WSOP-C Horseshoe Southern Indiana Day 3: Moore, Moore, Moore, Charles "Woody" Moore Takes the Title!
Horseshoe Southern Indiana played host to the second stop along the World Series of Poker Circuit this week. Wrapping up on Tuesday night was the Main Event when another gold championship ring was awarded. The winner of that gold ring, $99,878 in first-place prize money and a seat in the National Championship was Charles “Woody” Moore, an experienced player from Dallas, Texas.
The final table began with a bang in the first level. When play reached the first break of the day, about 70 minutes into play, three players had already hit the rail. Joel Merwick from Lincoln, Neb., was first to be eliminated. Merwick moved all-in over a raise from Mike Foster before Moore made the call behind him. Everyone else, including Foster, folded, and Merwick’s pocket nines were up against Moore's two jacks.
Merwick needed some help if he was going to double up and stay alive, and he got it when the flop came down 9♦8♦4♦, hitting a set against Moore. The turn brought the 7♦ and that meant Moore could only hit the jack of clubs or else the jack of diamonds would cause a chop. The river brought Merwick’s worst belief when the J♣ hit the felt and gave Moore the winning hand. Merwick finished in ninth place for $9,164.
Just minutes later, another all-in situation came up involving John Alfera and Jorge Solorzano. Solorzano had been crippled after losing nines versus queens just before Merwick was eliminated. He stuck in his last 23,000 chips with the A♦4♦ only to be dominated by Alfera's A♠J♠. From there, Alfera flopped a jack and that was all she wrote for Solorzano who finished in eighth place for $11,486.
Alfera’s run then came to an end about 45 minutes after he sent Solorzano to the rail. On the flop of 10♦9♥3♠, Alfera fired out 250,000 and left himself with 169,000 behind. John Holder moved all-in after a minute of thought and Alfera snapped him off, but he only saw bad news after that. Although Alfera held the preflop nuts with the A♥A♠, Holder flopped a set of nines with the 9♣9♦ and took the lead. The turn and river proved to be no help for Alfera who was sent to the rail in seventh place, taking home $14,616.
After the next break, there was another elimination shortly into the next level of play. Brian McKain was the player who fell victim in sixth place at the hands of Moore. McKain ran the A♠10♦ into the Q♠Q♥ of Moore. Five cards later with no help to McKain, he was out the door with a prize of $18,885 for his finish.
McKain’s elimination came toward the beginning of the second level of play and then no one else hit the rail until about halfway through the third level of the day. Kris Bradshaw did well enough to nurse the short stack down to the final five players, but that’s where his run ended. From the cutoff seat, Bradshaw shoved for 418,000 with the blinds at 15,000-30,000 and was picked off by Kevin Calenzo who woke up to pocket jacks in the big blind. A rather uneventful Q♥4♥3♠2♣K♣ fell on board and $24,782 was awarded to Bradshaw for his fifth-place finish.
Another hour or so went by while the players battled it out four handed before Foster hit the rail in fourth place for $33,043. After Moore raised to 125,000 from the button, Foster reraised all-in for approximately 550,000 from the small blind. Moore made the call and off to the races they went. Moore held pocket eights against the K♠Q♣ for Foster. A nine-high board with two deuces on it was all the dealer could find from the deck, and that was it for Foster.
An entire level went by after the dinner break with no real big action going down. There were some decent pots, but nothing too important until the following level rolled around. Holder had gotten rather short compared to his two opponents Calenzo and Moore before he made his last stand with the K♠10♠. He was up against the pocket deuces for the chip-leading Moore and after the board of 8♣7♥3♣4♣Q♣, Moore had won another race to send yet another player to the rail. Holder took home $44,787 for his finish in third place, setting the stage for heads-up player between Calenzo and Moore.
What’s interesting about the heads-up battle is that both of these two players had reached the final table of the WSOP Circuit’s first stop of the season in Council Bluffs, Iowa. There, Calenzo took ninth place and Moore took fifth. Just over a month later, these two made another Circuit final table together and founds themselves heads-up for the title.
When heads-up play began, Moore had about a 3-1 chip lead on Calenzo. The two battled for a while and Calenzo did his best to try and pull even. He never was quite able to get even with Moore as the two exchanged blows for just less than two hours. The two saw plenty of flops together, but it always seemed like Moore was getting the better of it and holding off the younger Calenzo.
The final hand came up about a half an hour past midnight. It started off as just another innocent hand with Moore limping the button for 80,000. Calenzo put in a raise from the big blind to 285,000 and then Moore reraised to 685,000. Calenzo moved all-in and Moore quickly made the call, tabling the J♦J♥. Calenzo had two big overcards in the A♣K♥.
The flop came down 10♣7♣2♠ and Calenzo’s tournament life came closer to ending. The turn brought the 10♥ to pair the board, leaving Calenzo needing an ace or a king to double up to the chip lead. The dealer burned one last time and then turned over the Q♣, a piece of paint that Calenzo wasn’t looking for and that was it. Calenzo finished in second place, good for $61,725 and 75 points for the National Championship leader board. The title, the gold ring, the automatic entry to the National Championship and the $99,878 all went to Moore.
That marks two final tables for Moore on this season’s WSOP Circuit tour with the second one resulting in a win. Moore already had greater than $800,000 in live tournament earnings over his career and this is a great win for him to be able to add to that record.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Moore | $99,878 |
| 2 | Kevin Calenzo | $61,725 |
| 3 | John Holder | $44,787 |
| 4 | Mike Foster | $33,043 |
| 5 | Kris Bradshaw | $24,782 |
| 6 | Brian McKain | $18,885 |
| 7 | John Alfera | $14,616 |
| 8 | Jorge Solorzano | $11,486 |
| 9 | Joel Merwick | $9,164 |
Also of note is that Kevin Manley performed better than everyone else in Indiana to earn the most points at this stop. He will receive an entry into the National Championship in Las Vegas at the end of the season.
With coverage wrapped up from Indiana, PokerNews will be taking a tiny break from live reporting for a few days and then will be off to Hammond for the next stop on the WSOP Circuit. Don't forget that event has a $1,500 Main Event and a $10,000 Regional Championship so be sure to tune in!
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