New Orleans, LA (December 17, 2009) – Fred Scott’s day’s began at a local strip club in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  That’s right, Scott woke up, stumbled into the famous French Quarter, downed a few adult beverages while enjoying some the local culture, and then promptly arrived at Harrah’s New Orleans just in time to take his seat at the final table.  He then proceeded to demolish the competition en route to a six-figure payout, as well as earning his first major poker tournament victory.
 
Scott won the most recent Bayou Poker Challenge tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans.  The $300 (+50) buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha (with $100 Re-buys) tournament attracted 37 entries.  The prize pool was pumped up considerably with a whopping 164 re-buys, which inflated the prize pool to a very respectable $26,674.  This was the eighth event of 15 on this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge schedule.

It took Scott five full hours of play at the final table to earn the victory, despite being played five-handed.  The heads-up match alone lasted more than three hours, a testament to the ferocious tenacity of the runner up, Jared Ingles.  He dueled back and forth against Scott, exchanging the chip lead a number of times before finally succumbing to a missed draw on the final hand.  Scott made a straight on the final hand of the tournament, which topped Ingles’ busted flush draw.  Scott’s share of the prize money officially amounted to $10,670.

“Pot-Limit Omaha is a board game,” Scott piped up after his victory.  “While there are occasionally some bluffing opportunities, the bottom line is – if you miss your hand on the flop, get out.”

Scott also complimented the runner up for playing well.  “(Jared Ingles) is a really tough player,” he said.  “We battled for a while, and he leaned on me a few times.  He got the chip lead against me.  But I was glad to get it back so I could lean on him.  It was a tough match.”

Fred Scott III 36-year-old is a landscape contractor from Fairbanks, AK.  He is visiting New Orleans in his off-season, which comes during the winter months when his hometown is buried under several feet of snow.  Scott stated that this was his first time ever to visit New Orleans.  “I did not even know there was a poker tournament going on here.  But when I saw the World Series of Poker signs everywhere, I came in to check it out.”

When asked about his plans for the prize money, Scott was brutally honest (perhaps even too honest for some tastes).  “What did I win here?  Ten grand?  I guess the strip club will get some of it later tonight.”

Only the tournament’s top five finishers collected prize money.  The finalists were eliminated in the following order:

5th Place – Daniel Holmes, a 22-year-old college student from Lafayette, LA finished in fifth place.  He survived only a few hands.  Holmes moved all in when he flopped top set, with trip tens.  But he was called by an opponent on a flush draw, who caught the needed card on the turn.  The board failed to pair on the river, which fish hooked Holmes from the final five.  He picked up $2,134 in prize money.

4th Place – James “J.J.” Rone, a 35-year-old self-employed custom home builder from Houston, TX came in fourth place.  Rone constructed a nice-sized chip stack, but lost a few key hands becoming low on chips.  He finally went out on a missed draw, which lost to trip fives.  Rone has made it to the final tables of size major poker tournaments in the past.  But this was his first WSOP-related finale.  As a strong family man, Rone stated that he currently has five children, and all of them already love poker.  They will like their dad even more when he returns home from this tournament, $2,934 richer for two days of poker playing.
 
3rd Place – Andrew Becker, a 28-year-old former restaurant owner who is now attending graduate school, finished in third place.  He lives in Chalmette, LA.  Becker was hammered on his final hand.  He moved all-in on a straight draw, but lost to quad-eights.  The New Orleans native earned a nice payout totaling $4,268.    
 
2nd Place – Jared Ingles, a 22-year-old poker pro from Baton Rouge, LA, was the runner up.  Second place paid out $6,668 in prize money.

1st Place – Fred Scott III, a 36-year-old landscape contractor from Fairbanks, AK was declared the winner.  He collected $10,670 and bragging rights for his first official major tournament victory.

The 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge, which is an official World Series of Poker Satellite location, is now half-way completed and continues for five more days.  The tournament series will conclude on December 20th.  There’s still time to make plans to come to Harrah’s New Orleans and join in the poker action.  For more information, please visit:  www.harrahsneworleans.com