When it comes to mouth-watering food and great live music, no city beats New Orleans. The poker action here isn't too bad either. In a sense, everyone who visits New Orleans ends up a winner.
That's a perspective shared by thousands of poker players, who come to the Crescent City each year to play in the South's most prestigious poker tournament series.
"If I enter a tournament and go deep, that's awesome," said Jerry Siemens, a small business owner who visits New Orleans about twice per year. "And if I bust out, then I have the rest of the night free to have a great dinner or hear the music on Bourbon Street. So, it's a win-win deal for me."
This marks the fifth consecutive year Harrah's New Orleans hosted a WSOP Circuit stop. The first event of the 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge attracted a whopping 572 players-the largest turnout at Harrah's New Orleans for a World Series of Poker Circuit tournament in more than two years, and was won by Casey Lang Chiasson, from Lafayette, LA, who took home $48,272 for first place.
The 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge concluded with a $5,000 + $150 no-limit hold 'em tournament played over three consecutive days. This was the final tournament of the 2008-2009 World Series of Poker Circuit season, and sets the stage for the World Series of Poker.
The 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge champion is Jean "Prince" Gaspard, a 37-year-old professional poker player from Chicago, IL. Gaspard won a wire-to-wire victory and absolutely dominated play at the final table. During much of the day three competition Gaspard held more than half of the total chips in play, and his position was never seriously threatened.
EVENT #20 5/20/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 167
PRIZE POOL $798,950
1. Jean "Prince" Gaspard. . . . $211,722
2. William Kopp . . . ............ $127,832
3. Ken Christopher . . .......... $81,892
4. Steven McKoy . . . . .......... $63,916
5. Dan Walsh . . . . . . . .......... $49,934
6. Anita Vasquez . . . . .......... $39,948
7. Justin Allen . . . . . . .......... $31,958
EVENT #19 5/17/09
LADIES-NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 184
PRIZE POOL $53,544
1. Lisa Wilder . . . . . . . $14,189
2. Annette Martin . . . . . $8,567
3. Tabatha Michel . . . . . $5,488
4. Sue Tolson . . . . . . . . . $4,283
EVENT #18 5/16/09
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 30
PRIZE POOL $29,100
1. Brent Keller . . . . . . $14,550
2. Jason Gladden . . . . . $8,730
EVENT #17 5/16/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 375
PRIZE POOL $181,928
1. Dave Gafford . . . . . $43,650
2. Michael Murphy . . . $26,826
3. Vlad Ventsko . . . . . . $16,823
4. Richard Estep . . . . . $13,641
EVENT #16 5/15/09
POT LIMIT OMAHA $100 REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $250 + $35
PLAYERS 94
REBUYS 407
PRIZE POOL $62,274
Leonid Shteyn
1. Leonid Shteyn . . . . . $19,928
2. Robert Campbell . . . $12,455
3. Ed Rodger . . . . . . . . . $7,939
EVENT #15 5/15/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 544
PRIZE POOL $158,304
1. Kai Landry . . . . . . . $35,620
2. Gaven Arza . . . . . . . $22,558
3. Vincent Dellapi . . . . $13,582
4. Shawn Pilot . . . . . . . $11,319
EVENT #14 5/14/09
POT LIMIT OMAHA HI/LO 8 OR BETTER
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 114
PRIZE POOL $33,174
1. Keith Ezykowich . . . $8,791
2. Anthony Bertuccio . . $5,307
3. Anthony Douglas . . . $3,400
EVENT #13 5/14/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 262
PRIZE POOL $254,140
1. Robert Rosengarten $61,629
2. Abdul Al-Magableh $38,121
3. Manelic Minaya . . . . $24,143
4. Chad Ferrell . . . . . . $19,696
EVENT #12 5/13/09
POT LIMIT HOLD'EM & OMAHA
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 99
PRIZE POOL $48,015
1. John Tollefsen . . . . . $15,365
2. Brent Keller . . . . . . . $9,603
3. Chad Burns . . . . . . . . $6,122
EVENT #11 5/13/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 323
PRIZE POOL $99,993
1. Chris Tipper . . . . . . $22,558
2. Johnny Stephenson $13,863
3. Michael Huckman . . $8,694
EVENT #10 5/12/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 263
PRIZE POOL $76,533
1. John Lallo . . . . . . . . $18,560
2. Alex Wood . . . . . . . . $11,479
3. Scott Frost . . . . . . . . . $7,270
EVENT #9 5/12/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM 6-HANDED
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 172
PRIZE POOL $83,420
1. Mike Raimon . . . . . $24,192
2. John Riola . . . . . . . . $15,016
3. Bradley Jones . . . . . . $9,593
EVENT #8 5/11/09
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 74
PRIZE POOL $35,890
1. George Guzman . . . $12,921
2. James Lenaghan . . . . $7,178
3. Robert Campbell . . . . $3,947
EVENT #7 5/11/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 156
PRIZE POOL $75,660
1. Joe Phelps . . . . . . . . . $24,513
2. Steven Faillici . . . . . $12,862
3. Chris Lang . . . . . . . . $7,566
4. Brian Delatte . . . . . . . $6,053
EVENT #6 5/10/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 142
PRIZE POOL $41,322
1. Clinton Belle . . . . . . $13,388
2. Lewis Campbell . . . . $7,024
3. Beanz McGriff . . . . . $4,132
EVENT #5 5/10/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 128
PRIZE POOL $62,080
1. Jesse Jackson . . . . . $20,115
2. Joe Pepe . . . . . . . . . . $10,554
3. D.D. Wininger . . . . . . $6,208
EVENT #4 5/9/09
POT LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 75
PRIZE POOL $21,857
1. Patrick D. Peercy . . . $7,857
2. Preston Derden . . . . . $4,365
3. Corrie Wunstel . . . . . $2,400
EVENT #3 5/9/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 341
PRIZE POOL $165,475
1. Nancy Birnbaum . . . $51,269
2. Todd Wood . . . . . . . $26,461
3. Tyler Smith . . . . . . . $13,320
4. Keechi Settlemyre . $11,576
5. Shawn Quillin . . . . . . $9,923
6. Larry Price . . . . . . . . $8,269
7. John Payne . . . . . . . . $6,615
EVENT #2 5/8/09
LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 81
PRIZE POOL $23,571
1. Robert Campbell . . . . $8,485
2. Vittario Iemolo . . . . . $4,714
EVENT #1 5/8/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 572
PRIZE POOL $166,452
1. Casey Lang Chiasson . $48,272
2. Kirk Danna . . . . . . . $25,468
3. Norman Rockwell . . $13,317
