2007-2008 WSOP Circuit Tunica, Event 2 ($500 NLHE)

[jdaddy]

2007-2008 WSOP Circuit, Tunica, Event 2 ($500 NLHE) Results

JANUARY 6,2008 - 9:37:38 AM PST
by: WSOP Circuit Staff (Bluff Media)
advertisement

Two Straights Get Carlos Cuentas Win In Event #2 to Beat Defending Champ

Playing Only His Second Tournament, He Defeats Corey Sanders, Last Year's Winner

Tunica, MS -- The final match-up in the first $500 no-limit event of the WSOP Circuit at Grand Casino Tunica was loaded with drama. In one corner was Corey Sanders, an ex-marine turned pro who won the first $500 event here last year. In the other corner was Carlos Cuentas, an auto repair shop owner, talked into making the 8-1/2 hour drive from Houston with two buddies. Until the day before had never played a tournament in his life.
Corey started the final table lowest in chips but hung on, fighting like a marine with an incredible number of all-ins. Heads-up, he had 1.6 million chips to Cuentas’ 2.2 million, grabbed the lead by winning a 1.2 million-chip pot, lost it when Cuentas hit an inside straight on the river, and then busted out when Cuentas hit a second river straight.
Cuentas, who is 30 and single, collected $55,302 and a gold trophy ring for his win. He learned poker in house games five years ago and got into this event via a turbo satellite. His other hobby is golf.
He said his style of play is very aggressive. Until now he’s played just cash games, typically $1-$2 no-limit. With six tables left, he was way up in chips with 400,000, dropped down to 40 or 50,000, then started a turnaround when his Q-10 made a straight (what else?) to crack pocket aces. A lot more tournaments are in his future, he added.
This event got down to nine at the end of day 1 and the finalists returned the next day with Jerry Barlow leading with 853,000 chips. Play started with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes, and 10 minutes later went to 10,000-20,000.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat 1. Adam Ross 172,000
Seat 2. Gebrehiwet Goitom 729,000
Seat 3. Carlos Cuentas 417,000
Seat 4.Michael Hanelin 189,000
Seat 5. TonyBoles 388,000
Seat 6. Tim Laws 660,000
Seat 7. David Garrison 285,000
Seat 8. Corey Sanders 130,000
Seat 9 . Jerry Barlow 853,000

An indication that play would start conservatively came in early action. With seven players in the pot, Cuentes bet the flop and everybody folded. Through the first 19 hands there were only two all-in calls, with everybody surviving. On hand 20, Michael “Doc” Hanelin, an Atlanta physician, was down to his last 5,000 in the small blind holding pocket 6s. David Garrison, with A-10, put him out when the board came K-Q-5-10-Q. Ninth paid $3,677.
Hanelin, 38, learned poker four years ago by reading “many, many books.” This is his fifth Circuit. He has four children, and his other hobby is learning to play drums.
Blinds now were 15,000-30,000 with 3,000 antes. On the first hand, Sanders had a tough call when he bet 70,000 into a flop of A-J-2 and Barlow moved in. After several minutes of hesitation and table talk, he finally folded after Barlow agreed to show his hand. It was a good laydown: Barlow had A-2.
Hand 35 was the last for Tony Boles. He moved in with K-J and couldn’t beat Cuentas’ pocket 8s. Eighth paid $5,515. Boles, 46, is from Cumming, Georgia and is self-employed. Married with two children, he’s been playing two years and has entered 15 Circuit events. He had one final table in 2006.
Five hands later, Garrison pushed in for 44,000 holding pocket treys. Barlow called from the small blind as did Ross from the big. The pot was checked down as the board came Q-5-4-4-J. The river did it. Ross turned over J-7, and Garrison took $7,150 for seventh place.
Garrison, 50, is from Robinsonville, Mississippi where he is publisher of the Mid-South Gaming Guide. He’s been playing 15 years, learning by watching. He got into this event via satellite, and he’s played "too many Circuits to count." He noted that tournament results are available online at TunicaPoker.com (among various other sites).
The round ended with Barlow still leading with just over 1 million. Blinds were now 20,000-40,000 with 5,000 antes. On hand 46, Barlow made a tough laydown. With a board of K-6-4-7-8, he had 7-5 for an 8-high straight. He bet 100,000, then mucked when Cuentes, with a likely higher straight, moved in.
On hand 55, Tim Laws moved in for 210,000 with Kd- in the cutoff seat. Cuentas called from the big blind with pocket deuces, which held up when the board came J-10-5-J-3. Laws earned $8,933 for finishing sixth.
Laws is 29, self-employed and from Columbia, Missouri. He's been playing four years, this is his second Circuit and his poker highlight to date. His other hobbies are baseball and fishing.
Gebrehiwet Goitom started in second chip position, but hadn’t been able to do much. Forced to make laydowns, he kept dropping down. Finally, he decided to make a move, going all in for about 270,000 with Kc-7c. He ran into pocket queens held by Adam Ross. Two 8s flopped and a queen turned to fill Ross and leave Goitom in fifth place, worth $10,716.
Goitom, 45, is a driver and tournament veteran with numerous cashes. Originally from Eritrea, he now lives in Dallas. He is married with two children and has been playing 10 years.
Blinds were now 25,000-50,000 with 5,000 antes. At this point, Cuentas had taken the lead with almost 1.5 million.
Sanders, meanwhile, had already gone all in countless times, usually picking up the pots, a couple of times winning showdowns. In 12 hands alone, from 62 to 73, he moved all in six times. Four were uncalled pre-flop raises, and twice he re-raised, forcing an opponent to fold. One of those times, with a board of K-Q-4-8, Cuentas bet 100,000. Sanders moved in again, for 240,000 more, then showed a taunting 5-2 when Cuentas mucked.
By the time blinds went to 30,000-60,000, the lead had shifted a couple of times, with Cuentas' aggressive play pulling him in front. Then he moved much farther ahead, to about 2.4 million, by knocking out Ross, whom he later called one of his toughest opponents. The flop came A-6-2. Ross bet 250,000 and Cuentas pushed in. After long thought, Ross decided to call with A-3. Cuentas turned up A-2, and his two pair left Ross in fourth place, which paid $12,499.
Ross is 43, in sales, and lives in Atlanta. He's married with two children, has been playing 15 years, and this is his third Circuit try. His nickname is "Arock."
The next pot got us heads-up. Corey opened for 160,000 with K-Q and Barlow raised all in with A-8. The flop gave Corey two pair, while the best that Barlow could do was catch an ace on the river. For finishing third, Barlow took home $14,282.
Barlow, 48, is a business owner from Fair Play, South Carolina, married with four children. He learned poker from friends two years ago. He's entered eight Circuit events and this is his fourth cash.
The big turnaround hand for Corey came on the 105th deal. With a board of K-K-Q-K-A, Cuentas bet 500,000, then folded after Corey came over the top all in.
Corey's lead lasted only four hands. With blinds now at 40,000-80,000 and 10,000 antes, the flop came 8-6-4. Holding 10-7 for a double belly-buster straight draw, Cuentas made an 80,000 stab at the pot. Holding 7-6 for a pair and an inside straight draw, Corey made it 580,000 to go, and Cuentas moved in for 1.4 million. A king turned and then a river 9 gave Cuentas his straight.
"Now trailing, Corey shrugged. "No big deal," he said. "I've had stacks like this all day."
His bravado ended on the next hand. He moved all in with Ac-7s. Cuentas called with Js-10s, and the board came Q-9-2-3-8 for a tournament-ending queen-high straight.
Sanders, 27, is from Nashville, Tennessee, has played five years, learning "by losing money," and this is about his 10th Circuit. His other hobbies are bowling and women. --Max Shapiro