Morrow Bags Chip Lead as 3 Remain in the WSOP St. Charles Main Event
The World Series of Poker Circuit saw the second day of the $1,700 Main Event St. Charles come to an end on Sunday night. Just 67 runners returned for Day 2 but only three found a bag, moving onto the final day of the tournament.
Leading the way is Missouri native Albert Morrow. Morrow began the day with 277,000 chips and gradually but a stack with his biggest hand coming late into the night when his pocket queens held against the gutterball staright draw of Andros Ioakimides. The hand catapulted him into the chip lead as he ended the night with almost half of the chips in play with 5,885,000.
Second in chips is Scott Hall with 5,285,000. Hall proved to be one of the most consistent players of the day as he showed great patience as he waited for optimal spots throughout the tournament. Hall came into the day as the chip leader and hovered over the average for the better part of the day and it was not until the final 17 that he started to really gain traction en route as he flopping and turning sets to achieve his top-two stack.
Last but certainly not least is Andros Ioakimides who still has a sizeable stack with 1,255,000. Ioakimides took the chip lead in the half-way point of the day, with his biggest hand coming from a double elimination of Brian Altman and Alan Cutler. Ioakimides has already nabbed one ring this series and will have his work cut out for him in order to win another.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andros Ioakimides | 1,255,000 | |
| 2 | Albert Morrow | 5,885,000 | |
| 3 | Scott Hall | 5,285,000 |
Day 2 Action
The day began just 4 spots away from the money, but that didn't stop anyone from pushing their chips around as a flurry of eliminations happened in the first hour of play. The money bubble popped whiting the first twenty minutes of play and it was unfortunate for Jesse Lott that he was the one walking out the door after he jammed with a made hand of sixes after Dino Galic had already raised holding a pair of eights.
Everyone in the tournament was now guaranteed at least a min-cash of $2,532, but all had their eye on the $130,667 first-place prize.
The action wouldn't stop there as eliminations occurred at a rapid pace as the final 11 players would be reached before the dinner break arrived.
Many notable players made the money but failed to capture a Day 3 birth and that list includes the likes of Mike Shin (12th - $9,361), Jeffery Trudeau Jr (14th - $8,579), Kyle Cartwright (22nd - $4,595), Martin Ryan (23rd - $4,595), Brett Apter (30th - $3,552), Nate Bandy (33rd - $3,203) and Keven Stammen (57th - $2,532).
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 take exit after he ran his ladies into Hall's rockets giving him an eighth place finish.
Up next was Brent Barfield, who waited patiently all night 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
The last level of the night began with six players and ended with just three. Finishing in sixth place was Ravi Raghavan. Raghavan's stack was dwindled down to a mere nothing and 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 land this far after his roller coaster of a day. Smith came into the 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 last elimination of the night would see another player bite the dust after being ahead preflop as Edward Dixon's comeback was cut short after 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.
Three-handed play began with Morrow leading the way with Hall close on his tail, and Ioakimides sitting as the short stack. Not much changed as they played almost one-full level before bagging and tagging for the evening.
WSOP Circuit St. Charles Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TBD | $130,667 |
| 2 | TBD | $80,761 |
| 3 | TBD | $58,653 |
| 4 | Edward Dixon | $43,198 |
| 5 | Jerod Smith | $32,271 |
| 6 | Ravi Raghavan | $24,458 |
| 7 | Brent Barfield | $18,810 |
| 8 | Gil George | $14,692 |
| 9 | Paul Strohm | $11,634 |
The final three will return at noon on Monday. Play will start on level 27 with blinds of 25,000/50,000/50,000. The levels will remain 60 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every two levels of play and a 75-minute dinner break at the end of Level 31. The tournament will not stop until a winner is crowned, taking home the $130,667 first-place prize, along with a shiny new WSOP circuit ring and an automatic seat into the GCC.
PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing all of the coverage until a champion is crowned, so stay tuned as the action unfolds!