Jesus wins again(credit: World Series of Poker - Official Web Site)
Late last week, 142 players took to the felt at the start of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event – Harvey’s, Lake Tahoe. Among the hopefuls vying for the top spot, more than $200,000 and a WSOP circuit championship were Kathy Liebert, J.C. Tran and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. By the very end of the first day, Ferguson was sitting pretty with 63,300 chips; Lierbert and Tran were already on the rails.
39 folks began Day Two. It took nine hours to eliminate thirty people including Hans “Tuna” Lund and 2007 WSOP Player of the Year, Tom Schneider. When all was said and done, Jesus had risen to the very top of the leaderboard with 426,500 of the big ones – almost double what his nearest competition held.
As the final table got underway, the 44 year old Ferguson, who has five WSOP bracelets, including the 2000 Main Event win as well as two prior circuit champions, looked poised for the first three-peat in WSOPC history. Sitting in the first seat, Jesus reigned supreme over his opponents.
Dustin Fox overtook Ferguson within the first twenty minutes of play which propelled him all the way to heads-up play. However, Jesus, dressed all in black, just took his time and picked his spots, watching as the rest of the table went home ahead of him.
First out was Travis Erdman. A 37 year old investment manager from San Francisco, Erdman was the table’s short stack. He moved all-in from the cutoff with 5,6 suited, hoping just to steal the blinds and antes. Unfortunately, Gabriel Testa had the big blind and a pair of jacks in the hole. The board offered Erdman, who came in fifth in this event last year, no love so he collected his $14,000 plus for a fantastic main event.
Frank Lee, 43, was the next casualty. The business consultant and married father of two went out with a bang. Holding K,Q in the pocket, he raised the action up pre-flop and was called by Brian Bonsack and his pocket sixes. The flop was 10,6,6 giving “Bonsai” Bonsack quads. Lee, whose wife is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, had no idea he was drawing dead after the flop and moved all-in on the steal. Obviously, Bonsack called in a heartbeat. Lee hit the rail hard.
Not too long afterwards, George Saca, a salesman from Folsom, CA, re-raised Sylvester Geoghehan with his pocket jacks. “Vesty”, as Geoghehan likes to be called, showed the A,K and rejoiced when a cowboy hit the flop. Saca, who came in eighth in this event back in ’05, had to be content with seventh place and $26,431.
Michael Banducci finished in sixth position. A 22 year professional poker player who loves traveling the country with his friends playing in tournaments (who wouldn’t?), Banducci finished 10th at Event #10 at the WSOP this summer. On his final hand, Ferguson and Banducci saw a cheap flop. The turn brought fireworks when it paired Banducci’s top card, a jack. Deciding to take a stand, he went all-in for 80,000. Ferguson, with just an Ace-high, made the questionable call, obviously fearing a steal by the younger player. As luck would have it, the river brought Ferguson the miracle Ace and gave Banducci a fantastic bad beat story to share with his buddies as they continue to ‘live the dream’.
At this point, Gabriel Testa, a 38 year old Italian American soccer lover and father of one, was running on empty. After going card dead for several hours, he had about 70k remaining with the blinds at 4k/8k and 1k antes. He went all-in with a 5,2, hoping to just pick up the dead money in the pot. Unfortunately, Dustin Fox called with pocket sixes and sent the sales rep for Network Appliance home.
Almost immediately thereafter, Fox, holding pocket tens, took a big pot off of Ferguson. Upon returning from the dinner break, fourth place was decided. Vesty Geoghehan from Mulligan, Ireland moved all-in with a Q,9. He was low on chips and probably had to catch a plane back home before the holiday rush. Fox made a questionable call with a J,9 and would need to get lucky against the Irishman. He hit a jack on the flop, and Vesty, owner of The Crane Club Casino near Dublin, pocketed $56,928, or €83,422.29 according to current exchange rates.
At this point, Jesus kicked his game up into high gear, practically resurrecting his tournament life. He took Mark Bonsack out of the action in third position after making trip jacks on the turn. “Bonsai” Bonsack, a 47 year old private contractor, had an Ace high and no draw so he said sayonara to the remaining two players.
Heads-up play lasted one hand. Ferguson began the action with a 3-to-2 chip lead. When the hand was dealt, Ferguson raised up the action to 90k. Fox called. The flop was 2s,7c,10s. Ferguson checked. Fox bet 100k. Ferguson took a while to consider his next move and called. The turn was the King of diamonds. Ferguson checked yet again. Fox pushed all-in. Ferguson immediately – and uncharacteristically – called, flipping over a set of tens. Fox’s pocket aces were in danger of being cracked.
The river spiked a jack of clubs…and that was all she wrote. Fox, a 25 year old investment banker and resident of Lake Tahoe, took home $119,333 for his second-place finish. Since Dustin hopes to return to school for his MBA, this windfall could go a long way towards paying his tuition.
Jesus, on the other hand, was elated with his history-making finish. With this win, he became the first person to ever win three World Series of Poker Circuit Main Events. He previously took down the Harrah’s Rincon event in 2005 and the Las Vegas tourney that same year.
Congrats!
Here are the final results:
1) Chris Ferguson - $203,649
2) Dustin Fox - $119,276
3) Mark Bonsack - $82,002
4) Sylvester Geoghegan - $56,928
5) Gabriele Testa - $43,035
6) Michael Banducci - $33,208
7) George Saca - $26,431
8) Frank Lee - $19,653
9) Travis Erdman - $14,231