The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) continued its resurgence this week, crowning veteran poker pr Charles “Woody” Moore as the champion of the stop at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana on Tuesday.
Players flocked to the WSOPC Southern Indiana championship event. The 2009 version of the tournament, a $5,000 buy-in event, drew a dismal 55 runners. This, along with other low turnout events on the WSOPC last season, resulted in a revamping of the its schedule, with lower buy-ins ($1,500) for several of the tournaments on the schedule. The WSOPC Southern Indiana was one of those tournaments that saw the buy-in lowered and, as a result, 289 players showed up for action, the largest field thus far on the 2010-11 WSOPC schedule.
The field was whittled down through three days of play, with 30 players walking off with something for their efforts. Moore came to the final table with over 1.2 million chips in play, with Mike Foster (850,000) and John Holder (825,000) ready to strike if the veteran rounder from Las Vegas faltered. Moore, however, extended his lead in the early going when, after Joel Merwick flopped a set of nines against Moore’s pocket jacks, he would re-suck on the river with a jack for a better set and eliminate Merwick in ninth place.
Holder attempted to keep pace with Moore, eliminating John Alfera in seventh place after Alfera had dispatched Jorge Solorzano in eighth. The duo would continue to joust as the final table played out, with Moore continuing to rule the table after knocking out Brian McKain in sixth place with pocket queens against A-10.
As the tournament worked its way to three-handed action with Holder, Moore, and Kevin Calenzo, the dinner bell rang. During that break, the survivors had a chance to work out a deal. Each player would take $62,000 from the remaining prize pool, setting aside the approximately $20,000 remaining, the WSOPC championship ring, and the seat at the 2011 WSOPC National Championship for the victor. Although each player was assured of a nice payday, the desire by all three to walk away with the title drove play on for several hours.
Holder and Moore had been the dominating forces at the final table and it was inevitable that the two would clash. After a raise from the small blind by Moore, Holder committed his entire stack (about one million in chips) from the big blind and Moore called. Moore could only table pocket deuces, but he had caught Holder in a steal attempt with K-10 of spades and was ahead. When the board ran dry for Holder, he was eliminated in third place.
Calenzo, who had come to the final table as the second shortest stack, bedeviled Moore for over three hours. Moore held the upper hand throughout their heads-up play, but could never find a way to administer the knockout blow. It would come down to both players holding solid hands to determine the champion.
On the final hand, Moore limped in from the button only to see Calenzo pop it up from the big blind to 285,000. Moore responded with a three bet to 400,000 and Calenzo pushed the issue further by moving all-in. After an immediate call by Moore, the cards were shown: pocket jacks for Moore and an offsuit A-K for Calenzo. The duo, after deciding to give whoever finished second another $5,000 from the remaining prize pool, then saw the board. No ace or king came for Calenzo, earning the victory for Moore and the seat at the National Championship come May 2011.
1st – Charles Moore (Las Vegas, NV) $98,878*
2nd – Kevin Calenzo (New Hartford, NY) $61,724*
3rd – John Holder (Scottsville, KY) $44,787*
4th – Michael Foster (Chicago, IL) $33,043
5th – Kristopher Bradshaw (Scottville, MI) $24,782
6th – Brian McKain (Scottsburg, IN) $18,885
7th – John Alfera (Arnold, PA) $14,615
8th – Jorge Solorzano-Reyes (Louisville, KY) $11,486
9th – Joel Merwick (Lincoln, NE) $9,163
* – Does not reflect final table deal.
Moore, through the victory at the WSOPC Southern Indiana, joins Kevin Manley (Casino Champion, Southern Indiana), Blair Hinkle (WSOPC Council Bluffs Champion), and Robert Georato (Council Bluffs Casino Champion) as automatic qualifiers to the 100-player National Championship tournament to be held at Caesars Palace prior to the start of the 2011 WSOP. With his second place finish, Calenzo (115 points) moves into second place on the National Leaderboard behind Shiva Dudani (145 points).
The battle for the WSOPC National Championship continues today with a stop just outside of Chicago at the Horseshoe Hammond for the first of the four WSOPC Regional Championship events. The tournament schedule, which features a televised $10,000 Regional Championship Event from October 25th to 28th, will also offer 10 other WSOPC ring events for players.
