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On Monday, the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof Harrah’s Philadelphia Main Event crowned a new champion. Fourteen players returned for Day 3, but after an intense 14-hour day of poker, National Championship points leader Rex Clinkscales came out on top to win his first WSOP Circuit ring and the $121,097 that accompanies it.
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Philadelphia Results
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Rex Clinkscales | $121,097 |
2 | Mike Jukich | $74,863 |
3 | Ken Silberstein | $54,614 |
4 | Andrew Rudnik | $40,509 |
5 | Michael Assante | $30,516 |
6 | Leonardo Palermo | $23,340 |
7 | Tony Natale | $18,112 |
8 | Jonas Wexler | $14,258 |
9 | Beverly Cheney | $11,383 |
For Clinkscales, who was interviewed by PokerNews’ Chad Holloway last month, this was not just another WSOP Circuit Main Event, but rather it was a shot at redemption. Just one short year ago, Clinkscales made a deep run in this very event, only to bust in 10th place and miss out on making the official final table. This year, however, Clinkscales was able to avenge his poorly timed bust-out and emerge as the sole remaining player in the Harrah’s Room.
The day began slowly as none of the 14 returning players wanted to budge from their seats. After four hours of play and the eliminations of George Zinaty, Dave Moersdorf, Matthew Weber and Kris Bradshaw, the unofficial final table of 10 was reached. That bubble was quickly burst this year when Patrick Friday’s pocket jacks ran into the pocket kings of Michael Assante. Friday failed to improve and our final nine were officially set.
The last woman standing, Beverly Cheney, was the first casualty of the final table. She moved her very short stack all in before the flop only to have Clinkscales reship all in over the top of her. Cheney meekly tabled the
After Cheney’s elimination, the final table began to go a little crazy, and Ken Silberstein, last year’s runner-up in this very event, became a magnet for all of the chips. It all began with a hand that crippled Jonas Wexler. Wexler shipped all in before the flop into Silberstein’s
It was the first-crippled Wexler who was next to fall when he moved his short stack all in before the flop holding the
Tony Natale was the next to fall when he decided to run the gauntlet by moving all in before the flop from under the gun. His hopes of taking down the blinds and antes preflop were quickly dashed, however, when Andrew Rudnik reshipped all in over the top from the next seat over. Rudnik showed the
Immediately following Natale’s elimination, Palermo moved all in before the flop for his last 360,000. It folded around to Rudnik in the big blind, and he was once again the one to dash someone’s dreams of winning the Harrah’s Philadelphia Main Event. Rudnik flipped over the
Five-handed play then wore on for roughly an hour before Assante saw his last hand of the tournament. With blinds at 15,000/30,000/5,000, Assante opened to 60,000 from the button, and Mike Jurkich called from the small blind. Silberstein three-bet to an unknown amount, and Assante four-bet right back over the top for all of his chips. Jurkich folded, and Silberstein snapped him off.
Silberstein;
Assante:
The two were racing for Assante’s tournament life. The dealer rapped the table and produced a flop that read
Rudnik was the next to fall in another elimination at the hands of Silberstein. Last year’s runner-up opened with a preflop raise to around 80,000, and it folded to Andrew Rudnik who shipped all in for 690,000 from the small blind. It folded back to Silberstein who went into the tank for roughly a minute.
"I call," Silberstein quietly said.
Rudnik let out a sigh and flipped the
Three-handed play began with Silberstein holding 73% of the total chips in play. However, as the hours wore on, Silberstein became more and more incapable of closing the deal. It all began when Clinkscales scored a key double up through Silberstein fairly early on in three-handed play. Less than an hour later it was Jukich’s turn to double through Silberstein when he won a crucial race for his tournament life. Jukich doubled once more soon after when he flopped trip eights against Silberstein’s pocket kings, and suddenly Silberstein’s chip lead no longer existed.
Eventually, Silberstein fell when he open-shoved all in for his last 900,000 on a flop of
Clinkscales and Jukich were roughly even in chips when heads-up play began. The two played very small pots with one another for over two hours. Rarely was a pot ever built up over 1 million in chips. Clinkscales, though, continued to win at the crucial showdowns and chipped away slowly at Jukich’s stack. The match came to a sudden head when Jukich opened to 160,000 from the button at 40,000/80,000/10,000. Clinkscales three-bet to 410,000, and Jukich replied by four-betting all in. Clinkscales called and the hands were rolled over.
Clinkscales:
Jukich:
The flop brought
With Harrah’s Philadelphia in the books, only one stop remains on the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit. Be sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team starting May 17 as we dive deep into coverage of the Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event as well as the WSOP National Championship. The New Orleans $1,675 Main Event will take place May 17-20, and the National Championship will run May 22-24.
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