Early Monday morning, Steve “Mr. Smokey” Billirakis, who already holds the distinction of being the youngest ever bracelet winner in competition at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, added another notable chapter to his poker career by becoming the youngest champion of a World Series of Poker Circuit Championship Event, winning the feature tournament in Hammond, Indiana.
Billirakis, who was only 11 days past his 21st birthday when he won his first WSOP bracelet last year, held the chip lead after the first two days of play at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond and led the final nine survivors of the 165 player field to the final table. He was joined at the table by the following poker players:
Seat 1: Thomas Koral – 351,000
Seat 2: George Dietz – 174,000
Seat 3: Gary Leibovitz – 156,000
Seat 4: Steve Billirakis – 754,000
Seat 5: Sameer Al-Dbhany- 253,000
Seat 6: Ravi Raghavan – 213,000
Seat 7: Jason DeWitt – 651,000
Seat 8: Dustin Woolf – 419,000
Seat 9: Kyle Shert – 325,000
Action was brisk from the start, as the short-stacked Dietz was able to double up through online pro Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf, who never seemed to have anything hold up for him at the final table. About a half-hour into play and holding pocket sixes, Woolf was ahead pre-flop against Leibovitz’ A-K, only to see both an ace and a king on the flop. No six came to Woolf’s rescue and, after getting the last of his chips in on the next hand, he was eliminated in ninth place by Koral.
Billirakis continued to hold the lead despite doubling up Leibovitz after the blinds went up to 10,000-20,000 with a 2,000 chip ante. There was plenty of action as chips whipped around the table, with Raghavan doubling up twice during the level. There were no eliminations in the round, but at the start of the next level, the two chip leaders would go to battle.
With a new blind level of 12,000-24,000 and a 3,000 chip ante, Billirakis put a stranglehold on the lead. After getting re-raised by DeWitt, Billirakis put the remainder of his stack in the center. DeWitt deliberated for some time and called the bet, showing A-Q. Billirakis tabled pocket Queens and after the board provided no excitement, the chips were counted down. It was found that Billirakis had 10,000 more chips that DeWitt and, in one hand, DeWitt went from the top of the leader board to out of the tournament in eighth place.
Holding one-third of the chips in play at this point, Billirakis sat back and let the remaining players at the table decide who would face him. Koral was able to survive the carnage and earned his way to face Billirakis in heads-up action. Koral would have a tough time of it, as Billirakis held a nearly 2-1 chip advantage.
It took only 18 hands for the twosome to get their chips to the center, with Koral holding pocket nines and Billirakis holding A-8, including the Ace of diamonds. Three diamonds on the flop and a fourth on the turn sealed the win for Billirakis, who walked away with the $208,885 first place prize, the gold-and-diamond championship ring, and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2009 WSOP Main Event. The other players at the table received the following paydays:
1st Place: Steve Billirakis – $208,885 plus 2009 WSOP Seat
2nd Place: Thomas Koral – $126,120
3rd Place: Gary Leibovitz – $80,796
4th Place: Kyle Schertz – $63,060
5th Place: George Dietz – $49,266
6th Place: Sameer Al-Dbhany – $39,413
7th Place: Ravi Raghavan – $31,530
8th Place: Jason DeWitt – $25,618
9th Place: Dustin Woolf – $21,677
The WSOPC’s next stop is at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe from November 6th through the 16th, which should draw decent crowds to the Nevada mountains. For now, though, Steve Billirakis can enjoy another history making performance as the youngest ever WSOPC champion.
