Justin Truesdell Bags WSOPC New Orleans
Justin “truesyalose” Truesdell defeated a field of 694 players over four days to win the 2012 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) New Orleans and collect the $204,747 first place prize.
The 30 year-old local man has also been doing rather well in the live arena and picked-up his first gold ring in 2009 at the $1k WSOPC Harrah’s Tunica for $77,836, as well as having had a successful career online pre-Black Friday. Justin Truesdell has now taken his live tournament earnings past the half a million dollars mark with his latest win in New Orleans.
With a final table of nine players and five players fell during the first three hours of play, began the final day of the tournament. The fifth player out was Dominic Gabaldon, who qualified for the WSOP National Championship and claimed the title of Casino Champ with his finish. Gabaldon earned a total of $56,619 and made three final tables during the tournament series.
To avoid elimination against Daniel Lowery, Truesdell then doubled up with pocket aces. Lowery was followed to the rail by third-place finisher Anthony Vidmer and this big hand led to his exit in fourth place a few hands later. Andrew Nguyen held a slight edge over Truesdell, although the chip counts were close to even when heads-up play began.
The final two players traded blows for two hours before they took a dinner break. After sitting back down, both players hit a flush just 20 minutes and Truesdell took a 12-1 chip lead with the higher flush. All Truesdell needed to eliminate Nguyen in second place was ace-high as the final hand came just a few minutes later.
The eighth WSOPC season hosted 17 stops in 11 states. In the WSOP National Championship, it also awarded over 200 gold rings and 100 seats. at the 43rd annual WSOP in Las Vegas, the Championship will take place from July 6-8. 100 pre-paid qualifiers from the 2011-12 WSOPC season will feature in the televised event and an additional 100 players (top ranked players from each of the past two WSOPs in Las Vegas) will be invited to buy-in for $10,000. The champion will win a gold bracelet and the National Championship will be televised on ESPN.
The final table results for the WSOPC New Orleans Main Event – 1st: Justin Truesdell — $204,747; 2nd: Andrew Nguyen — $126,693; 3rd: Anthony Vidmer — $92,926; 4th: Daniel Lowery — $69,105; 5th: Dominic Gabaldon — $52,086; 6th: Michael Hallen — $39,781; 7th: Shane Smith — $30,782; 8th: George Miro — $24,130; 9th: Ramon Martinez — $19,156.
