WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis: Cartwright Wins His Third Ring and Claims $142,290
The World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis continued Tuesday with the final nine of a 449-player field. Each was competing for his share of a $646,762 prize pool, including a first-place prize worth $142,290. Entering the final table as the monster chip stack was two-time WSOP-Circuit ring winner and National Championship qualifier Kyle Cartwright; however, he had some stiff competition from a table full of local players, circuit grinders, and one established online pro by the name of Chris “PiMaster” Viox. Here is how things looked at the start of the day.
WSOP-Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Cartwright | 2,875,000 |
| 2 | Mitch Franks | 460,000 |
| 3 | Nick Jivkov | 206,000 |
| 4 | Ron Segni | 983,000 |
| 5 | Asheesh Boyapati | 1,138,000 |
| 6 | Chris Viox | 346,000 |
| 7 | Troy Weber | 1,006,000 |
| 8 | Steve Goff | 1,270,000 |
| 9 | Phil Stelzer | 637,000 |
The day got off to a lightning-fast start when a short-stacked Nick Jivkov moved all-in under the gun for his last 185,000 and received a call from Ron Segni in early position. The rest of the field folded and the cards were turned up.
Jivkov: A♥9♠
Segni: 7♥7♣
Although he was behind, Jivkov had two overs and was looking for an ace or nine. The 5♦6♣6♥ flop was no help and neither was the 3♣ turn. It was down to the river for Jivkov's life, but it was not meant to be as the 4♥ peeled off. Jivkov finished in ninth place and was the first final table casualty.
The next elimination came as quite the surprise when action folded to Steve Goff on the button and he raised to 33,000. The small blind folded and Cartwright, in the big blind, opted to raise to 200,000. Goff moved all-in for 984,000 and Cartwright quickly called.
Cartwright: A♣K♥
Goff: 2♠2♣
The 10♦Q♣7♥ flop didn't hit Cartwright, but it did provide him a straight draw to any jack. The 5♠ on the turn was a blank, meaning Goff would double if he could avoid an ace, king, or jack on the river. The dealer slowly burned and put out the K♦. Cartwright shot his arms up in the air in celebration while Goff, who began the day second in chips, was eliminated from the Main Event in eighth place.
The eliminations kept mounting as Mitch Franks was the next to go in seventh place after running pocket tens into “Columbia” Phil Stelzer's pocket kings. Following him out the door in sixth was Viox, perhaps the most established player at the table. His A♣Q♦ couldn’t out-flip Cartwright’s 9♣9♦.
Cartwright wasn’t the only one eliminating players. Asheesh Boyapati got busy when he raised to 76,000 on the button only to have Troy Weber reraise to 225,000 from the small blind. When action was back on Boyapati, he moved all-in and Weber called for his tournament life.
Boyapati: A♥J♦
Weber: 5♠5♥
Weber was ahead, but not after the flop came down K♦J♠3♦. Boyapati had paired his jack to take the lead and left Weber looking for a five. The 9♦ turn was no help and neither was the 7♥ river. Boyapati took down the pot, chipping up to 1.8 million, while Weber made his way to the payout desk in fifth place.
Four-handed play lasted awhile before Segni raised to 125,000 under the gun, only to have Stelzer move all-in for 900,000. Segni, who had fewer chips, called for his tournament life and the cards were flipped.
Segni: 6♦6♠
Stelzer: A♠K♦
It was a race and Stelzer pulled out in front when the flop came down 8♥9♥K♣. However, that all changed when Segni hit the 6♣ on the turn for a set. After the Q♦ was put out on the river, Segni took down the 1.5 million pot while Stelzer was left with just 200,000. A few hands later, Stelzer moved all-in under the gun with 10♠8♣ and was called by the A♥K♦ of Boyapati. The board ran out K♠3♠6♠2♥3♣ and Stelzer became the fourth-place finisher. As a consolation, Stelzer became the WSOP Circuit Harrah's St. Louis Casino Champ with 82.5 points and locked up a spot on the National Championship $1 Million Freeroll in May.
Segni was the next to go after running A♠10♠ into Cartwright's A♦K♥, leaving the latter to play heads-up againt Boyapati with a nearly 5-1 chip lead. The match didn’t last long, less than five hands in fact. The final hand occurred when Cartwright raised to 110,000 on the button and Boyapati moved all-in for around 1.6 million. Cartwright called and was in great shape.
Boyapati: 8♥5♣
Cartwright: K♦Q♠
The board ran out 2♦J♦10♦10♣3♠ and Boyapati was eliminated as runner-up. Cartwright became the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis Main Event Champion, was awarded his third gold ring, and claimed the $142,290 first-place prize. In addition, given that Cartwright had previously qualified for the National Championship, the spot usually awarded to a Main Event winner will instead be applied to the National Leaderboard, meaning another point earner will be awarded a spot, courtesy of Cartwright.
WSOP-Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis Final Table
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Cartwright | $142,290 |
| 2 | Asheesh Boyapati | $87,927 |
| 3 | Ron Segni | $64,249 |
| 4 | Phil Stelzer | $47,705 |
| 5 | Troy Weber | $35,973 |
| 6 | Chris Viox | $27,533 |
| 7 | Mitch Franks | $21,382 |
| 8 | Steve Goff | $16,842 |
| 9 | Nick Jivkov | $13,453 |
The WSOP-Circuit Harrah's St. Louis may have come to an end, but you can still catch our updates from the NAPT Mohegan Sun as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the action from that Main Event. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
