned a set to put him away.
Kanipe, whose nickname is "Nips," comes from Fishers, Indiana, is 73 and semi-retired from the real estate business. He started playing poker only 60 years ago, and this is his second Circuit try. His other hobby is fishing. He made $8,101 for finishing fifth.
And, on the next hand, Matt "Humphrey In" Humphrey busted out. He moved all in for 95,000 from the button with Ah-4h and was chased down by McMillian, who held Ad-Qh. A board of Q-J-J-4-A gave McMillian top two, leaving Humphrey in fourth place, which was worth $9,451.
Humphrey, 23, is a single poker player from Avon, Indiana. He's a university graduate who learned poker playing with friends four years ago. This is his second Circuit entry. Fourth place paid $9,451.
McMillian now was closing the chip gap, with roughly 235,000 to Clark's 300,000, while Brad Gillespie was desperately short-chips with around 35,000. He had to make a move soon, and six hands later pushed in with K-10. Clark was waiting with pocket queens, and when all baby cards hit the deck, so did Gillespie.
Gillespie, 36, is in middle management. He's from Lebanon, Ohio, and is married with two children. He has a bachelor of science degree, began playing poker three years ago in garage games, and says he likes to keep a low profile. Golf is his other hobby. He picked up $12,151 tonight for his third-place finish.
The two finalists talked seemingly endlessly about a deal, with McMillian offering various proposals, while a dubious Clark finally accepted the deal that would get him less money, but also a lesser tax liability.
They finally resumed play with Clark holding about 345,000 chips to 230,000 for McMillian. The match-up lasted 10 hands, ending when Clark flopped two pair and was able to maneuver McMillian into moving all in.
McMillian, 38, is from Proctorville, Ohio and is in the landscaping business. He's married with one child and enjoys fishing, hunting and basketball. He learned poker 25 years ago as a child playing with friends. Bad beats, he says, is his main claim to fame. However, his official cash-out of $23,763, and his actual payday of $33,000 doesn't exactly qualify as a bad beat. — Max Shapiro
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