Table Of Contents
The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) festival at Harrah’s Cherokee made headlines, though not for the usual reasons.
On Day 2 of the event, a man entered the tournament area during a break and started flipping tables, damaging property and scattering chips. The man turned three tables over before being subdued.
After just a couple of hours in which they carefully reviewed the security footage and took counts from the players, the team at Harrah’s was able to reconstruct the overturned stacks and the tournament got back on track.
This ended up working out for Florian Pesce. The French player went on to win the Main Event despite the disturbance.
Main Event Action
The duplicate Day 1 flights of the Main Event closed with a total of 1,710 entry tickets punched. That is a 33% bump over the 1,288 players who entered the previous edition of this event in December 2024.
The high turnout meant a big prize pool ($2,590,650) and a big first-place prize ($368,380).
Pesce started Day 2 at joint 12th in the chip counts with 188 players left in the field. By the end of the day — after the tables had been righted and stacks restored — only 18 players remained and Pesce was still falling shy of the top ten.
Day 3 saw things turn around for Pesce. As tough players like Michael Hunsucker and Matthew Davis busted out, Pesce accrued chips.
Pesce eventually found himself heads up with a local player, Jarrett Mullins from Yadkinville, North Carolina. Mullins put on a good show, but he started heads up play with a 5-to-1 chip disadvantage from which he never recovered.
The chips finally went in with Pesce holding the Q♥10♥ and Mullins the A♥8♠. A queen on the river sealed the ring for Pesce and the $245,597 second-place prize for Mullins.
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florian Pesce | Epinal, France | $368,380 |
| 2 | Jarrett Mullins | Yadkinville, NC | $245,597 |
| 3 | Patrick Plott | Charlotte, NC | $175,337 |
| 4 | Taylor Hart | Happy Valley, OR | $126,837 |
| 5 | Jason Brauda | Matthews, NC | $92,985 |
| 6 | Danny Clarkson | St. Johns, FL | $69,097 |
| 7 | Michael Hunsucker | Orlando, FL | $52,055 |
| 8 | Cody Copenhaver | Atlanta, GA | $39,765 |
| 9 | Matthew Davis | Washington, MI | $30,808 |
What Else Is On At The WSOPC
Elsewhere at the festival, Maxwell Young won his 9th WSOP Circuit ring, bumping him into joint 16th on the ring leaderboard.
Meanwhile, across the country, the WSOP Circuit festivals at the Horseshoe Baltimore and at the Horseshoe Hammond are still dealing cards while their tables remain mercifully upright.
Coming up in March, there are three WSOPC festivals on the calendar.
The first of these kicks off on March 5 at the Hard Rock Tulsa with a schedule that is ideal for beginner players.
In April, the WSOP Circuit will return to Ontario for a series at Great Canadian Toronto running April 10-22.
You can see the full results for the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee festival in the table below.
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Full Series Results
*Lead photo courtesy WSOP Circuit