Music Industry Pro Outlasts Record-Setting 732-Player Field
Baptiste Chavaillaz is accustomed to living life in the fast lane. He works in the music business and travels all over the world with famous bands and recording artists. But he produced a major hit of his own tonight, by winning the latest World Series of Poker Main Event Championship, held at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.
Chavaillaz pulled off what must be classified as a major surprise, defeating a formidable final day lineup which featured several accomplished rivals, including multiple players with millions in career tournament winnings. But it was Chavaillaz who performed like the consummate pro, beating some of the world’s best players at their own game. Indeed, in Chavaillaz’s parlance, it was the equivalent of an amateur musician taking the stage and out-jamming Eric Clapton, out-singing Alicia Keys, or out-rapping Jay-Z.
This day was music to Chavaillaz’s ears. The royalty for his winning tune amounted to a whopping $216,275. He was also presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. Moreover, Chavaillaz earned an automatic qualification into the WSOP National Championship presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof, which takes place in May.
“How much did I win?” Chavaillaz asked nonchalantly following his surprise victory. All joking aside, Chavaillaz has absolutely no complaints.
“It’s all still sinking in,” he said. “I’ve been playing poker for 12 years. But I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I had not even played in a major tournament like this, ever.”
BICYCLE CASINO
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #10 1/12/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
MAIN EVENT
BUY-IN $1,675
PLAYERS 721
PRIZE POOL $1,081,590
1. Baptiste Chavillaz $216,275
2. Zhang Chen . . . . . $133,350
3. Eric Varela . . . . . . . $98,310
4. Jared Ingles . . . . . . . $73,270
5. Huicun Qiao . . . . . . $55,340
6. Jesus Gastelum . . . . $42,340
7. David Malka . . . . . . $32,800
8. Nathan Bjerno . . . . $25,730
9. Erik Roussakis . . . . $20,430
EVENT #12 1/14/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM 6-HANDED
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 146
PRIZE POOL $43,800
1. Krysztof Stybaniewicz $12,470
2. Chris Bonita . . . . . . . $7,715
4. David Pecaski . . . . . . $4,025
EVENT #11 1/13/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 211
PRIZE POOL $63,300
1. David Lavin . . . . . . $15,810
2. Kingsley Shum . . . . . $9,780
3. Tom McCormick . . . . $7,120
4. Kenneth Huber . . . . . $5,265
EVENT #10 1/12/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 273
PRIZE POOL $81,900
1. Clark Harney . . . . . $19,660
2. Chad Bruhn . . . . . . $12,145
3. Jordan Cristos . . . . . $8,815
4. Kristin Weeks . . . . . . $6,505
5. Kent Keilholtz . . . . . . $4,873
EVENT #9 1/11/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM TURBO
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 212
PRIZE POOL $63,600
1. Alexandru Masek . . $15,905
2. William Fagerbakke $9,825
3. Jason Tulloss . . . . . . . $7,150
EVENT #8 1/10/13
LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO 8/B
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 177
PRIZE POOL $53,100
1. Stephen Gibbs . . . . . $14,350
2. Larry Siegel . . . . . . . $8,860
3. Marshall Ragir . . . . . $6,380
EVENT #7 1/10/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,125
PLAYERS 157
PRIZE POOL $157,000
1. Ray Henson . . . . . . . $42,390
2. Everett Carlton . . . . $26,195
3. Jason Leet . . . . . . . . $18,855
4. Derrick Yamada . . . $13,820
5. Shawn Daniels . . . . $10,310
6. Simon Samano . . . . . $7,825
EVENT #6 1/9/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 193
PRIZE POOL $57,900
1. Michael Taylor . . . . $15,050
2. Stephen Rivera . . . . . $9,300
3. David Pecaski . . . . . . $6,715
EVENT #5 1/8/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $580
PLAYERS 157
PRIZE POOL $78,500
1. Nathan Bjerno . . . . $21,180
2. Zachary Fahmie . . . $13,100
3. Jason Tulloss . . . . . . . $9,430
EVENT #4 1/7/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 198
PRIZE POOL $59,400
1. Amir Ghazvinian . . $15,440
2. Oscar Zavala . . . . . . . $9,540
3. Stephen Elliott . . . . . $6,890
EVENT #3 1/5/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $365
PLAYERS 723
PRIZE POOL $216,900
1. David Yoon . . . . . . . $43,340
2. Daniel Schunk . . . . . $26,745
3. Kent Keilholtz . . . . . $19,715
4. Rod Dingler . . . . . . . $14,695
5. Barbara Enright . . . $11,100
6. Chris Roulier . . . . . . $8,490
EVENT #2 1/4/13
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $580
PLAYERS 167
PRIZE POOL $83,500
1. Wendy Freedman . . $22,545
2. Tom Masinter . . . . . $13,935
3. William Steffin . . . . $10,030
4. Sam Barnhart . . . . . . $7,350
5. Mark Yamamoto . . . $5,485
6. Michael Noori . . . . . . $4,160
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