The seventh event on the 2008 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge schedule ended today. Bob Crawford, a 60-year-old mechanical engineer from Houston TX topped a highly-competitive field of 177 players and won his first major poker tournament victory. He collected first-place prize money totaling $55,627. Crawford was also presented with the prized gold ring, awarded to all tournament champions at this year’s Bayou poker series.
Crawford works for Southern Union, which is an oil-industry company in Houston. He enjoys poker recreationally. This was Crawford’s first time ever to cash in a live poker tournament. The victory was impressive, especially during the later stage of play when he outlasted his final adversary in a lengthy heads-up match.
The $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition was held inside the special events center at the Harrah’s New Orleans Casino. The two-day tournament generated a total prize pool of $171,690 – the largest of any of eight events, to date. The top 18 finishers each collected prize money, representing six different states (Michigan, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Missouri, and Texas).
Day one resulted in the elimination of 169 players. The final table consisting of eight players was played to the finish on the second day. It took about six hours to play from start to end. The heads-up match between Bob Crawford and McLean Karr, who ended as the runner up, took considerably longer than the elimination of the initial six players. It lasted over three and a half hours and clocked in with about 80 hands being played. The chip lead changed at least six times.
The top eight finishers included:
8th Place – Randy Landry, a 35-year-old contractor from Thibodaux, LA. Landry calls himself a recreational poker player. He has enjoyed a few small cashes in the past. But this was his biggest prize to date. Landry went out about 20 minutes into play on day two when he lost to pocket queens.
7th place – Petman “Primo” Niyati, from Dallas, TX. Primo had A-9 on his final hand, flopped a nine, but ended up losing to pocket kings.
6th Place – Jaime Rhodes, a 42-year-old self employed part-time poker player from Houma, LA. Rhodes plays mostly in small local games. He qualified to enter this tournament by winning a single-table satellite, costing just $125. That money was parlayed into an $8,585 payout in this event. Rhodes was knocked out on a three-way hand along with Ray Zerinque. His A-4 lost to A-10 (a ten flooped).
5th Place – Ray Zerinque, a 36-year-old business owner from Houma, LA. This was Zerinque’s first major cash in a poker tournament. He was eliminated in the three-way pot with Jaime Rhodes. Zerinque’s pocket fives lost to the chip leader’s A-10.
4th Place – James Arruebarrena, a 23-year-old paralegal from New Orleans, LA. Arruebarrena came to the final table as the shortest stack. But he managed to climb four spots up the money ladder and take a very respectable fourth place. Arruebarrena was dealt pocket fours on his final hand, which lost to pocket kings. This was his third time to cash at Harrah’s New Orleans. He has two fifth-place finishes at WSOP Circuit events.
3rd Place – Stewart Yanuk, a 22-year-old aspiring poker pro from Blue Springs, MO. Yanuk plays computer on his computer mostly. He put up a good fight for awhile before being eliminated with a pair of fours against a pair of jacks. Yanuk’s departure meant that Bob Crawford had the chip lead over McLean Karr when heads-up play began.
2nd Place – McLean Carr, a pro poker player from Las Vegas. Previously, Karr cashed in an event at the WSOP in Las Vegas. He has also cashed three times this year in the Deep Stack Extravaganza, held at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
1st Place – Bob Crawford, a 60-year-old mechanical engineer from Houston, TX. He started off the final table as the chip leader. But it took several hours perseverance to seize the victory.
The Bayou series continues through next Wednesday. The $5,000 main event championship begins on Monday.