For the past week and a half, the World Series of Poker Circuit has been at Harrah��s New Orleans for the last stop of the 2010-2011 season. Currently, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is just off Bourbon Street reporting on the $1,600 Main Event. Of course, the winner of that tournament will win an automatic seat in the National Championship coming up in just a couple of weeks. Furthermore, that event will be followed by the $10,000 Regional Championship, which awards seats to the National Championship to everyone who make the final table.
Each WSOP Circuit stop hosts ten gold-ring events. Players can earn National Leaderboard points, based upon their performance in those events, and hopefully accumulate enough to qualify for the National Championship. In addition, the player who earns the most points at each stop (the "Casino Champion") automatically qualifies for that event. Right now in New Orleans, that player looks to be Brian Walsingham. He has racked up 100 points by taking down two of the ring events (Event #4 $355 No-Limit Hold��em & Event #8 $1,085 No-Limit Hold��em), earning $105,405 in the process.
Perhaps the biggest story to come out of Harrah��s New Orleans was Event #7 $355 No-Limit Hold��em, which drew 646 players. That meant it was the biggest turnout for any poker tournament held in New Orleans since May 20, 2005. With a prize pool of $186,048 at stake, it was a familiar face in ��Captain Tom�� Franklin who emerged victorious and collected the $38,139 first-place prize. Franklin, a well-known professional, claimed his first WSOP-C ring, which will no doubt complement his 1999 WSOP bracelet.
There is still one ring event scheduled to be held after the Main Event, Event #10 $355 No-Limit Hold��em, but right now all eyes are on the Main Event. As always, you can catch our coverage of the Main Event by visiting our Live Reporting page. We��ll also be bringing you live updates from the $10,000 Regional Championship beginning on Thursday, May 19, 2011. In the meantime, you can find a summary of the ring events leading up to the Harrah��s New Orleans Main Event below.
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Event #1 No-Limit Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$55
473
$136,224
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
John Campbell
Baton Rouge, LA
$28,288
2
Adam Lippert
Brooklyn, NY
$18,108
3
Andrew Phillips
Palm Coast, FL
$13,228
4
Brett Tortorich
New Orleans, LA
$9,806
5
Kyle Cartwright
Bartlett, TN
$7,375
6
Doug Cox
Northport, AL
$5,626
7
Samuel Ansley
Southlake, TX
$4,352
8
Clint Schafer
Baton Rouge, LA
$3,415
9
Paul Vo
Austin, TX
$2,717
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #2 Mixed Pot Limit Omaha/Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$55
96
$27,648
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
John Holley
Destin, FL
$8,380
2
Dustin Wertz
New Orleans, LA
$5,179
3
David Nicholson
Perkinston, MS
$3,688
4
Michael Schneider
Covington, GA
$2,679
5
Doug Carli
Alliance, OH
$1,984
6
Jeff Winget
Belleville, IL
$1,498
7
Phillip Hui
San Antonio, TX
$1,152
8
Thomas Ryan Hopkins
San Antonio, TX
$902
9
David Clark
Dallas, TX
$719
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #3 No-Limit Hold��em Six-Handed
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$55
312
$89,856
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Daniel [Removed:376]
Opelousas, LA
$21,116
2
Daniel Galindo
San Antonio, TX
$13,056
3
Mark Utterback
San Antonio, TX
$9,482
4
David Jackson
Jonesboro, GA
$7,004
5
Randy Gordon
N/A
$5,258
6
Kyle Caslin
Saint Charles, MO
$4,010
7
Richard Keranen
Denham Springs, LA
$3,106
8
Lance Reine
N/A
$2,442
9
Lance Honeycutt
N/A
$1,948
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #4 No Limit Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$55
423
$121,824
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Brian Walsingham
Winston, GA
$26,801
2
Lyle Walker
Denham Springs, LA
$16,561
3
William Putmeyer
Hampton Cove, AL
$12,102
4
Nhu Nguyen
Houston, TX
$8,985
5
Charlie Cibula
River Forest, IL
$6,775
6
Eric Witmer
Gonzales, LA
$5,186
7
Nicholas Ceci
Peachtree City, GA
$4,027
8
Jeremy Swanson
St. Amant, LA
$3,172
9
Kenny Milam
Laplace, LA
$2,533
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #5 No-Limit Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$65
293
$140,640
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Zhen Cai
Lakeworth, FL
$33,753
2
AP Phahurat
Tulsa, OK
$20,859
3
Kennii Nguyen
Chicago, IL
$15,135
4
Dennis Crowley
Pearland, TX
$11,166
5
Mario Silvestri
Colleyville, TX
$8,375
6
Ly Do
San Antonio, TX
$6,382
7
Richard Read
Picayune, MS
$4,939
8
John Ross
Niagara, Falls, NY
$3,881
9
Alex Maturi
Oak Park, IL
$4,939
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #6 Pot Limit Omaha
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$65
101
$48,480
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Walter Wright
Las Vegas, NV
$14,544
2
Cory Wood
Murfreesboro, TN
$8,989
3
Mark Thoennes
Greenville, SC
$6,400
4
Trey Brabham
Austin, TX
$4,649
5
Nick Jivkov
Des Plaines, IL
$3,444
6
Daniel Galindo
San Antonio, TX
$2,599
7
James Lee
Yukon, OK
$1,999
8
Phil Ngo
Oklahoma City, OK
$1,566
9
Gregory Douglas
Tulsa, OK
$1,248
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #7 No-Limit Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$55
646
$186,048
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
��Captian�� Tom Franklin
Gulfport, MS
$38,139
2
Lawrence Wayne
Houston, TX
$23,600
3
Joel Merwick
Lincoln, NE
$17,309
4
Johnathan Westra
Gainesville, FL
$12,872
5
Ryan Bradley Freeman
Katy, TX
$9,702
6
George Menia
Baton Rouge, LA
$7,410
7
Trent Temples
Bogalusa, LA
$5,734
8
Mark Lindley
Katy, TX
$4,494
9
Abel Hinojosa
Houston, TX
$3,568
WSOP Circuit Harrah��s New Orleans Ring Event #8 No-Limit Hold��em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$1,000+$85
356
$341,760
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Brian Walsingham
Winston, GA
$78,604
2
Lawrence Wayne
Houston, TX
$48,594
3
Allie Prescott
Las Vegas, NV
$35,450
4
Anthony Prusac
Houston, TX
$26,295
5
Paul Odum
Canton, GA
$19,808
6
Dan Schmiech
Houston, TX
$15,150
7
Loc Van Nguyen
Houston, TX
$11,758
8
Eli Loewenthal
Carmel, IN
$7,759
9
Yong An
Las Vegas, NV
$6,005
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