2007-2008 WSOP Circuit, Tunica, Event 5 ($500 PLO) Final Results

2007-2008 World Series of Poker Circuit
Grand Casino Tunica -- Tunica, MS
September 2, 2007
Event #5
Pot-Limit Omaha
Buy-In: $500 + $50
Number of Entries: 73
Total Prize Money: $35,405

Charles Edwards Wins Pot-Limit Omaha Event in Eight-Way Deal

Omaha Will Be His Official Game From Now On, Edwards Declares

Click here to view the official results.

Tunica, MS--The fifth event of the Grand Casino Tunica Circuit was $500 pot-limit Omaha, and it ended abruptly in an eight-way deal, with chip-leader Charles Edwards, a land investor from Lynchburg, Tennessee, declared the winner.

This event played through in one day. The final table started with 10 players though only nine were to be paid. When it got down to nine, all the players wanted to strike a deal except for a short-chipped Robert Willis, so play continued. When Willis departed, a chip-count deal was calculated, and all the players agreed. With 22,900 chips, Edwards was in front and got the most money, the title and the championship ring, while Stephen Sauer, with only 1,800, officially ended up in eighth place.

Since Harrah’s has a well-known policy against officially recognizing or distributing money as per such deals, all players had to agree to sign for the official payout amounts according to their finish. That didn’t seem to deter any of them, the deal was made and the event came to a close.

Edwards, who is single, is originally from Anaheim, California. He’s been playing poker for 10 years in home games. He’s played in number of tournaments, but this is his first win. The official prize money for first place was $12,747, though Edwards of course took home less than that. His biggest cash to date, official or not, was $13,000 when he finished third in pot-limit Omaha in a Gold Strike event two years ago.

PLO, he said, is his game of choice. He seems to do much better in it than in hold’em, and that will be his official game from now on. He likes it because the flop presents multiple chances for draws to straights and flushes. It’s his opinion that pot-limit Omaha is more skill and less luck than hold’em. Whether through skill or luck, he got off to a great start when he doubled up by making queens full on the first hand of the tournament, and was in good shape thereafter.

When the final table assembled, blinds were still only 300-500. Gerald Richardson held a modest chip lead of 28,000.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Some 25 minutes after the final table started, the 10th player went out. Jerry Dans Jr. had started lowest-chipped with only 8,000, and finally went all in holding A-A-K-5. All Edwards had was Q-J-7-7, but a flopped 7 gave him a set, and that was all he needed. Dans, 36, is from Woodstock, Georgia. He is married with two children, describes himself as a “stay at home dad,” has played four years, and has had a cash in another tournament.

Everyone was now in the money. The deal discussion now began, but couldn’t get past Willis. The blinds now inched up to 300-600. Willis, now down to 400 chips, managed to double up twice and triple up once, and seemed to be making a comeback.

Then, up to 2,600, he called all in with A-A-3-3 after Edwards, now the chip leader, raised with Qc-Jd-Qc-7c. The board brought him a flush, and the eight finalists were free to talk deal.

Willis, 50, is an engineer from Augusta, Georgia whose nickname is “Highway Man.” He’s married with three children, has been playing 40 years and has four tournament wins. His other hobby is golf. He picked up $1,062 for ninth.

Now the figures were crunched, and the players collected and went home.

Finishing second behind Williams was Hiroshi Yanagida from Chatanooga, Tennessee. He is a 35-year-old restaurant owner who wrote on his bio sheet that he’s been playing poker for “four days.” This is his second circuit event. Yanagida, married with two children, won an official 7,081 for second.

Richardson, the starting chip leader, settled for third and an official $3,895. He’s 37, from Nesbitt, Mississippi, married with two children, has a nickname of “Big G” and listed no other information on his bio sheet other than saying he’s retired.

Mark Pharo, 38, is from Birmingham, Alabama, and listed dual occupations of dealer and real estate. He’s been playing 15 years, learning in home games, and has played some 20 Circuit events. His official cash-out was $2,832.

Next in the payout line was Claude Sigmon of Paducah, Kentucky. Sigmon, 76, is in the video business, and his nickname unsurprisingly is “The Video Man.” Sigmon was the one who first started video-taping poker players, and for many years was the only player allowed at Binion’s during the World Series. He said he had the only tape of the 1996 main event final table, and plans to soon offer it for sale on DVD.

He’s had a number of tournament cash-outs, his biggest being for $13,056 for finishing 10th in a $2,000 limit hold’em event at the World Series in 1997.

Sigmon is married with four children, has been playing for 57 years and got an official $2,478 for fifth.

Sixth, paying an official $2,060, was claimed by Tom Bendetta of Huntsville, Alabama, who is in the sales/leasing business. Bendetta is single.

Getting seventh was David Shaw, 44, of Greenville, South Carolina. Shaw, a builder/developer, is married with five children, won his way in via satellite and has played 22 Circuit events. He is married with five children, and his official payout was $2,124.

Steven Sauer, an attorney from Memphis, got a fee of $1,416 for eighth. Sauer is 41 and single and has been playing for eight years.