Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch Wins World Series of Poker Circuit St. Louis Main Event
The latest stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit came to a close on Monday. The WSOP Circuit St. Louis $1,675 Main Event from Lumiere Place Casino & Hotels wrapped up and was won by Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch. For the victory, Panitch earned the top prize of $137,283 and a seat in the season-ending National Championship.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch | $137,283 |
| 2 | Robert Edelstein | $84,833 |
| 3 | Peter Nigh | $61,988 |
| 4 | Millard Hale | $46,026 |
| 5 | Nicholas Weber | $34,707 |
| 6 | Danny Steinberg | $26,564 |
| 7 | Michael Holm | $20,629 |
| 8 | Jonathan Gray | $16,249 |
| 9 | Timothy Bishop | $12,979 |
At the close of registration, a field size of 416 entries had been generated, which created a prize pool of $624,000. Heading into the final table — which was reached late on Day 2 — Danny Steinberg had the chip lead. Following the eliminations of Timothy Bishop in ninth place, Jonathan Gray in eighth place, and Michael Holm in seventh place, Steinberg's time would come.
According to the WSOP.com reports, Millard Hale crippled Steinberg in a big pot during Level 25 with the blinds at 12,000/24,000/4,000. Steinberg had opened to 50,000, before Peter Nigh and Hale called in position. The three players saw the flop come down A♥5♠3♣, and Steinberg checked. Nigh also checked, and then Hale bet 175,000. Steinberg called, and Nigh folded. The turn was the J♦, which prompted a check from both players before seeing the J♣ pair the board on the river. Steinberg fired 250,000, but Hale didn't back down and quickly moved all in. Steinberg folded and showed the A♠Q♥.
Shortly thereafter, Steinberg was all in with the J♦J♣ against the A♣9♥ for Nigh. The flop, turn, and river ran out A♥10♣3♠9♦K♣, and Steinberg was out in sixth place for $26,564.
Next to go was Nicholas Weber in fifth place before the final four went on to finish out the night and come back for Day 3. At the conclusion of the day, Panitch had the chip lead over his three competitors, while Nigh was the short stack.
On the third and final day of action, Hale busted in fourth place and Nigh went out in third place. This set up the heads-up battle between Panitch and Robert Edelstein. When the duel began, Panitch had a sizable lead with 7 million in chips to Edelstein's 1.3 million. Despite being behind, Edelstein fought his way back into the lead. He and Panitch would exchange a couple more lead changes throughout the match, but in the end Panitch was the man who finished on top.
After 10 and a half hours of heads-up play, the blinds had moved up to 100,000/200,000/30,000 when the final hand came up. Panitch limped in from the small blind, and Edelstein checked from the big blind to see the flop come down 6♠5♠3♠. Edelstein led with a bet of 200,000, and Panitch raised to 500,000. Not to be outdone there, Edelstein fired right back with a reraise to 1.2 million. Panitch moved all in, having his opponent covered, and Edelstein called.
Panitch showed the 8♦7♠ for an open-ended straight draw plus a flush draw with the seven of spades. Edelstein was at risk with the 7♥4♠ for a flopped straight. The turn was the 5♥ before the river completed the board with the J♠. Panitch made a flush, earning him the title and $137,283 in first-place prize money.
Photo and data courtesy of WSOP.com.
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