Bodog Beat

Amateur poker player Nick Ceci took down the $382,928 first-place prize at the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit event. (Bodog Beat Image)

The final stop for this World Series of Poker Circuit season wrapped up last night at Harrahs New Orleans when amateur poker player Nick Ceci took down the $382,928 first-place prize for winning the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit championship event.

After putting up his $5,000 buy-in, the 38-yeard-old demolition contractor from Peachtree City, Ga., fought through a relatively tough field for a WSOP Circuit event and outlasted poker pros like Gavin Smith, Steve Dannenmann, Josh Arieh, Steve Billirakis, T.J. Cloutier, Allen Kessler, Johnathan "FieryJustice" Little and Bill Edler.

Ceci entered the final table exactly halfway down the leaderboard with four players behind him and four above him. The chip leader to start the final table, Tim Miles, would end up being Ceci's heads-up opponent for a marathon face-to-face duel. In stark contrast to the 49 hands it took to eliminate the first seven players, the heads-up match lasted an astounding two and a half hours before Ceci was able to emerge victorious.

Another notable finish from the final table belonged to Lou Esposito, who took sixth place in his third straight WSOP Circuit championship event final table at Harrahs New Orleans, going home with $59,833.

Next up is the daddy of all poker tournaments, the 2008 World Series of Poker. If you don't already have a seat into the 2008 WSOP Main Event, then head over to Bodog and get started for as little as $1 with the 2008 WSOP online poker satellites.