Deeb wins WSOP Circuit title

January, 13, 2012
Jan 13
2:45
PM ET
By Andrew Feldman

For the past 26 years, Freddy Deeb has left his mark on the tournament poker world. He won his second WSOP bracelet at the $50,000 HORSE event, he earned a WPT title in 2005, and in 2010 took down a high roller event in Paris. He may have become memorable thanks to his "lucky shirt" (as mentioned on ESPN's WSOP broadcasts), but Deeb's talents extend far beyond his ability to pick the right shirt for the occasion. In total, Deeb has earned more than $7.7 million on the tournament felt, but until Thursday night, he had never cashed on the World Series of Poker Circuit. That first cash turned out to be the sixth-largest of his career, worth $171,810, as he defeated the field of 549 in the tour's first appearance at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

[+] Enlarge
Freddy Deeb
Courtesy of WSOP CircuitFreddy Deeb won the first ever WSOP Circuit main event held at the Bicycle Casino.

Deeb's victory in the three-day event offered an interesting twist. As part of the adjustments to the 2011-12 WSOP Circuit schedule and structure, players could re-enter the event, normally during the first two opening days. However, Deeb didn't play on Day 1A or Day 1B. Registration was open until the start of play on Day 2 and Deeb elected to spend the $1,500 at that point to begin his tournament with a paltry 20 big blinds, less than half the average stack. By five levels into the day, Deeb was among the chip leaders and was one of the final 17 players moving on to the final day of the tournament.

According to the WSOP, on the second hand of Day 3 action, Deeb was involved in a three-way pot where he and Cy Williams were all-in against Chris Summers. Deeb's J-J held against Summers' A-K and Williams' 9-9 to become one of the chip leaders in the event. When nine remained, Deeb was the chip leader, but quickly lost his grasp on that position after losing a big pot to David Singontiko.

Deeb chipped up into the top spot once again with his eliminations of Julie Franks (eighth), Tsung Lu (seventh) and Brandon Crawford (sixth), but his lead wouldn't hold after dinner as he dropped into last after a substantial all-in preflop pot with 5-5 to Alex Masek's 3-3. Masek moved into the chip lead a short time later, and Deeb would hang on to enter the final three in last place (Tong Le was eliminated in fifth, Singontiko in fourth).

After Deeb doubled through Leroy Spires, he'd knock him out a short time after with a devastating river card. Spires was all-in and ahead with a turned flush holding Jh-9h on a board of Jc-8h-3h-Qh against Deeb's set of eights. Deeb needed the board to pair and it did, with a three falling on the river, eliminating Spires in third. With nearly three quarters of the chips in play, Deeb turned up the aggression and whittled Masek down to the point where two double-ups for Masek didn't really dent his stack. On the third all-in and call, Deeb's pocket queens held against Masek's A-K, and the 56-year-old pro had earned another title.

In addition to the prize money, Deeb also secured his spot in the 2011-12 WSOP Circuit National Championship where he'll be playing for at least a $1 million prize pool.

Here are the final table results from the 2012 WSOP Circuit stop at the Bicycle Casino:

1. Freddy Deeb ($171,810)
2. Alex Masek ($106,185)
3. Leroy Spires ($77,570)
4. David Singontiko ($57,505)
5. Tong Le ($43,245)
6. Brandon Crawford ($32,900)
7. Tsung Lu ($25,520)
8. Julie Franks ($20,025)
9. Vince Cardella ($15,935)

The next WSOP Circuit stop is already underway in Choctaw, Okla., where there first event attracted a field of 1,219 entries, up more than 30 percent from a year ago. The series will run for another nine days when another main event champion will be crowned on Jan. 22.

PCA Update:

Two players made history at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table. Anthony Gregg became the first player to make a second appearance at the PCA final table. In 2009, Gregg finished in second to Poorya Nazari to earn $1.7 million. He entered this year's final table as the short stack, but battled his way into a sixth-place finish worth $364,000.

The other player to change PCA forever was Xuan Liu who became the first woman to make a PCA final table. Liu is no stranger to the final table scene, as he had a third-place finish at EPT San Remo last April.

Faraz Jaka held the chip lead to enter the final table, which was shown on Friday with hole cards on PokerStars.tv on a 40-minute delay.

On Day 2 of the $25,000 High Roller event, Jonathan Duhamel held the chip lead with two tables remaining. The final 16 players will earn at least $58,020, with the champion taking home $1.1 million. The final table of that event will be broadcast Saturday on PokerStars.tv at 2 p.m. ET.

Small blinds: 2009 WSOP main event champion Joe Cada won the $2,000 side event at PCA for $175,550. This was Cada's largest cash since his main event victory. … The first event of the 2012 Aussie Millions, 1,000 AU$ no-limit hold 'em, featured a field of 525 players. Only 66 players survived to Day 2, including bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen, Grant Levy and Mel Judah. … Golfer Sergio Garcia finished in 51st place in the 2012 PCA main event. He earned $35,000. … Epic Poker will now air on Europe's The Poker Channel. … If you had any questions about what the recent Department of Justice memo regarding the Wire Act meant, Gambling Compliance's Chris Krafcik explains it all.

ESPN Conversations


You must be signed in to post a comment

Already have an account?