Jesse Hale, a 35-year-old professional skydiving instructor from Houston, Texas, and as upbeat a guy as you would ever hope to find, sang, joked, and talked his way into a win in the $5,150 championship event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. A deal was made when the three finalists were pretty even, but his win was worth an official $113,020 along with the gold and diamond trophy ring and a buy-in to the WSOP $10,000 main event.
Strangely, he really didn't want that seat, which is non-transferable, because the WSOP championship event starts two days after the expected birth of his first child. He really came here to play blackjack, badly beat up the tables, and decided at the last minute to use some of the money to play a couple of tournaments. He came in second in the pot-limit Omaha event, and wound up playing that event and day one of the main event simultaneously.
Victory did not come easy to Hale. With three players left, he was down to 125,000 after taking a bad beat, and would have been out on the next hand if he didn't outdraw his opponent on the turn. The final heads-up match with Dennis Meierotto was no cakewalk, either. It lasted 78 hands. Hale rated him a very tough and conservative player, but was able to play off that conservatism with continuation bets that caused Meierotto to fold as Hale slowly ate up his chips. Hal, who has been playing poker a bit over three years and is mostly a cash-game player, began skydiving 13 years ago and has some 4,000.jumps to his credit. He's been instructing for eight years, and is also a pilot and snow and water skier.
HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS CASINO
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO LIMIT HOLD'EM CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 67
PRIZE POOL $313,950
1. Jesse Hale . . . . . . . $113,020
2. Dennis Meierotto . . $62,790
3. John McDonald . . . $34,535
4. Evan Panesis . . . . . . $25,116
EVENT 18 2/24/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 74
PRIZE POOL $21,534
1. John Thelen . . . . . . . $7,752
2. Jonas Wexler . . . . . . . $4,307
EVENT 17 2/23/09
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 31
PRIZE POOL $9,021
1. Charles H Casavant III $4,511
2. Frank Dukich . . . . . . $2,706
EVENT 15 2/21/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 220
PRIZE POOL $106,922
1. Joe Rechtfertig . . . . $34,146
2. Clint Landman . . . . $18,779
3. Dave Word . . . . . . . . $9,603
4. Chad Hancock . . . . . $7,469
5. Isaah Wright . . . . . . . $6,402
6. Paul White . . . . . . . . $5,335
EVENT 14 2/20/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 314
PRIZE POOL $99,598
1. William Burdick . . . $28,334
2. John Nohr . . . . . . . . $14,620
3. Jeff Bryan . . . . . . . . . $14,620
4. James Yockey . . . . . . $7,310
5. Jeff Banghart . . . . . . $5,482
EVENT 13 2/19/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM SIX HANDED
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 112
PRIZE POOL $32,592
1. Brian Scobee . . . . . . $10,268
2. Drew Woodke . . . . . . $6,355
3. Austin McCormick . . $4,074
4. Jeff Carstens . . . . . . . $2,770
5. Tobin King . . . . . . . . $1,874
6. Joe Ritter . . . . . . . . . . $1,385
EVENT 12 2/19/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 151
PRIZE POOL $73,235
1. David Grandstaff . . $23,727
2. Corey Rasmussen . . $12,450
3. Christopher Drew . . $7,324
4. Nouk Sengchan . . . . . $5,859
5. Nathan Rowan . . . . . $4,394
EVENT 11 2/18/09
LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 46
PRIZE POOL $13,396
1. Kelly Vande Mheen . $6,033
2. Michael Schwarcz . . $3,347
3. Brent Carter . . . . . . . $2,008
4. Khanh Nguyen . . . . . $1,339
5. James Tolbert . . . . . . . . .$669
EVENT 10 2/18/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 237
PRIZE POOL $68,967
1. Lee Patitz . . . . . . . . $22,065
2. William Searle . . . . $12,138
3. William Drumm . . . . $6,207
4. Aaron Loftin . . . . . . . $4,828
5. Jerry Kuhl . . . . . . . . . $4,138
EVENT 9 2/17/09
H.O.R.S.E
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 87
PRIZE POOL $25,317
1. Bill Short . . . . . . . . . . $9,243
2. Costa Mavroudis . . . $4,987
3. Matt Harder . . . . . . . $3,392
4. Mike Lisanti . . . . . . . $2,405
5. Charles H Casavant III $1,848
EVENT 8 2/17/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
PLAYERS 38
PRIZE POOL $55,290
1. Matt Culberson . . . $24,879
2. David Kruger . . . . . $13,823
3. Troy Ethridge . . . . . . $8,294
EVENT 7 2/16/09
OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 107
PRIZE POOL $31,343
1. Jeff Wiemers . . . . . . $10,088
2. Robert Sprouse . . . . . $5,293
3. Michael Meng . . . . . . $3,314
4. Lonnie Price . . . . . . . $2,491
5. Steve Moy . . . . . . . . . $1,868
EVENT 6 2/16/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 94
PRIZE POOL $91,180
1. Drazen Ilich . . . . . . $32,825
2. Brandon Mifsud . . . $18,236
3. Jeffrey Reiner . . . . . $10,030
4. Brian Falcone . . . . . . $7,294
5. Jovan Sudar . . . . . . . $6,383
EVENT 5 2/15/09
LADIES NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $200 + $35
PLAYERS 73
PRIZE POOL $14,162
1. Toni Haggard . . . . . . $5,099
2. Kim Strong . . . . . . . . $2,832
3. Karen Kyle . . . . . . . . $1,558
4. Sue Warner . . . . . . . . $1,133
5. Michelle Hiers . . . . . . . .$991
EVENT 4 2/15/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 171
PRIZE POOL $82,935
1. Larry Nichols . . . . . $26,871
2. Michael Carter . . . . $14,099
3. Dan Dykhouse . . . . . . $8,294
4. Austin McCormick . . $6,635
5. Josh Wininger . . . . . . $4,976
6. Perry Ernest . . . . . . . $4,147
EVENT 3 2/14/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 360
PRIZE POOL $104,760
1. Matthew McCartney . $32,471
2. Scott Kahoun . . . . . $16,762
3. Aaron Newmann . . . $8,381
4. Tom Hoffman . . . . . . $7,333
5. Lee Bun . . . . . . . . . . . $6,286
6. Chad Wiedenhoeft . . $5,238
EVENT 2 2/13/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 159
PRIZE POOL $77,600
1. Mike Sinnott . . . . . . $25,143
2. Perry Ernest . . . . . . $13,192
3. Jacob Manley . . . . . . $7,760
4. Duane Gerleman . . . $6,208
5. Joseph Dinardo II . . $4,656
6. Greg Lessard . . . . . . $3,880
EVENT 1 2/12/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 334
PRIZE POOL $97,194
1. Jeff Banghart . . . . . $30,127
2. Drazen Ilich . . . . . . $15,551
3. Nate Davis . . . . . . . . . $7,776
4. Colin Perry . . . . . . . . $6,804
5. Mario Hudson . . . . . . $5,832
6. Elizabeth Moreland . $4,860
