Chris Ferguson(credit: Wikipedia)
On Sunday afternoon, the World Series of Poker Circuit pulled into Harrah’s Rincon in
Valley Center, California to begin a multi-day festival of tournament poker. Between now and February 7, 2008, a total of 23 events, counting super satellites, will be played including a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. Previous winners of Harrah’s Rincon titles include Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2006) and Peter Feldman (2007).
Event #1 had 558 entries. Each paid the necessary $300 to play in the No-Limit Hold’em contest. 50 some odd people made bank, and the lion’s share of the $162,378 prize pool went to Frank Lin. Lin’s last cash was at the 2007 World Series of Poker. He finished 70th in Event #38, a $1,500 NLHE tourney.
Here are the results:
1) Frank Lin - $47,093
2) Christina Krems - $24,844
3) Steve McQueen - $12,990
4) Tim Kane - $11,366
5) Mark Grayson - $9,743
6) Daryl Mann - $8,119
7) Tony Lee - $6,495
8) Tom Tu - $4,871
9) Leonard Finkel - $3,248
174 players got a second chance in the second event at the WSOPC Rincon. They paid $200 to play in the NLHE event. Doug Becklin took the top spot and more than $10,000 for the win. This is Becklin’s biggest cash to date.
These are the final standings:
1) Doug Becklin - $10,734
2) Ronald Segni - $5,941
3) Seth Weinger - $3,376
4) Ruben Delacruz - $2,700
5) Harry Lee - $2,025
6) Son Le - $1,688
7) Eric Elsmore - $1,350
8) Edward Salsido - $1,013
9) Bryan Powers - $675
27 of the 267 players who took part in Event #3 at the WSOPC Rincon tournament made some moolah. The prize pool for the $300 buy in NLHE competition was $77,697. The majority of that went to Rod Dingler, a resident of Temecula, CA. Dingler’s last cash was in 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship on the WPT Tour. This is Dingler’s first title and biggest cash to date.
Here are the results:
1) Rod Dingler - $24,863
2) David Kim - $13,675
3) Yumi Tsubouchi - $6,993
4) Louis Wallace - $5,439
5) Rick Harrison - $4,662
6) Michael Diaz - $3,885
7) Richard Talerico - $3,108
8) Gary Mulholland - $2,331
9) Rob Perelman - $1,554
Conrad Monica took the top spot in Event #4 at Harrah’s Rincon on January 28, 2008. Monica, a Californian, earned nearly $8,200 for his efforts. This second change tournament had a lower buy-in than the previous event and gave Ruben Delacruz, who cashed in event #2, also a Second-Chance NLHE contest, more moolah. Delacruz finished in eleventh place, narrowly missing the final table.
These are the final standings:
1) Conrad Monica - $8,169
2) Michael Bollar - $4,287
3) Narciso Ricasa - $2,522
4) Samuel Artioli - $2,018
5) Jeffrey Cohen - $1,513
6) Wahib Wehbe - $1,261
7) Julian Mayfield - $1,009
8) Robert Buckenmayer - $757
9) Keith Nielson - $504
27 players earned a portion of the $60,528 prize pool awarded in Event #5 at the WSOPC Rincon. The $300 buy-in NLHE tournament had a total of 208 entrants. Richard Morgan, in his first tournament cash to date, took the title and the $19,382 purse for first place.
Here are the results:
1) Richard Morgan - $19,372
2) Dale Ervin - $10,653
3) Michael Parshall - $5,448
4) Karen Black - $4,237
5) Edwin Movagharian - $3,632
6) Mike Siegel - $3,026
7) Chris Becker - $2,421
8) Christopher Scholder - $1,816
9) Mike Abbott - $1,211
Omaha High-Low was the name of the game as Event #6 got underway at the World Series of Poker Harrah’s Rincon tournament series. 150 people put up their cash to play in the $200 buy-in tournament. 18 people cashed including the winner, James Calcagno of Temecula, CA. Calcagno’s favorite game is Omaha 8/b. To date, he’s won more than $21,000 in competitions featuring the mixed poker variant.
These are the final standings:
1) James Calcgano - $9,429
2) Paul Sherman - $4,947
3) Ron Elmore - $2,910
4) James Waldruff - $2,328
5) Roy Poulter - $1,746
6) Michael Bollar - $1,455
7) Tony Galanti - $1,164
8) Oliver Altman - $873
9) Diana Forman - $582
Editor Note: Don’t forget that the WSOPC Rincon ends on February 7, 2008. The Main Event, a $5,000 buy-in NLHE competition is slated to begin on Sunday February 3, 2008.