A flipping massive field of 1,710 showed up at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina for the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event, generating a prize pool of $2,590,650, and most of that went to help double a player’s lifetime earnings.
France’s Florian Pesce won his first Circuit ring and the $368,380 he took for first more than doubled his lifetime tournament winnings. Not only that, it was his first victory and his first six-figure cash. According to the WSOP, he started playing poker online in middle school in $.03/$.06 games after his grandparents taught him bridge.
His best cash up to this point happened in a $3,500 event at the Bellagio Kickoff Classic in 2023, where he finished third for $71,892.
Runner-up was Jarrett Mullins, who was going for his fourth ring. He won $245,597 for second place, and added another $24,849 to his bankroll a day after with another runner-up finish in Event #14, a $400 buy-in affair.
Patrick Plott made his ninth WSOP worth $175,337, while fourth-place finisher Taylor Hart missed his chance at his second ring, but still took home $126,837.
Fifth-place finisher Jason Brauda was also going for his second ring, while Danny Clarkson (sixth for $69,097), Mike Hunsucker (seventh for $52,055), Cody Copenhaver (eighth for $39,765), Matthew Davis (ninth for $30,808), and Dylan Kahn (tenth for $24,212) were all trying for their first.
Flippin’ crazy
The WSOPC Main Event attracted mainstream attention — not because of the massive field size — but by an unnamed man who decided to start flipping over poker tables with 65 players left on Sunday. The incident quickly spread like wildfire over the internet after Davis Moses, who has one bracelet and four rings, posted a video of the long-haired man flipping over a third table while also being tackled by other players.
World Poker Tour tournament director called it a TD’s “worst nightmare,” and gave the tournament staff kudos for taking control off the situation and getting the event rolling after about a two-hour delay.
The man was removed from the casino by security, shouting that God told him to do it, according to PokerNews. CardsChat contacted the Cherokee Police Department to try to get the man’s identity, but they had no information about the incident.
Media outlets across the globe reported on the debacle, calling it a “crazed scene.” It certainly was, but unfortunately, something that tournament directors have to deal with from time to time.
The pictures and video were reminiscent of the scene at the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas, when a shattered plate glass window that was mistaken for a gunshot set off a mass-panic that rolled through several Strip casinos. In the crowd of panicked people who thought a mass shooting event was unfolding, tables were knocked over, as well as many people, some who suffered injuries.
Fortunately for the players at Harrah’s Cherokee, the damage was limited to the poker room and was quickly suppressed.
The video is absolute nuts. Check it out:
