FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1/27/2010

Hoyt Corkins Wins 2010 World Poker Tour® Southern Poker Championship

Mississippi Win is Alabama Native's Second WPT Title

BILOXI, Miss. – After 22 days and 33 events, the Southern Poker Championship culminated with the $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Main Event Jan. 24-27. A mix of 208 poker celebrities, regional pros and unknown hopefuls competed for a $1.9 million prize pool and a $25,500-seat WPT World Championship at Bellagio in April 2010.

After three days of play, the final six players remained to take their place in televised World Poker Tour history.

The chip leader of the WPT Southern Poker Championship final table was Hoyt Corkins with a little more than 2 million in chips. The shortest stack belonged to James Reed of Newnan, Georgia. Tyler Smith was at this table last year, but went out 5th. Jonathan Kantor and Jared Jaffee have both won an earlier event in the Southern Poker Championship.

Below is a recap of how the action went down:

Jerry Vanstrydonck put in a raise to 55k, Jared Jaffee reraised from the small blind to 155k, and Tyler Smith called all in from the big blind for 49,000. Vanstrydonck folds. Tyler holds J-3 versus the A-Q of Jaffee. The board came K-10-6-4-6 and Tyler Smith finished 6th earning $86,837.

The short stack of the table was James Reed. He finally moved all-in and got the call from Jared Jaffee. Reed held 7-5 versus the pocket 8's of Jaffee. The board read A-Q-5-6-4 and the pocket 8's held. James reed finished 5th earning $106,134.

With blinds at 15k/30k, Hoyt Corkins raises the action to 110k. Jonathan Kantor and Jerry Vanstrydonk both call. Action gets to Jared Jaffee who moves all-in for 661k. Hoyt makes the call and the other two players fold. Hoyt holds pocket J's versus the K-Q of Jaffee. The flop was 6-7-3, the turn was a 4 and the river w...as a 9. Jared Jaffee finished 4th earning $135,079.

Hoyt Corkins made a raise to 60k on the button and Jonathan Kantor got out of the way. Jerry Vanstrydonk moved all-in for 1.61 million and Corkins took little time in calling. Vanstrydonk held 9-8 of diamonds versus the K-Q of Corkins. The flop was 7-4-2 rainbow. The turn was an A and the river was a 10. Jerry Strydonk finished 3rd earning $196,829.

Jonathan Kantor limps into action and Hoyt moves all-in. Kantor makes the call with K-10 versus the A-7 of Corkins. The flop is A-5-2, the turn is an 8 and the river is another 5. Jonathan Kantor finishes the tournament 2nd earning $366,643.

The WPT Southern Poker Championship Main Event champion is Hoyt Corkins of Glenwood, Alabama. This is Corkins’ second WPT first place win, sixth WPT final table and with 4,000 WPT points, he is now tied with Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey for the highest all-time WPT points. For his hard work, Corkins takes home $713,986 cash, the coveted WPT Southern Poker Championship trophy, the bracelet and a seat to the Bellagio $25,000 WPT World Championship event. Corkins has amassed more than $5 million in career earnings.

The World Poker Tour Southern Poker Championship is scheduled for broadcast on Fox Sports Net (FSN) on April 19, 2010.

###

For More Information:
Mary Cracchiolo-Spain, Beau Rivage
mcracchiolo@beaurivage.com
(228) 386-7134

Luxury golf, redefined