Cory Carroll Wins WSOP Circuit – Caesars Palace

Cory Carroll, a highly successful online poker player, held the chip lead for all but a short time during heads-up play at the final table en route to winning the World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  The victory earned him just over a half million dollars. 

Carroll was responsible for much of the damage at the final table, eliminating five of his eight opponents.  He made several bold calls, including an all-in call (granted his opponent was short stacked) with A-4 and a river call with only middle pair, but he was able to take risks with such a big stack compared to the rest of the field. 

Perhaps the most outstanding showing belonged to Justin Pechie, who started the day as the third smallest stack at the table.  Almost three and a half hours into play, he had lost half of his chips, but then went on a torrid run, doubling up in quick succession and then raking another big pot soon thereafter.  Within fifteen minutes, he went from the outhouse to the penthouse, within striking distance of Carroll.  From there, he did not do much for a while, entering heads-up play with about one million fewer chips than Carroll. 

After losing a chunk of chips in the one-on-one match, Pechie moved all-in with A-K on a flop of K-10-9.  Carroll called with J-8 and an open-ended straight draw, but could not close the deal, doubling-up Pechie and actually relinquishing the chip lead for a brief period. 

He made up for it a few minutes later, however, himself doubling-up with 9-9 versus Pechie’s K-J.  This crippled Pechie and Carroll finished him off on the very next hand, A-J versus 7-5. 

Final Table Results 

1. Cory Carroll -- $505,176
2. Justin Pechie -- $260,736
3. Eric Davis -- $130,368
4. Vasile Buboi -- $114,072
5. Paul Kitsos -- $97,776
6. David Pham -- $81,480
7. Steve Wong -- $65,184
8. Michelle Law -- $48,888
9. Chad Brown -- $32,592

Originally published 4:29 PM Tuesday, May 08, 2007