Fielder Wins WSOP-C, Silver to AU, Matros on CNN

WSOP Circuit Crowns Jeff Fielder Champion

The $1,675 buy-in NLHE Main Event at the WSOP Circuit Choctaw in Durant, Oklahoma completed in days as planned. It started with 1,140 players in the two flights and whittled its way down to 163 for the start of Day 2. The money bubble burst on that day with Doug Lee busted by first-day chip leader Drazen Ilich, and the remaining 117 players cashed. That number included John Harris, Kevin Eyster, T.J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, Rex Clinkscales, and William Nguyen.

Of the 15 players who made Day 3, Brenda Bassett and Brant Hale just missed the final table. Doug Ashmore bubbled the official final eight, and the rest of the action played out with these results:

1^st place: Jeff Fielder ($312,080)

2^nd place: Matthew Kirby ($192,751)

3^rd place: Dale Roesel ($143,230)

4^th place: Bryan Campanello ($107,730)

5^th place: Krissi McFarland ($82,092)

6^th place: Drazen Ilich ($63,202)

7^th place: Cliff Stewart ($49,265)

8^th place: Paul Phillips ($38,834)

Nate Silver to play Aussie Millions

Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, announced a special guest for the Aussie Millions. The well-respected statistician, Nate Silver, will arrive on January 25 to play the series’ Main Event.

Silver is a longtime fan and player of the game, and he enjoys mixing his math background with poker. Having played events like the World Series of Poker, he looks forward to the challenge of the Aussie Millions Poker Championship.

Silver has been an American election predictor for years, even named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2009, and he recently gained more fame by predicting the results of all 50 states in the 2012 presidential election. His recently-published New York Times bestselling book is called “The Signal and The Noise: Why Most Predictions Fail – But Some Don’t.”

Matt Matros Writes for CNN

Professional poker player Matt Matros published an article on CNN Money on Tuesday comparing the American debt and budget situation to a poker game.

He wrote, “The bets may be in the trillions, the chips in play may be Social Security, Medicare, and Big Bird, but the strategy and tactics are the same as those I see on the felt.” Matros goes on to discuss the worst bluff (House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans who threatened not to raise the debt ceiling), best railbird (Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke), and biggest nit (Boehner and President Barack Obama).