Trace Henderson Takes Down Gulf Coast Poker Tour's Milly in Philly Main Event
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The Gulf Coast Poker Tour at Pearl River Resorts in Philadelphia, Mississippi wrapped up last weekend with Trace Henderson of Laurel, Mississippi taking down the $600 Milly in Philly Main Event for a payday worth $75,566.
The Main Event attracted 990 entries and generated a prize pool just short of half a million at $495,000 to smash the guarantee of $350,000. Those numbers made it the second-largest of 13 events on the tour. Henderson, who now boasts $564,272 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, agreed to an even-chop with heads-up opponent Hamid Izadi of Marietta, Georgia.
2021 Milly in Philly Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE (in USD) | |
| 1 | Trace Henderson | Laurel, MS | $75,566* | |
| 2 | Hamid Izadi | Marietta, GA | $75,566* | |
| 3 | Dallas Pirman | Pearl, MS | $42,570 | |
| 4 | Brandon Robinson | Blytheville, AR | $31,878 | |
| 5 | Joseph Hebert | Metairie, LA | $24,107 | |
| 6 | Matthew Yates | Poplarville, MS | $18,662 | |
| 7 | David Bradshaw | Atlanta, GA | $14,355 | |
| 8 | Luther Tran | Bayou La Batre | $11,385 | |
| 9 | Gavin Munroe | Montgomery, AL | $8,910 |
*Denotes heads-up deal.
See Winners from the 2nd Annual Gulf Coast Poker Award here!
Henderson Victory
Henderson is far from a newcomer to the Gulf Coast Poker Tour. In 2019, the Mississippian took down Event #4: $350 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack at the Pearl River Poker Open for $7,640, finished second in Event #7: $350 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack for $2,854, and came in fourth in Event #1: $250 No-Limit Hold'em for $10,116.
A few years earlier, Henderson racked up a third-place finish worth $23,142 in Event #1: $345 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Henderson also made a deep run in the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada, cashing in on a 330th-place finish worth $33,900.
Other notable southern grinders who cashed in Milly in Philly Main Event but ultimately came up short of victory include Joseph Herbert (5th - $24,107), David Bradshaw (7th - $14,355), Luther Tran (8th - $11,385), Sokchheka Pho (12th - $7,277), Chan Pelton (14th - ($5,940) and Forrest Raleigh (19th - $4,109).
The biggest name in the field was 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, who finished in 26th place for $2,921. Last June, “Fossilman” finished second in $300 No-Limit Hold'em (Event #1) at the Pearl River Summer Series in Chocktaw for $35,001.
Other Winners
This year’s Gulf Coast Poker Tour kicked off with the $300 BagWow! Re-entry event, which attracted 2,341 total runners for a prize pool of $561,840 to make it the biggest tournament of the series. Benny Morgan of Pell City, Alabama took down the event for $55,074 after a heads-up chop with Mark Davis of Birmingham, Alabama, who received $55,073.
2021 Gulf Coast Poker Tour "Milly in Philly" Results
| DATE | TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | PRIZE | |
| January 6, 2022 | BagWow! Re-entry | 2,341 | $561,840 | Benny Morgan | $55,074 | |
| January 9, 2022 | Ladies Event | 38 | $7,296 | June Jenkins | $2,554 | |
| January 9, 2022 | Sunday Sizzler | 278 | $66,720 | Kevin Comeens | $11,087 | |
| N/A | Pop Up PLO | 104 | N/A | Larry Barker | $6,718 | |
| January 10, 2022 | Big Monster Stack 100k Guarantee | 571 | N/A | John Cressend | $35,073 | |
| January 11, 2022 | CelebrityBounty | 202 | $34,340 | Carl Masters | $6,306 | |
| January 12, 2022 | Last Longer | 250 | $60,000 | Thurmand Boothe | $14,850 | |
| January 13, 2022 | Freezeout | N/A | N/A | Walker Miskelly | $35,425 | |
| January 13, 2022 | Monster Stack | 109 | $109,000 | Peace Marvel | $10,872 | |
| January 14, 2022 | Rookies | 139 | N/A | Justin McNeil | $1,652 | |
| January 17, 2022 | Seniors | 179 | $34,368 | Lonny Weitzel | $3,804 | |
| January 17, 2022 | Survivor | 76 | $18,240 | 8 Winners | $2,600 | |
| January 20, 2022 | Main Event | 990 | $495,000 | Trace Henderson | $75,566 |
Another big winner of the tour was Peace Marvel of Pearl River, Louisiana, who first took down Event #8: $300 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack for $10,872 and then finished in the money in Event #12: $300 No-Limit Hold'em Survivor (Event #12) for $2,600 to close the tour out.
Marvel, who has racked up $60,197 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, also made the money in the Main Event, finishing in 55th place for $1,485.
It was also a good tour for Tunica, Mississippi’s Walker Miskelly, who finished first in Event #7: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout for $35,425 and later 16th in the Main Event for $4,604. A few months earlier, Miskelly finished 48th in the Pearl River Poker Open Main Event for $1,243.
Carl Masters of Clarksville, Tennessee, meanwhile, won the Event #5: $200 No-Limit Hold'em Celebrity Bounty for a cash of $6,306, while also racking up a $3,804 cash in Event #9: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Seniors a few days later.
10-Way Chop in Seniors Event
Last year, poker enthusiasts around the world were intrigued when a rare 11-player chop took place at the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) All Stars Horseshoe Council Bluffs $575 Main Event, with each of the players agreeing to the same $26,058 payout.
This year, a slightly smaller group of players agreed to a 10-way chop in Event #9: No-Limit Hold'em Seniors, with each player receiving $3,804 off of their $250 buy-in. Lonny Weitzel of Texarkana, Texas was the official winner of the tournament, while Michael Miller, Alvin Harris, Michael Benton, Randy Gordon and Huey Hulin were among those who secured a chop.
That’s all for the Gulf Coast Poker Tour at Pearl River Resorts, but the next one is coming up from March 17-27.
*Images courtesy of Gulf Coast Poker Tour.
