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2008 WSOP Circuit Event - Rincon
$5,000 Circuit Championship Event
Day: 3
Age: 41
Starting Chip Stack: 337,000
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2006 $10,000 WSOP PLO Championship (1st - $655,746)
Consummate tournament professional Lee Watkinson enters the final table as its only WSOP bracelet winner. Considered one of, if not the best, Omaha players in the world, Lee owns the top spot on the WSOP all-time earnings list for Omaha tournaments. Superbly adept at Hold’em as well, Watkinson quietly dominates large tournament fields, relying heavily on his ability to read opponents. Watkinson gained world-wide notoriety last summer for his 8th place finish at the 2007 WSOP Main Event ($585,699). Lee enters the final table with 337,000 in chips – just 10,000 above the tournament average.
Age: 37
Starting Chip Stack: 96,500
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 WSOP $1,500 Preliminary Event (127th - $4,361)
A relative amateur to the world of poker, Cristian Avendano serves as the general manager for Unique, Inc. Prior to entering corporate America, Avendano spent several years as a naval officer – a product of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Having cashed twice thus far in preliminary events here in Rincon, Avendano is already guaranteed to add the biggest win of his career to his short, yet formidable list of poker achievements.
Age: 21
Starting Chip Stack: 854,000 (Chip leader)
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 WSOP-C Atlantic City Preliminary Event (2nd - $29,757)
The youngest player at the final table, 21-year-old Edward Sabat is an accounting major at the University of Southern California. Riding the momentum of a strong Day 2 finish, Sabat enters the final table as its chip leader, laying claim to 29% of the chips on the table. A win here today would undoubtedly be the biggest of his young career.
Age: 23
Starting Chip Stack: 121,000
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 WSOP Heads-Up Championship (9th - $ 23,030)
Little is known about 23-year-old Michael Pickett, though his opponents here in Rincon have much respect for his play. During last year’s WSOP he registered two money finishes, including a deep run in the $5,000 buy-in Heads-Up Championship. Pickett enters the final table with 121,000 in chips, looking to make a name for himself with a big win here today.
Age: 36
Starting Chip Stack: 701,500
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2006 Heavenly Hold’em Main Event (2nd - $107,355)
San Diego native Kenny Bedoya has held down his home turf, accumulating a field-leading 438,400 chip stack by the end of Day 1. He didn’t slow down on Day 2, continuing his aggressive style of pounding the blinds and picking up every available chip. He finds himself second in chips entering the final table with an excellent opportunity to score his first major tournament win. Bedoya is a tile-setter by trade and is the proud father of two children, Monika and Andrew.
Age: 24
Starting Chip Stack: 79,000
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 L.A. Poker Classic Preliminary Event (2nd - $104,775)
An up-and-coming poker pro residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jon Eaton was introduced to the poker world in 2005 where he worked as a tournament reporter and writer for (none other than) PokerNews.com. In 2006, Eaton gained employment as a dealer for the World Series of Poker. Eventually, Eaton made the decision to turn pro after a solid year of positive results and hasn’t looked back since. A win here today would be the biggest of Eaton’s career, though a tough road lies ahead as he enters the final table as its shortest stack.
Age: 28
Starting Chip Stack: 124,000
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 Binion’s Poker Classic Main Event (1st - $21,125)
A member of team T6 Poker, Damien Oborne flew all the way to the U. S. of A. from Down Under to watch his beloved New York Giants play in the Super Bowl. Riding the high of the Giants’ upset victory, Damien decided to make the trip from Las Vegas to San Diego to play in the main event and what a decision that has turned out to be. With 124,000 in chips and nothing to lose, Damien finds himself at the final table with the opportunity to register the biggest win of his tournament career.
Age: 47
Starting Chip Stack: 442,000
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2007 EPT Grand Final – Monte Carlo (12th - $ 88,506)
David Peters is an attorney by profession and a licensed rugby referee on the side. He’s traveled the world playing in poker tournaments and has amassed career earnings of over $300,000. Peters captured one of the preliminary events earlier this month here in Rincon, good for a $38,000 payday. David will start the day third in chips and sits more than 100,000 above the average stack size.
Age: 39
Starting Chip Stack: 197,500
Biggest Tournament Cash: 2005 Mirage Poker Showdown (1st - $ 1,128,278)
A talented tournament professional, Gavin Smith is one of poker’s nice guys. “The Caveman” turned pro about five years ago and has seen much success on the tournament trail, having racked up almost $4 million dollars in career earnings. Gavin’s sense of humor and passion for no-holds-barred prop-betting action makes him very entertaining to watch at the table. He’ll start the day with 197,500 in chips but don’t be surprised if that doubles within the first hour of play. Gavin will be looking to improve on his 7th-place finish at last year’s WSOP-C Rincon event, where he took home $34,674 in prize money.