Scott Hall Wins WSOP Circuit Ameristar St. Charles for $130,667; Jerod Smith Casino Champ
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The fourth stop of the 2019/20 World Series of Poker Circuit crowned a new champion at St. Charles Ameristar Casino in the $1,700 Main Event as Scott Hall emerged victorious, denying Andros Ioakimides his second gold ring of the series. Hall outlasted a field of 414 entries to take down the biggest piece of the pie, pocketing $130,667, a coveted Main Event gold ring, and a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.
Hall is a poker pro from Fayetteville, Arkansas who has been in the game for over 12 years and accumulated $582,006 in that time span.
When asked how he feels about the victory Hall told PokerNews: "Coming into the final table I probably had the best run of hands I've ever had in live poker ever and It feels about as good as anything could feel really, it just feels great."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Hall | Fayetteville, Arkansas | $130,667 |
| 2 | Andros Ioakimides | St. Louis, Missouri | $80,761 |
| 3 | Albert Morrow | Florissant, Missouri | $58,653 |
| 4 | Edward Dixon | Detroit, Michigan | $43,198 |
| 5 | Jerod Smith | St. Louis, Missouri | $32,271 |
| 6 | Ravi Raghavan | North Brrok, Illinois | $24,458 |
| 7 | Brent Barfield | N/A | $18,810 |
| 8 | Gil George | Dallas, Texas | $14,692 |
| 9 | Paul Strohm | Kansas City, Missouri | $11,634 |
Final Table Action
The unofficial final table started at Level 24 and lost its first player not long into the level. Paul Strohm was the first victim after he jammed his short stack in holding a made hand of tens but got tripped up by the jack-nine suited of Ioakimides to send him home in ninth place.
One level later would see Gil George depart after he ran his ladies into Hall's rockets giving him an eighth-place finish.
Up next was Brent Barfield, who waited patiently to catch a hand and did. Unfortunately, it came at a bad time as his pocket jacks were no match for Morrow's cowboys. Both players improved to sets, but Morrow would put the quads to Barfield to send him home in seventh place for $18,810.
Level 26 began with six players and ended with just three. Finishing in sixth place was WPT champ Ravi Raghavan. His stack dwindled to a mere nothing and he had no choice but to move it in from the big blind holding ace-four after Hall raised holding a superior ace-seven. Hall flopped a seven leaving Raghavan with little to no hope as he took home $24,458 for his efforts.
Next up was Jerod Smith who was fortunate enough to go so far after his roller-coaster Day 2. Smith started the second day with an above-average stack and was down to 40,000 at one point before running it up to over 1.4 million. Smith hit a bad dry streak and saw over half his stack disappear before moving it in with pocket eights. He was called by Hall with pocket sixes and the set master did it one last time to come from behind to send Smith out the door in fifth place for $32,271.
The finish marked Smith's fifth final table of the stop, and while he didn't capture a ring, and despite multiple two-time winners, he was able to finish as the Ameristar St. Charles Casino Champion with 147.5 points. That meant he too earned a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.
The next elimination would see another player bite the dust after being ahead preflop as Edward Dixon's comeback was cut short when he jammed holding ace-jack and was called by Morrow holding a live ten-nine suited. Morrow would flop top-pair and turn two as Dixon would take exit in fourth place $43,198.
"I just wanna shout out to my friends and family from not just Fayetteville, Arkansas but from all over."
Three-way action picked back up on the final day where Ioakimides found a much needed double up on the first hand holding ace-queen against Hall's ace-jack. Play would continue for two levels and chips would circle around the table until Bill Morrow jammed his last four million chips in the middle after the flop holding the nut-flush draw and was called by Hall holding a pair of ladies. Morrow was unsuccessful in completing his flush or pairing his ace and was sent home in third place $58,653.
Hall took a commanding chip advantage into the heads-up match but it was all too familiar. The first hand started in the same fashion with Ioakimides doubling up as he held a superior ace to Hall. Unfortunately for Ioakimides things wouldn't continue his way as he never breached the four-million mark. His day would come to an end after he tried to represent a flush at the wrong time as Hall rivered the nut straight to end his journey in second place $80,761.
"This is an important moment," Hall said. "I just wanna shout out to my friends and family from not just Fayetteville, Arkansas but from all over."
WSOP Circuit Ameristar St. Charles Ring Winners
| Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
| Event #1: $400 NLH Double Stack | 206 | $67,980 | Carlos Loving | $16,622 |
| Event #2: $400 NLH Multi-Flight | 1,093 | $360,690 | Cory Bogert | $50,034 |
| Event #3: $400 NLH | 157 | $51,810 | Matthew Koch | $13,567 |
| Event #4: $400 NLH 6-Handed | 232 | $76,560 | Andros Ioakimides | $18,119 |
| Event #5: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha | 117 | $38,610 | Cory Bogert | $10,674 |
| Event #6: $400 NLH Bounty | 160 | $36,800 | Chris Parsley | $9,634 |
| Event #7: $400 NLH | 108 | $35,640 | Robert Keeling | $10,021 |
| Event #8: $400 Monster Stack | 281 | $92,730 | Robert Keeling | $21,357 |
| Event #9: $600 NLH | 132 | $67,980 | Jeff Trudeau Jr. | $18,265 |
| Event #10: $1,700 Main Event | 414 | $627,210 | Scott Hall | $130,667 |
| Event #11: $600 NLH | 148 | $48,840 | Randy Ratajczyk | $12,946 |
| Event #12: $00 NLH | 106 | $34,980 | Brian Welch | $9,995 |
| Event #13: $250 NLH Double Stack | 277 | $55,400 | Gary Bland | $12,837 |
This wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the Main Event in St. Charles, but the WSOPC Circuit season continues to roll on with its fifth stop at Thunder Valley Casino in the Sacramento area in California. PokerNews will offer full coverage of the $1,700 Main Event as well as the high roller, so tune in for all of the action then.
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