Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul Wins WSOP Circuit Foxwoods for $194,178
After three days of intense play, the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Foxwoods Main Event came to an end Monday night. The final 16 players of a 615-player field returned on Day 3 to play down to a winner, and after seven levels of play, Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul emerged victorious to capture his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, the $194,178 first-place prize and a seat in the National Championship.
Action recommenced at noon on Monday with Level 26 (10,000/20,000/3,000), and it didn’t take long for the first elimination of the day to occur. It happened when John McNabola opened from the cutoff seat with a raise to 60,000, and Stephen Dare called the raise from one seat over. It then folded to Eric Blair in the big blind who reraised all in for 245,000 total. McNabola didn't hesitate very long before saying he was calling the shove. Dare then thought a bit before letting his hand go.
Blair: 
McNabola: 
The flop came 
, giving both players straight draws, then the 
arrived on the turn. Only a jack could save Blair, and his opponent already had two of them. The river then brought the 
, and Blair became the first elimination of Day 3.
From there, Mike Massri (15th — $11,836), Eric Rando (14th — $11,836), Alex Wilson (13th — $11,836), and Chris Schonbach (12th — $14,425) all joined Blair on the rail.
After McNabola was eliminated in 11th place for $14,425, the final table bubble was on. It was then in Level 28 (15,000/30,000/5,000) that a monster 3 million-chip pot developed between Saul and Lall Bharat. It began when the former opened for 65,000 from early position and the latter three-bet to 100,000 from the button. Saul responded with a four-bet to 400,000, and Bharat five-bet all in for just under 1.5 million. Saul snap-called, and the cards were tabled.
Saul: 
Bharat: 
According to the PokerNews Odd Calculator, Saul was a monster 87.23% favorite to win the hand. That increased to 93.74% on the 
flop. "Don't worry, there will be a diamond on the turn," someone at the table said. Sure enough, the 
peeled off. That increased Baharat's chance from 4.84% on the flop to 20.45% headed to the river with a 6.82% chance of a tie.
Saul was primed to win a monster pot and take a commanding chip lead to the final table, but the dealer burned a final time and put down the 
. Both players had made a wheel to chop the pot, and it wouldn't be the last we saw of the two players.
The bubble finally burst when Chris Mintchev was eliminated in 10th place by Paul Snead, and then it took about two hours of play at the final table for Dare to fall in ninth. It happened when he shipped all in for 480,000 from middle position and received a call from Snead, who barely had him covered.
Snead:
Dare: 
It was a classic flip, and Dare just needed to avoid big cards and diamonds to stay alive. He managed to fade on both the 
flop and turn, but Snead could still win with either an ace, queen or ten on the river. The dealer burned and delivered what would be the last card Dare would see in the tournament, the 
. Snead hit his ace to eliminate Dare, who took home $18,031 for ninth place.
From there, the pace picked up as Snead eliminated Peter Campo and Ethan Foulkes in eighth place and ninth place, respectively, and then a big hand developed between Saul and local player Bobby Corcione, who you may recall as the 21st-place finisher in the 2012 WSOP Main Event.
The hand, which took place in Level 31 (30,000/60,000/10,000), began with an open-raise to 140,000 by Corcione from under the gun and a call out of the big blind by Saul. The flop came 
, and Saul led with a bet of 155,000. Corcione responded by raising to 455,000, and after studying the situation for a short while, Saul announced he was pushing all in over the top. As Corcione contemplated what to do next, Saul's stack was counted. By taking a look at Corcione's remaining chips, Saul said it appeared his opponent had him barely covered in the hand.
Finally, Corcione did call, turning over the . Meanwhile, Saul had the for both straight and flush draws. The turn was the , meaning Corcione's aces were still hanging on. But the river brought the and shouts from the onlooking crowd. Saul had made a flush, catapulting back up close to 3 million while Corcione was left with but 10,000 in chips — just one single ante.
Corcione managed to survive the next hand, sextupling up to 60,000, but he was soon all in again from the small blind with the 
versus Cory Waaland's . When the board ran out 
, the river gave Waaland the knockout. Minutes later, Ben Reason followed Corcione out the door in fifth place for $37,356.
While Snead had his fair share of knockouts, his number was called in Level 32 (40,000/80,000/10,000). Bharat opened with a raise to 225,000 from the button, and Snead took a look at his hand in the small blind and said he was reraising all in. At that, Saul leaned forward and Snead soon counted out his chips to show his shove was for 1.455 million total. Saul thought for a while, then said he, too, was all in, letting Bharat know that his bet was for 3.815 million. Bharat gave his hand up, and Snead tabled the 
while Saul had the .
The dealer burned a card and spread the flop... 
! Quads for Saul, making the 
turn and river just a couple of trivial items as the hand had been decided. Snead smiled and shook hands with the three remaining players while Bharat revealed he'd folded 
.
"Why didn't you call?!?" said Waaland while a laugh by Saul echoed the same sentiment.
Later on in the same level, Waaland took his leave in third place, and that left Saul and Brahat to battle heads up with the former holding a chip lead of 7.4 million to 4.6 million.
We won't go into all the specifics of the heads-up battle as you can read about it by scrolling down in the blog, but suffice it to say that Saul used the combination of his chips and his tournament experience to seal the deal. While Saul has more than $2.3 million in career earnings, most of which came back in 2007, his win at Foxwoods marked his first WSOP Circuit victory.
Here’s a look at the results from the final day of play:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul | $194,178 |
| 2nd | Lall Bharat | $119,742 |
| 3rd | Cory Waaland | $87,842 |
| 4th | Paul Snead | $65,096 |
| 5th | Ben Reason | $49,007 |
| 6th | Bobby Corcione | $37,356 |
| 7th | Ethan Foulkes | $28,662 |
| 8th | Pete Campo | $22,654 |
| 9th | Stephen Dare | $18,031 |
| 10th | Chris Mintchev | $14,425 |
| 11th | John McNabola | $14,425 |
| 12th | Chris Schonbach | $14,425 |
| 13th | Alex Wilson | $11,836 |
| 14th | Eric Rando | $11,836 |
| 15th | Mike Massri | $11,836 |
| 16th | Eric Blair | $9,801 |
PokerNews’ coverage from Foxwoods may have come to an end, but we’ll soon be at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina for even more great WSOP Circuit action, so stay tuned!