Bodog Beat

Amateur poker player Michael Pickett took down the championship tournament at the Rincon WSOP Circuit Event last night. (ImageMasters Photography)

For all of our blustering about wanting a big name poker pro to win this tournament, we're always suckers for the "David vs. Goliath" storyline as well. This time it was David taking on two Goliaths as Michael Pickett overcame a chip shortage and a final table that included poker pros Gavin Smith and Lee Watkinson to win the WSOP Circuit Event championship in Rincon, CA.

Pickett started the day with a stack seven times smaller than that of chip leader Edward Sabat and by the time two-handed play arrived had built it up to a 2 to 1 advantage over opponent David Peters. After an hour of heads-up play, the 23-year-old Minnesotan had done what few others could, overcoming a to take home the $229,002 first-place prize. When asked what he would do with the superflous $2.00, Pickett replied, "I'm going to Disney World!"*

Here are the full final table placings and payouts:

1. Michael Pickett – $229,002
2. David Peters – $120,156
3. Edward Sabat – $70,680
4. Kenny Bedoya – $56,544
5. Cristian Avendano – $42,408
6. Gavin Smith – $35,340
7. Lee Watkinson – $28,272
8. Damien Oborne – $21,204
9. Jon Eaton – $14,136

The WSOP Circuit next heads to the Midwest paradise known as Council Bluffs, Iowa in just over a week and then has four more stops after that squeezed in before the 2008 WSOP kicks off. This also means that there is still time to qualify online for the 2008 WSOP and play as part of Team Bodog.

*Not true at all.