BILL WELLMAN TAKES DOWN RING EVENT #1 AT WSOP CIRCUIT HARRAH'S TUNICA

TUNICA, MS. – The first official ring event of the 2010/2011 World Series of Poker Circuit Events at Harrah’s Tunica kicked off in grand fashion Saturday, attracting an astounding 1,032 players, the second highest turnout in the casino’s history. The current attendance record of 1,345 was set back in January 2006, when the Circuit Events were broadcast on ESPN.

Saturday’s turnout far exceeded tournament organizers’ expectations and is a testament to how well-received the newly reformatted Circuit Events have been. The number is also an indicator that poker in the mid-south is alive and well in 2011.

The winner of the two-day event was 46-year-old semi-pro Bill Wellman Jr. of Bethalto, IL. Wellman fought back tears after finally achieving something that he had been working toward for a few years, winning the gold ring.

“This is the greatest accomplishment that I’ve had,” he said after his victory. “For years I’ve wanted to take down the ring and then go on and win the bracelet; this is step one.”

In addition to picking up a long-coveted piece of WSOP hardware, the married father of three pocketed $54,747.

In total, the $345-buy in No Limit Hold’em ring event generated a total prize pool of $295,866, paying 108 places. 

Over 70 players returned at 3:00 pm on Sunday for day two. By 11 pm, nine remained with Wellman in the middle of the pack.

Ninth Place                 

Final table play began shortly before 11pm with blinds and antes at 12,000/24,000/4,000. The first elimination of the night took place a few hands into play when Don Johnson moved all-in from the big blind and got a call from Jordan Myers, who moved his remaining chips in the pot.

Myers’ pocket queens held against Johnson’s    after a     flop. It appeared that Myers would double up after the   hit the turn. The river however, was the  , serving Myers a cruel beat that sent him to the rail. Myers is 22 years old from Bartlett, TN. He picked up $5,397 in his first-ever major tournament cash.

Eighth Place

The lone woman at the final table, Linda Creasey saw an early exit from the final table stage after her pocket 10’s failed to hold against Bill Wellman’s Q-8 after running eights hit the turn and river. Creasey, a hair stylist from Hendersonville, TN was left shaking her head as she went to collect her $6,775 payout while Wellman surged to near the top of the leader board.

Seventh Place

UTG, Ben McDaniel opened pre-flop for 86,000 and was called by Wellman and Chris Welch in the big blind. The trio saw a flop of    .

Welch checked before McDaniel fired out 225,000, prompting a fold from Wellman. Welch made the call and the turn came  . Both players checked and were dealt a   on fifth street. Wellman checked again and McDaniel pushed out a stack of twenty brown 25k chips.

After tanking for a few minutes, Welch begrudgingly made the call with    only to see McDaniel turn over   . “I put you on A-K,” Welch said with a sigh before making his departure. Welch is 31 years old from Nashville, TN and is in the music business. He earned $8,607 for his seventh place finish.

Sixth Place

Down to six players, McDaniel and Wellman sat atop the leader board with the remaining four far behind. A few hands into six-handed play, Devers looked to gain some ground and was all-in with    vs. Wellman’s   .

Wellman spiked the queen on the flop, which held through the turn and river to eliminate Devers in sixth place. Devers is a 39-year-old heating and cooling technician from Fenton, MS. He collected $11,059 for his two days of play.

Fifth Place

Kevin Miles, 32 of Chattanooga, TN finished in fifth place. He was eliminated by Johnson all-in with A-7 vs. Johnson’s K-Q on a king-high board. Fifth place paid $14,376.

Fourth Place

Only an hour and a half into final table action, play came down to the final three after Richard Gibson called an all-in re-raise from Ben McDaniel for his tournament life. Gibson’s A-9 failed to improve on McDaniel’s pocket jacks, ending his tournament run. Gibson, a 52-year-old farmer from Sidon, MS reaped $18,906 for fourth.

Third Place

With play down to three, McDaniel had a commanding lead over his opponents with Johnson the short stack. Johnson however, was able to double through Wellman, leaving him with about 500,000.

Shortly after, Johnson picked up more chips after capitalizing on a critical mistake by McDaniel, who called Johnson’s all-in on an A-10-5-K board with K-J vs. Johnson’s pocket kings. McDaniel continued to bleed away chips, calling an all-in with A-4 from Wellman who had A-J. McDaniel was eliminated shortly after when his A-Q failed to improve on an all-in vs. Johnson’s pocket tens.

McDaniel is a 27-year-old pharmacy school student from West Memphis, AR. He pocketed the $25,149 prescribed for the third place finisher in this event.

Second Place

Heads up play began shortly after 1:00 am with blinds and antes at 20,000/40,000/5,000. Wellman faced what seemed to be insurmountable odds with Johnson holding a 9-1 chip lead against him. However, after years of trying and falling short, the night belonged to Wellman and nothing, not even an eight million chip deficit would stand in his way.

It only took eight hands for Wellman to win it all. In the first hand of play, Wellman doubled after picking up pocket kings. He doubled again all-in with K-J vs. Johnson’s A-3 when the   hit the river. Wellman doubled a third time through Johnson, again on the river, putting himself at nearly a 9-1 lead over Johnson who was in utter disbelief.  

Perhaps conceding that it was indeed Wellman’s fate to win, Johnson moved his remaining chips all-in the very next hand with   . Wellman called and turned over A-K which gave him the win after the final board of       was dealt.

After his victory, Wellman said he expects more success in the future after finally getting over the hump of winning a gold ring.

“Oh yeah, now it’s on to bigger and better things.”

Still to come are 49 events and 9 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.