A report by Nolan Dalla
Allen Carter (Carrollton, TX) is the Chip Leader at Tournament’s Midway Point
Allen Carter (Photo by impdi.com)
Biloxi, MS (January 15, 2009) – The Main Event of the 2009 Southern Poker Championship continued today at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi. At the tournament’s midway point, the current chip leader is Allen Carter, from Carrollton, Texas. He currently leads the pack of 27 players who still remain alive in the first World Poker Tour competition of the new year.
The USD 10,000 buy-in championship event started off yesterday with 283 entries. The size of the field is up slightly from last year (a 8.4 percent increase), when 259 players entered the WPT championship event. A whopping USD 2,662,747 in prize money is up for grabs, with only the players who begin play on day three receiving a share of the payout.
The winner will be paid one-million dollars. In a surprise announcement made yesterday, Beau Rivage management decided to supplement the winner’s share with USD 24,219 in additional money, so the top figure would hit the seven-figure milestone. The winner also receives a custom-designed white gold and diamond bracelet as well as a USD 25,500 buy-in into the annual World Poker Tour championship event, to be held at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas in April, 2009.
Tournament participants included several world-class players and poker superstars, including Brandon Cantu, Brent Carter, “Miami John” Cernuto, Scott Clements, T.J. Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, Bill Edler, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowen, Barry Greenstein, Bernie Lee, Erick Lindgren, Men “the Master” Nguyen, David “Dragon” Pham, Mark Seif, Hilbert Shirey, David Singer, Gavin Smith, and others. The defending champion is Brett Faustman, from Fowlerville, MI. He won USD 892,413 in last year’s championship, but was eliminated on the first day. A large percentage of the field (108 players) qualified at a discount prize, by winning tournament seats in on-property satellite qualifiers. Eight more players earned their way in by winning preliminary tournaments which were part of the schedule which began on Jan. 3rd.
The field included 17 women, which amounts to six percent of the field. At the end of the first day, two ladies held onto the top two spots with Esther Taylor and Jacquelyn Scott in as the chip leaders. Their good fortune did not continue, however. Both players busted out on day two.
The Main Event continues over the next two days. Tomorrow, the survivors will play down to the final six players, which makes up the final table. Plays begins at 2 pm. On Saturday, January 17th, the final table (six players) will be played to its conclusion. The action will be televised by the World Poker Tour, now in its seventh season. Seating to watch the final table action is free and open to the public. The finals will take place on the second floor of Beau Rivage. Play will begin at 4 pm.
The 15 combined tournament events at this year’s Southern Poker Championship have attracted a total of 4,680 players. The total prize money amounts to USD 5,257,942, making it one of the most successful poker tournaments ever held in the South.
End of Day Two Standings:
Event #15
Championship Event
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: USD 10,000
Total Entries: 283
Total Prize Pool: USD 2,662,747
January 14-17, 2009
Players Remaining: 27
1. Allen Carter (Carrollton, TX) 776,000
2. Tyler Smith (Smithdale, MS) 695,000
3. Stewart Yancik (Blue Springs, MO) 619,000
4. Florian Langmann (Dresden, Germany) 603,000
5. Soheil Shamseddin (Houston, TX) 560,000
6. Jena Delk (Merritt Island, FL) 508,000
7. Chuck Kim (Simpsonville, SC) 467,000
8. Hevad Khan (Las Vegas, NV) 443,000
9. Bobby Suer (Dana Point, CA) 432,000
10. Bernard Lee (Wayland, MA) 300,000
11. Gerry „Jitto“ Nadeau (Greenland, NH) 271,000
12. Hilbert Shirey (Winter Haven, FL) 268,000
13. David „Dell“ Harville, Jr. (Shreveport, LA) 265,000
14. Justin Phillips (Glodstone, OR) 263,000
15. Jeff Coutroulis (Tampa, FL) 236,000
16. Yair Alon (Panama City, FL) 230,000
17. Tony Cousineau (Daytona Beach, FL) 206,000
18. Ben Fineman (Las Vegas, NV) 198,000
19. Toby Tatum (Gulfport, MS) 188,000
20. Ted Lawson (Las Vegas, NV) 185,000
21. Lamberto Flores (Elizabeth, NJ) 180,000
22. Gary Reed (Cumming, GA) 165,000
23. Mohsin Charania (Des Plaines, IL) 139,000
24. Vanessa Rousso (Las Vegas, NV) 129,000
25. Bobby Keller (Biloxi, MS) 83,000
26. Brent Carter (Oak Park, IL) 76,000
27. Jordan Morgan (Tulsa, OK) 16,000