Scott Stanko Wins WSOPC Horseshoe Council Bluffs Main Event! ($101,266)
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Well, it's all over but the taking of the pictures and the celebratory drinking.
Twelve days ago, the World Series of Poker arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa with twelve rings to give out. Three days ago, the $1,600 Main Event kicked off with 290 players in the hunt for the ring. Eight hours ago, the final nine of them returned to the felt for the final showdown with Scott Stanko leading the way. And just a few minutes ago, Stanko put the final punctuation on his run to the ring, topping Charles "Woody" Moore in the heads-up duel to snag the title.
Early on, Stanko tasted blood for the first time when he sent Jeremy Jagoda to the rail in ninth place. Jagoda got his short stack in with 
, but Stanko's 
ended up best as the board ran out 
. He ran pocket nines into pocket queens shortly thereafter to give Mark Bonsack a big double, but the latter wouldn't be around for much longer.
With four players left, Stanko found pocket aces and laid out a trap for Stephen Ma. Stanko flatted a raise preflop, then check-raised a nine-high flop. Ma called off the rest of his chips on the turn with 
for top pair, but Stanko's aces earned the knockout one river card later.
During three-handed play, all three of the remaining players had their hands on the chip lead at one point or another. For a long while, it looked like Moore was seizing control of the table, and Stanko and Casey Cavanaugh appeared to be battling for second place. Moore took care of Cavanaugh in third, and he took the chip lead into heads-up play.
But the final duel was (almost) completely one-sided. Moore did manage to find one big pot with aces, and that allowed him to retake the chip lead briefly. But Stanko turned the tides in a hurry.
During the last break of the night, the two men talked briefly about making a deal, but we're not sure anything ever came of it. When they returned to the felt, Stanko really began to turn the screws on Moore, and it wasn't long before Woody found himself approaching the danger zone with less than 20 big blinds.
The final hand saw Moore out-flop his opponent with king-eight, but Stanko's ace-nine caught right back up as the pretty 
peeled off the deck. Stanko was one card from victory, and the river improved him to the winning two pair and slipped the ring onto his finger.
Stanko is a 33-year-old pro from Scottsbluff, Nebraska. How's that for a hometown? Before that, though, he was a cowboy and a ranch manager in Wyoming. He tells us he has a new focus on live tournaments nowadays, and this result is a darn good start. He's got some more regal WSOP jewelry on his mind now, and he'll have a chance to snag a bracelet this year as he's gained entry into the WSOPC National Championship by virtue of this performance.
So then, we send our congratulations to Scott Stanko, the Circuit's newest champion!
We're headed to St. Louis next, and the Main Event runs from April 21-23 at Harrah's. We'll see you there next week, but for now, goodnight and farewell from Council Bluffs!