Sam Barnhart wins WSOPC National Championship

Sam Barnhart became the first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit Series National Champion on Sunday at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas defeating the 99 other qualifiers to win the $300,000 top prize. Barnhart had tasted victory at the WSOPC Tunica Main Event earlier in the series earning $148,162 to qualify easily for the National Championship. Barnhart is a 50 year-old semi-pro software analyst from Little Rock, Arkansas.

The $1 million freeroll tournament gave National Championship Seats to all winners from each of 15 tournaments that made up the WSOP Circuit series Main Event, as well as the Player of the Tournament at each stop (15). 36 total seats were awarded to the final table participants at the four Regional Championship tournaments, and the remainder of the field was chosen using the WSOP point’s formula.

Among the participants in the $1 million National Championship were Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, Tim West, Dwyte Pilgrim, Shannon Schorr, Bernard Lee, Andy Frankenberger, Steve Zolotow, and David “Doc” Sands. Amazingly, only two female players qualified for the tournament, Traci Brown and La Sengphet; the latter would make the final table and finish in 4th place.

The final table results of the 2011 WSOPC National Championship:

1. Sam Barnhart – $300,000
2. James Anderson – $200,000
3. Josh Evans – $135,000
4. La Sengphet – $100,000
5. Jonathan Poche – $75,000
6. Charles “Woody” Moore – $55,000
7. Drazen Ilich – $42,500
8. Adam Hui – $35,000
9. Matt Lawrence – $30,000
10. Huy Nguyen – $27,500