The second annual World Poker Tour Regional at the Atlantis Casino in Reno wrapped up Sept. 23 and paid more than $407K in winnings over the course of 26 events. The bulk of the tournaments were no-limit hold’em, ranging from $120-$340, but the series also offered H.O.R.S.E, PLO, limit hold’em and Omaha.
The $1,650 main event drew 138 players for a prize pool that exceeded $200K. When it reached seven-handed, a chop was executed as James Martini, Bruce Peterson, Brett Edmunds, Richard Hanley and Gregg Wilkinson took home $23,583 each. The top two, Adam Cress and Michael Cooper, both of Reno, each earned $30K. Cress was the overall chipleader when the table agreed on the deal, so he walked away with the title and WPT trophy.
The first event, a $340 NLHE tournament, got the series off to a great start with 154 runners and paid nearly $45K. Jesse Turner finished first for more than $14K, followed by Albert Cain ($8,291) and Cress ($5,378).
Poker room manager Daniel Chiu was pleased with the results and believes the tournament will continue to grow annually.
“We saw more players out the second year of this event, and were excited to see players from all over the country,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to build and improve our tournament events, and believe we offered the best value with deepstack structure and play. We’ll continue to strive to offer the best possible tournaments every time out.”
CONTAXIS ILL: Harveys Lake Tahoe poker room manager Vincent Contaxis suffered a major stroke in September. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope he understands how much his presence in the cardroom will be missed. For those of you who know Vinny and would like to help his family at this difficult time, contact Harveys poker room at (775) 588-2411.
The World Series of Poker Circuit runs at Harveys from Nov. 8-19, with the main event ($1,675) starting Nov. 17 (flights at noon and 5 p.m.).
— Leslie Pauls is an Ante Up Ambassador for Reno and pro poker player.Email her at anteupcali@gmail.com.
WPT Regional, Western Poker Challenge, Atlantis Casino, Reno. Sept. 14-24
Event 1 • $340 NLHE
154 Entries • Pool: $44,814
Jesse Turner, $14,342
Event 2 • $120 NLHE
96 Entries • Pool: $9,312
Douglas Campbell, $3,259
Event 3 • $230 NLHE
91 Entries • Pool: $17,534
Heather Landay, $6,179
Event 5 • $230 NLHE
58 Entries • Pool: $9,846
Valerie Cross, $3,839
Event 6 • $230 PLO
17 Entries • Pool: $3,298
Mark Beurle, $2,144
Event 7 • $230 NLHE
17 Entries • Pool: $4,850
Rudy Ayala, $1,987
Event 8 • $230 NLHE
48 Entries • Pool: $9,312
John Miner, $3,818
Event 9 • $120 LHE
26 Entries • Pool: $2,522
Amin Salkhi, $1,261
Event 10 • $120 NLHE
32 Entries • Pool: $3,104
Julie Leonard, $1,397
Event 11 • $230 NLHE
74 Entries • Pool: $14,356
Alan Mastic, $5,025
Event 12 • $230 H.O.R.S.E.
23 Entries • Pool: $4,462
Steven McCoy, $2,231
Event 13 • $120 NLHE
44 Entries • Pool: $4,268
Rajesh Vig, $1,751
Event 14 • $230 Omaha
59 Entries • Pool: $11,446
Adam Bishop, $3,298
Event 15 • $120 NLHE
52 Entries • Pool: $5,044
Adon Asencio, $1,727
Event 17 • $230 NLHE
73 Entries • Pool: $14,162
Daniel Kiefert, $3,600
Event 18 • $120 NLHE
44 Entries • Pool: $4,268
Candida Rosspowers, $1,000
Event 20 • $340 NLHE
81 Entries • Pool: $23,571
Jebidiah Hoffman, $8,251
$1,650 Main Event
138 Entries • Pool: $207K
Adam Cress, $30,000
Event 25 • $120 NLHE
54 Entries • Pool: $5,238
Gary Tighe, $1,918
Event 26 • $230 NLHE
53 Entries • Pool: $8,997
Hiroki Shibata, $3,508
