Elilton Gouveia Wins $400 NLHE Kickoff Event at WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee For $104,807

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) opened at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina on November 22 with the kickoff event, i.e. the $400 No-Limit Hold’em. Fielding across four starting flights, the event pulled in a field of 2,273 entries creating a prize pool of $750,090.

Elilton ‘Tom’ Gouveia (cover image) outlasted the massive field to claim his very first WSOPC gold ring, along with a career-best score of $104,807. Gouveia has registered a total of six cashes in the WSOP circuit since 2012, accumulating winnings of $131,092. His total live earnings currently stand at $184,974.

“It feels amazing. I mean, I’ve been dreaming about that,” said Gouveia who entered the event as gift to himself. “Last Friday was my birthday. I was telling my wife, ‘okay, I just want to go and play. It’s going to be kind of a present’.”

Entering the event through Flight C, Gouveia began Day 2 with a stack of 385,000. Day 2 began with Level 21 and 160 players remaining. From there, the 37-year-old carved his way to the unofficial final table, managing to sit in the middle of the pack with 4,500,000 in chips.

While Irene Carey dominated the chip lead for most of the day, Gouveia was able to step up his game when it mattered the most, and he went on to defeat his heads-up opponent Carey to take home his maiden circuit ring.

230 places were assured payouts and the notables who finished in the money included Massimo Dirienzo (13^th for $8,128), Matthew Silva (30^th for $3,636), Indian origin player Rahul Deevara (41^st for $2,428) and Michael Holland (67^th for $1,701).

Unofficial Final Table Chip Counts

1. Irene Carey – 7,130,000

2. Donald Fountain – 5,500,000

3. Casey Kelly – 4,865,000

4. David Moses – 4,770,000

5. Elilton Gouveia – 4,500,000

6. Luke Davis – 2,840,000

7. Shawn McClanahan – 2,670,000

8. Louis Packman – 1,135,000

9. Daniel Garber – 755,000

10. Dan Moskowitz – 435,000

Following the elimination of Luke Davis in 10^th place for $9,731, the nine-handed final table was formed.

Final Table Recap

Irene Carey headed into the final table as the chip leader and maintained her lead throughout most of the final table.

Gunning for her first gold ring, Carey looked all set for the win, until she met Elilton Gouveia in the heads-up. The two competitors hashed it out for a good while, each with dedicated rails watching and cheering them on the whole time.

In the end, it was Gouveia who prevailed. After a few key double ups, Gouveia finally struck the final blow midway through Level 38, clinching his career-first WSOPC ring for a winner’s payday of $104,807.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Elilton Gouveia – $104,807

2. Irene Carey – $67,445

3. Casey Kelly – $50,504

4. Louis Packman – $39,352

5. David Moses – $31,747

6. Shawn McClanahan – $25,652

7. Daniel Moskowitz – $20,843

8. Benjamin Garber – $16,219

9. Donald Fountain – $12,521