Michael Binger(credit: Wikipedia)
125 players took to the felt for the World Series of Poker Circuit Championship at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. When the final table began on Sunday, November 16th at 1pm, only nine remained. Professional poker player, a third place finisher in the WSOP Main Event in 2006 – the same year he received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Stanford University – Michael Binger held the chip lead as the action got underway while two-time WSOP bracelet winner Scott Clements was the short stack.
Clements, who also has a World Poker Title from the Second Annual North American Poker Classic at the Fallsview Casino in November 2007, made a valiant effort. He tried to double up early but wound up on the losing end of 32 year old Sacramento based poker middle limit cash game player Ty Stewart’s Broadway straight. Clements earned $13,444 for his efforts while Stewart would go on to face the 31 year old Binger heads-up.
Stewart walked into the heads-up match-up with a slight chip advantage and, over the course of 60 hands, would watch the lead change hands several times. Binger, who proved to be more patient than his opponent, came out ahead in the end. Upon winning, Binger said, “I visualized this victory coming.”
These are the final results:
1) Michael Binger - $181,379
2) Ty Stewart - $112,675
3) Jake Solis - $77,674
4) Michael McClain - $53,777
5) Tay Nguyen - $40,653
6) Allen Kessler - $31,370
7) Travis Erdman - $24,968
8) Bill Bostwick - $18,566
9) Scott Clements – $13,444
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