A Magnetic Victory

Las Vegas, NV – The last tournament prior to the start of the Main Event Championship concluded today as Siriwan “Magnets Lady” Sukmekerd won first-place and $18,251 in prize money.  The event was held at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.  This was the 18^th of 19 total tournaments on this year’s schedule, which very nearly closes out another successful year of World Series of Poker Circuit events at Caesars.

The winner Sukmekerd is a housewife from Las Vegas.  She plays in many local poker tournaments and is a loyal player at Caesars.  Sukmekerd is called the “Magnets Lady” because she often plays with a collection of shiny magnets on the table, which she uses as card protectors.  Sukmekerd believes the magnets give her special powers and attract positive energy.  After winning a WSOP Circuit ring, her first, no one could possibly argue. 

The $500 (+50) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played on April 25th and April 26th.  There were 142 players, which created a prize pool totaling $68,870.  The top 18 finishers collected prize money.  Once the final table was reached on Day Two, there were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion.

Bill Gaffney arrived at the final table with a slight chip advantage.  But three players were very close in chips – including Jon Lactaoen, Mitchell Mantin, and Steven Sztrary – who were just a round of blinds and antes from the lead.  This created a final table with several chip-lead changes and momentum shifts.  During most of the ten-hour final table, Sukmekerd was an average-sized stack.  But she made a big move when play reached three-handed and ended up with the victory.

When final table play began at 2:00 pm on a Monday afternoon, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

 Players were transformed from the final table to payouts in the following order:

Dan Morgan, a consultant involved in casino equipment sales from Las Vegas, was short-stacked from the start of play.  On what turned out to be his final hand, he moved all in after flopping a pair of jacks, which lost to a higher pair – queens.  Morgan, who cashed in last year’s WSOP Seniors Championship, collected $1,894 for ninth place.      

Eighth Place:

Douglas Redmann Gets Zapped

Douglas Redmann, a stock trader from Barrington, IL ran low on chips and made his final stand with AT.  He failed to improve and lost to a pair.  This marked Redmann’s first time to cash in a WSOP-related event.  He received $2,238 for eighth place.

Allen Carter, an entrepreneur from Lewisville, TX went out in seventh place.  He lasted about two hours before busting out with top pair, which lost to a heart flush.  Carter won a million-dollar tournament last year held in Biloxi and has been playing in tournaments part-time since.  He received a payout totaling $2,755 in what was his best WSOP-related finish, to date.

Sixth Place:  Stephen Sztraky Goes into the Abyss
 

Stephen Sztraky, a business owner from Houston, TX took a tough beat and exited in sixth place.  He had previously cashed in a few tournaments here in Las Vegas.  However, this was his first time to cash on the WSOP Circuit.  Sztraky added $3,444 to his poker bankroll. 
 

Mitchell Mantin, a real estate broker from Las Vegas went out about five hours into play.  He moved all in on his final hand with AJ suited, which missed a flush draw.  An AQ ended up dragging the point, after making a pair of queens.  Mantin, who has several tournament cashes, including events held at Harrah’s Rincon and Caesars Palace, received a payout totaling $4,304. 

Bill Gaffney, a retiree from Henderson, NV enjoyed his biggest WSOP cash when he took fourth place.  He nursed a short stack for several hrs before finally busting out on a missed flush draw.  A pair of queens ended up dragging the pot, which gave Gaffney a prize amounting to $5,510.

Juan Carlos Ramos battled in three-handed play for two hours and held the chip lead at one point.  But he could not hold onto the advantage.  Ramos ultimately went out after losing most of his chips on a big hand, holding AQ against pocket Ks.  Following that defeat, Ramos was terminated a few minutes later when his pocket Js lost to a full-house.  Ramos, a computer software specialist from Mexico City, who was hoping to become the first Caesars Palace champion ever from Mexico, settled for a payout totaling $7,059.

Runner Up for the Ironman:  Jon Lactaoen

Jon Lactaoen finished in second place for the second time this week.  He was runner up in a previous event held here at Caesars.  This time, Lactaoen came close to victory, and had the chip lead for a time at the final table.  But he could not close out the victory and had to settle for the mixed blessing of $11,019 and second place.

The last hand came when Sukmekerd was dealt As Ad.  Turkzadeh was dealt Jh Jd.  Lactaoen moved all in pre-flop and Sukmerkerd was thrilled to call.  The final board showed Kd Qc 9h 6d 4c, which meant the pocket aces took down the last pot of the night.

First Place:  Lady in Black

Siriwan “Sukmekerd, a.k.a. “Magnets Lady” won $18,251 for first place and her first WSOP Circuit gold ring.  She was dressed in a black leather jacket, which she called her “lucky jacket.”  She also had several magnets on the table.  In previous tournament results, Sukmekerd was once named the “Poker Queen” at a tournament held at the Golden Nugget.  This was her third time to cash at a WSOP Circuit tournament held at Caesars Palace.