TUNICA, MS. – Remember this name, Kyle Cartwright.
Like WSOP Circuit phenom Dwyte Pilgrim just over a year ago, it’s one that you will come across until you can’t help but take notice.
Cartwright shipped a second gold ring here in Ring Event # 9 at Harrah’s Tunica. He is the first player to win two events in a single series since James Lopushinksy did so in the 2008/2009 Circuit Events at Caesars Palace and at 23, is the youngest to have ever accomplished the feat. Earlier in the series, Cartwright won Ring Event #5.
What Cartwright did last night was special. Not only because it was only the online player’s fourth-ever live tournament appearance, but also because of the size of the fields had he had to overcome.
Lopushinksy beat out fields of 151 and 194 players to win his dual rings. Cartwright outlasted fields of more than double that - 410 and 508 to earn his.
This past year, the Bartlett, TN native completed his degree in finance at the University of Memphis. When asked where he had been the last couple of years, Cartwright said that his focus was on school and that although he played online while attending U of M, his education always came first.
Yes, Kyle is an impressive young man indeed.
With the essentials now under his belt, Cartwright turned his focus to poker, and after much success playing online, was encouraged by a friend to try his hand in live tournaments.
Cartwright says that in his first exposure to brick and mortar tournament play, he was not there to test the waters or gain experience.
“I came to win,” he said
The 508 players who entered the last preliminary Ring Event at Harrah’s Tunica were a strong showing just a day after severe winter weather blanked the area with as much as five inches of snow. $147,828 was the total prize pool generated in the $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Event from which 55 players would take home their share.
Four tables returned at 2:00 pm on day two and after five hours, it was down to the final nine.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Kyle Cartwright | Bartlett, TN | 1 | 400,000 |
| Richard Damian Gum | Granite City, IL | 2 | 650,000 |
| Ferris McManus | Rock Hill, SC | 3 | 854,000 |
| Brian Hunt | Pearland, TX | 4 | 738,000 |
| Donna Jetter | Nashville, TN | 5 | 415,000 |
| Christopher Green | Manhattan, KS | 6 | 196,000 |
| Randy Stott | Olla, LA | 7 | 1,115,000 |
| Allen Kron | Elizabeth, IN | 8 | 233,000 |
| Sue Lackey | Union, MO | 9 | 439,000 |
Ninth Place
Blinds and antes were at 10,000/20,000/3,000 when the official final table got underway shortly after 7:00 PM. Early action was slow and it wouldn’t be until the next level that the first elimination of the night would take place.
The distinction would eventually go to Brian Hunt, who moved all-in on a flop of with Q-T and was called by the chip leader, Randy Stott with . Stott fell behind after the on the turn, but ultimately took the pot after a third diamond, a ten, hit the river for a straight flush. Hunt is a business owner from Pearland, TX. His ninth place finish earned him $2,887.
Eighth Place
Donna Jetter, the 2010 ladies champion here at Harrah’s Tunica, was eliminated on an all-in preflop with A-7 vs. Damian Gum’s K-6 after the board was dealt out K-9-7-J-9. Jetter, who remodels homes in her hometown of Nashville, made the final table at this year’s Tahoe Main Event. For her finish today, she collected $3,628.
Seventh Place
Sue Lackey was the seventh place finisher. She was eliminated after her pocket jacks failed to hold up on an all-in against Randy Stott’s K-10 suited. Lackey is a real estate investor from Union, MO. In her fourth WSOP Circuit cash, she picked up $4,623.
Sixth Place
With blinds now at 15,000/30,000, Damian Gum opened from the small blind for 90,000 and Ferris McManus re-raised to 200,000 total. Gum called and the two went heads up to a flop. Gum moved all-in with 8-9 and McManus called, turning over K-J. The ace fell on the turn, sealing Gum’s fate as the sixth place finisher. Gum is a 66-year-old American Airlines retired crew chief. His hobbies include collecting classic cars. For his two day-effort in ring event #9, he collected $5,976.
Fifth Place
Christopher Green saw his exit from the final table after his pocket jacks were trumped by Cartwright’s after a queen-high flop. Green, a 49-year-old convenience store manager from Manhattan, KS pocketed $7,834.
Fourth Place
At the 20k/40k blind level, a major shift in the tournament happened after Cartwright managed to take down a million chip pot vs. Stott. From there, Cartwright was in cruise control. After eliminating McManus in fourth place, Cartwright and Stott were heads up on a board of 8-7-6-4-T. Stott, who earlier folded a post-flop all-in re-raise after firing out 400,000 put out another stack of 16, 25k brown chips.
Again Cartwright moved all-in but this time, Stott made the call. Stott showed 8-7 for two pair, but Cartwright had rivered a straight with 9-10 in the hole.
Stott is a 51-year-old logger from Olla, LA. Third place was worth $14,052. McManus, a retired mail carrier from Rock Hill, SC earned $10,417 for fourth.
Second Place
Heads-up play began shortly after midnight with Cartwright holding a monstrous chip lead over his final opponent, Allen Kron. In the final hand of the night, Kron led the betting after a flop. After the on the turn, Kron bet out 100k and Cartrwright immediately moved all-in. Kron called, showing K-A, but Cartwright had turned a flush with and it was all over.
For his runner up finish, Kron, a 60-year-old retired auto worker from Elizabeth, IN took home $19,236.
Now batting 500 for major tournament wins, Cartwright collected $31,111 for his first place finish, a second WSOP gold ring and another 50 points toward the WSOPC National Championship. With 50 points separating him and the eight previous ring event winners at Harrah’s Tunica, he is almost guaranteed to earn the title of Casino Champion for Tunica and an automatic seat into the nationally-televised, million dollar freeroll bracelet event that takes place at Caesars Palace in May.
“This one definitely feels a lot better than the first, I can tell you that,” said Cartwright after the win. He said that he would consider travelling the country to play more tournaments but that it would be up to his girlfriend to let him do so.
“As long as he brings home the money, he can go!” she said.
And with those words, a beast was unleashed upon the tournament circuit.
Still to come is the Harrah’s Tunica Main Event. 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.