WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans Belongs to Walter Chambers

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Less than 20 minutes into final table play, Antonio Esfandiari jumped from third place into the chip lead by knocking out Cyril Gittens. While he held onto the lead for the better part of the first three hours, it was Walter Chambers who finished strong, winning the WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans and pocketing $787,340.

Chambers took the lead for good at around the four hour mark and never looked back. He used the large chip stack to run over the other players, gradually making the deficit so overwhelming that, aside from the short period after Nick Mao was eliminated in fourth place, there was little doubt as to who would win once the play was three-handed.

To paint the picture of how quickly Chambers ran away with the tournament, witness the following chip counts:

8:36pm

(Place, Player, Chips)

1. Walter Chambers - 1,365,000
2. Antonio Esfandiari - 854,000
3. Corey Bierria - 268,000

9:00pm

(Place, Player, Chips)

1. Walter Chambers - 1,950,000
2. Antonio Esfandiari - 460,000
3. Corey Bierria - 166,000

9:10pm

(Place, Player, Chips)

1. Walter Chambers – 2,445,000
2. Corey Bierria - 145,000

The game was over three hands into heads-up play. Chambers raised to open the hand with 8-7, both clubs. Bierria went all-in with pocket 3’s. The flop was a good one for Bierria – K-10-2, all hearts, and one of Bierria’s cards was a heart. At this point, Chambers’ most realistic chance was to catch one of the remaining non-heart 8’s or 7’s. The 9 of spades on the turn opened up six more outs for Chambers, adding non-heart 6’s and Jacks to give him a straight. The 8 of diamonds on the river gave Chambers his pair, eliminating Bierria in second place with a $433,050 payday.

Originally published May 31, 2005