NEWMAN
Newman’s Own

Second Final Table this Week for Bobby Newman Nets Gold Ring Victory

WSOP Circuit Continues at Horseshoe Bossier City

Shreveport Area Hosting First-Ever WSOP Circuit Events through September 19th


Bossier City, LA – Exciting poker action continued at the Horseshoe Bossier City, which is currently hosting its first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit series of tournaments during nearly two weeks in September.

The fourth tournament of the season was a $555 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, played during a busy weekend.  There were 205 entrants, generating $99,425 in prize money.  The top 21 players were paid.  All players who cashed also collected WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points.

The latest WSOP Circuit poker champion is Bobby Newman.  He is a 36-year-old local part-time poker player from Bossier City, LA.  This was his first year ever to play on the WSOP Circuit.  It was also his second tournament appearance at this series.  Amazingly, Newman has final tabled both of the events he has played.  He finished eighth in the first event here in Bossier City, out of 418 players. 

“My head is spinning right now,” Newman said, as he collected his payout.  “I’m really can’t believe this happened.”

For his first major tournament victory, Newman collected $25,498 in prize money.  He defeated a tough field, and an even tougher lineup of final table players.

A full list of all players that cashed in EVENT #4 can be seen here at WSOP.COM

The tournament was played over two consecutive days.  After most of the starting field was eliminated during Day One (played on Saturday) 44 survivors out of the starting field of 205 returned for action on Day Two.  Final table play began on late Sunday night. 

Frank Aplandinar began the final with the chip lead.  But the wide distribution of chips placed victory within the grasp of every player.  The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1:  Kyle Tacler (Benbrook, TX) – 226,000 in chips 
Seat 2:  Fatolla “Fati” Shahen Pearland, TX) – 257,000 in chips 
Seat 3:  Tommy Haley (Gladewater, TX) – 290,000 in chips
Seat 4:  Dave Tindall (Shreveport, LA) – 283,000 in chips
Seat 5:  Ross W. Carter (Elgin, LA) – 324,000 in chips
Seat 6:  Bobby Newman (Bossier City, LA) – 300,000 in chips
Seat 7:  Robert Cochran (Texarkana, AR) – 245,000 in chips
Seat 8:  Frank Aplandinar (Baton Rouge, LA) – 329,000 in chips
Seat 9:  Chris Gamboa (Houston, TX) – 225,000 in chips

Final table play began at 8:30 pm and ended at 2:20 am – making the total duration about 6 hours.  The official order of finish was as follows:

Ninth Place:  The final table was a stunning turn of events for Frank Aplandinar.  He played outstanding for a day and a half, and then arrived at nine-handed with the chip lead.  Nevertheless, Aplandinar was eliminated only a half hour into play after losing three big hands in a row.  Aplandinar is a 47-year-old builder from Baton Rouge, LA.  He has more than $100,000 in career tournament earnings. 

Eighth Place:  This was Kyle Tacker’s first major tournament.  He did the unthinkable, making it all the way to the final table.  Tacker, a pharmaceutical drug courier from Benbrook, TX could certainly take pride in being ahead for his tournament career, and 1 for 1 in cashes.

Seventh Place:  Seventh place went to Tommy Haley, from Gladewater, TX.  He is a 42-year-old financial analyst. 

Sixth Place:  Ross W. Carter, a 34-year-old engineer from Elgin, LA finished in sixth place.

Fifth Place:  Dave Tindall took fifth place.  He is a 64-year-old retiree from Corpus Christi, TX.

Fourth Place:  Fatolla Shahen finished in fourth place.  He is a 40-year-old part-time poker player originally from Iran who now resides in Houston.

Third Place:  Robert Cochran (a.k.a. Charles Robert Cochran) went out late and finished third.  Three-handed play lasted nearly two hours, with Cochran coming up on the short end.  He is a 38-year-old part-time poker player from Texarkana, TX. 

Second Place:  Chris Gamboa finished as runner up.  He is a 32-year-old poker player from Houston.  Gamboa previously worked as a shipping agent.  The second-place consolation prize amounted to $15,752.

The final duel of the tournament began with Gamboa needing to make a comeback.  But he simply could not overcome Newman’s bigger stack and aggressive style.  Heads-up play lasted only about 30 minutes.  The final hand was dealt when Newman enjoyed a substantial chip lead of about 7 to 1.  Gamboa moved all-in with the best hand, but got unlucky.  Here’s how the last hand played out:

Gamboa – Jd Jc
Newman – 9s 9d
Flop – 8h 7s 4s
Turn – 5h
River – 6s

It initially appeared Gamboa would double up with his overpair.  But the flop gave Newman some interesting possibilities.  His chances improved when he picked up an inside straight draw on the turn.  Then, the river was the perfect card, making a nine-high straight.  Gamboa finished as runner up and Newman was declared the winner.

First Place:  Robert “Bobby” Newman became the second WSOP Circuit champion of the new season.  He earned his first major tournament victory and first WSOP Circuit gold ring with an impressive win at Horseshoe Bossier City.  First place paid $25,498.

With his victory, Newman surpassed Jeff Overton (Event #1 champion) atop the WSOP Circuit leaderboard.  Newman is the early leader by virtue of two final table appearances, including one victory.  Newman is also the current national leader – at least for another day until someone posts multiple high finishes.

The player who accumulates the most overall points in the twelve gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit National Championship, to be held in Las Vegas, next May.  At least two players from this tournament series will qualify for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, which is classified as a WSOP gold bracelet event.

Note the Seniors Championship was also played on this day.  The winner was Bryant Lipscomb, from Fayetteville, AR.

There are ten more gold ring events remaining in what is being billed as a “12 rings in 12 days” poker series.  The WSOP Circuit at Horseshoe Bossier City continues through September 19th.  This year’s schedule includes not only the gold ring events, but multiple second-chance tournaments (at 5 pm and 7 pm most days), single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Horseshoe Poker Room.