Bill Bostick Wins the Stud Championship at Beau Rivage
*Former Michigan Automotive Engineer-Turned-Poker Pro Wins First Major Poker
Tournament After Several Cashes and High Finishes*
*Final Table Includes Two Poker Stars Who Come Up Short, as Brent Carter and
Randy Holland Take 6th and 7th*
*Biloxi, MS (January 7, 2009) – *Once upon a time, Seven-Card Stud was the
most popular poker game in the nation. It was the dominant game played in
the East as most casinos and cardrooms offered more Seven-Card Stud games
than any other form of poker. Then around 2003, everything changed.
No-Limit
Hold'em hit the country (and the world) with the full force of a firestorm.
Now, Seven-Card Stud games are sometimes difficult to find inside many poker
rooms. They are even more of a rarity on the poker tournament circuit.
Southern Poker Championship organizers including Ken Lambert, Jr., Johnny
Grooms, and Eric Comer were determined to provide as wide a menu of poker
games as possible. In an effort to satisfy the thousands of poker players
descending upon the Gulf Coast region during the month of January, games
like Stud, Omaha, and limit games were included on this year's schedule.
The $500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud championship concluded today as Bill Bostick
became the latest poker tournament champion. Bostick is a 39-year-old
former automotive engineer from St. Clair, MI. Several months ago, Bostick,
who once designed restraints and safety equipment, was layed off from his
job.
He started playing poker more regularly and began traveling around the
country. Bostick cashed at several tournaments in 2008, including events on
the Heartland Poker Tour, the WSOP Circuit at Lake Tahoe, and the Bayou
Winter Poker Challenge. But up until now, he had not won a major poker
tournament.
First place paid $12,366. Bostick was presented with the custom-designed
white gold and diamond bracelet, the crowing achievement of victory at all
SPC events.
The Seven-Card Stud competition took place over two consecutive
days. Only the top 12 players collected prize money. The total prize pool
amounted to $41,225. All the action took place in the tournament ballroom,
set up inside Beau Rivage Resort & Casino.
After 77 players were eliminated, the final table began with two players in
close proximity to the chip lead. Zachary Fellows (129K) enjoyed a slight
advantage over Alan "Chainsaw" Levinson (110K). The remaining six players
all had 67K or less in chips. Eventual winner, Bill Bostick only had 30K in
chips. The final table was notable for the appearances of two former World
Series of Poker event winners – Brent Carter and Randy Holland. Players
were eliminated in the following order:
*8th Place –* Just a few hands into play at the final table, Florida-based
retiree Douglas Bruce busted out of the tournament. Eighth place paid
$1,649.
*7th Place –* Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Brent Carter was eliminated
in seventh place. Carter (with 48 cashes at the WSOP) now has nearly $3
million in career tournament winnings. He added a modest $2,061 to his
poker bankroll for his showing in this event.
*6th Place –* Randy Holland, another two-time WSOP champion followed Carter
out the door. Holland also holds two World Poker Tour titles, both won at
the World Poker Open in Tunica, MS. Sixth place paid $2,474.
*5th Place –* Another poker veteran, Art Young was eliminated in fifth
place. Young previously had cashes at the WSOP, Super Bowl of Poker, and
other major tournaments. In fact, Young has now made it to the final table
of this stud tournament three straight years in Mississippi. Poker is
certainly a family affair, as Young is also the proud father of two
successful poker pros, Brett and Bo Jungblut.
*4th Place –* After play was four-handed for over an hour, Damon Oakley
finally busted out next. The accountant from Somerville, MA collected
$3,710 for his fourth-place finish.
*3rd Place – *Zachary Fellows was the short-stacked player when play became
three-handed. He ran card dead late in the tournament and went out as the
third-place finisher. Fellows had previously cashed at the WSOP and various
tournaments held near his home in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Third
place paid $4,947.
*2nd Place –* When heads-up play began, Bill Bostick enjoyed about a 2 to 1
chip lead over Alan "Chainsaw" Levinson. With the antes and limits high in
proportion to the total number of chips in play, it meant that just a few
hands could swing the decision in either player's favor. It took roughly 15
hands to determine the final outcome. That came when Levinson missed a draw
and Bostick scooped the final pot of the night with a seemingly fragile pair
of threes.
As the runner up, "Chainsaw" Levinson earned $7,008 for second
place. The day trader from Montebello, NY has previously cashed at the
World Poker Tour at Foxwoods and the U.S. Poker Championships in Atlantic
City.
*1st Place –* Bill Bostick now has over $100,000 in tournament winnings, all
earned in less than a year's time. Bostick started playing poker
competitively in 2008. His highest previous finish was in a Heartland Poker
Tour event, held in upstate New York, where he finished in third place.
| 
