Campbell Davis & Jack Effel - WSOPC Event #2

The second event of the WSOP Circuit, the $500+50 Limit Hold'em tournament, kicked off yesterday at noon. The field of 394 players was less than half the size of Event #1, a drop that can be attributed to both the higher buy-in and the sheer popularity no-limit hold'em enjoys today compared to all other games. Play continued until 13 players remained last night, at which time the last two tables broke to give players a chance to rest before returning today to crown a champion.

Considering the number of chips in play compared to the limits, the tournament directors decided to bring the players back at 2 PM today to play down to the last nine players by 4 PM, the scheduled time for the final table. Unexpectedly, the first four bustouts came within 25 minutes of the start of play. Player drew new seats and began play at the final table shortly thereafter. The average age of today's final table was considerably higher than the first no-limit event, with many of the players having several decades of experience under their belts.

In order of their seating, here are the $500+50 Limit Hold'em Tournament final table players:

Ricky H. comes from Madison, WI. He has only been playing poker for the last year. He describes himself as a "true poker rookie," he lists his occupation as "adventure seeker," and his regular game is 2-4 Omaha hi-lo. He brought $130,000 in chips to the table.

Ben Durham of Chatsworth, GA, works as a rug dyer. He's been playing poker for over 50 years and plays 10-20 and 20-40 limit hold'em. His previous final table experience includes a 3rd place finish in the $300 Limit Hold'em event at the 2003 World Poker Open, and 1st place in the same tournament in 2001. He started the day with $72,000.

Richard Levy is a retired financial officer from Glenview, IL, who's been playing poker for over 50 years. He plays 20-40 limit hold'em and 30-60 HORSE regularly. This is his first final table, but he placed 16th at the 2003 World Poker Open $1000 Limit Hold'em event. He came into today with $17,000 in chips.

Lamar Hampton of Winter Springs, FL, is a retiree who's been playing poker for 40 years. He will play any game he can find, and has made over 40 tournament final tables at the World Series of Poker, the Mid-American Classic, the California State Championships, and the World Poker Open. He entered the final table with $63,000 in chips.

Coury Mascagni is from Louisville, KY, and works for Wells Fargo Financial. He's been playing poker for 5 years, and made the final table of Paradise Poker's $600 No-Limit Masters Tournament. He normally plays 20-40 limit hold'em, and came in today with $77,000.

Campbell Davis hails from Dallas, TX, and is a professional gambler. He's been playing poker for 35 years and won this year's World Poker Open $500 Limit Hold'em Event. He entered today with $41,000 in chips.

Billy Boutte is from Lafayette, LA, and is in trucking. He's been playing poker for 32 years. He regularly plays 20-40 pot-limit hold'em, has made 4 final tables, and won the $230 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament at the 2001 Orleans Open. He started play today with $64,000 in chips.

Mike Budde is an investor from Williamsburg, MD, who's been playing poker for 20 years. He mostly plays pot-limit Omaha and rarely plays in tournaments. He entered the day with $141,000 in chips.

Martin Warren of Rolla, MO, is self-employed and has been playing poker for 28 years. He plays hold'em and Omaha, and this is his first tournament final table. He began the day with $13,000 in chips.

Martin Warren and Richard Levy weren't able to grow their short stacks and became the first two players to leave the final table, earning $3,820 and $5,735 respectively for their finishes. Shortly after these two exited, the table's youngest player was eliminated. Coury Mascagni got his money in with the best hand against Billy Boutte when he turned over Ace-Jack offsuit against Boutte's nine-seven offsuit. An eight on the river filled Boutte's gutshot draw, sending Mascagni home in 7th place for a payday of $7,645. The Wells Fargo can be proud of his play throughout the tournament.

The next to go was professional adventure seeker Ricky H., who despite his inexperience wasn't at all pleased with his finish. His Queen-Ten offsuit wasn't strong enough to crack the veteran Boutte's pocket fives, and he left in 6th place with $9,555. Hopefully with some time away from the table he'll be able to see the adventure in fending off almost 400 players and facing down a lineup full of limit tournament veterans, something even the most exciting 2-4 Omaha hi-lo game in the world can't compare to.

Ben Durham left next after a sequence of hands that saw him drop most of his stack, double up with King-deuce offsuit, and then hand it all over to Campbell Davis when the Texan hit his Broadway straight. Durham, the rug dyer from Georgia, made $11,465 for taking down 5th place.

Four-handed play continued for quite some time. Mike Budde, the day's initial chip leader, couldn't find anything to play most of the day and watched his stack dwindle asother players were knocked out. He finally found Ace-Queen offsuit and got his money in, only to lose the hand and exit in 4th place when Lamar Hampton's Jack-nine of hearts hit top pair on the flop and turned trips. For only his second tournament, Budde played a fine game. He took home $13,375 for his performance.

Another hour and fifteen minutes would pass by as the final three players traded chips back and forth. Lamar Hampton's Ace-nine offsuit had Campbell Davis' Queen-nine of spades dominated and was in good shape until the board put up one spade too many, sending the tournament veteran home in 3rd place with $15,285. No doubt it won't be long before Hampton is at another final table - probably at the next Circuit event.

Final Hand - WSCOPC Event #2

With over 60 years of combined poker experience between them, Campbell Davis and Billy Boutte both had a solid chance of winning the tournament. As it so often does, the result once they got heads up hinged on who got the better cards. Without help from the deck Boutte was unable to fend off Davis, and after about 40 minutes he was eliminated one spot from the championship when his ten-nine paired the board on the flop but fell to Davis' turned pair of aces. Boutte earned $30,575 for his second place finish. Davis won $59,420 and the second gold ring to be handed out here in Tunica.

Tomorrow we'll be back to limit hold'em's more popular cousin when over 800 players are expected to show up for the $500 no-limit event, but for now the wisdom of experience reigns supreme. Limit poker may not be as exciting as the big-bet games, but it certainly pays.

More Pictures of WSOPC Event #2