The Oakland Raider: Online Poker Pro Evan Schwartz Dominates $1,000 Buy-In Tournament Event and Wins His First WSOPC Victory
Stateline, NV - Some poker tournaments have no surprises. There are no bad beats. There are no marathon chip battles. The player who starts out with the most chips goes on to win. The $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship at Harvey's Lake Tahoe was just such a tournament.
Evan Schwartz dominated most of the later stages of the tournament, including play at the final table. The poker player from Oakland, who has won several online tournaments, proved that he is just as gifted in live competition. After 103 players had been eliminated on the first day, the nine finalists returned to the final table on Day Two. Schwartz enjoyed a comfortable chip advantage versus the remainder of the field. In fact, Schwartz possessed about one-third of the total chips when play resumed at the final table. Seating order and chips counts were as follows:
SEAT 1 Kevin Higgins 25,800
SEAT 2 Tom Masinster 42,400
SEAT 3 Bryan Watkins 32,200
SEAT 4 Barrett Gomes 2,800
SEAT 5 Carolyn Ford 7,900
SEAT 6 Marla Fearrien-Taylor 32,400
SEAT 7 Evan Schwartz 76,000
SEAT 8 Shawn Bessey 48,500
SEAT 9 Reese Francis 12,000
The final table was played on the second floor of the Harvey's Casino-Resort, adjacent to the Hard Rock Café and the Sports and Racebook, filled to capacity on a Sunday afternoon. This final table was completed in slightly over four hours. Aside from the lively crowd packed around the feature table, the most interesting spectacle was the presence of Carolyn Ford. She now holds the distinction of being the only player in WSOP Circuit history to play at two final tables -- simultaneously. Although she was guaranteed a seat on the second day in this event, she decided to enter the Ladies Championship tournament, which started earlier in the day. Ford went on a tear in that event over the first six hours of play and ended up making it to that final table as well, which took place a few feet away from this finale. Ford was quite a sight to behold, bouncing back and forth between both tables, trying to get a read on her opponents. Players were eliminated in the following order:
9th Place - Short-stacked Reese Francis went out quickly. Down to his last 10K, Francis staked his tournament life on pocket nines. Unfortunately, he ran into Kevin Higgins, holding pocket kings. The two cowboys held up, and Francis was forced to exit. Reese Francis, a poker dealer from nearby Reno, collected $2,173.
8th Place - Barrett Gomes busted out a few minutes later. Gomes arrived as the lowest stack and moved all in with Q-9 against Shawn Bessey's K-7 after the flop came 9-7-7. Gomes' top pair (nines) was no good against Bessey's three-of-a-kind (sevens). The 27-year-old business manager from Pleasanton, California took home $3,259.
7th Place - Carolyn Ford's ping-pong match produced disappointing results. Unable to play every hand due to her split time in the Ladies Championship, it's unknown how many opportunities she may have missed by not seeing her cards. The poker pro from Sedona, Arizona actually went out on a tough beat when her A-Q was upset by Evan Schwartz's A-J. A jack flopped, knocking Ford off one of her two final tables. Ford drove off with $4,346 in prize money.
6th Place - After Evan Schwartz temporarily lost the chip lead to Kevin Higgins, Bryan Watkins was eliminated when his pocket deuces flopped a set, but lost to a flush. Watkins held 2-2 and was thrilled to see the flop come with A-10-2. But three clubs on board got even more dangerous when a fourth club hit on the turn. Marla Fearrein-Taylor's all-in bet was reluctantly called by Watkins. The board failed to pair. Taylor flipped over the jack of clubs, good for the flush. Watkins, a police officer from San Francisco, has a number of impressive finishes on his poker resume, including a 20th-place finish in the 2003 WSOP main event. He added 5,432 to his poker bankroll.
5th Place - Shawn D. Bessey remained a serious threat during most of his three-hour stay at the final table. He took a large chunk of chips away from Even Schwartz holding pocket jacks versus pocket sevens. But he could not take advantage of the double-up windfall. Schwartz extracted his revenge on Bessey when he called an all-in raise with A-8 against Bessey's 10-10. An ace flopped and Bessey went from solid favorite to a big dog. He failed to improve and was knocked out in 5th place. Bessey, an attorney from Hughson, California, lost his case but earned a $6,518 settlement.
4th Place - This was Marla Fearrein-Taylor's first poker tournament ever. She made quite a run in this event, outlasting all but the final three players. Fearrein-Taylor exited when her A-J lost to Evan Schwartz's flush. Fearrein-Taylor, who started playing poker because her son is interested in the game, collected $8,691. Few poker players can claim such early success.
3rd Place - Tom Masinter went out next when he was desperately low on chips and called an all-in raise from the big blind holding 5-4. It wasn't much of a hand, but mathematically Masinter had a reasonable chance to survive against Evan Schwartz's two overcards. Unfortunately, Masinter failed to connect with a pair and hit the rail as the third-place finisher. The telecommunications technician from Dublin, California collected $10,864.
2nd Place - When heads-up play began, Evan Schwartz appeared to be an unstoppable force. Even though his opponent Kevin Higgins proved to be a fine player and a local favorite with lots of playing experience, there was no way that Schwartz would be denied what turned out to be a well-deserved tournament victory. Down 7 to 1 in chips, on the very first hand of heads-up play Higgins moved all-in with A-J. He was called instantly by Schwartz, holding A-K. Higgins was essentially down to just three outs (jacks), which failed to materialize. Kevin Higgins, a 40-year-old poker player from South Lake Tahoe, was forced to settle for second place, which paid $18,469. He exited to cheers and applause from many friends and well-wishers.
1st Place - The newest WSOP Circuit champion at Lake Tahoe is Evan Schwartz, a 24-year-old professional poker player from Oakland, California. Schwartz earns most of his money playing live on the Internet. However in recent years, he has also cashed big in many major poker tournaments. Schwartz finished in the top 200 in last year's WSOP championship event. First prize in this event paid a handsome $35,199.
For more information, please contact:
Nolan Dalla - WSOP Media Director
Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
World Series of Poker Commissioner - Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah's Entertainment - Jack Effel
Harrah's Lake Tahoe Race and Sportsbook Manager - Steve Schorr
Harvey's Lake Tahoe Poker Room Manager - Vince Contaxis
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