TUNICA, MS. – The winner of WSOP Circuit Ring Event #6 at Harrah’s Tunica is Marshall Ruddle, a 52-year-old self-employed amateur from Summertown, TN. Ruddle took home more than $42,000 for his win
404 players each ponied up the $555 buy-in to play in the two-day No Limit Hold’em tournament, generating a total prize pool of $196,940 from which 45 players would take home their share.
Making an appearance in the Saturday-start event was former World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker, who in 2003, parlayed a $39 online poker satellite investment into over $2.5 million, played regularly in Tunica before becoming forever immortalized in poker lore.
His visit to one of the places where he honed his game was an added treat to many of the players who introduced themselves to him, with some even grabbing a quick autograph from the Nashville, TN accountant turned pro.
Three tables returned at 2:00 pm on day two to play down to an eventual winner. Four hours later, the final table was set.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Jennifer Reel | DuQuoin, IL | 1 | 576,000 |
| Jim McMahon | Olive Branch, MS | 2 | 930,000 |
| Darius Bram | Cleveland, MS | 3 | 175,000 |
| Michael Pagliari | Memphis, TN | 4 | 474,000 |
| Marshall Ruddle | Summertown, IN | 5 | 612,000 |
| John Kulish | Oconto, WI | 6 | 530,000 |
| Duy Tran | Brentwood, TN | 7 | 487,000 |
| Ben Vogt | Ofallon, MO | 8 | 550,000 |
| Jason Harris | Wilmar, AR | 9 | 174,000 |
Ninth Place
Final table play began at 6:00 pm with blinds and antes at 6,000/12,000. With over 38 grand separating first and ninth places, play throughout the night was slow and deliberate. In the first elimination of the evening, Darius Bram moved all-in preflop with jack-three suited and was called by Jim McMahon, who had Q-9.
McMahaon spiked his queen on the flop and remained ahead through fourth and fifth streets. Bram is a 24-year-old IT tech from nearby Cleveland, MS. He is also an 8-year veteran of the armed forces. Ninth place paid him $4,005.
Eighth Place
Shortly after doubling up through McMahon, Pagliari was all-in again vs. McMahon after the turn on a Q-T-5-9 board. Pagliari showed K-Q for flopped top pair, but was outkicked by McMahon who showed A-Q. No help came for Pagliari on the river and his tournament was over.
Seventh Place
After the blinds made the jump to the 8,000/16,000 level, Duy Tran was eliminated after his pocket 7’s failed to hold on an all-in against Ruddle’s 3-4 suited after two threes and a four were dealt out on the board. For his seventh place finish, Tran won $6,366.
Sixth Place
Once the chip leader at the final table, McMahon saw his stock fall during the course of the evening. From the small blind, he moved all-in for his remaining chips, leaving his tournament fate up to a coin flip against John Kulish who called with pocket sixes. Sixes held on the queen-high board to send McMahon to the rail in sixth place.
McMahon is a 61-year-old retired attorney from Olive Branch, MS. For his two-day effort, he collected $8,198. By now, blinds had moved up to 15,000/30,000.
Fifth Place
Jennifer Reel, the second woman to make the final nine in a Ring Event at the Circuit here in Tunica, held her own at the final table, dishing it out to the guys as good as she got it. With the cards as well, she made it known that she was no pushover three-betting after a number aggressive raises from her opponents pre and post flop.
She eventually succumbed to the felt however, after moving her short stack all-in preflop with and getting a call from Jason Harris, who tabled . The board doubled paired Harris’ hand, eliminating Reel in fifth place. For her effort, she earned $10,711
Fourth Place
Josh Jumpp was the fourth place finisher in this event. Jumpp, a poker dealer from Durant, OK was eliminated after his pocket nines failed to hold on an all-in preflop against Ben Vogt. Fourth place was worth $14,204.
Third Place
John Kulish tangled with Vogt in a hand in which Vogt three bet Kulish’s 85k preflop raise to 195k total. Kulish moved all-in over the top and Vogt made the call. Vogt was behind Kulish’s pocket jacks after showing , but the flop brought the queen of hearts to put him in the lead where he stayed through fourth and fifth streets. For third place, Kulish pocketed $19,130.
Second Place
Heads up play began shortly before midnight with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and Ruddle with a 2.5:1 chip lead over Vogt. Ruddle steadily increased his lead through out the matchup until the final hand when after a flop of , Vogt opened for 175,000 and Ruddle moved all-in over the top. Vogt made the call for his remaining chips, turning over for middle pair, but was trailing after Ruddle showed top pair with .
Vogt was drawing dead after Ruddle turned trips and after the on the river, finished as the runner-up. Vogt is a 35-year-old poker dealer from Ofallon, MO. He pocketed a nice $26,180 for second.
Ruddle took home first place, worth $42,367, the WSOP Circuit gold ring and 50 points toward the WSOPC National Championship. Through six events so far here at Harrah’s Tunica, Ruddle is now tied for the Harrah’s Tunica Casino Championship with the five previous ring winners, Bill Wellman, Bradley Clay, Jessie Bryant, James Kirk and Kyle Cartwright, neither of whom have been able to add a ring event cash finish to their wins.
Rudddle. who before tonight had never cashed in a major poker tournament since he began playing in them a few years ago, said that he would use his earnings to pay off his mortgage.
During day one, Ruddle was among those who had the opportunity to meet Moneymaker. He admitted that although he played the tournament of his life, just like the 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion in his own first cash, worth 2.5 million, a bit of run good helped see him to victory.
“You take Moneymaker and all of them who never [cashed] before making it big, it’s hard to keep playing and they’re all good players but dangumit, if you don’t get that luck when you need it, it can be really tough to keep on.”
Still to come are 28 events and 4 ring events. See the complete Harrah’s Tunica Circuit schedule and previous results here. The WSOP Circuit at Tunica runs through February 15th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.