Coast to Coast Poker Championships Event #2

May 7th – 8th $1,000 NLHE Bounty Event

The Bounty event not only put a price on every players’ head, there were a few local heroes and known professionals that carried a special target on their stacks. Knock out a player, earn $50. Knock out one of the special entries and the BC Lottery Corporation kicks in a $1,000 bonus. In the spirit of the Coast to Coast / East vs. West theme, a $2,000 bounty was on the heads of Canada’s geographic reps – “Yukon” Brad Booth for the West and Gavin Smith for the East.

Bounty List:

Gavin Smith
“Yukon” Brad Booth
Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari
Kenna James
Jody Trainer
Jeff Garza
Bryan Devonshire
Robert Cheung
James Hawkins
Henry Tran
David Matthew
Lacey Jones
Adam Junglen
Derrick Law
Scott Clements
Adam Schwartz
Colin Burton
Shawn Buchanan
Jason Warner
Michael Johnson
Lee Markholt

For “Cowboy” Kenna James his signature hat had barely arrived special delivery before he hit the dusty trail. Other eliminations of the $1,000 variety were a train wreck of bad beats. Jody Trainer flopping his set of Aces, only to lose to a lowly 5-6 that flopped an open-ended straight and filled on the river, making it the second time in two consecutive tournaments that the WPT Canada rep was felted with cracked Aces. Gavin Smith was next to fall, losing to a straight flush – if that is any consolation. Scott Clements – an honorary Canadian for the way he has taken down WPT events in this country for the last two years, also fell during Day 1. Shawn Buchanan didn’t last much longer after that before the end of Level 9 signalled the end of the day, leaving 148 players left to renew battle the next day.

Coast to Coast Poker Championships Event #1

May 5th $500 NLHE

From a road trip that started in Nevada on motorcycle with an Escalade as pack mule for, Bryan Devonshire, Gavin Smith and others travelled north on a four-day trip that would take them to the Coast to Coast Poker Championship. At the end of the day it was 26-year old “Devo” that takes down first place for $60,835.

Considering this was his “holiday,” Bryan expressed what a great idea the trip was and what a great time he was having in Richmond at the River Rock Casino & Resort. After a brief border “misunderstanding” his best intentions paid off winning the first event of the Coast to Coast Poker Championships.

529 Players - $243,340 Prize Pool

1st Bryan Devonshire Henderson, NV, USA $60,835.00
2nd Peter Au Kamloops BC $36,500.00
3rd Adam Chipiuk Edmonton AB $21,900.00
4th David Pazurik New Westminster $18,250.00
5th James Gibson Stonewall Manitoba $15,820.00
6th Bowen Fric Calgary ,AB $13,385.00
7th Josef Shechter North Vancouver BC $10,950.00
8th Zhiyuan Song Vancouver BC $8,520.00
9th Gene Lockerby Surrey BC $6,085.00
10th Ambrose Ng Halifax $4,870.00
11th Matthew Jarvis Surrey BC $3,650.00
12th Allan Johnson Nanaimo BC $2,435.00
13th Garrett Gabionza Richmond BC $2,070.00
14th Louie Grazme Vancouver BC $2,070.00
15th Joel Mackinnon Bullock Calgary AB $1,700.00
16th Davis Michael Sanchez San Diego, California $1,700.00
17th Ryan Biermann Kelowna BC $1,460.00
18th Steven Goosen Vancouver BC $1,460.00
19th Jay Madsen Vancouver BC $1,220.00
20th Kaan Becer Richmond BC $1,220.00
21st Kelly Gilbert Vancouver BC $1,000.00
22nd Trevor Renkers Surrey BC $1,000.00
23rd Bob Sinclair Vancouver BC $1,000.00
24th Guy Landry Nanaimo BC $1,000.00
25th Jason Warner Prince George BC $1,000.00
26th Joe Granula Vancouver BC $865.00
27th Luka Banicevic Vancouver BC $865.00
28th Matthew Blake Prince George BC $865.00
29th David Pecaski North Vancouver BC $865.00
30th Siu Liu Vancouver BC $865.00
31st Marco Carreira Winnipeg Manitoba $730.00
32nd Terry Nestegard Coquitlam BC $730.00
33rd Simon Lau Vancouver BC $730.00
34th Jeffrey Guild Vancouver BC $730.00
35th Neil Davey North Vancouver BC $730.00
36th Josh Biedak Victoria BC $730.00
37th Lorenzo Cusano West Vancouver BC $730.00
38th Franklin Taylor Vancouver BC $730.00
39th Tri Huynh Winnipeg Manitoba $730.00
40th Brian Strom Surrey BC $730.00
41st Chu Ao Vancouver BC $600.00
42nd Wayne Miyagi Richmond BC $600.00
43rd Curtis Griswold Maple Ridge, BC $600.00
44th Joel Kaake Delta BC $600.00
45th Robert Murphy Vancouver BC $600.00
46th Marcel Shackelly Merritt BC $600.00
47th Vladislav Zhuk Richmond BC $600.00
48th Christopher Kerluke North Vancouver BC $600.00
49th Kent Evenson Maple Ridge, BC $600.00
50th Michael Cameron Langley, BC $600.00

WPT Canada Launches

Announcing WPT's latest move into international markets, WPT Canada starts with the Coast to Coast Poker Championships taking place May 5-13th, 2008 at the River Rock Casino Resort.

The Coast to Coast Poker Championships will be the first stop for World Poker Tour Canada. WPT Canada, a licensed product of WPT Enterprises, will film four one-hour episodes of the Championships to air nationally in Canada late August 2008. WPT Canada will reflect the popular WPT TV show based on a series of high-stakes poker.

This inaugural tournament brings players from the East and the West together for a poker showdown. Leading the way are B.C.’s homegrown poker pro “Yukon” Brad Booth and Ontario’s Gavin Smith.

“I was born and raised in B.C., so I’m proud to represent the West in this new Canadian tournament,” explained Booth. “I challenge all my eastern counterparts to come out to B.C. so we can show the world who really is at the top of their game!”

“I’m thrilled to be part of the Coast to Coast Poker Championships,” stated Smith. “I look forward to lots of good poker action, and knocking out some of my Western opponents.”

The Coast to Coast Poker Championships features seven events with an estimated 2,650 players and $2.4 million prize pool. The main event offers a top prize of $377,300 based on a sell-out.

“We are proud to host the first ever Coast to Coast Poker Championships, which brings together some of the best poker players in Canada while adding an East versus West rivalry to the classic game,” said Darryl Schiewe, BCLC’s Vice President of Casino Gaming. “We have such good poker in Canada, and with great poker rooms, tournaments and players, there is no reason to leave Canada to play.”

Tournament events include No Limit Texas Hold’Em, Pot Limit Texas Hold’Em and Omaha High Mix, a Mother’s Day Team Tournament, as well as a “bounty” event where players who knock out a celebrity win extra cash.

Satellite games, which allow players to win their entry to tournament events, are currently available through participating casinos. Players, aged 19 or older, can register by phone at 1-604-247-8983 or in person at River Rock Casino Resort, 8811 River Road, Richmond, British Columbia. More information is available at www.bclc.com.

SATELLITES AVAILABLE NOW

Satellite games, which allow players to win their entry to tournament events, are currently available through participating casinos. Players, aged 19 or older, can register by phone at 1-604-247-8983 or in person at River Rock Casino Resort, 8811 River Road, Richmond, British Columbia. More information is available at www.bclc.com.


Event 1 - $500 No Limit Hold'em, May 5th, 2008- Single Day Event, Limited Field
Event 2 - $220 Super Satellite, May 6th, 2008- Single Day Event, Awards $4,000 C2C Packages which includes entry to Events 3 & 4- 1 package/20 entries
Event 3 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with $50 and $1,000 Bounties, May 7th & 8th, 2008- Final Table May 11th, Limited Field
Event 4 - Main Event $3,000 No Limit Hold'em, May 9th, 10th & 11th, 2008- $15,000 Starting Chips, Limited Field
Event 5 - Mothers Day Team Event & Brunch, $200 Buy-in includes Team entry and 2 Brunches, May 11th, 2008- Limited to 200 teams
Event 6 - $300 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha, May 12th, 2008- Limited to 300 entries, Single Day Event
Event 7 - $300 No Limit Hold'em, May 13th, 2008- Limited to 300 Entries, Single Day Event