The third event on the 2008 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge schedule ended today with a well-deserved tournament victory by emerging tournament journeyman, Adam “Lippy” Lippert. He collected the top prize totaling $15,934. Lippy was also presented with a flashy gold ring, the coveted memento awarded to all event winners at this year’s Bayou Challenge tournament series.
The mid-week poker event cost $340 to enter and attracted 169 players. With a total of $49,180 in prize money at stake, the tournament was played over two consecutive days. The tournament’s top 18 finishers each collected prize money. Seven different states (Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, and Texas) and two countries (France and the U.S.) were represented in the winners’ circle.
The tournament was held inside the special events center at the Harrah’s New Orleans Casino. The room was bustling with action, as two other tournaments were being held at the same time. On day two, the final table consisting of nine players played to completion. The top nine finishers included:
9th Place – Kris Kent, a 31-year-old business owner and Mixed Martial Arts fighter from Biloxi, MS. Kent failed to turn into Superman during his short stay at the final table. On the final fateful hand, his pocket nines were cracked by A-K. Kent has won ten small tournaments this year alone, but came up short in this tournament.
8th Place – Ameed Salem, a 28-year-old self-employed man who lives locally in New Orleans. About 20 minutes into play, Salem busted out when he moved all-in with A-J, which was dominated by A-K.
7th place – Andrew Morrison, from Hattiesburg, MS. Morrison was severely short-stacked during his 35-minutes of play on day two and was never able to establish any momentum at the final table.
6th Place – Mick Mullin, a 62-year-old retiree from Nice, France. Mullin spent many years in the U.S. Navy and spends part of his time in the U.S. and part time in France. He was in town when he heard about the Bayou Challenge being played at Harrah’s and decided to stop by. That turned out to be a wise decision. Mullin was eliminated in sixth place when his pocket sevens lost to pocket kings.
5th Place – Curtis Warner, a 57-year-old retiree from Kansas City, MO. Warner was low on chips most of the way, but managed to coast into fifth place. He finally went out holding pocket eights, which lost to pocket kings.
4th Place – Dennis Crowley, a 61-year-old retiree from Pearland, TX. He had previously cashed in two events at the WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s New Orleans. However, this marked Crowley’s first final table appearance and highest finish ever.
3rd Place – K. Steve Irwin, a 55-year-old finance director from Gonzalez, TX. Irwin has four children, five grandchildren and has been proudly married for 27 years. He had previously cashed in a few tournaments, but this was his highest major tournament finish.
2nd Place – Mo (Mohammed) Arani, a 25-year-old student from Dallas, TX. Arani is enrolled at the University of Texas at Dallas to become a pharmacist. This was Arani’s best tournament performance. His only other cash came last month, 21st place at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge V, in Oklahoma. As the runner up, the Iranian-born Arani collected $8,360.
1st Place – Adam “Lippy” Lippert, a 25-year-old poker pro from Brooklyn, NY. This marked Lippy’s third time to win a major tournament, including an event at the Caesar’s Indiana WSOP Circuit in 2007. Since 2006, he has cashed 32 times and has more than $330,000 in tournament winnings.