TUNICA, MS – John White, a retired nuclear physicist from Powell, TN, is the winner of Event #8 at the Harrah’s Tunica WSOP Circuit.
The tournament drew 249 runners. White was the first player to register for the $340 buy-in Wednesday event but was last in chips going into the final nine.
Event #8 generated a total prize pool of $67,059. 24 players made the money in the two-day event.
Not only was White the short stack heading into the eighth final table of the WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Tunica, he had less than ten times the number of chips as the chip leader, Robert Schorr.
Without a doubt, White had his work cut out for him.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Wayne Gatheright | Walls, MS | 1 | 101,000 |
| Rogelio Salinas | San Antonio, TX | 2 | 200,000 |
| Robert Schorr | Henderson, NV | 3 | 990,000 |
| Peter Hernandez | San Antonio, TX | 4 | 137,000 |
| David Kopacz | Hopkinsville, KY | 5 | 290,000 |
| Lawrence Beach | Decatur, GA | 6 | 223,000 |
| Dale Curtis | Tok, AK | 7 | 204,000 |
| John White | Powell, TN | 8 | 81,000 |
| Bobby Woodruff | Tuckerman, AR | 9 | 170,000 |
Ninth Place
The final nine got underway shortly after 4:00 pm with blinds and antes at 6,000/12,000/2,000. The first casualty of the night was Bobby Woodruff. Woodruff, a corrections sergeant from Tuckerman, AR, busted after his pocket nines failed to hold against the K-Q of Dale Curtis. Ninth paid $1,462.
Eighth Place
Next out was Wayne Gatheright. The 70-year old retiree ran his short stack into John White’s pocket aces all-in with K-Q. Gatheright picked up $1,723.
Seventh Place
Seventh place went to Peter Hernandez, a former realtor-turned-poker pro from San Antonio, TX. Hernandez was unable to improve on an ace high board with [T] vs. fellow San Antonian, Rogelio Salinas, who had pocket 3’s. Seventh paid $2,126.
Sixth Place
2008/2009 Horseshoe Southern Indiana Event #10 champion, David Kopacz, was the sixth place finisher. Kopacz picked up his 8th WSOP Circuit cash worth $3,185.
Fifth Place
Salinas was eliminated soon after taking a beat from John White. Salinas’ pocket 3’s were cracked by White’s A-K after the board double-paired 9’s and 4’s on the river. He busted the next hand after moving his remaining chips all-in with 9-2 off suit. Fifth place paid $4,245.
Fourth Place
Lawrence "Andy" Beach busted in 4th after his pocket sixes failed to hold all-in against Dale Curtis’ J-Q. The 44-year old from Decatur, GA earned $5,304.
Third Place
A short-stacked Curtis was the third place finisher after being outflopped with A-J suited vs. John White’s Q-2 off. Third place paid $7,430.
At about 8:13 pm with blinds and antes at 15,000/30,000/4,000, heads-up action saw White and Robert Schorr dueling for a Circuit Event ring and the $17,129 first place prize.
In the final hand, Schorr was all-in with A-2 vs. White’s A-5. The board came to give White kings with a 5-high kicker and the win. Schorr collected $10,475.
White spent much of his career researching nuclear energy at the national lab. He was introduced to the game of hold’em back in the late 90’s. He cashed at the 2009 World Series of Poker Senior’s Event and was once a contestant on the poker game show, Poker Dome Challenge.
White says nuclear physics and poker share at least one thing in common.
"In both, there’s this element of unpredictability," said White.
He went on in earnest to try to explain to this tournament reporter the science of calculating radiation levels and how they are affected as radiation travels through various elements.
After 10 minutes of going over hand-scrawled diagrams and discussing neutrons, isotopes and other terms that most of us have locked away forever in some dark corner of our minds, we’ll just leave it to this:
Poker and nuclear physics can both be unpredictable.
Still to come are 11 more events and single-day non-ring $125 and $230 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Tunica runs through February 10th.