 Tournament director Kevin Ferguson said it was the second biggest comeback he had ever seen in his twenty years in poker. Down to less than two big blinds at one point during final table play, Robert Hahs survived seven all-ins to win Event #15 at the World Series of Poker Circuit Events at Harrah's Tunica.
Hahs is a farmer from Jackson, MO. Through day one, he relied mostly on skill to make it through the 230-player field, but it was a bit of luck that helped him during the final table.
Final table play began with blinds and antes at 3,000/6,000/1,000. Lee Efford took a 200,000 chip stumble after he ran his K-Q into Rusty Farrin's pocket kings on a queen high board. Soon after, Efford moved his remaining stack all-in after flopping top pair with Kc-10c on a Qc-Kh-7s flop.
He got a call from David Dao who showed 7h-Qh for two pair. A three on the turn and ace on the river resulted in the first elimination of the night. Efford collected $1,341for ninth.
This was Hahs' first major tournament victory.
"I feel great," said Hahs. "It's a beautiful ring and I'm proud of this win."
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Online poker, like most other sports, is a continuously evolving entity. What works today as far as success at the green felt is concerned, may not work the same tomorrow. A couple of years ago, being a Tight Aggressive Player (TAG) was the definition of cool. Tight Aggressive players ruled the roost, felting clueless rookies left and right armed with nothing but basic ABC poker knowledge.
These days though, being a TAG player is no longer such an obvious advantage. As people continue to wise up to ever more intricate strategies, TAG players are everywhere. As matter of fact, there are TAG players now who find it difficult to break out of the break-even and losing molds. Thee guys act and look like successful players. They buy in for the maximum allowed amount every time, they top up every hand and they play the purest form of TAG poker there is. Yet, they're long term losers or break-even players at best. These guys are TAG fish. There's nothing funny or fun about being a TAG fish.
Due to the fact that they play reasonably well, it's tougher for these players to find the mistakes in their own approach and to improve by eliminating these setbacks. They just stick to being TAG fish and keep on losing, thinking that Lady Luck has a personal bone to pick with them.
Being a TAG fish is such a subtle disease that it barely has any sort of symptoms. If you think you're playing your best yet you fail to show anything for your efforts at the end of the month, you may be a TAG fish yourself. Here are a few of the more subtle symptoms of the disease, to help you find mistakes in your approach and to eventually help you overcome your condition.
TAG fish are usually so confident in their skills, often they don't bother signing up for rakeback. After all, rakeback is for those who have trouble turning a buck at the table. Wrong! Rakeback (the best such deals, including some excellent poker prop deals are on offer at Rakemeback.com,) is for everyone. Winners increase their profits and losers diminish their losses through it, and if you are indeed a TAG fish, you need it to get you over that illusive red line.
Tag Fish often overestimate their implied odds. A clear example in this respect is cash game set mining. A TAG fish knows the theory well, and he knows that despite the apparently EV- nature of the move, the implied odds will come through for him in the end and bail him out. These guys fail to take it into consideration that sets are sometimes defeated too which means there are no guarantees the implied odds will work as well as they do in theory.
This takes us to another TAG Fish symptom: the misapplication of various poker skills. As said above, TAG fish are good at poker theory, practice is an entirely different thing however, and that's where these guys have serious deficiencies.
A TAG fish will learn that giving up on a C-bet is bad, so he'll keep at it every time he fires one out. The problem with TAG fish is that they're rather clueless how and when to apply the skills they've learned.
There are other TAG fish symptoms as well, like having post-flops leaks in your game, tilting too readily, not considering subtle position differences and ignoring your own perceived range. If you recognize one or more of these problems in your own play, chances are you're a TAG fish yourself. The good news is, once it has been spotted, these problems can be addressed and eliminated one by one.
 Born in Harbor City, LA, in 1958, Jennifer Tilly is first and foremost known for her career as an actress. She's starred and played in several movies, among which in several cult classics like Bride of Chucky, Stuart Little, The Cat's Meow, etc. She was a voice-actor in Family Guy, where she voiced the Bonnie Swanson character. She's currently involved in 2-3 movie projects and she's appeared in no fewer than 5 movies last year in various more or less prominent roles.
Tilly's original name was Jennifer E. Chan, after her father, who was a Chinese American salesman. Her parents divorced and she moved to Canada with her mother. Following her mothe's second divorce, the family moved to Victoria. They eventually ended up in Missiouri where Jennifer's acting career began when she was a teenager. The acting talent apparently runs in her family as her sister, Meg Tilly, is also a well known actress and Academy Award Nominee.
Though her movie industry achievements far eclipse her poker career, Jennifer is also known as a poker player and she's proved her worth numerous times at the poker table. She has a WSOP bracelet to show which, let's be frank about it, only a handful of successful poker players can boast. She became a member of this exclusive club after she took home the gold in the 2005 Ladies No Limit Texas Holdem event (pocketing a handsome $158,625 prize with it).
Her win wasn't just a flash in the pan either. She followed it up the same year with a win in the WPT Ladies Invitational Tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. That win netted her a nice profit too, taking her lifetime tournament winnings to around $450,000. She's had a total of 4 WSOP money finishes, and 6 WPT cashes.
She appeared on Poker Superstars in 2006, but she never made it past the preliminary rounds. In the Celebrity Poker Showdown, she made it all the way to 3rd place where Ida Siconolfi eliminated her on a K,K vs A,K match-up, when Tilly's Big Slick failed to improve.
In 2007, Tilly was made into a video game character by Activision, for their game: World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions 2007 Edition. She currently dates poker professional Phil Laak. Although at one point in her career, Tilly had stated that she was more preoccupied with her poker career than the one in acting, in 2008 she retired from professional poker. She said that while she would continue to play poker, she'd view it as a hobby rather than a career, because achieving greatness through poker had proved more treacherous than she'd initially assessed.
Though she will probably not go down in history as the greatest female poker player, she is beyond doubt the most successful movie star ever to achieve this level of success at the green felt.
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 While a severe regional ice storm forced the closure of area schools, libraries and other public services through Monday, the ladies event attracted a modest field of 162 non-males, each vying to become the 2009/2010 Harrah's Tunica Circuit Ladies Event Champion.
After real estate appraiser Lisa Craven was eliminated all-in with A-8 vs. Anne Manning's A-J, heads-up was between Manning with 1 million in chips and Donna Jetter with 600,000. Jetter went to work, bleeding Manning's stack to just below 400,000.
The final hand saw the two all-in with Manning showing 6h-6c and Jetter turning over Jh-Jc. The board came 10c-4s-7c-Kh-Qh, giving Jetter the win. Jetter pocketed $7,091 for first along with the gold WSOP Circuit Event ladies pendant. Manning collected $4,367 for second.
The 2009/2010 Harrah's Tunica WSOP Ladies Circuit Event champion was still shaking a bit as she made her way to the payout table.
"I'm pretty nervous, excited," Jetter said.
Jetter is a poker dealer from Nashville, TN., and has been playing poker for two years.
She notes that for her, women's events are a lot harder than open events because it is harder to put women on a hand.
"You can read em' a little better," Jetter said about playing against men. "You can tell if they got the hand or not."
However, Jetter says her observation has more to do with experience rather than gender.
"A lot of women playing in ladies events are new to poker and they tend to chase more hands down to the river."
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Country musician and local favorite, Luther Lewis wins Circuit Event #10 at Harrah's Tunica.
As tournament director Kevin Ferguson announced the name of the player in seat nine, a sudden burst of applause and cheering burst out in the event center at Harrah's Tunica.
The unexpected barrage of loud whistling, clapping and shouts of encouragement from the room when Luther Lewis' name was read was in stark contrast to the standard obligatory hand clapping.
Lewis, a 39-year old country singer and songwriter was probably the most surprised, seemingly taken aback from the crowd support.
"Lewis is the nicest player in this room," said Rose Cooney, who plays regularly with Lewis at the Horseshoe in Tunica and says she's never seen him berate a player after taking a bad beat or even go on tilt.
"And he's polite to the ladies."
In addition to home court advantage, Lewis had something else going for him heading into the final table of the $440 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, the chip lead.
"This is amazing man, I can't believe it," said Lewis, whose musical stylings can be heard at his website http://www.lutherlewis.net/
When asked about nice guys finishing last: "Well, I guess I've proved today that it's not always true," replied Lewis, smiling.
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Tourney draws unexpectedly large turnout with 67% increase over last year's event.
The past few years in poker have been marked by incredible accomplishments by players just old enough to participate in the game.
During the 2006 WSOP a young Jeff Madsen took down two bracelets. In 2008, Peter Eastgate became the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event title, while in 2009 Joe Cada overtook the honor just a year old enough to play at the World Series.
51-year old Rogers Patterson followed in that trend Monday, January 25th after outlasting a field of 409 players to win the 2009/2010 World Series of Poker Seniors Event at Harrah's Tunica.
Last year's seniors event attracted 274 participants. This year's numbers marked a 67% increase.
The seniors event is open to players 50 years of age and over, making Patterson just a year old enough to play.
Patterson, a database administrator from Bryant, AR, chipped his way through the mammoth field of well-refined and experienced competitors to face a final table of his elders.
"Fantastic, absolutely fantastic," said Patterson about how he felt to win the tournament.
Despite his young age, Patterson seemed mature enough to handle his newly found success pretty well.
"I'm surprised they didn't card me," joked Patterson. "I guess I look older than I am."
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 First time WSOP Circuit Event cashers 3-3 so far at Harrah's Tunica. Final table not the only place to find a full house in the packed events center at Tunica.
While over 600 players were in the early rounds of event #4 in the packed event center at Harrah's Tunica (with 200 more in the poker room), the third event of the 2009/2010 Circuit Events at Tunica was in its final stage.
The remaining nine players of the $550 buy-in no limit hold'em event battled it out for a first place prize of $32,397 and the coveted World Series of Poker Circuit Event ring.
The highest buy-in event of the Circuit so far attracted a field of 286 entrants, generating a final table of disciplined and skilled players.
Brown, a 28-year old screen press company owner from St. Louis, MO says table image was critical to his win. "I was playing like a maniac when we were down to two tables," said Brown.
"They thought I was the worst player, but after a while they figured out that that wasn't the case."
Brown's Circuit Event win was also his first cash. The winners of events #1 and #2, Michael Crump and Jonathan Elliott were also first time Circuit Event Cashers.
Brown was ecstatic.
"Oh this is great man," said Brown. "Halfway through the tournament, I told myself I was going to win the ring. I refused to take anything other than first in this thing."
Still to come are 16 more events and single-day non-ring $230 and $340 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah's Tunica runs through February 10th.
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Mark "Pegasus" Smith falls short of record fifth Circuit Event championship
The first event of the 2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit at Harrah's Tunica drew to a close Thursday evening with Michael Crump emerging as the victor.
Crump is a 47-year old insurance broker from Morrison, IL. His win not only marked his first WSOP Circuit Event ring but also his first cash in a major poker tournament.
Crump survived a field of 304 entrants to make it to the final table. Among the remaining nine players was four-time Circuit Event champion, Mark "Pegasus" Smith, who had his sights set on a record fifth gold ring.
Smith's chip stack was critically low early in the first day, however his short-stack management not only saw him through day one, but also the end of day chip leader with 367,000 in chips.
Day two of the $340 buy-in no limit hold'em event began with 21 players. The first final table of the Harrah's Tunica Circuit was decided shortly before 3:30 pm after the tenth place finisher, Mike Bowling, was eliminated a few hands after running his Ks-Qs into the pocket aces of William Ryan Enis.
Only a few hands into play, Rogers was all-in after the turn on a board of 2c-9d-ah-10h.
Crump made the call with As-9h. Rogers showed 10s-5d.
A Qs on the river sealed the victory for Crump, earning him $20,185 and a gold ring. Second place paid $12,277. First and second places were impressive results for both players, who have been playing poker for only about two years.
"I was able to double up early after getting some good cards and afterwards picked my spots," said Crump about his play.
"To be honest with you, I've had very little sleep the last couple days and got a bit aggressive later which ended up working out for me," he said.
When asked about how he felt to be the owner of his first Circuit Event Ring, Crump said, "I'm not sure, it hasn't sunk in yet. I have to absorb this all for a minute."
Still to come are 18 more events and 23 nightly (single-day) non-ring $230 and $340 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah's Tunica runs through February 10th.
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Jay Darish of East Windsor, NJ is the winner of event #16, the $300 + (40) buy-in no-limit hold'em event at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. The event's modest field of 296 players was due in large part to a severe snow storm the night before.
Darish attributes his math background combined with his reads for seeing him through the nearly 300-player field to make it to the final table.
Shortly before 4 pm, the final nine players of event #16 joined two other final tables taking place simultaneously in the ballroom at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. About 25 minutes into play, Jeffery Greenstein, a 29-year old math teacher was escorted to the payout table to collect his $2,153 ninth place prize.
22-year old NFL assistant player benefits administrator, Patrick Reynolds was eliminated in eighth place a short while later. Eighth place paid $3,015.
Rohan Singh, a 36-year old real estate agent was eliminated after moving all in with J-Q suited against Kenneth Owens' A-10. The board completed the straight for Owens and Singh was forced to settle for seventh place and $4,307.
Owens was eliminated by Jay Darish after re-raising Darish's 47,000 bet pre-flop all-in. Darish hit a flush on the board, trumping the pocket nines of Owens. The 62-year old retiree from Bordentown, NJ took home $5,168 for sixth.
The fifth place finisher was 33-year old union electrician, Paul Molinari. Molinari cashed for $6,030.
Patrick O'Sullivan finished in fourth place and collected $6,891.
Darish soon eliminated Sachin Ramrakhani, and with well more than a 10-1 chip lead over Matthew Chin heads-up, made his opponent an offer he couldn't refuse.
"An extra thousand and I take the ring," said Darish.
At first, Chin was hesitant, but eventually decided to take the thousand along with his other $11,284 for second. Darish earned $19,811 (minus a grand)
"I feel great," said Darish after winning taking the last ring event of the Harrah's Resort Atlantic City Circuit. "This was my second major tournament since 2006."
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
 Mukul's brother, Vineet joins him along with event #8 winner, Josh Smith and Brock Parker at the final table.
Mukul Pahuja of Hicksville, NY is the owner of a new Circuit Event gold ring after winning event #15 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Events at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.
The second of two deep stack events offered at the WSOP Circuit at Harrah's Resort AC, the $2000 + (150) buy-in tournament attracted 112 entrants, including notable players such as Michael Binger, Liv Boeree and Brock Parker, who shipped two bracelets during the 2009 World Series of Poker.
Pahjua's win was especially impressive given that the 23-year old financial analyst finished fourth in the Harrah's AC Main Event the week prior.
Even more impressive is that Mukul's brother Vineet, also made it to the final table, giving a new meaning to the term "family pot."
Ninth Place- $6,518
The final table began at 2:10 pm with blinds and antes at 500/2,000/4,000. With the short stack holding 40 times the big blinds, action was slow in the early going. It wasn't until over an hour into play that the first elimination took place. Alan Colon, a 62-year old CPA from Oceanside, CA, moved his remaining chips all-in from the small blind and got a call from Manny Minaya in the big. Colon was behind with A-K vs. Minaya's pocket queens. Three jacks, a nine and a three on the board were no help to Colon and he was out.
Eighth Place- $8,691
Robert Kalteux was the next to be eliminated after getting it all in post-flop against Mukul Pahuja. M. Pahuja's top two pair was good to take the pot and Kalteux's run was over. Kalteux is a 21-year old online pro with over 500,000 in online tournament cashes. Eighth place added a live cash of $8,691 to his total.
Seventh Place- $10,864
Eugene Castro raised UTG to 16,500 and Mukul Pahuja re-raised from the button to 50,000. Brock Parker made it 115,000 to go from the big blind and Castro folded. M. Pahuja moved all-in and Parker called with his remaining 73,000. Parker showed Jh-Jd, but M. Pahuja was ahead with Ah-Ac. An ace on the flop and no help on the turn ended Parker's chance to accessorize his dual bracelets with a ring.
Sixth Place- $13,037 & Fifth Place-$15,210
Action slowed when it came down to six players, but a major hand developed when Minaya fired out 20,000 and Vinny Pahuja moved all-in as did with event #8 winner, Josh Smith. Minaya made the call and turned over pocket aces. V. Pahuja showed kings while Smith flipped over 8's. The board missed all three players. V. Pahuja was eliminated in 6th place while Smith took 5th.
Fourth Place-$17,382
The next elimination was dealt to Dean Schultz of Akron, OH. A flop of 3s-2h-7s had Shultz all-in with Ad-5d against Minaya's As-7c, an Ah and 10h on the turn and river were of no help to Schultz and his tournament day was over.
Third Place- $23,901
All-in preflop with 9-10 vs. the pocket 6's of Minaya, Eugene Castro saw a six hit the flop and was eliminated after no help on the turn or river. Castro, co-founder of Poker Players International, an agency representing players such as Matt Glantz and Robert Mizrachi, perhaps will look into representing himself after a strong third place showing.
Second Place- $30,419
Play came down to two at about 10:42 pm with blinds and antes at 1,000/5,000/10,000 and Minaya holding a marginal chip lead over M. Pahuja. Heads-up play lasted over four hours. After the first hour of play and with little ground having been made between M. Pahuja and Minaya, the two decided to make a deal. While the terms were not disclosed, it was decided that they would play on for the WSOP Circuit Event gold ring. The next three hours was a colossal battle as Minaya was unable to build on his marginal chip lead.
The stalemate finally began to break with blinds and antes at 3,000/10,000/20,000. Having already narrowed Minaya's chip lead, M. Pahuja raised pre-flop to 80,000 and got a call from Minaya. After a flop of 6c-2d-10d, Minaya check-called M. Pahuja 119,000.
The turn came 4s and Minaya check-folded after M. Pahuja fired out 470,000. A few hands later, Minaya raised pre-flop to 120,000 and was re-raised all-in by M. Pahuja. Minaya folded, and was down 2-1 against M. Pahuja with less than a million in chips.
Minaya managed to double up on M. Pahuja to come back, but M. Pahuja squeezed his opponent to regain his dominant chip lead. Finally, after 3:00 am, the final hand saw both players all-in with M. Pahuja turning over Ad-9h and Minaya showing Qs-Kd.
The flop was 7c-8d-Qh, giving Minaya the lead. A harmless 5c hit the turn, but an Ac on the river ended the grueling duel with M. Pahuja the victor. First place officially paid $51,169 and a WSOP Circuit Event ring. Second paid $30,419.
"I'm exhausted," said M. Pahuja after the win. "And unfortunately, I have to go to work in four and a half hours, but that's what the sugar-free Redbulls are for."
"Minaya was way way tougher than I though," said M. Pahuja of his opponent.
"Coming into this final table, I thought isolating pots with Manny would be a good idea, but he was owning me, absolutely owning me the whole beginning of the final table, so he was the last guy I wanted to go heads-up with."
Mukul credits his brother, Vinny for helping him improve his game. "Whether it's a brother or close friends, it's good to be in circle of good players to bounce ideas off each other and help improve each other's game."
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by Alan Fowler - WSOP Assistant Media Director
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