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Shreveport Restaurant Owner Grills Competition in Latest WSOP Circuit Event

WSOP Circuit Continues at Horseshoe Bossier City – 343 Entrants for Event #6

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


Bossier City, LA (September 13, 2011) – The inaugural WSOP Circuit at Horseshoe Bossier City has now reached the midway point.  The sixth of 12 gold ring events was played and completed today, as another sizeable turnout showed up for the poker festival happening on the Red River.

Event #6 was a $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event.  There were 343 entries, which was more than was expected for the Monday-Tuesday two-day competition.  The total prize pool came to $98,463.  The top 36 players were paid.  All players who cashed received WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points.

The newest poker champion is Wes Gauthier (a.k.a. George Gauthier) from Shreveport, LA.  He is a 31-year-old restaurant owner.  Gauthier obliterated the final table in short order.  He made fast food of the competition and collected a $22,643 gratuity.

Gauthier owns Strawn’s Eat Shop, which is a culinary landmark in the Shreveport area.  His restaurant has even been featured on The Food Network (try the cheeseburgers and strawberry pie – which are a sure diet-killer).  In fact, he owns three restaurants as part of the chain.  The original location on Kings Highway has been open for business for 67 years.

For his first major tournament victory, Gauthier was presented with the coveted gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement for winning a WSOP Circuit tournament.  

A full list of all players that cashed in Event #5 can be seen at WSOP.COM

After most of the starting field was eliminated on Day One, only 16 survivors from the starting field of 343 returned for Day Two action. 

When play began on Tuesday afternoon, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1:  Wes Gauthier (Shreveport, LA) – 233,000 in chips 
Seat 2:  Duke Jester (Yukon, OK) – 125,000 in chips
Seat 3:  Larry Hirons (Arlington, TX) – 200,000 in chips
Seat 4:  Craig Flood (Laguna Vista, TX) – 334,000 in chips
Seat 5:  Johnny Sanders (Colleyville, TN) – 505,000 in chips
Seat 6:  Michael P. Holland (Houston, TX) – 660,000 in chips 
Seat 7:  Theo Anderson (Houston, TX) – 306,000 in chips 
Seat 8:  David Nicholson (Biloxi, MS) – 547,000 in chips
Seat 9:  Mark Compton (Longview, TX) – 481,000 in chips 

Final table play began at 4 pm and ended at 7 pm – making the total duration about 3 hours – which was the shortest finale of the new season.  The official order of finish was as follows:

Ninth Place:  Theo Anderson was the first player eliminated.  He works in nuclear medicine and lives in Houston.

Eighth Place:  William “Duke” Jester finished in eighth place.  He is a 41-year-old building superintendant from Yukon, CT.  Jester previous won a tournament held in Durant, OK.  This was his first year to play on the WSOP Circuit.

Seventh Place:  Seventh place went to Craig Flood, from Laguna Vista, TX.  He is a 68-year-old vice president of a medical company.  Flood won a gold ring last year at the WSOP Circuit event held at Biloxi, MS.

Sixth Place:  Sixth place went to Larry Hirons, from Fort Worth, TX.  He is the73-year-old owner of a rental car agency.  Hirons drove away with $4,365.  Hirons has been playing on the WSOP Circuit for most years and has several in-the-money finishes.

Fifth Place:  David Nicholson took fifth place.  He is a 25-year-old poker pro from Biloxi, MS.  Nicholson added $5,707 to his poker bankroll. 

Fourth Place:  Mark Compton finished in fourth place.  He is a 47-year-old business owner from Longview, TX.  Fourth place paid $7,576.  Compton, a former U.S. Marine, has several tournament cashes during his career, but has yet to win his first major title.

Third Place:  Johnny Sanders, a retired firefighter, was extinguished in third place.  He is 72-years-old and resides in Colleyville, TN.  Sanders collected $10,214 in prize money.  He has been playing in WSOP Circuit events over the past four seasons.

Second Place:  Michael P. Holland finished as runner up.  He is a 58-year-old small business owner from Houston, TX.  Holland previous cashed in a Seniors Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  An avid bowler, Holland has also bowled more than ten 300-games.  The consolation prize for second place amounted to $14,000.

The final duel of the tournament began with Holland at a slight chip disadvantage.  Heads-up play lasted only a few hands, with Holland the victim of a nightmare river card.  Here’s how the last hand played out:

Holland –    
Gauthier –    
Flop –      
Turn –  
River –  

It appeared that Holland would take a commanding chip lead, with the better kicker – a king to Gauthier’s five.  But a five on the river gave Gauthier two pair and the victory.

First Place:  Wes Gauthier became the sixth 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 $22,643.

With his victory, Gauthier moved into the top ten players as the chip leaders on the WSOP Circuit leader board.  The race to win the best all-around title here at the Horseshoe Bossier City series is heating up.  At present, Felicia Johnico holds the top spot.  She has a 1st and 4th place showing thus far, making her the player to beat.  Johnico is also the national leader – at least until someone posts multiple high finishes here at Bossier City and beyond. 

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.

There are six 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.

For a complete explanation of the new WSOP Circuit National Championship points system, please see here.