WSOP Circuit result

These days it seems, twenty-something poker champions are a dime-a-dozen. Every month it seems, a young person wins a big tournament somewhere, only to quickly fizzle out and gradually disappear from the tournament poker scene.

The latest is 23-year old newly-turned poker pro Michael “Mickey” Pickett from Little Canada, who has won the World Series of Poker Circuit championship, held recently at the Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort.

He won in extraordinary fashion, overcoming a sizable chip disadvantage at the start of the final table. He also overcame a highly-skilled and experienced field of competitors en route to his biggest tournament cash ever, so far.

“Only five percent of all poker players make a profit,” Pickett declared following his improbable victory. “I don’t want to say that nobody should try and play poker for a living because that sounds hypocritical. But I think you have to start out with a plan and stick with it. That’s what I have done.”

“From the start, I took this very seriously. I am really fortunate because I have a lot of close friends who help me to stay in line and be accountable,” Pickett said. “We talk a lot about poker hands and situations. The support network really helps me because instead of going on tilt, I think about what I have done and try to improve. If you take a beat, you have to forget about it and move on. I have learned that is the toughest thing for many players to do.”

For his first WSOP Circuit victory, Pickett pocketed $229,002 plus an $11,000 bonus prize – good for a guaranteed seat in the 2008 WSOP championship event to be held later this year in Las Vegas. He also received a commemorative gold and diamond ring, presented to each and every WSOP Circuit champion. Cheered on by the largest and most enthusiastic group of supporters in the audience which constituted his support network, it took Pickett about six hours to steamroll over the final table and claim victory.

The tournament marked the fourth straight year the World Series of Poker Circuit has been played in Southern California. The Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort, nestled in the cool mountains 45-miles away from sunny San Diego, hosted the eighth of 12 WSOP Circuit stops on this year’s tour. The $5,000 buy-in championship event attracted 148 entries creating a total prize pool of $706,800. The top 18 finishers all received prize money,

Several notable poker pros and celebrities entered the prestigious event including former WSOP gold bracelet winners Lee Watkinson, Tom Schneider, Layne Flack, Brandon Cantu, Bill Edler, and Jeff Madsen. Other poker notables who entered included Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Nick DiLeo, Michael Banducci, Allen Kessler, Alex Jacob, Vanessa Rousso, Travis Erdman, and Chad Brown.

The main event was rounded out by the reigning world poker champion Jerry Yang, who made history by winning $8.5 million at last year’s WSOP. Yang is from nearby Temecula, CA, which is about 25 miles away from Harrah’s Rincon. “This is like home to me….this is my turf,” said Yang during an early break in the tournament. “I have seen a lot of my friends here and some of them have even come to watch me play. It’s really a great feeling to come back to Rincon as the world poker champion. I am so overwhelmed with how nice people have been to me and am so pleased to see Harrah’s Rincon host another World Series Circuit tournament.”

Despite Yang’s high praise, he did not survive past the first day. In fact, 121 players were eliminated in the tournaments first 12 hours – leaving just 27 players who returned on Day Two. It took only about five hours to whittle the field from 27 players down to nine, and hence the final table was set.

Final results:
1st Mickey Pickett, Little Canada, MN, $229,002
2nd David Peters, Rancho Santa Fe, CA, $120,156
3rd Edward Sabat, Lancaster, CA, $70,680
4th Kenny Bedoya, San Diego, CA, $56,544
5th Cristian Avendano, Quito, Ecuador, $42,408
6th Gavin Smith, Las Vegas, NV, $35,340
7th Lee Watkinson, Las Vegas, NV, $28,272
8th Damien “Damo” Oborne, Melbourne, Australia, $21,204
9th Jon Eaton, Las Vegas, NV, $14,136