Nick Ceci(credit: World Series of Poker - Official Web Site)
Nick Ceci is a demolition consultant from Peachtree City, GA. The 38 year old tears down buildings for a living so it’s no wonder that he crushed the competition at this year’s WSOP Circuit Bayou Challenge Main Event. Ceci, pronounced ‘seesee’, was just one of 249 players in the tournament, which was held at Harrah’s New Orleans Casino & Hotel in the southern state of Louisiana. Each paid their $5,000 to play in this event, driving the prize pool up to nearly $1.2 million.
Pros such as Josh Arieh, Steve Billirakis, and TJ Cloutier, who have each earned World Series of Poker bracelets joined in the fray. Also present were Gavin Smith, Steve Dannenmann and Young Phan as well as former Bayou Challenge winners Lou Esposito and Peter Feldman. The winningest player in WSOPC history with 34 cashes and 19 final table appearances came to play too. (His name is Doug Carli by the way.) Celebrity chef and New Orleans icon Paul Prudhomme took to the felt for this event.
However, only one of these would make the final table with Nick Ceci. Lou Esposito made it three in a row for final tables in this event. He now has the nickname “The Big Easy” due to his success in NOLA. However, the third time was not the charm for the pro. Esposito, a New Yorker, bid the competition adieu in sixth position, earning $59,833 for his efforts.
Jim Tims followed Esposito out the door in fifth place. Tims won an event earlier in the series and was hoping to be the only two-timer winner in the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge. In the end, the small business owner from Texas had to content himself with $71,799.
By the time the action was down to two, Nick Ceci had a bit of a chip lead over Timothy “T.K.” Miles. Miles, a professional gambler, had the chip lead going in and raked in quite a few chips with some early knockouts. He battled valiantly for his tournament life, lasting 109 hands before succumbing to the demolition man’s triple sailboats.
These are the final results:
1) Nick Ceci - $382,928
2) TK Miles - $210,610
3) Floyd Vanderford - $107,699
4) Gabe Kostner - $83,766
5) Jeff Tims - $71,799
6) Lou Esposito - $59,833
7) Chuck Kelley - $47,866
8) Ed Jatho - $35,900
9) Marc Fratter - $23,933
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