Poker Pro Matt Keikoan Wins Harvey's Lake Tahoe Championship
When Matt Keikoan won his first gold bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker, he instantly knew the victory was a major breakthrough. Not only did Keikoan manage to outlast a huge field of 1,593 entrants, he also won a whopping $550,601 in prize money. His win, which occurred in the $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event, was a relief for a popular player who paid his dues for four seemingly long years playing on the poker tournament circuit. The financial windfall and confidence builder also gave Keikoan the option of playing in even more future events.Yet Keikoan insists that his half-a-million dollar win 18 months ago was not life-changing. As a player with financial backers as well as the responsibilities of being a father to a 7-year-old daughter, he felt compelled to try even harder, by entering even more tournaments and sustaining his momentum on the circuit. That translated into the rather obligatory decision to attend the biggest annual tournament series in Northern Nevada, held at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, which is relatively close to his home in San Rafael, CA.
Keikoan won the latest WSOP Circuit championship, which took place the Harvey's Resort and Casino. The 41-year-old poker pro collected $106,435 for his victory. He was also presented with a gold ring, the ultimate token of achievement for winning a WSOP Circuit championship. This victory now gives Keikoan nearly $1.2 in career winnings in WSOP-related tournaments.
"I live only about three hours away from here," Keikoan said following his victory. "I used to come here all the time on vacation when I was a kid. I really love it here at Lake Tahoe."
This year's Main Event championship (Event #18) at Harvey's attracted a modest-sized field of 64 players, generating $299,400 in prize money. The top nine finishers, which meant only the final table participants, collected payouts. All the No-Limit Hold'em action took place over a two-day period inside the poker room and special events area, which was packed with players and spectators.
It took over eight hours to play down to the final two, which ended up being Matt Keikoan versus Justin Hallstrom. Keikoan enjoyed about a 5 to 1 chip advantage when the duel began. The action lasted another hour before the final hand was dealt out at about 3 am. Hallstrom, sensing he had to make a bold move and try to double up, moved all-in with A-5. Keikoan looked down and saw A-K and snap-called. A king on the flop all but ended Hallstrom's shot of a comeback. Keikoan ended up scooping the final pot of the tournament with a pair of kings.
"I'm really excited to win, but I'm also really tired," Keikoan said. "There were some good players here. But I always feel comfortable playing at Lake Tahoe because I have come here to the Circuit each year it's been held. It's kind of a home field advantage for me, I believe."
The runner up was Justin Hallstrom, a 33-year-old police officer from Lodi, CA. Hallstrom played marvelously throughout the long ordeal. But he was never quite able to catch the key hand which might have enabled him to overtake the determined former WSOP winner. Hallstrom, who previously won a major event held at North Lake Tahoe back in 2006, collected a nice payout totaling $56,886.
With all 18 events now completed at this year's WSOP Circuit at Harvey's, the world most prestigious tournament series attracted a grand total of 2,664 entries and has awarded $1,109,768 in prize money. Last year's similar WSOP Circuit at Lake Tahoe attracted 2,163 entrants, although there were fewer events. Still, the total number of tournament entries increased by 23 percent over last year's series. Harvey's Lake Tahoe is one of only two venues which hosted a WSOP Circuit event in all six seasons; the other being Harrah's Atlantic City.
This was the third stop of the 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit season, following successful events already completed in Chicago and Southern Indiana. The next WSOP Circuit stop takes place at Harrah's Atlantic City and runs December 4th through 20th. There will also be a WSOP Satellite series taking place at Harrah's New Orleans next month, from December 8th through 20th.
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by Nolan Dalla
posted by AllStars at 9:44 PM
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