Harrah's New Orleans - Live Updates

Josh Arieh and Andy Philachack see a flop come T♠ 9♦ 7♠. Philachack checks and Arieh bets $22,000. Philachack raises to $100,000 and Arieh moves all-in. Philachack calls immediately and turns up T♦ 7♣ for two pair, tens and sevens while Arieh is drawing extremely thin with 9♣ 7♥. The turn card is the 2♣ and Arieh is down to two outs to stay alive in this event. The river card is the 3♥ and Andy Philachack is champion of the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge!

For the win, Philachack takes home $247,860, a WSOPC ring and a $10,000 entry into the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Runner-up Josh Arieh earns $130,050 in a losing cause. Congratulations to Andy and Josh, and to the staff at Harrah's New Orleans for organizing a wonderful first-ever Winter Bayou Poker Challenge!

Tournament staff have produced an alligator's head stuffed with money as a symbol of poker in the Bayou and the players are just taking a quick break to gather their wits about them in the face of this beastly creature. In the meantime, here are the chip counts now that we're down to the mano a mano:

Andy Philachack	$1.2 million
Josh Arieh	$466,000

 

Josh Arieh limps in from the small blind and Ted McCollom checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes A♦ A♣ Q♣ and Arieh checks to McCollom, who immediately moves all-in. "You're all-in? I call," says Arieh, showing A♥ 9♦ for trips to his rival's 4♣ 3♣ for the club flush draw. The turn card is the Q♥ and Arieh fills up, and after the river card is a meaningless 9♣ Ted McCollom has been eliminated in third place. The pride of Seabrook, Texas, earns $76,500 in his second poker tournament cash ever.

Josh Arieh limps in and Ted McCollom joins the party from the small blind. Andy Philachack checks his option and the flop comes A♠ 9♦ 5♠. Action checks to Arieh, who bets $27,000 and McCollom check-raises for the one-millionth time tonight. He adds $75,000 to the wager and Andy Philachack announces a re-raise, moving all-in for his last $350,000. Arieh gets out of the way and McCollom makes a quick call, showing A♦ 6♥ to Philachack's A♣ 2♣.

The turn is the 7♦, giving both players plenty of chopping outs, and the river card is the J♣, resulting in a chopped pot for Philachack and McCollom, a justified reward for the standard weak ace check-raise and check-re-raise.

Andy Philachack raises to $26,000 from the button and David Fox moves all-in from the small blind. Action folds back to Philachack, who makes a quick call and shows A♦ K♣ to Fox's 6♦ 6♥. Fox has the short stack ($125,000) and is racing for his tournament life.

The flop comes 7♠ 7♥ 5♦ and Fox maintains the lead. The turn card is the J♦ and Philachack can bust Fox with a jack, ace or king. The river is the A♠ and Philachack pairs his ace, winning the race and sending David Fox home in fourth place for a $61,200 score.

Action folds around to Nic Gellepis, who open-shoves from the hijack. Leonard Pruzansky moves all-in as well from the button for exactly the same amount as Gellepis' all-in. Josh Arieh gives the matter heavy thought from the big blind before finally deciding to call both all-ins, turning up 9♣ 9♦ to Gellepis' J♣ J♦ and Pruzansky's A♠ J♠.

The crowd gathers in anticipation of a huge hand, and the flop does not disappoint, coming T♠ 9♠ 3♦ and giving Arieh a set while giving Pruzansky the flush draw. The turn is a dagger, bringing the 9♥ to give the Bodog pro quad nines and simultaneously bust both Gellepis and Pruzansky. After the river is an academic 3♣ the hand is official and Arieh reclaims the chip lead while Pruzansky and Gellepis are both eliminated.

Since both players had the same chip count going into the hand, Nic Gellepis and Leonard Pruzansky will tie for fifth place and split equal prize money, giving them each $42,075.

Nic Gellepis raises to $25,000 from the button and Andy Philachack moves all-in from the small blind. Leonard Pruzansky folds in the big blind and Gellepis makes a quick call for his last $133,000, showing, uh 9♥ 6♥ to Philachack's A♣ J♠. The flop comes T♥ 7♦ 2♥, giving Gellepis plenty of drawing outs as well as two live cards. The turn is the Q♠, helping neither player. The river card is the K♥ and Gellepis gets there, making a heart-flush to double through a furious Philachack.

The break is over and the cards are back in the air from the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge at Harrahs New Orleans. Six players remain and their chip stacks break down as follows:

Seat 1	Tim McCollom	$365,000
Seat 2	Philip Sparta	$0
Seat 3	Lou Esposito	$0
Seat 4	Bruce MacGregor	$0
Seat 5	Nic Gellepis	$51,000
Seat 6	Andy Philachack	$321,000
Seat 7	Leonard Pruzansky	$166,000
Seat 8	David Fox	$242,000
Seat 9	Josh Arieh	$457,000

Game on!

 

David Fox gets a walk in his big blind.

Josh Arieh raises to $17,000 and Ted McCollom announces a re-raise from his immediate left, making it $67,000. Action folds to Andy Philachack, who moves all-in and after Arieh gets out of the way McCollom makes the call, showing K♣ Q♣ to Philachack's A♥ K♦. McCollom is way behind and looks ready to double Philachack up headed to the flop, which comes T♣ 7♠ 2♠. The turn is the K♠, maintaining Philachack's advantage and leaving him needing to dodge three outs to double-up. The river card is the 7♣ and Philachack doubles through McCollom once more, sending over a $131,500 invoice to deplete the Texan's stack.

Nic Gellepis open-shoves all-in for $39,500 from the cut-off and the action folds to David Fox, who makes the call after some serious thought in the big blind. Gellepis shows Q♦ J♦ to Fox's A♦ 8♦ and Gellepis will need to improve to stay alive in this event.

The flop comes J♥ T♦ 9♠ and Gellepis pairs his jack while both players pick up open-ended straight draws. The turn card is the 4♦ and Fox picks up the diamond draw. The river card is the 9♥ and Gellepis dodges the doomsday cards to double through Fox and stay alive.

Andy Philachack raises to $16,000 from under the gun and Josh Arieh makes the call in the cut-off. We're heads-up going to the flop, which comes J♠ T♥ 4♠, and Philachack checks to Arieh, who checks behind. The turn is the A♦ and Philachack again checks. Arieh bets out $38,000 and Philachack makes a quick call. The river is the 5♣, prompting a third check from Philachack and a $75,000 wager from Arieh. Philachack mulls things over before finally laying down A♣ 9♣, giving Arieh the pot.

Leonard Pruzansky raises to $18,000 from middle position and Ted McCollom makes the call in the small blind. Bruce MacGregor moves all-in for $85,000 more from the big blind and Pruzansky folds out. After a few moments, McCollom makes the call and shows 6♠ 6♦ to MacGregor's A♠ Q♠.

Once again, McCollom puts his faith in his small pocket pairs and MacGregor is racing for his tournament life. The flop comes K♠ 7♥ 3♥ and MacGregor remains behind. The turn is the 9♣, changing nothing, and after the river card is the 9♦ MacGregor loses his race and is eliminated in seventh place. The Floridian will take home $30,600 for three days' work.

We've played 11 hands and have seen three eliminations so far.

Bruce MacGregor limps in and the action folds to Andy Philachack, who moves all-in from the hijack. David Fox makes the call on the button and Ted McCollom moves over the top all-in for about $335,000 from the big blind. Fox folds out after some thought and McCollom turns up A♠ A♥ to Philachack's T♣ T♦.

Philachack will need some help to stay alive in this tournament but the K♣ 5♦ 2♠ flop changes nothing. The turn is the 4♦ and Philachack has two outs to stay alive in this event. The river card is the dagger T♥ and Philachack spikes that two-outer, cracking McCollom's aces and more than tripling-up.

Leonard Pruzansky raises to $18,000 and Ted McCollom calls before Philip "This Is" Sparta moves all-in for another $57,500 from the cut-off. Action folds back around to Pruzansky, who gets out of the way, and after a few moments' thought McCollom makes the call, showing 3♣ 3♥ to Sparta's A♥ Q♣ as the crowd whistles its approval of McCollam's sick call.

Sparta is racing for his tournament life and the flop comes T♥ 8♣ 5♥, helping neither player. The turn card is the 7♥, giving Sparta a flush draw heading to fifth street. The river card is the J♦ and Sparta can't hit his outs, losing a race to Ted McCollom and busting out in eighth place. Philip earns $22,950 to take back to the city-state.

Action folds around to Lou Esposito, who moves all-in from the button. Bruce MacGregor folds in the small blind and Nic Gellepis, fairly short-stacked himself, makes the call in the big blind. Esposito shows 7♠ 5♠ to Gellepis' T♠ 3♣ and it's a battle of monster hands heading to the flop.

The flop comes A♥ J♦ 9♣ and Gellepis maintains his lead. The turn is the 8♠ and Esposito picks up some outs, but the river card is the A♦ and Lou Esposito has been eliminated in ninth place. The May WSOPC New Orleans champ takes home $15,300 for his efforts.

Here's how the final table stacks up as we prepare for the official introductions and the start of play:

Seat 1	Tim McCollom	$252,500
Seat 2	Philip Sparta	$85,500
Seat 3	Lou Esposito	$20,500
Seat 4	Bruce MacGregor	$123,500
Seat 5	Nic Gellepis	$65,000
Seat 6	Andy Philachack	$35,000
Seat 7	Leonard Pruzansky	$174,000
Seat 8	David Fox	$324,000
Seat 9	Josh Arieh	$510,000

 

It's final-table time from the World Series of Poker Circuit Winter Bayou Poker Challenge at Harrah's New Orleans deep in the Dirty South. Nine players have survived two grueling days of play here in Louisiana to make it to today's final table and we'll play until only one remains.

A $247,860 first prize is up for grabs, as well as a WSOPC ring and $10,000 buy-in for the WSOP Main Event, and with Bodog pro Josh Arieh joining May WSOPC New Orleans champ Lou Esposito and pros David Fox and Andy Philachack at the tables, those top dollars are sure to be hotly contested. We're just getting set up in the theater at Harrah's New Orleans but action should begin momentarily, so stay tuned to PokerListings.com throughout the day for comprehensive coverage of this thrilling event.