Just because the World Series of Poker is on hiatus until November and the Bicycle Casino’s Legends of Poker event didn’t kick-off until the end of July doesn’t mean there was a lack of available tournaments in mid- July. There were plenty, and they were spread out across the country. Results from these events that are referenced below are avaliable in the issue now on stands (Vol. 14 Number 4 August 16, 2010).
 
Gold Strike Down in Tunica —well, Robinsonville, MS, to be precise— the World Poker Open got underway on July 22 and runs through early August. We have results from the first half of this poker festival on page 10 of this issue and we’ll conclude our coverage in the next issue. So far there are two stars of this show. Merton Toler, of Princeton, W.Va, finished second in Event No. 2, winning $13,983 and won Event No. 8, taking down $15,238. Both events were no-limit hold’em. The big money winner thus far is Terry “lake” Garner, of Hattiesburg, MS, who won Event No. 5, a $500 + $50 buy-in no-limit hold’em event that was good for $43,196.
 
Hustler In Southern California, Larry Flynt’s Grand Slam of Poker ran from July 15 – 26, featuring a couple of multi-day events. In the main event, which saw 1,484 entrants compete for a $286,600 prize pool, Bruce Buffer took first prize of $75,000 when he defeated second place finisher Phillip Zangwill, who cashed for $37,000. Toan Nguyen was the third place finisher, winning $23,000. Results are on page 19.
 
Mohegan Sun Skipping three-thousand miles across country to Connecticut, Mohegan Sun’s Summer Showdown ran from July 16 – 19, and during that short, four day period they managed to squeeze in nine, reasonably priced events. The priciest of the bunch was a $1,000 + $100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that was won by Albert Shenker, of North Andover, MA, who outlasted a field of 211 runners, and when it got to be heads-up, he defeated Tom Dobrilovic, of West Nyack, NY. Shenker won $33,100 for first place, while Dobrilovic took home $27,000. Third place finisher Peter Sennon of the Bronx, won $21,400. Results can be found elsewhere on this page.
 
Wildhorse We admit it; we are unabashedly big fans of the Wildhorse Casino poker tournaments, which provide a terrific ambiance and reasonably priced events, and do so consistently. Their Summer Poker Rodeo comprised five events and ran from July 14 – 18. The biggest of these was Event No. 4, a $150 + $50 no limit hold’em tournament that attracted 345 players and created a prize pool of $72,000. When all was said and done, Chris Gillespie of Seaside, OR took home first place money of $13,578 when he defeated Michael Jutte, of Spokane, WA, heads-up for the title. Jutte cashed for $10,401, and Paul Fuhrer finished third, winning $$7,860. Our own “Oklahoma” Johnny Hale, the father of the senior’s event at the WSOP and the father of Poker Player Newspaper columnist Sarah Hale, finished seventh.