Trace Henderson Takes Down Gulf Coast Poker Tour’s Milly in Philly Main Event

The Gulf Coast Poker Tour at Pearl River Resorts in Philadelphia, Mississippi wrapped up last weekend with Trace Henderson of Laurel, Mississippi taking down the $600 Milly in Philly Main Event for a payday worth $75,566.

The Main Event attracted 990 entries and generated a prize pool just short of half a million at $495,000 to smash the guarantee of $350,000. Those numbers made it the second-largest of 13 events on the tour. Henderson, who now boasts $564,272 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, agreed to an even-chop with heads-up opponent Hamid Izadi of Marietta, Georgia.

2021 Milly in Philly Main Event Final Table Results

_{*Denotes heads-up deal.}

See Winners from the 2nd Annual Gulf Coast Poker Award here!

Henderson Victory

Henderson is far from a newcomer to the Gulf Coast Poker Tour. In 2019, the Mississippian took down Event #4: $350 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack at the Pearl River Poker Open for $7,640, finished second in Event #7: $350 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack for $2,854, and came in fourth in Event #1: $250 No-Limit Hold’em for $10,116.

A few years earlier, Henderson racked up a third-place finish worth $23,142 in Event #1: $345 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Henderson also made a deep run in the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada, cashing in on a 330th-place finish worth $33,900.

Other notable southern grinders who cashed in Milly in Philly Main Event but ultimately came up short of victory include Joseph Herbert (5th – $24,107), David Bradshaw (7th – $14,355), Luther Tran (8th – $11,385), Sokchheka Pho (12th – $7,277), Chan Pelton (14th – ($5,940) and Forrest Raleigh (19th – $4,109).

The biggest name in the field was 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, who finished in 26th place for $2,921. Last June, “Fossilman” finished second in $300 No-Limit Hold’em (Event #1) at the Pearl River Summer Series in Chocktaw for $35,001.

Other Winners

This year’s Gulf Coast Poker Tour kicked off with the $300 BagWow! Re-entry event, which attracted 2,341 total runners for a prize pool of $561,840 to make it the biggest tournament of the series. Benny Morgan of Pell City, Alabama took down the event for $55,074 after a heads-up chop with Mark Davis of Birmingham, Alabama, who received $55,073.

2021 Gulf Coast Poker Tour “Milly in Philly” Results

Another big winner of the tour was Peace Marvel of Pearl River, Louisiana, who first took down Event #8: $300 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack for $10,872 and then finished in the money in Event #12: $300 No-Limit Hold’em Survivor (Event #12) for $2,600 to close the tour out.

Marvel, who has racked up $60,197 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, also made the money in the Main Event, finishing in 55th place for $1,485.

It was also a good tour for Tunica, Mississippi’s Walker Miskelly, who finished first in Event #7: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout for $35,425 and later 16th in the Main Event for $4,604. A few months earlier, Miskelly finished 48th in the Pearl River Poker Open Main Event for $1,243.

Carl Masters of Clarksville, Tennessee, meanwhile, won the Event #5: $200 No-Limit Hold’em Celebrity Bounty for a cash of $6,306, while also racking up a $3,804 cash in Event #9: $250 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors a few days later.

10-Way Chop in Seniors Event

Last year, poker enthusiasts around the world were intrigued when a rare 11-player chop took place at the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) All Stars Horseshoe Council Bluffs $575 Main Event, with each of the players agreeing to the same $26,058 payout.

This year, a slightly smaller group of players agreed to a 10-way chop in Event #9: No-Limit Hold’em Seniors, with each player receiving $3,804 off of their $250 buy-in. Lonny Weitzel of Texarkana, Texas was the official winner of the tournament, while Michael Miller, Alvin Harris, Michael Benton, Randy Gordon and Huey Hulin were among those who secured a chop.

_{*Images courtesy of Gulf Coast Poker Tour.}