As the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Harrah's in Atlantic City continued to unroll, two more champions were crowned in action early this week.
Bruce Bartfield Wins Event 2
On Sunday, 701 players had started in a $300 No-Limit Hold'em event, building a $210,300 prize pool. Monday's final table was remarkable for the stunning chip swings and bad beats that occurred.
Aaron Kidder started the final table with a comfortable 150k chip lead over his nearest opponent but it was clear from the first hand that it was anyone's tournament to win.
Perhaps one of the sickest beats of the tournament happened with eight players to go. A seriously short-stacked Bruce Bartfeld moved all-in from the small blind with only a J-5 and was instantly called by the pocket aces of Mark Hoke.
The domination was quickly reversed when Bartfeld flopped two jacks for trips, leading the fortunate Bartfeld to quip, "And this isn't being televised?" as he scooped up the chips.
Hoke suffered two beats like this (early on in action his pocket kings were run down by A-Q) and departed the final table in eighth place. Bartfeld continued to climb the ladder after his Lazarus-like resurrection and assumed the chip lead once he'd eliminated Jeffrey Perzan in fourth place. There would still be a battle to earn the WSOPC ring, however.
Edward Sabat nailed two pair on the flop against Kidder's flush draw and, once two blanks came off, crippled Kidder to 7,000 chips. Kidder was able to double-up once, but Sabat finished him off a couple hands later to assume the chip lead going into heads-up action.
Play was cautious for about a dozen hands as Sabat slowly chipped further into the lead. He took a tremendous hit when, on a 7-6-4 flop, Bartfeld fired 200k at the pot and Sabat moved all-in.
Bartfeld called with his 8c-6c against Sabat's open-ended draw (J-5) and captured the hand when he caught an unnecessary five on the river to make a straight. A few hands later, Bartfeld sealed his tremendous comeback by flopping a set of kings against Sabat's Q-10 and captured the championship, the WSOPC ring and the $56,781 first-place prize.
The final table played out thusly:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Bruce Bartfeld | Churchville, Md. | $56,781 |
| 2nd | Edward Sabat | Los Angeles | $29,757 |
| 3rd | Aaron Kidder | Lexingtom Park, Md. | $16,824 |
| 4th | Jeffrey Perzan | New York City | $14,721 |
| 5th | Glenn Davis | Creedmoor, N.C. | $12,618 |
| 6th | Derek Dempsey | Pittsburgh, Pa. | $10,515 |
| 7th | Trevor Savage | Creedmoor, N.C. | $8,412 |
| 8th | Mark Hoke | Dover, Pa. | $6,309 |
| 9th | Henry Olszenski | New York City | $4,206 |
Event 3
Tuesday afternoon saw the final table of the first of a series of $500 No-Limit Hold'em events at Harrah's. A prize pool of $188,000 accumulated from the 376 runners, and the final nine would battle it out for the top prize of $58,280.
One of the notable names at this final table was Caywood "Woody" Vanstratum, who has earned four cashes in WSOPC events in 2007 (most recently at the Circuit stop in New Orleans). He was going to have his work cut out for him, though, as he entered the final table in eighth place.
Over the six-hour final table, the chip lead was held by five different players. Vanstratum wasn't one of those who held the lead, though, as he departed in the same spot he'd entered at. Jonathan Gosnell, Robert Jackowski, Dimitri Haskaris and Pete Damato all held the chip lead at one time or another before Jeffrey Neuman was able to assume command of the table.
Behind Damato as heads-up action started, Neuman went on the offensive almost immediately. Over the span of 26 heads-up hands, Neuman was able to first take the lead over Damato and then extend it.
His aggressiveness almost cost him on the final hand of the tournament, though, when, after Damato pushed all-in with an A-2, Neuman made the call with a suited K-10. Damato led to the river and was crushed when the saving king came, giving Jeffrey Neuman the championship.
Neuman and his final-tablemates fared this way:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Jeffrey Neuman | Glenela, Md. | $58,280 |
| 2nd | Pete Damatos | Cherry Hill, N.J. | $30,080 |
| 3rd | Jose Borges | Oakhurst, N.J. | $15,040 |
| 4th | Robert Jackowski | Bellerose, N.Y. | $13,160 |
| 5th | Dimitri Haskaris | Bayside, N.Y. | $11,280 |
| 6th | Michael Stovall | Oxford, N.C. | $9,400 |
| 7th | Jonathan Gosnell | East Windsor, N.J. | $7,520 |
| 8th | Caywood Vanstratum | Cookeville, Tenn. | $5,640 |
| 9th | Agustin Mendez | Atlantic City | $3,760 |
There are still six events left on the schedule before the start of the $5,000 Championship Event this Sunday. If the rest of the events on the schedule attract as many players as the first three, the WSOPC stop at Harrah's in Atlantic City will have been one of the best-attended of the year.
Related Article: WSOPC Lands in Atlantic City
