9th Place – The final nine began play shortly after 3:30 pm with blinds and antes at 4,000/8,000/1,000. A number of short stacks peppered the final table with 12 BB’s separating the smallest two from elimination. One of them was John Durio, who made an early final stand, moving in his remaining chips with . Wiley Lee made the call with pocket threes, which held through a Jack-high board, making Durio the first elimination of the afternoon.
Durio is 44 years of age and owns a vending machine business. The Metairie, LA native started playing poker in 2003 and is known in local poker circles as “Angry John.” His ninth place finish in event #1 at IP Biloxi earned him $1,797.
8th Place – With blinds at 5,000/10,000, eighth place went to Teddy Conner of New Orleans, LA. Conner moved all-in from the button with and got a call from Justin Gates in the SB, who tabled pocket fives. Gates’ pocket pair held to bust Conner from the tournament. Conner is 29-years old and an active duty National Guard Airman. In addition to playing poker, the married father of two is also an avid Madden player. Eighth place paid $2,252.
7th Place – Shortly after taking a river beat that ate away most of his stack, Robert Mayfield moved all-in after a UTG raise from Wiley Lee. Lee made the fast call with pocket aces, leaving Mayfield needing to make up some distance with his pocket jacks. It wasn’t to be for Mayfield however, after a 10-high board sent him to collect $2,866 in seventh place prize money. Mayfield is a 27-year old IT manager from Lafitte, LA. He started playing poker in 2007 and hopes to someday make a living at the game.
6th Place – Blinds and antes were now at the 6,000/12,000/2,000 level. The other short stack when final table play began, Byron Higueros, finally succumbed to the felt after getting in his remaining 110k from the BB with . Lee made the call with Ad10s and filled a boat after the board double paired kings and tens. Higueros is a 26-year -old former collections agent who now plays poker for a living. He pocketed $3,703 for finishing in sixth.
5th Place – Adam West, (not that Adam West) tangled in a number of pots with Brant and somewhat of a rivalry began to brew between the two. West demonstrated his agitation at Brant’s streak of “run-good” at the final table after losing a number of sizable pots to the chip leader.
West began to play more and more aggressive, particularly toward Brant. Jeff Bell made note of this and took advantage. In one hand, West raised Brant’s big blind, prompting Bell to move-all-in from the small. West folded and Bell picked up some much needed chips.
With still about 20 bb’s remaining, West moved all-in a short while later with pocket 4’s and got a call from Gates with . The flop left open a gutshot broadway draw for Gates, which was realized after a hit on the turn. West was eliminated in fifth place paying him $4,859. He is a 25-year old former estimator who likes to play poker online for a living. He is an avid golfer and enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
4th Place – After doubling up Bell, Lee moved his remaining stack all-in from the BB with ace-deuce off and got a call from Brant in the small with suited ace-six. Brant’s kicker played on a jack-high board to eliminate Lee in 4th. Lee is a 44-year old commercial fisherman from Necaise Crossing, MS. The married father of two took home $6,479 for his two days of play.
3rd Place – Despite coming to the final table 7th in chips, Bell’s good reads and strong play got him to the final three. It took a cooler of a hand to eliminate him which happened after he flopped trip Jacks holding . After leading Brant through a turn, he was all-in after a on the river. Brant called and showed for a flush, ending Bell’s run. Bell is a 61-year-old retiree from San Antonio, TX who served in the US Marines during Vietnam. He earned $8,781 for third.
2nd Place – Heads up play began at about 6:20 pm with blinds and antes at 8,000/16,000/3,000 and Brant holding a modest lead over his opponent. Heads up play lasted as long as it took for the previous seven players to be eliminated-three hours.
With blinds at 15,000/30,000, the final hand of the night took place when Brant made it 70,000 to go from the button and got a call from Gates. The flop came before Gates fired out 85,000. Brant re-raised to 220k and Gates moved all-in for about 600,000. Brant made the call, showing while Gates turned over A-10.
The turn paired Gates’ ten, but gave Brant the lead with two pair. A 3 on the river ended the matchup, giving Brant first place prize money worth $19,585 and the WSOPC gold ring. Brant also moves atop the WSOP Circuit Leader board for the IP through one event.
The runner-up, Gates earned $12,102 for second place. He says his final table strategy was simple, pick spots, pick on the short stacks and put pressure on anyone I thought would fold. Regarding the final hand Gates thought he picked a good time to move on his opponent.
“I didn’t think he had anything, so I tried to push him out but he had the worst possible hand for me. I could have turned top pair and still would have lost.”
The winner, Brant, is a former nightclub manager who began playing poker online nine years ago and has multiple career six-figure wins under his belt. He plays under the screen name “nutzkrackr.”
He says that while he considers himself an online player, his first major live win today is a special one.
“I feel great. I’ve taken down a few online tournaments, but it’s really good to get this live one,” he said after the victory.
The Circuit Events at the IP are scheduled for 13 days and are taking place at the IP’s convention center. Normally reserved for meetings and conferences, the 37,000 square foot venue has been transformed into a tournament poker haven.
The staff and management at the IP have worked diligently in anticipation of the WSOP Circuits coming to their resort with the results for far being nothing short of fantastic.
See the complete IP Resort Hotel and Casino poker tournament schedule and previous results here. The WSOP Circuit at the IP runs through November 10th. You can find the complete 2010/2011WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.
IP Resort Hotel and Casino
850 Bayview Ave
Biloxi, MS 39530
Telephone: (228) 436-3000
Toll-Free: 1 (888) WIN-AT-IP
www.ipbiloxi.com