After near-record floods soaked Tunica, MS last spring, this year Harrah’s Tunica was hit by a flood of poker players as 1,128 runners—the second biggest field in their history—signed up for the opening contest at the World Series of Poker circuit event.
The $345 buy-in, no-limit hold’em re-start event generated a $328,248 prize pool. After three days of play, Chip Ervin, a 33-year-old poker pro from Tuscaloosa, AL emerged as the winner.
After fourth-place finisher Travis Eller was shown the door with $20,595, Ed Carroll, the final table chip leader, took a huge hit to his stack when Ervin caught a flush on the river. Carroll, a 54-year-old financial analyst from Dayton, OH was eliminated shortly afterwards and cashed out with $27,381.
Heads-up against Willie Lawrence, Ervin never relinquished his chip lead and eliminated his final opponent with a wheel on the final hand. Lawrence, a 33-yearold from Tallahassee, FL took home $36,848 for his runner-up finish.
The victory was Chip Ervin’s first WSOPC ring event win.
HARRAHS TUNICA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
RING EVENT 1 2/2/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 1,128
PRIZE POOL $328,248
1. Chip Ervin . . . . . . . . $59,660
2. Willie Lawrence . . . $36,848
3. Eddie Carroll . . . . . . $27,381
4. Travis Eller . . . . . . . $20,595
5. Athipoo Phahurat . . $15,681
6. Thomas Mosier . . . . $12,082
7. Terry Kim . . . . . . . . . $9,418
8. Rodney Shows . . . . . . $7,424
9. Jesse Menley . . . . . . . $5,917
RING EVENT 9 2/9/12
POT LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 197
PRIZE POOL $57,327
1. Rocky Boustani . . . . $14,908
2. Yung Hwang . . . . . . . $9,207
3. Michael Lutes . . . . . . $6,648
RING EVENT 8 2/9/12
HEADS UP
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $555
PLAYERS 132
PRIZE POOL $64,020
1. Dalton Mills . . . . . . $17,927
2. Cory Wood . . . . . . . $11,077
3. Andrew Schwartz . . . $5,980
HARRAHS TUNICA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
RING EVENT 7 2/8/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 433
PRIZE POOL $124,653
1. Andrew Smith . . . . . $27,426
2. Steve Melton . . . . . . $16,947
3. Chris Ashley . . . . . . $12,383
4. David Clark . . . . . . . $9,194
RING EVENT 6 2/7/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
6-HANDED
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 344
PRIZE POOL $100,104
1. Michael Urbaniak . $24,929
2. Benjamin Kramer . $15,404
3. Matthew Weber . . . $11,256
4. William Phillips . . . . . $8,357
RING EVENT 5 2/6/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 394
PRIZE POOL $114,654
1. Kasey Stanford . . . . $24,929
2. Jennifer Parrish . . . $15,404
3. Joey Hebida . . . . . . $11,256
4. Michael Kelly . . . . . . $8,357
RING EVENT 4 2/5/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 359
PRIZE POOL $104,469
1. Matthew Weber . . . $23,719
2. Steven Williams . . . $14,662
3. Steven Melton . . . . . $10,697
4. Wiliam Buckmaster . $7,934
RING EVENT 3 2/4/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $555
PLAYERS 230
PRIZE POOL $110,200
1. Andrew Mcilvain . . $27,552
2. Justice Litle . . . . . . . $17,028
3. Caufman Talley . . . $12,393
4. Patricia Till . . . . . . . . $9,165
RING EVENT 2 2/4/12
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $345
PLAYERS 701
PRIZE POOL $203,991
1. Paul Sokoloff . . . . . . $41,544
2. Terry Griffith . . . . . . $25,705
3. Jerry Ard . . . . . . . . . $18,854
4. Gary Lambert . . . . . $14,021
5. Andrew Bucaric . . . $10,568
6. Jeffery Overton . . . . $8,071
7. Bradford Albrinck . . $6,245










