2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #5 Final Results

March 9th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Atlantic City
Event #5
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 451
Total Prize Pool: $131,241
March 7-8, 2010

Final Results:

1 Alexandru Masek San Diego, CA $39,372

2 Pietro Maniscalco Mount Olive, NJ $21,130

3 Kerry Small Ventnor, NJ $10,499

4 Marc Wilson St. Clairsville, OH $9,187

5 Brian Grodofsky Merrick, NY $7,874

6 Jack Sumner St. Augustine, FL $6,562

7 Stan Kayafas Flushing, NY $5,250

8 Kevin Murray Olney, MD $3,937

9 Florentino Deleon Manila, Philippines $2,625

10 Michael Boehme $1,444

11 James Myers $1,444

12 Naoki Takiguchi $1,444

13 Nectalier Gonzalez $1,181

14 Robert Blake $1,181

15 Richard Marchese $1,181

16 Cuong Phung $919

17 Hakima Mohammad $919

18 Gregory Graham $919

19 Mark Schoonmaker $656

20 Kevin Adler $656

21 Danny Alvarez $656

22 Brian Powers $656

23 Kevin Adler $656

24 Daniele Eocarelli $656

25 Arnold Carnevale $656

26 Evan Wallack $656

27 Robert Patterson $656

28 Charles Levin $525

29 Sreenivasa Kaki $525

30 Douglas Pitchford $525

31 Lana Miller $525

32 Yun Pham $525

33 Donald Miller $525

34 James Crouse $525

35 Adam Jacoby $525

36 Chris Reslock $525

37 John Panza $394

38 Nikolas Vlahos $394

39 Ralph Vanormer $394

40 Patrick Rush $394

41 Rizziero Osso $394

42 Eunice Arias $394

43 Thomas Levy $394

44 Paul Cheung $394

45 Thomas Bassing $394

Alexandru Masek Wins WSOP Circuit Event on Spring Break

San Diego Law Student Wins Gold Ring Number Two at Caesars Atlantic City

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event #5 Winner Alexandru Masek

Atlantic City, NJ – Alexandru Masek is making poker look too easy. He just won his second World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring within a year’s time, and has future plans to accomplish much more. Eleven months after winning his first WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Rincon in California, Masek traveled to the East Coast for the first time and pulled off an encore. With another major tournament in Los Angeles in February added to the mix, Masek now has three major wins on his resume since March 2009, an enviable record any poker player would crave.

Masek is a 25 year old college student. He is currently attending law school at the University of San Diego. Masek came to the WSOP Circuit event being held at Caesars Atlantic City during his Spring Break. While his peers populated the beaches and bars of Florida and elsewhere, Masek chose to pursue his poker passion instead and profited to the tune of nearly 40 grand. Not too many college kids in Daytona Beach can claim they pocketed enough money to pay tuition in just a week’s vacation.

Masek won the $340 buy in No-Limit Hold’em tournament and collected the top cash prize, which officially totaled $39,372. He was also presented with his second gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement given out to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events held around the country. Masek’s previous victory took place in a $230 No-Limit Hold’em event held at Rincon. This was his fifth time to cash in a WSOP Circuit tournament.

This marked the fifth of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars schedule. The two-day tournament attracted 451 entrants. Most of the field was eliminated on day one, which clocked in at 14 hours. Four tables of survivors returned for day two which played until a deal was reached when play became five handed. The top 45 finishers divided up prize money from a $131,241 prize pool.

Final table play began on a Monday night and was held inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars. The only previous WSOP Circuit winner among the final nine was Alexandru Masek. Masek arrived as the chip leader and was in a comfortable position throughout the competition. The low blinds (5,000-10,000) and average chip stack of nearly 300,000 from the start gave competitors plenty of play. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Jun DeLeon Joppa, Philippines 211,000

2 Alexandru Masek San Diego, CA 503,000

3 Pete Maniscalco Mount Olive, NJ 491,000

4 Marc Wilson St. Clairsville, OH 194,000

5 Stan Kayafas Flushing, NY 87,000

6 Kevin J. Murray Olney, MD 372,000

7 Kerry Small Ventnor, NJ 103,000

8 Brian Grodofsky Merrick, NY 424,000

9 Jack “Yellow Jacket” Sumner St. Augustine, FL 300,000

Final table player introductions can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/FB0E6

Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: DeLeon Exits Early
Jun DeLeon, who is originally from The Philippines, went out quickly. He took pocket J’s up against K Q suited and lost his entire stack when his opponent made a spade flush. DeLeon had to settle for a payout totaling $2,625.

Eighth Place: Murray Dances Away
Kevin J. Murray, a professional poker player from Olney, MD took two wicked bad beats at the final table and lasted just 20 minutes. Murray’s fateful hand occurred when he was dealt A A and raised all in pre flop. He got a call from an opponent who held J J. When a J flopped, an exasperated Murray stood up, rolled his eyes, and staggered away from the table in disbelief. Murray, who has won several online tournaments, added $3,937 to his poker bankroll.

Seventh Place: Stan the Man
Stan Kayafas, a contractor from Flushing NY was playing in his first poker tournament ever. He managed to make it all the way to seventh place. Kayafas was severely short stacked during most of day two. In fact, he began the day with only a few blinds yet managed to move well into the money and made it to the final table. Kayafas’ good fortune finally ran out when he tried to make a move with a subpar hand, which was called by an opponent who made two pair. Kayafas could certainly be proud of his performance in his first and only live tournament, worth $5,250 in prize money.

Sixth Place: “Yellow Jacket” Gets Stung
Jack “Yellow Jacket” Sumner, an IT consultant from St. Augustine, FL was tortured most of the day by A Q. Sumner later said that he was dealt the marginal hand a dozen times at the final table, losing far more chips with the hand than he gained. Sumner lost most of his stack about midway into the finale when he moved all in with A Q pre flop and ran into pocket A’s. A short time later, Sumner was dealt A Q again, moved all in, and was called by an opponent with pocket 9’s. The pocket pair held up, which was the final stinger for “Yellow Jacket.” The Georgia Tech graduate, who now has two WSOP cashes and two WSOP Circuit cashes, collected $6,562.

Fifth Place: Grodofsky Takes the Fifth
After a deal was made between the final five players, Brian Grodofsky, a business analyst from Merrick, NY took fifth place and $7,874.

Fourth Place: Wilson Fourth
Marc Wilson, a factory worker from St. Clairsville, OH took fourth place and $9,187.

Third Place: Small Comes Up Big
Kerry Small, a real estate appraiser from nearby Ventnor, NJ was the third place finisher, worth $10,499.

Second Place: Big Brown is Runner Up
Pete Maniscalco, a UPS driver from Mount Olive, NJ drove away with second place prize money totaling $21,130. He previously took second place in another WSOP Circuit event.

First Place: Masek’s Second Victory
Alexandru Masek, from San Diego, CA earned his second WSOP Circuit gold ring. The law school student began playing poker in 2003. He has future plans to play in many major poker tournaments, including the WSOP in Las Vegas.

An interview with Alexandru Masek near tableside just moments after his win can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/58DFE

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, in addition to cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs.

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #5 Final Results

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Events

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City

Joe Domenico – Senior Vice President and General Manager
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Public Relations Specialist – Christopher Jonic
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries

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2010 Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego) WSOP Circuit Events Schedule

March 8th, 2010

The 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit Tour will make a stop at Harrah’s Rincon Casino in San Diego, California from March 18th through March 29th, 2010.

There will be a total of 12 events including the $5,000 Buy-in WSOP Circuit No Limit Holdem Championship. This series of tournaments will also feature a $100 Buy-in Ladies No Limit Holdem event and a $1,000 Buy-in No Limit Holdem event.

To view the complete schedule of events click on the link below:

2010 Harrah’s Rincon WSOP Circuit Events Schedule

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NBC 2010 Heads-Up Poker Championship – Annie Duke Beats Erik Seidel

March 8th, 2010

The 2010 Heads-Up Poker Championship came to a close yesterday as Annie Duke, sponsored by Ultimate Poker, became the first-ever woman to win the title.

Annie Duke 2010 NBC Heads-Up Championship Winner

“I’m so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion,” said Duke.

The tournament took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Annie beat Andy Bloch in the first round and then beat out 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.

Annie then faced off with Paul Wasicka. Annie was all-in and looked to be knocked out when her A-10 went against Wasicka’s pocket Aces. Duke hit runner-runner to make a straight on the river.

“I would have loved all of my matches to be easy,” said Duke. “I’m sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it’s going to give the show some serious drama.

“One thing’s for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka.”

The final heads-up match for the title was Annie Duke versus Erik Seidel. The two professional poker players, who have been good friends for many years, faced off in a best of three match for the top prize of $500,000 for the winner. Annie beat out Seidel to win the title and the cash.

“Annie was my number one pick to win,” said Seidel. “She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you’re supposed to play in this sort of structure.”

NBC’s coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday’s at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.

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2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #4 Final Results

March 8th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Atlantic City
Event #4
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $600 (+60)
Total Entries: 392
Total Prize Pool: $190,120
March 6-7, 2010

Final Results:

1 John Hubiak Taylor, PA $58,937

2 William Daloisi Staten Island, NY $30,419

3 Joseph Siracusa Stony Point, NY $15,210

4 John W. Jones Fredericksburg, VA $13,308

5 Dennis Summers Charlottesville, VA $11,407

6 Mike Graybill Roanoke, VA $9,506

7 Michael Katz East Brunswick, NJ $7,605

8 Alan Sansone Clifton, NJ $5,704

9 Julian Manolio Maywood, NJ $3,802

10 John D’Anselmi Clarksburg, WV $2,281

11 Justin Bonita $2,281

12 Robert Infanzon $2,281

13 Ta Wey $1,901

14 Ronald Pento $1,901

15 Damon Sita $1,901

16 Salman Jaddi $1,521

17 John Russo $1,521

18 Dong Zhou $1,521

19 Yat Cheng $1,141

20 David Nixon $1,141

21 Harold Schmidt $1,141

22 Peter Karagiannis $1,141

23 David Kyi $1,141

24 Ian Searing $1,141

25 Scott Correll $1,141

26 Yousef Suleiman $1,141

27 Brian Hong $1,141

28 Marilyn Matthew $760

29 Sazan Lusha $760

30 Allan Proske $760

31 Bill Varga $760

32 Howard Wolper $760

33 Joseph Brooks $760

34 Paul Mattioda $760

35 Emilio Burgos $760

36 Frank Bonacci $760

John Hubiak Wins WSOP Circuit Event and $58,937 Top Prize

ICU Trauma Nurse from Pennsylvania Wins First Gold Ring at Caesars Atlantic City

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event #4 Winner John Hubiak

Atlantic City, NJ – Some professions make poker seem rather unimportant, by comparison. Matters of war and peace and life and death put the game in its proper perspective that for as exciting as poker might be at times, it pales in contrast to life’s greatest challenges.

No one knows this better than John Hubiak. He is a 29 year old nurse who works in the intensive care unit of a trauma center. To say Hubiak works in a stressful environment on a daily basis would be an understatement. Indeed, the part-time poker player and full time medical professional from Taylor, PA often has the lives of strangers in his hands. His split second decisions can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Hubiak brought that depth of worldly experience and broader perspective to the poker table, and based on the most recent tournament results from the World Series of Poker Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City, it served him quite well. Hubiak won the $340 buy in No-Limit Hold’em tournament here and collected the top cash prize totaling $58,937. He was also presented with the coveted gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement given out to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events held around the country.

This was the fourth of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars schedule. The tournament attracted 392 entrants. Most of the field was eliminated on day one, which clocked in at 14 hours. Five tables of battle-tested survivors returned for day two and played another lengthy session, which lasted another 13 hours. The top 36 finishers divided prize money from a $190,120 prize pool. Among those who finished in the money was former gold ring winner Yat Cheng, who won this year’s inaugural Event 1, which completed just a few days ago. He came in 19th.

Final table play began on a Sunday night inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars and ended at 1 am. The only previous WSOP Circuit winner among the final nine was Julian Manolio, who won a gold ring at Harrah’s Atlantic City two years ago. Alan Sansome, the table’s senior citizen at 70, arrived as chip leader. But all the players were within striking distance of victory, which made this finale an unpredictable affair. The low blinds (5,000-10,000) and average stack of nearly 300,000 in chips at the start of play meant all players at the table had time to wait it out for the best possible advantage. Play was cautious in the early going. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Michael “Katman” Katz East Brunswick, NJ 180,000

2 John W. Jones Fredericksburg, VA 327,000

3 William Daloisi Staten Island, NY 351,000

4 Juilian Manolio Maywood, NJ 384,000

5 Dennis Summers Charlottesville, VA 305,000

6 Alan Sansome Clifton, NJ 400,000

7 Mike Grayhill Roanoke, VA 340,000

8 John Hubiak Taylor, PA 324,000

9 Joseph A. Siracusa Stony Point, NY 395,000

Final table player introductions can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/EA2B0

Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: No Second Ring for Manolio
Julian Manolio, from Maywood, NJ failed to capture his second WSOP Circuit gold ring this time, pushing all in on a bluff, but striking out on what became his final hand. He wad dealt 6 5 suited and made his fateful move, but ran into A Q. An A came on the flop, which all but ended Manolio’s chances of doubling up. Manolio’s cut of the prize pool amounted to $3,802.

Eighth Place: Early Chip Leader Busts
Alan Sansone became the second early chip leader within two days to bust out prematurely. Following in the footsteps of the previous event where the chip leader was the first player out, Sansone lost much of his stack and then finally exited with Q J which ran up against A J. The dominant hand won, leaving the corporate administrator from Clifton, NJ out in eighth place with $5,704.

Seventh Place: Katz Runs Out of Lives
Michael “Katman” Katz, a real estate appraiser from East Brunswick, NJ was eliminated when he moved all in with A 10, which lost to pocket 7’s. Katzman received $7,605. This was Katz’s first time to cash in a major poker tournament.

Sixth Place: Graybill Takes Bad Beat
Mike Graybill, a mortgage analyst from Roanoke, VA went bankrupt in what can only be described as an unusual bad beat. Graybill started his final hand with pocket 6’s and moved all in. He was called by an opponent holding A K, who barely had Graybill covered. Although neither an A nor a K fell on the board, the final sequence of cards showed two pair, 10’s and 9’s, which meant the A played as the fifth card. Graybill’s pocket 6’s bit the dust, thus putting the Virginian out on sixth place with $9,506.

Fifth Place: Sun Sets on Summers
Dennis Summers, from Charlottesville, VA went out in fifth place. He had a healthy sized stack late in the tournament but got trapped holding A J against A Q, which predictably lost. An ace flopped, but Summers couldn’t overcome his kicker problems. Although he had previously won other events held in Atlantic City, Summers had to settle for a middle of the pack finish a this final table, which paid $11,407.

Fourth Place: Keeping up with the Jones’
John W. Jones, a senior business analyst from Fredericksburg, VA was short stacked late in the tournament and made a bold move on what became his final hand. Jones was dealt A Q. After the flop gave him a gutshot straight draw, Jones decided he did not have enough chips to passively wait around for a better situation and decided instead to move all in on a semi-bluff. His adversary, John Hubiak, thought long and hard about his decision, then finally agreed to call with K 9, which amounted to top pair with a marginal kicker. “Good call,” Jones announced who subsequently failed to improve. Jones ended up with $13,308. An interesting side note is that Jones is a highly-accomplished juggler. In fact, he holds a number of world records juggling.

Key Moment: Daloisi Takes Worst Beat of the Night
William Daloisi dominated much of the action during the late stages of the tournament. However, Daloisi lost most of his chips on a brutal beat. The key hand of the tournament came when Daloisi was dealt pocket Q’s and he moved all in pre flop. John Hubiak mysteriously called with what most would say was a questionable hand in the situation, tabling K Q suited. However, Hubiak received some divine inspiration when he ended up making a diamond flush on the critical hand. That gave him the chip lead and put Daloisi on life support. Hubiak later explained his call by saying he misread his opponent’s strength in the situation, but added, “Even if I guessed wrong, I still figured that I had outs. So, I was comfortable making the call.” The outs got there, which essentially gave Hubiak the victory just moments later.

Third Place: Logger Gets Cut
Joseph A. Siracusa, a 31 year old logger from Stony Point, NY, ended up in third place. He was eliminated when he flopped a pair of Q’s, when the initial board showed Q77. After moving all in, John Hubiak instantly called and showed a 7, which was good for trips. Siracusa did not improve and ended up taking home $15,210 in prize money. Siracusa noted that he and his wife are expected a baby boy soon, so the cash prize comes at a good time.

Second Place: William Daloisi Agrees to Second Place
William Daloisi, a semi-pro poker player from Staten Island, NY leapfrogged into second place when the two far larger stacks went to battle, with Hubiak coming out on top. Once third place was decided, Daloisi agreed to a deal and accepted a second place finish. This was the second time Daloisi has cashed in a WSOP Circuit event. He officially pocketed $30,419.

First Place: Hubiak Wins
John Hubiak agreed to a deal and took first place. He officially collected $58,937 plus his WSOP Circuit gold ring. This also marked Hubiak’s first major tournament victory.

An interview with John Hubiak at tableside moments after his win can be seen here:

http://www.twitvid.com/D9B51

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, in addition to cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs.

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #4 Final Results

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City

Joe Domenico – Senior Vice President and General Manager
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Public Relations Specialist – Christopher Jonic
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries

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EPT Berlin Robbery Update – European Poker Tour Issues Statement

March 7th, 2010

The European Poker Tour has issued a new statement in regard to the armed robbery at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin on March 6th. There was some misinformation distributed in regard to the robbery, and the statment hopes to clear some things up.

“Yesterday at approximately 2.15pm, an armed robbery took place at the European Poker Tour (EPT) event in Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. Four armed men were involved in the robbery which targeted the tournament registration desk outside the tournament area.

No shots were fired and the suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened. The police investigation so far has shown that the suspects had a handgun and a machete. Contrary to tabloid reports, no Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades were used. The suspects did not enter the tournament area and the money taken was substantially less than what has been reported.

The tournament resumed after a few hours and a police investigation is now under way. The tournament is taking place on the first floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz and is being held by SPIELBANK Berlin Casino.

The police are working closely with the EPT and SPIELBANK Berlin. Police are asking anyone who has information, video footage or photographs that might aid the investigation to contact them.”

You can check out some video of the EPT Berlin Armed Robbery in a previous post.

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2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #3 Final Results

March 7th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Atlantic City
Event #3
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 662
Total Prize Pool: $192,642
March 5-6, 2010

Final Results:

1 Earnest Whistler Fairfax, VA $53,940

2 Viheet Pahuja New York, NY $27,933

3 Adam Lippert Brooklyn, NY $15,411

4 David Corazza Honesdale, PA $13,485

5 Jason DeLozier Arlington, VA $11,559

6 Irek Jozwiak Frederick, MD $9,632

7 Timothy Goenert Rigaud, Canada $7,706

8 Richard Grazul Kearny, NJ $5,779

9 George Walther Huntington Station, NY $3,853

10 Thomas Wagner Abingdon, MD $2,119

11 Jason Gardner $2,119

12 Timothy James Lyons $2,119

13 Eligene Gorelik $1,734

14 Harry Cardillo $1,734

15 Joseph Kelley $1,734

16 Vincent Guarino $1,348

17 Robert Bethea $1,348

18 Kevin Murray $1,348

19 Stephen Reynolds $963

20 Norm Liberman $963

21 Timothy Finne $963

22 Marco Imbastaro $963

23 Sean Post $963

24 Raymond Palmieri $963

25 Michael Sites $963

26 Fred Winkelman $963

27 Donna Dicresento $963

28 Ernest Ignacio $674

29 James Daniel Cook $674

30 Michael James Durette $674

31 Blake Mason $674

32 Keith S. Watson $674

33 Kenneth S.Laird $674

34 Samir Mikal Hickson $674

35 Joshua Brikis $674

36 Stefano S. Stefanidis $674

37 Souvanh Vilayuanh $578

38 Peter Piorkowski $578

39 Eric Herget $578

40 Damian Perez, Jr. $578

41 Dennis Kein $578

42 Robert Fetko $578

43 Mitchel Friedman $578

44 Lester Dinunzio $578

45 Richard Sarkinsian $578

46 Travell Thomas $482

47 Brian Katz $482

48 Armando Pagliari $482

49 Tam Ly $482

50 George Machesic $482

51 Mark Abrahams $482

52 Christian Kehler $482

53 Paul Mangiafico $482

54 Michael Jonny $482

55 Jeffrey Neuman $385

56 Patrick Rush $385

57 Lawrence Rada $385

58 Michael Muniz $385

59 Charles Cox $385

60 Geoffrey Desobry $385

61 Joseph Lucchetta $385

62 Jamie Slaughart $385

63 Brian Bayley $385

Whistling Dixie

Earnest Whistler Wins WSOP Circuit Event and $53,940 Top Prize

Virginian Wins First Gold Ring at Caesars Atlantic City

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event #3 Winner Earnest Whistler

Atlantic City, NJ – Most poker tournaments reach a stage at which there is a definite turning point, a fateful series of events where momentum decidedly shifts towards one player and abandons another. The most recent WSOP Circuit tournament held at Caesars Atlantic City reached that point when play became three handed.

Three players battled it out for more than four hours before the self-admitted underdog in the fight, a 41 year old network engineer from Fairfax, VA named Earnest Whistler, made a startling comeback and vanquished two far more experienced poker tournament pros. Indeed, Whistler managed not just the unthinkable act of defeating Goliath. In fact, he whipped two Goliaths. The remnants of the final table and tournament room resembled the epic ancient battlefield at Carthage. All that was missing were the fading flames of the pyres and motionless bodies, although 661 lifeless former tournament souls were missing when the newest poker conqueror was crowned.

Amongst the 661 players getting their collective tails kicked were two New Yorkers, Adam “Lippy” Lippert and Vinny Pahuja, who have a combined dozen tournament wins and more than $1.6 million between them. Contrast this with Whistler, with one lone unremarkable cash in a B-level tournament, and you have all the makings of a classic upset. That’s exactly what it was, with Whistler catching a gratuitous flurry of cards when play became short handed which provided the propulsion towards the most satisfying of victories.

The three handed battle with Whistler, Lippert, and Pahuja at center stage was full of extraordinary hands and contentious emotions. At several points, heated words were exchanged. One could argue emotions were fueled by the rank amateur far outperforming expectations, lighting the fuses of frustration within Lippert and Pahuja. It was Pahuja in particular who grew increasingly agitated with the course of events. As his chip lead gradually evaporated and then disappeared altogether, the poker pro made no attempt to hide his aggravation. Caught in the crossfire was Whistler, who could only marvel at being at sitting a major tournament final table at the first time. Whistler collected the top cash prize totaling $53,939 plus his first gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement presented to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events around the country.

This was the third of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars Atlantic City schedule. The tournament attracted 662 entrants. After most of the field was eliminated on day one which clocked in at 14 hours, six tables of survivors returned on day two and played another lengthy session, which lasted another 16 hours and ended well past midnight. The top 63 finishers divided prize money from a $192,642 prize pool.

Final table play began on a Saturday night inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars. The only previous WSOP Circuit winner was two-time former champ Adam “Lippy” Lippert, who began play in eighth place, but who would ultimately manage to shape the course of events which unfolded and produced the latest winner. Long Islander George Walther arrived at the finale with a slight chip lead, but soon became a non factor within only a few hands. Vinny Pahuja appeared to be the player to watch, and did not disappoint as what some would describe as the finale favorite. Earnest Whistler ended up playing a duel role, that of the wild card and the joker. The wide scattering of chips as play began made the competition one of the most uncertain finales of the season. Indeed, the final table was a wide open affair, and given the low blinds (16,000-8,000), all the stacks at the table had time to patiently wait it out for the best possible situation. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Tim Goenert Montreal, Canada 500,000

2 Earnest Whistler Fairfax, VA 426,000

3 Adam “Lippy” Lippert Brooklyn, NY 224,000

4 George Walther Huntington, NY 690,000

5 Vinny Pahuja New York, NY 653,000

6 Irek Zoziak Frederick, MD 278,000

7 David V. Corazza Honesdale, PA 572,000

8 R.J. Grazul Kearny, NJ 214,000

9 Jason DeLozier Arlington, VA 410,000

Final table player introductions can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/9B6FC

Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: A Nightmare for the Early Chip Leader
George Walther, a retired phone company worker, was disconnected from the final table and went out only 30 minutes into play. One can only describe Walther’s experience as a disaster. He bluffed off most of his stack just as play began and then went bust a short time later holding A 4 against pocket 9’s. Walther managed to catch a 4 on the flop which provided some hope. But he got no further help from the deck and had to settle for $3,853. Walther also managed to finish in the top 12 percent of the field at last year’s WSOP Main Event, certainly an impressive accomplishment.

Eighth Place: R.J. is D.O.A.
R.J. Grazul, a telecommunications technician from Kearney, NJ played well, but ultimately busted out. Grazul was down to his last 100,000 in chips and made what turned out to be a fateful move with pocket 9’s, which were hammered by the supreme pre flop Hold’em hand, pocket A’s. This was the third time Grazul has entered a WSOP Circuit event, and the third time indeed turned out to be a charm, worth $5,779 in prize money.

Seventh Place: Another Big Stack Bites the Dust
Tim Goernert, a business owner from Montreal, Canada had plenty of chips early, but ran cold as the tournament progressed. He was down to about 200,000 and was the lowest stack size when he moved all in holding A Q. His raise was called instantly and subsequently was dominated by A K. When a K came on flop, that essentially ended Goernert’s chance of making a comeback. However, the poker player from Quebec could certainly be proud of his seventh place showing, which paid $7,706.

Sixth Place: Jozwiak Out Sixth
Irek Jozwiak, a technician from Frederick, MD went bust when his all in bet with A J was called by a rival holding pocket K’s. Jozwiak failed to catch either of his cards and ended up as the sixth place finisher. The former U.S. Marine had previously cashed in several smaller tournaments and also won a major event held in Atlantic City just a few years ago. He ended up with a nice payout from this tournament totaling $9,632.

Fifth Place: D-Lo Goes
Jason DeLozier (a.k.a. “D-Lo”), a consultant from Arlington, VA hung on for more than three hours but ultimately crashed in fifth place. He was dealt pocket 9’s on his final hand, which were dominated by the chip leader’s pocket 10’s. A 10 flopped, which all but discharged DeLozier from the competition. He ended up losing the big pot to a full house. DeLozier played excellent poker over two days and could be proud of his win, which amounted to $11,559.

Fourth Place: Corazza Misses Straight Draw
David V. Corazza, a builder and contractor from Honesdale, PA nailed down fourth place. On his final hand he moved all in with an open ended straight draw, but missed. He ended up losing his whole stack to a pair of fives. Nevertheless, with this finish, Corazza added to a nice record of accomplishment in tournaments, as this was his fifth time to cash in a major tournament. Fourth place paid $13,485. “Not bad for playing poker for a couple of days,” he said.

Third Place: Two Time Former Gold Ring Winner Misses Third Attempt
Adam “Lippy” Lippert, a highly-accomplished professional poker player from Brooklyn, NY put on a clinic in how to overcome adversity. He arrived at the final table as one of the shortest stacks, and managed to scratch and claw his way all the way up to a third place finish. Lippert arguably might have won this event had he not taken a brutal beat when play was at three handed. He had a good sized stack and had his adversary, Ernie Whistler, covered with pocket K’s versus A 10. But an A came on the turn which changed the entire outcome of the tournament. Lippert managed to re-stage another comeback and came within reach of the chip lead. But he ended up losing another big pot late which sealed his fate. Lippert, a two time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner, with previous victories at Harrah’s New Orleans and Caesars Indiana collected third place prize money totaling $15,411. He now has more than $700,000 in live career tournament winnings.

Second Place: Vinny Vanishes
Vinny Pahuja, a 30 year old poker pro from New York City experienced a roller coaster ride of emotions. At one point, he appeared well on his way towards his fifth major tournament victory within just three years. Then, late in the finale he became severely short stacked. That did not stop Pahuja from staging a major comeback and drawing about even in chips with his final foe. But in the end, Pahuja succumbed to Whistler’s unconventional playing style and a rush of favorable cards which made it all but impossible to overcome. The final hand of the tournament came when Pahuja was low on chips and moved all in with K Q. Whistler called with A Q. The final board came QJJ99 giving both Whistler and Pahuja two pair. But Whistler held the better kicker with an A. Pahuja, a former Wall Street analyst who has earned more than $800,000 in career tournament winnings, collected $27,933 in a less than satisfying performance as the runner up.

The final hand of the tournament can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/C579B

First Place: Whistling Dixie
Earnest Whistler, a 41 year old network engineer from Fairfax, VA earned $53,940 plus a gold ring in what was his first tournament victory ever.

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs.

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #3 Final Results

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City

Joe Domenico – Senior Vice President and General Manager
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Public Relations Specialist – Christopher Jonic
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries

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Armed Robbery at EPT Berlin – Video of Men Robbing Poker Event

March 6th, 2010

Twitter is lighting up with tweets about the armed robbery that occured at the EPT Berlin poker event. Six armed men in ski masks held up the poker tournament. I first saw this information being tweeted by Erik Seidel. Here is a link to Seidel’s Twitter account: Erik Seidel’s Twitter page

Here is a YouTube video of the robbery at EPT Berlin: EPT Berlin Robbery – Exclusive Tape – FULL TAPE

Here is another video courtesy of PokerTube: EPT Berlin Armed Robbery Video

Follow us on Twitter here: Ultimate Poker Forum’s Twitter page

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2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #2 Final Results

March 6th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Atlantic City
Event #2
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 (+60)
Total Entries: 256
Total Prize Pool: $124,160
March 4-5, 2010

Final Results:

1 Michael J. Morusty Ithaca, NY $39,731

2 Luis Nargentino Queens, NY $21,852

3 Richard Cozza Hyde Park, NY $11,174

4 Ryan Osborne Seattle, WA $8,691

5 Lance Carter Arlington, VA $7,450

6 Adam Green New York, NY $6,208

7 Gerald Wade Woodbridge, NJ $4,966

8 Michael Hodgdon Charlottesville, VA $3,724

9 Ed Perlman West Friendship, MD $2,483

10 Mario Rodriguez $1,490

11 Glenn Gray $1,490

12 Wilfredo Santiago $1,490

13 Michael Friess $1,241

14 Anthony Snyder $1,241

15 Franklin Cook $1,241

16 James Lawson $993

17 Jonathan Klein $993

18 Marek Pazowski $993

19 Mario DuQuette $745

20 Chris Reslock $745

21 Wayne Nemith $745

22 Anthony Funa $745

23 Robert Yamucci $745

24 Michael Sica $745

25 Anthony Ibrahim $745

26 Edward Scopelitis $745

27 Howard Wolper $745

Michael J. Morusty Wins WSOP Circuit Event and $39,731 Top Prize

New York Plumber Plunges Poker Pro Luis Nargentino in Heads Up Battle, Wins First Gold Ring at Caesars Atlantic City

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event #2 Winner Michael J. Morusty

Atlantic City, NJ – If ever there was a poker tournament where two champions deserved to be crowned, it was the $560 buy in No Limit Hold’em event which recently completed at Caesars Atlantic City. Two players Michael J. Morusty (Ithaca, NY) and Luis Nargentino (Queens, NY) dominated the competition from start to finish. They ultimately ended up together in a showdown in what some observers described as a duel that was as foreseeable as it was inevitable. After 23 hours of combined play over two consecutive days, the two New Yorkers faced off for the WSOP Circuit title.

Coming out on top was the elder amateur player Morusty, who was ecstatic following his first major tournament victory, after several near-misses. He is a 54 year old union plumber who plays poker recreationally. However, Morusty has done quite well as a part-timer. He was the runner up in a tournament held recently in Las Vegas. Morusty also finished fourth in the 2009 Seniors World Championship which took place at last year’s WSOP. He pocketed over $100,000 for that finish. But this experience was all the sweeter by virtue of the sweet taste of victory. Morusty officially collected a cash prize totaling $39,731 plus his first gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement presented to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events around the country.

This was the second of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars Atlantic City schedule. The tournament attracted 256 entrants. After most of the field was eliminated on day one, which clocked in at 14 hours, three tables of survivors returned on day two and played another lengthy session, lasting another 11 hours. The top 27 finishers collected prize money from a $124,160 prize pool. Among those who finished in the money were two former WSOP gold bracelet winners, Chris Reslock (2007 $5,000 buy in Seven Card Stud cahmpion), an Atlantic City local who finished 20th, and Michael “Little Man” Sica (2003 $3,000 buy in No Limit Hold’em), who came in 24th.

Final table play began on a Friday evening inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars. Dapper dressed Micheal J. Morusty, adorned in a blue suit and tie with a black fedora, arrived at the finale with a slight chip lead over rival Luis Nargentino. The remaining seven players were outchipped by more than 2 to 1 by the two big stacks. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Name Hometown Seat Chip Count

Adam Green New York, NY 1 238,000

Richard Cozza Hyde Park, NY 2 165,500

Ryan Osborne Seattle, WA 3 49,500

Gerald Wade Woodbridge, NJ 4 158,000

Lance Carter Arlington, VA 5 150,000

Mike Hodgdon Charlottesville, VA 6 72,500

Luis Nargentino Queens, NY 7 600,000

Ed Perlman W. Friendship, MD 8 83,000

Michael J. Morusty Ithaca, NY 9 522,500

Final table player introductions can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/12EF0

Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: An Empty Oyster for Perlman
Ed Perlman, a sales executive from West Friendship, MD lost a potentially huge commission when his pocket 10’s were steamrolled by the chip leader’s pocket A’s. The underdog hand failed to improve, resulting in the final table’s first elimination only ten minutes into play. Perlman who began playing poker about seven years ago was paid $2,483 for a nice effort.

Eighth Place: Being the Short Stack Sucks
Mike Hodgdon, who is self-employed and lives in Charlottesville, VA came to the finale severely short stacked. He lost his first and only confrontation of the night. Hodgdon was dealt KJ in what turned out to be his final hand, which ended up tanking to A9 after a nine flopped. Hodgdon ran away with $3,725.

Seventh Place: Robber Gets Caught
Gerald Wade, a professional poker player from Woodbridge, NJ who mostly plays in private cash games, got low on chips and made a desperate steal attempt to try and scoop a round of blinds and antes which might have given him longer life in the tournament. He moved all in holding J8, hoping not to get called. But the chip thief was caught red handed and was called down by pocket J’s which left the bandit drawing slim. Wade got no help from the deck, which put the poker pro out in the rail in seventh place, worth $4,966.

Sixth Place: Adam Green Grabs Some Green
Adam Green, who is semi-retired and lives in New York City, struggled much of the way as one of the lower stacks. Down to his last 100,000 or so with blinds and antes rising, he moved all in with A 4 and was called down by A 7. A flop with a 7 all but ended Green’s shot of moving higher up the money ladder. Instead, the New Yorker had to settle for a nice payout totaling $6,208.

Fifth Place: Aerospace Engineer Blasts Off
Lance Carter, an aerospace engineer from Arlington, VA took a bad beat on his final hand. He was dealt A 8 which dominated his opponent’s A 3. But a 3 on the flop cracked Carter’s hopes for staging a comeback victory. This marked Carter’s second WSOP Circuit final table, after an appearance two years ago here in Atlantic City in a $1,000 buy in event. This time, Carter was paid $7,450.

Fourth Place: Former WSOP Circuit Gold Ring Winner Osborne Takes the Fourth
Ryan Osborne, a program manager from Seattle, WA was disconnected from the final table in fourth place. He could take great pride in the finish, given he was by far the lowest stack when play was at nine handed. Osborne was the most stubborn of the survivors and managed to draw close to even with his rivals at one point. But Osborne went card dead very late. He tried to make a move on a blind steal with Q 4 but was called instantly by pocket Q’s in the blind, which ended up cannibalizing what remained of Osborne’s stack. Osborne, who won this same event here at Caesars Atlantic City two years ago, took home $8,691.

Third Place: Cozza Cracked
Richard Cozza, who works in sales and lives in Hyde Park, NY finally ran out of momentum late and ended up busting out in third place. When he went bust, Cozza was down to the two remaining big stacks and raised all in with J 10. He ran into pocket J’s, which all but ended his chances of making a higher finish. The board was dealt out and although Cozza caught a 10 on the flop, he failed to improve from that point forward. Cozza later explained that he felt he needed to gamble in order to get close to even with his rivals. But the gamble failed to pay off. Still, Cozza collected a payout totaling $11,174.

Second Place: Nargentino Strikes Out with Straight Flush Draw
Luis Nargentino, a 29 year old professional poker player from Queens, NY was the runner up. He came within a single card of victory on what turned out to be the decisive hand of the tournament. Nargentino flopped a gutshot straight flush draw on the last hand, which double bricked after Nargentino had moved all in (and was called). Meanwhile, Morusty held two pair in his hand, A’s and 4’s, which ended up scooping the largest and most important pot of the night. One could argue the tournament could have gone either way, with the names for first and second place reversed. But in the end, it was Nargentino who had to settle for the mixed blessing of a big payout, without a victory. Nevertheless, poker has certainly not seen the last of Nargentino. In addition to receiving $21,852 for this showing, among his other tournament accomplishments is a 29th place finish in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

The final hand of the tournament can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/ED96F

First Place: Morusty Shows No Rust
Michael J. Morusty, a union plumber from Ithaca, NY was the champion. This marked his first major tournament victory following a number of notable high finishes. Morusty was not only the best-dressed poker player in the $560 buy in No Limit Hold’em tournament, he was also the most skilled and most fortunate player over the two day duration. Morusty won a well-deserved victory at Caesars Atlantic City and earned a hearty round of applause from the large crowd, as he tipped his trademark fedora in gratitude.

An interview with the new poker champion, Michael J. Morusty can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/C66E9

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs.

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #2 Final Results

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City

Joe Domenico – Senior Vice President and General Manager
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Public Relations Specialist – Christopher Jonic
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries

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2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #1 Final Results

March 5th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Atlantic City
Event #1
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 682
Total Prize Pool: $198,462
March 3-4, 2010

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1 Yat Cheng Atlanta GA $55,569

2 Jim DiCarlo White Lake NY $28,777

3 Chris McCabe Bear DE $15,877

4 Ian Tuason Toronto ON $13,892

5 Pedro Vicente Jersey City NJ $11,908

6 Peter Bogdanowicz Morganville NJ $9,923

7 Chris Manogue Philadelphia PA $7,938

8 Frank Sepko West Pittson PA $5,954

9 Adam Teasedale Marinette WI $3,969

10 Kijoon Park $2,183

11 Bicol-Lee Hyosung $2,183

12 Li Chen $2,183

13 Billie Laws $1,786

14 Tommy Lee $1,786

15 Julie Thomas $1,786

16 John Whitemarsh $1,389

17 Michael Shorten $1,389

18 Anthony Cicali $1,389

19 Robert Porr $992

20 Mark Coliccio $992

21 Sazan Lusha $992

22 Patrick Donohue $992

23 Daniel Walling $992

24 Matthew Chang $992

25 George Machesic $992

26 Kevin Murray $992

27 Harry Melber $992

28 David Vasquez $695

29 Ricardo Franco $695

30 Chengzuan Shi $695

31 Vincent Imbrosciano $695

32 Joseph Cabmia $695

33 Robert Suarez $695

34 C.J. Sommese $695

35 Charles Procaccino $695

36 Thomas Quigley $695

37 Michael Testa $595

38 Jao Le $595

39 Kenneth Johnson $595

40 Dominic Telymonde $595

41 Brian Hewitt $595

42 Vincent Caesar $595

43 Andrew Hopkins $595

44 Joseph McKee $595

45 Michael Valenti $595

46 Onofrio Reina $496

47 Gerry Papadatos $496

48 Frank Toscano $496

49 Christian Francia $496

50 Daniel Leo $496

51 Gregory Blick $496

52 Larry Wetzel $496

53 Vadim Ivanu Shachenko $496

54 John Stillitano $496

55 Robert Chasles $397

56 Brian Sidote $397

57 Sunev Venus $397

58 Chad Seagraves $397

59 David Hicks $397

60 Salvatore Pipitone $397

61 Yasunari Sasaki $397

62 Terry Culberston $397

63 Steven Honeywell $397

Yat “Tony” Cheng Wins First Event at Caesars Atlantic City

This Year’s WSOP Circuit Opener Attracts 682 Players

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event #1 Winner Yat Cheng

Atlantic City, NJ – For the fifth straight year, Caesars Atlantic City is hosting a World Series of Poker Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs. Given the popular venue and its close proximity to huge markets including New York and Philadelphia, Caesars Atlantic City has traditionally attracted some of the largest turnouts of any WSOP Circuit held around the country.

This year was no exception as the popular tournament series played just steps from the world-famous Boardwalk began with a $340 buy in No Limit Hold’em event which attracted 682 entrants. A midweek start and several inches of snow still on the ground from recent snowstorms failed to dampen the enthusiasm of many of the East Coast’s best poker players who made the trek to the Jersey Shore at Caesars Atlantic City.

The first champion of the Caesars series is Yat “Tony” Cheng, from Atlanta, GA. He is a 32-year-old poker pro who mostly plays cash games in and around the Atlantic City area. The Chinese-born pro overcame a big chip advantage at the final table and ended up coasting to his first major tournament victory. He collected the top cash prize totaling $55,569. Cheng also was awarded his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement presented to all tournament champions.

The tournament was originally intended as a two-day affair, which stretched out to a three-day marathon by virtue of skillful play and new tournament structures which were first introduced at Harrah’s Atlantic City’s WSOP Circuit event, which concluded three months earlier. The player-friendly structure and generous number of starting chips gave participants a charitable amount of play. After 90 percent of the field was eliminated on day one, which clocked in at 14 hours, seven tables of survivors returned on day two and played an all-night finale. Day two went another 17 hours. The top 63 poker insomniacs collected prize money from a $198,462 prize pool.

Final table play began on a Thursday evening inside a jam-packed Palladium Arena. By the time the grueling poker session mercifully ended the next morning at 7 am, only a handful of blurry-eyed supporters and the remaining finalists populated the vacated room. Philadelphia’s own Chris “Ratboy” Manogue began play with the chip lead. But he lasted just 90 minutes. In fact, the table’s shorter stacks outperformed the early chip leaders as three lower stack sizes at the start ended up taking down the top three money spots. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Name Hometown Seat Chip Count

Pete White (Pedro Vicente) Jersey City, NJ 1 327,000

Peter Bogdanowicz Morganville, NJ 2 538,000

Ian Tuason Toronto, Canada 3 616,000

Jim DiCarlo White Lake, NY 4 290,000

Frankie Sepko West Pittston 5 515,000

Chris “RatBoy” Manogue Philadelphia, PA 6 717,000

Yat Cheng Atlanta, GA 7 399,000

Adam Teasdale Marinette, WI 8 393,000

Chris McCabe Bear, DE 9 350,000

Ninth Place: Teasdale Teased
Adam Teasdale, a professional poker player from Marinette, WI was the first finalist to be eliminated. He went bust with pocket 4’s versus AK, after an ace flopped. Teasdale has previously cashed in a few online tournaments. He collected $3,969 for ninth place.

Eighth Place: Frankie’s Deuces No Good
Frankie Sepko, a commercial account manager from West Pittston, PA went out in eighth place when his small pocket pair (2’s) was crushed by AK, which ended up rivering a flush. Sepko, who is mostly a cash game player, was paid out $5,954.

Seventh Place: RatBoy Ratted Out
Chris “RatBoy” Manogue, an Internet manager from Philadelphia, PA was the next player disconnected when his AK was steamrolled by pocket A’s. Oddly enough, RatBoy announced stated that he had previously survived five all in situations with AK. But the sixth tempt of fate turned out to be a disaster. RatBoy rat holed $7,938 out of the prize pool.

Sixth Place: Doctor Unplugged
Peter Bogdanowicz, a PhD student from Morganville, NJ flunked his final test on what turned out to be one of the tournament’s most exciting hands. Bogdanowicz started the fateful hand in serious trouble, holding AK suited versus pocket A’s. To make matters much worse, the pocket A’s flopped a set. But Bogdanowicz caught a club on the turn to make a flush. Then, just as it appeared he might double up on a monster hand, the board paired on the river giving rival Pete White a full house. Bogdanowicz had to settle for $9,923.

Fifth Place: White Goes Dark
Pedro Vicente (a.k.a. Pete White) a pro poker player from Jersey City, NJ was eliminated two hours later after he gradually became short-stacked. He moved all in with KQ on what turned out to be his final hand, which slammed into pocket A’s. The end result went as predicted, kicking White to the rail. White, a three-time tournament winner who says he plans to play in the 2010 WSOP in Las Vegas, ended up with a nice payout totaling $11,908.

Fourth Place: Canadian Clubbed
Ian Tuason, a copywriter from Toronto, ON (Canada) began final table play ranked second in chips. But he went out late in the event holding pocket 6’s. The smaller pair was dominated by Jim DiCarlo’s pocket 10’s, which ended up scooping the large pot. Tuason, playing in his first WSOP Circuit event ever, collected a most impressive payout amounting to $13,892.

Third Place: Chris Cracked
Chris McCabe, a part-time poker player from Bear, DE outlasted all but the final two players, when his AJ was chopped down by Yat Cheng’s pocket 7’s. McCabe caught a jack on flop and took a temporary lead, but a 7 on turn gave his opponent a set, leaving McCabe in the unenviable circumstance of drawing dead. Third place officially paid $15,877.

Second Place: Restaurant Owner 86’d
Jim DiCarlo, a restaurant owner from White Lake, NY came within a razor-thin margin of winning his first major tournament victory. But he ran out of momentum late and ended as the runner up. DiCarlo, who lives just a short distance from where the Woodstock Music Festival took place 40 years ago, rocked his way to a $28,777 payout. DiCarlo was eliminated on the tournament’s final hand when he flopped top pair with 9’s, which ended up losing to Yat Cheng’s AK. Cheng caught a king on the turn to make a higher pair and then ultimately won the tournament when he rivered a flush. That put the final nail in DiCarlo’s coffin and gave Cheng the victory.

First Place: Cheng the Champ
Yat “Tony” Cheng, a 32-year-old poker pro from Atlanta, GA who spends much of the year playing poker in Atlantic City casinos, won first-prize totaling $55,569 plus his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. Runner up DiCarlo and Assistant Tournament Director Jake Devries both offered their congratulations as the battle-weary survivors of the poker marathon made their way toward the cashier for the final reward.

When asked what he plans immediately following the victory which came at 7:05 am after two lengthy playing days, Cheng had a one-word answer.

“Sleep,” Cheng replied.

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room.

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit – Event #1 Final Results

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City

Joe Domenico – Senior Vice President and General Manager
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Public Relations Specialist – Christopher Jonic
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries

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Win a 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seat – WSOP Qualifiers and Satellites

March 4th, 2010

Getting a seat into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is not as hard as it seems. There are several ways to get your seat in this year’s WSOP Main Event.

Ultimate Poker is currently running qualifiers and satellites:

Weekly Super Satellites Every Sunday – $500 + $30
Satellites to the Sunday Super Satellite – From $10 + $1
Step Tourneys – From $0.10
VIP Tournaments – Exclusive e-mail invites
25-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 6th at 4pm ET – $500+30
50-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 20th at 4pm ET – $500+30
Satellites to both Guarantees – From $10+1

This year, Ultimate Poker is also running some great WSOP promotions. They will be paying a minimum of $1,000 cash just for playing in this year’s WSOP Main Event. The prize pool is progressive so the more Ultimate Poker players in the WSOP, the bigger the bonus will be. You can get up to $5,000 in cash just for winning a seat into the WSOP at Ultimate Poker.

King of Satellites

Ultimate Poker is paying top poker players tournament dollars for winning multiple Main Event seats. Win your seat through Ultimate Poker, and for each additional seat you win, they will credit your account with $12,000 in cash. For each additional Main Event seat you win, you will earn one point. Onl July 1st, Ultimate Poker will look at the leaderboard and award the top five winners up to $5,000 in cash.

Ultimate Poker is also willing to pay you to go deep in this year’s World Series of Poker Championship. Make the Final Table of the Main Event and they will give you a solid final table sponsorship deal that is worth up to $750,000.

Visit Ultimate Poker and play in their WSOP Qualifiers and Satellites

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2010 WSOP Circuit Tour Makes Stop at Caesars in Atlantic City

March 3rd, 2010

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Begin on March 3rd

Caesars Atlantic City

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Tour will be at Caesars in Atlantic City, New Jersey from March 3rd through March 14th.

There will be a total of 12 events at Caesars including the $5,000 Buy-in No Limit Holdem Championship Event which begins on March 12th. There will also be a $1,500 Buy-in No Limit Holdem Deepstack event as well as a $200 Buy-in Ladies No Limit Holdem Event.

The first event of the 2010 WSOP Circuit Events at Caesars Atlantic City will kick off on March 3rd. The first event is a $300 Buy-in No Limit Holdem tournament.

We will be providing results and tournament reports for all 12 events at Caesars Atlantic City. To check out the schedule of events click on the link below:

2010 Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

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2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Championship Event Final Results

March 3rd, 2010

2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
March 1
Event #22
No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Buy-In: $5,000 + $150
Number of Entries: 46
Total Prize Money: $212,100

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1. Jovan Sudar Omaha, NE $95,455

2. Jerry Walter Granville, IL $53,025

3. Derek Masek Lincoln, NE $31,815

4. Jack Do Dakota Dunes, SD $21,210

5. Mike Sortino Omaha, NE $10,605

Confidence Drives Jovan Sudar to Win The Council Bluffs Circuit Championship

He Predicts His First Tournament Win Before Start and Even when Low-Chipped

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Championship Event Winner Jovan Sudar

Council Bluffs, IA — Before the start of the $5,000 WSOP Circuit championship at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, Jovan Sudar confidently predicted he would win. Even when he was low-stacked with 18 players left, his confidence never lessened. He began building his way back, amassed a tremendous chip lead at the final table, lost it briefly and then roared back to score a resounding win. First place officially paid $95,455, though a couple of deals between the final 10 players lessened his actual payout. It was still his largest tournament cash ever. Victory also brought him the diamond-and-gold trophy ring and a $10,000 buy-in to this year’s WSOP main event.

Sudar, 27, was born in the former country of Yugoslavia and came to Omaha 12 years ago. He is both a senior leasing agent for the Biltmore apartment complex in that city as well as a pro player. He has numerous cashes and final tables, his prior biggest cashes being $29,190 for sixth in a Bellagio Cup/WPT event, and $27,315 for second in a Doyle Brunson/WPT tourney. But it is his first tournament win. “I’ve been close so many times,“ he exclaimed jubilantly. This thing is off my back now.” Sudar, who plays mainly tournaments, also plays $25-$50 no-limit at the Bellagio, regularly tangling with the biggest names in poker.

He plays strictly no-limit hold’em because he feels it takes the most skill of any game: maybe 85 percent skill to 15 percent luck. His edge, he said, comes from his ability to read players, play position and knowing when he’s beat. He also had wins here in $500 and $100 buy-in satellites. This event had 46 players and a $212,100 prize pool. Day one ended at 2:30 a.m. The 10 remaining players returned for final-day action with, Derek Masek in front with 166,700 chips. Bernard Lee, who had led the field for much of day one, ran into bad luck in late going and now had a little more than half average. We also had a husband and wife pairing, Jerry and Kathy Walter, both winning their seats via satellites.

Here were the chip counts for the final 10:

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Jerry Walter 138,600

2. Jack Do 75,100

3. Mike Sortino 159,300

4, Bernard Lee 54,200

5. Jeff Banghart 45,400

6. Jeff Bryan 103,200

7. Phil Mader 98,300

8. Derek Masek 166,700

9. Jovan Sudar 63,600

10.Kathy Walter 15,000

Before action began, the 10 agreed to each take $3,000 off first place and $2,000 off second. They later made a second deal for higher unofficial payouts: $6,399 for ninth, $8,532 for eighth, $10,665 for seventh and $12,798 for sixth. Play started with 200 antes and blinds of 1,000-2,000, a full hour on the clock.. The first called all-in didn’t come until the next level, with 300 antes, 1,200-2,400 blinds. Lee had pocket jacks, hit a spade flush and doubled up against A-K.

10th place: It took nearly two hours to get down to nine. Phil Mader was crippled when Sudar made a king-high flush to Mader’s queen-high. On the following hand Mader’s last 17,000 went in. Sudar finished him off when his A-10 held up against Masek’s K-7.

9th place: A couple of deals later, Jeff Banghart left after pushing in with pocket 5s. Jack Do called with pocket 10s and filled when the board showed K-K-3-10.

8th place: Jeff Bryan went out next when he moved in with K-Q. Jerry Walter called with pocket 6s. Bryan paired his king when the flop came 2-6-K, but he was pretty much dead against Walter’s set of 6s.

7th place: We now saw three-way action. Kathy Walter, who had earlier survived with pocket aces, was all in again with A-7 against Mike Sortino’s A-10 and Sudar’s pocket 7s. The board came K-3-A-5-Q, and Sortino’s aces with a better kicker left Walter in seventh place.

6th Place: Lee was next out. He moved in with pocket 10s and found himself up against Sortino’s pocket kings. Nothing changed when the board came 3-Q-J-5-3, and we were now down to the official final table of five. Had no deal been made, Lee, whose numerous poker endeavors include his own radio show, writing for the Boston Herald and ESPN, and official spokesperson for the Foxwoods poker room, would have walked off empty-handed instead of getting an unofficial $12,798.

Here were the final table chip counts: :

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Jerry Walter 205,900

2. Jack Do 69,000

3. Mike Sortino 227,600

4. Derek Masek 194,200

5. Jovan Sudar 216,400

Play resumed with blinds of 2,000-4,000 and 400 antes. Do, lowest-chipped, soon doubled up when he made an ace-high flush to Masek’s 10-high flush. Players took a dinner break and returned to 500 antes and 2,500-5,000 blinds. Sudar had now increased his lead to a bit over 300,000.

5th place: Halfway through the level, Sortino moved in with 6d-6s, up against Jovan’s Qc-Qs. A board of Jd-3h-4d-Kd gave Sortino hopes for a diamond flush, but he missed and cashed fifth for an official $10,605. Sortino is from Omaha and is retired. He finished fourth in an earlier 6-handed no-limit event here.

On the next hand, Sudar raised to 80,000 with As-Jd, and Masek called all in with Kd-Qc. A flop of Ad-8d-10d also gave Masek hopes of a diamond flush (larger than Sudar’s.). This time a diamond turned and Masek doubled through.

Blinds were now 3,000-6,000 with the same antes. A very big hand came down when Walter raised with A-K, Do moved in for 140,000 with pocket 10s, and Walter called. They were close to even in chips. The board missed both players. Do doubled, and Walter was down to about 35,000. But he wasn’t ready to leave yet. He won one pot, then doubled up when his Q-10 made a straight on the river to outrun Masek’s trip 4s..

4th place: The biggest pot of the night now developed. After a raise by Do and then an all-in re-raise by Sudar, Do committed all his 260,000 chips holding pocket queens. Sudar had pocket kings and flopped a set when the cards came K-9-10. Two 6s then filled him as he took a huge lead. Meanwhile, Do, a nail technician from Dakota Dunes, Dakota, cashed fourth for an official $21,210

The three finalists returned from break to blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 1,000 antes. A rough count found Walter with about 120,000 chips, Masek 140,000 and Sudar, 690,000.

3rd place: Just 10 minutes into the new level, Masek went all in with pocket 10s, facing Sudar’s Kc-Qc. Sudar won the coin-toss match when the board came 9-6-Q-3-9 as his queens and 9s left Masek in third place, paying an official $31,815.

2nd place: Heads-up, Walter had under 100,000 to more than 800,000 for Sudar. Amazingly, Walter started playing catch-up, then doubled through twice, the second time with a full house, and pulled into the lead. Sudar got it back when he moved in with pocket kings after Walter raised with pocket 8s, making a bigger full house when three queens hit the board. Very low-chipped again, Walter was all in again on the next hand, holding Kc-9d to Sudar’s Ah-6c. The ace-high was good enough, but Sudar also made a straight when the board came 4-Q-7-8-5 to nail down his first win. Walter, collecting an official $53,025 for second, is from Granville, Illinois, is 53 years old,and has been a plumber for 33. This is his first final table.

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Championship Final Results

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

– Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson

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High Heels Poker Tour Ladies Event Results from Gold Strike

March 2nd, 2010

HIGH HEELS POKER TOUR

CONGRATULATES DEB HARDWICK ON TAKING 1ST PLACE AT GOLD STRIKE

Ft. Lauderdale (March 2, 2010) – The HighHeelsPokerTour (HHPT), the first all women’s poker tour launched on the East coast, is extremely proud to announce that Deb Hardwick, has taken the title of the Gold Strike’s Delta Poker Classic Ladies Event.

The 1-day event was a $230 buy-in that began Saturday, January 16th at 11 am. There were 66 women who played in this year’s event bringing the prize pool to $12,715. The field was nearly double from 2009, this was HHPT first visit to Gold Strike. In the end it was Deb Harwick who took first place along with the $4,611. This was Deb’s first ladies event win at the Gold Strike. Third place finisher Peg Ledman has cashed in several ladies events including the WSOP Satellite at New Orleans. Another player of note was 10th place finisher Donna Jetter, a graduate of High Heels Poker Tour Academy, who was the 2010 WSOP Ladies Event winner at Harrah’s.

Deb Hardwick Gold Strike Delta Poker Classic Ladies Event 2010

1st Deb Hardwick $ 4,611 Oxford, MS

2nd Judy Nargi $ 2,344 Maumelle, AK

3rd Peg Ledman $ 1,536 Goodlettsville, TN

4th Tina Taylor $ 1,024 Mt. Juliet, TN

5th Rachel Davis $ 896 St Louis, MO

6th Laura Walters $ 768 Huntsville, AL

7th Donna Henslee $ 640 Mt. Juliet, TN

8th Carolyn Starnes $ 512 Coldman, AL

9th MJ Dlugach $ 384 Cordova, TN

HHPT’s spring schedule is jam packed with events all over the United States. In March HHPT is taking the tour to Jacksonville, FL for the Ms. March Madness at Orange Park March 6th. On March 14th, the HHPT will be at The Isle Capri Casino at Pompano Park as part of the “Battle at the Beach” series. March 28th, HHPT will be head back to the Beau Rivage for the Spring Break Poker Classic. April, HHPT will be heading for Tampa. May will take the HHPT to New Orleans for the WSOP Circuit event on May 19th, Turning Stone on May 15th, and Jacksonville May 21st-May 23rd. For additional information, including dates, times and buy-in’s go to www.highheelspokertour.com.

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Poker Players Raise Money for Haiti Aid and State Online Gambling Updates

March 1st, 2010

PPA Applauds Poker Players’ Efforts to Aid Haiti

The PPA commends the generosity of poker players in contributing to support relief efforts in Haiti. As of January 25, 2010 more than 50,000 online poker players donated, and more than $750,000 has been raised. With the dollar for dollar match, the donations on behalf of the online poker community have exceeded $1.5 million.

“Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution,” said former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010 leaving thousands dead and countless lives destroyed by its affect.

STATE UPDATES

Florida

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 – PPA Executive Director John Pappas testified in front of the Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee on the possible “intra-state” licensing and regulation legislation being proposed in the state. Florida along with California are looking at ways to raise state tax revenue to offset state budgetary shortfalls. Should the proposed “intra-state” legislation pass it will restrict player pools to only Florida residents, fewer stakes/limits will be offered and ultimately mean less opportunity for you to play poker the way your accustomed to. Further, Florida is contemplating a single-source provider of online poker, i.e. one poker website. PPA is concerned that the lack of competition and consumer choice could also negatively impact the player experience.

Watch a short video of PPA Executive Director John Pappas testify:

John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, Testifies in Florida Senate Committee Hearing (02/16/10)

Delaware

Thursday, January 28, 2010, Gov. Markell signed legislation making table games legal in Delaware. By signing this legislation, Governor Markell has set in motion an implementation process that will provide expanded opportunities for poker players to play the game they love and will create over 700 good paying jobs.

The PPA welcomes this as a first step in advancing opportunities for poker players to play games of skill such as Texas Hold’em in a licensed and regulated atmosphere.

Pennsylvania

Early January Pennsylvania legalized Table games and is working to induct these games in to state based casinos as soon as possible. The State has announced that on Wednesday, February 24th there will be a public hearing to discuss the only petition submitted by one of the major supporters of the new law. The discussion will determine whether or not the sole submission has the ability to operate these new games.

For further information about this hearing please visit the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s website, click here.

Alaska

The PPA has been working in the state of Alaska to clarify the misguided notion that charitable poker tournaments are illegal gambling. Rich Markgraf our Alaska State Director has sent a letter on behalf of PPA members requesting the State’s taxation department to reconsider their ban on allowing charitable organizations from hosting free poker tournaments.

California

Tuesday, February 9, 2010, PPA Executive Director John Pappas testified in front of the California Senate Governmental Organization Committee in defense of our rights. Currently there is proposed “intra-state” legislation being pushed in California which would, should it pass, be limited to only other California residents. Ultimately, this means fewer players, fewer games, fewer stakes/limits and less opportunity for you to play poker how you want, when you want.

Watch the short video of PPA Executive Director John Pappas discussing “intra-state” licensing and regulation models what it means for poker players.

John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, Testifying at CA Senate Committee Information Hearing

PPA State Director Spotlight

CO PPA State Director Gary Reed

CO PPA State Director Gary Reed and Andy Bloch

CO PPA State Director Gary Reed and Andy Bloch

Gary Reed of Denver Colorado has been a life time advocate for poker and has been the Colorado State Director since 2007. Gary retired after 31 years with the Denver Fire Department and was born and raised in Colorado. Under Gary’s leadership Colorado has three, volunteer committees working on poker issues in the state and he is busy organizing two partial committees to help represent the PPA statewide more efficiently. Gary is very passionate about the game of poker and attended this past National Poker Week in Washington DC where along with other State Directors he played a critical role in helping the PPA successfully lobby congress in our fight against the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Additionally, he was instrumental in organize the PPA poker tournament during the 2008 National Democrat Convention in Denver which was a huge success. Gary play’s poker at least three times a week (not counting online) and has played at three different WSOP circuit venue and has one WSOP circuit ring to his credit. For those PPA members in Colorado that would like to become more involved with the Colorado State Committee please contact Gary at: CO@pokerplayersalliance.org.

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2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #20 Final Results

March 1st, 2010

2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 27
Event #20
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 + $45
Number of Entries: 329
Total Prize Money: $95,739

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1. Steve Kats Omaha, NE $26,683

2. Danny Parde Lincoln, NE $15,318

3. Mark Fink Sioux Falls, SD $7,659

4 Michael Dreiger Omaha, NE $6,702

5. Scott Pape Omaha, NE $5,744

6. Duane Gerleman Ridgeway, IA $4,787

7. Mitchell Ricknell Pittsburg, KS $3,838

8. Jason Fennell Chicago, IL $2,782

9. Dave Muller Cedar Rapids, IA $1,915

10.Tony Treiber $1,149

11.Daniel Collier $1,149

12.Nicholas Srille $1,149

13.Gerald Walter $957

14.Daniel Roth $957

15.Dave Ward $957

16.Randal Simmons $765

17.Larry Nichols $765

18.Robert Conway $765

19.James Schertz $574

20.Gary Fleischman $574

21.John Nohr $574

22.Lyle Bryan $574

23.Jefferey Fielder $574

24.Kyle Schroeder $574

25 Kirk McKenzie $574

26 Carl Mellecker $574

27.Nathan Robda $574

28.Morgan Carr $383

29.Michael Albert $383

30.Michael Fong $383

31.Dennis Moffitt $383

32.Paul Hansen $383

33.Daniel Rinkel $383

34.Timoth Sciscoe $383

35.John Johnson $383

36.Cullen Oldham $383

Circulation Salesman Steve Kats, Playing Only His 2nd Tournament, Wins Event 20

Key Hand Comes in Heads-Up Match When he Makes an Inside Straight

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #20 Winner Steve Kats

Council Bluffs, IA — Steve Kats, a circulation salesman for the Omaha World Herald, scored his first tournament cash by winning the 20th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $300 no-limit hold’em. The win brought him $26,683 and a diamond-and-gold trophy ring. He came to the final table with a good chip and held it throughout, although Danny Parde came close to catching up during their heads-up match that lasted nearly an hour.

Kats, 27, is from Omaha and has been playing 10 years, mainly in home games and online. He played one tournament here last year, but only got to 90th place. He said he never got pocket aces throughout the tournament and had only half average until about four tables were left when he began moving up.

This event drew 329 players and the prize pool was $95,739. Play kicked off with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes, 23 minutes on the clock. With 483,000 chips, Kats had a sizeable lead.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Michael Dreiger 174,000

2. Duane Gerleman 130,000

3. Danny Parde 204,000

4. Dave Muller 32,000

5. Jason Fennell 78,000

6. Scott Pape 326,000

7. Mark Fink 330,000

8. Mitchell Ricknell 162,000

9. Steve Kats 483,000

9th place: On the first hand, Lowest-chipped Dave Muller pushed in his last 30,000 with A-6, called by Scott Pape with 6-4 A board of 9-7-5-2 gave Pape a double belly-buster straight draw (either an 8 or a trey), but he settled for a paired 4 to leave Muller ninth, worth $1,915. Muller, 46, is an eye surgeon from Cedar Rapids, IA. He’s had several Heartland Poker Tour cashes, and this is his first final table.

8th place: It didn’t take long to lose another player. We had a classic match-up: pocket queens for an all-in Jason Fennell, Ac-Kc for Kats. A board of 6c-8d-3c-4h gave Kats 15 ways to knock Fennell out, with a club, an ace, or a king. A jack of clubs rivered, and Kats’ flush gave Fennell, a 27-year-old army sergeant from Chicago, his discharge to eighth place, which paid $2,782.

7th place: With blinds of 10,000-20,000, Mitchell Ricknell found himself all in and in bad shape with A-10 against Kats’ A-Q. A board of 7-10-J-5-3 left both players with 10s, and Kats’ ace kicker was the decider as Ricknell took home $3,838. Ricknell, 49, from Pittsburg, Kansas, is self-employed. He won the Masters of Oklahoma tournament twice and played in a WSOP main event.

6th place: For the fourth time a player would go all in, and for the fourth time fail to get out. The victim this time was Duane Gerleman, ahead with A-Q against Mark Fink’s K-J. The flop was 10-3-2, and then Fink caught a fourth-street king to outrun Gerleman and leave him in sixth place, paying $4,787. This was the third final table in this tournament series for Gerleman, a 54-year-old farmer from Ridgeway, Iowa. His other cashes include a 23rd out of 2,240 entrants in the WSOP Seniors event two years ago.

Blinds jumped twice, to 12,000-24,000, before we had another all-in. This time it was Danny Parde, who had A-8 to Pape’s pocket kings. For the first time we had a survival when Parde paired his ace on the flop.

5th place: Scott Pape went out with pocket 10s when Kats flopped an ace to his A-6. Pape, 54, is a maintenance technician from Omaha who’s played weekly tournaments here for the last four years. He took out $5,774 for fifth.

4th place: Soon after, Michael Dreiger, 59, a programmer from Omaha, checked out fourth for $6,702 when his A-9 could not overtake Kats’ A-K. Last year he finished seventh in a similar event here.

3rd place: This event got heads-up when Mark Fink went out on a bad beat. He had A-J against Parde’s A-3. Both players were nearly even chips, but Parde just had his opponent covered. The board came K-3-7-9-5, and Parde’s paired trey knocked Fink out in third place, which paid $7,659. Fink is 30, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and works in his family electrical contracting business. He has four Circuit and two WSOP cashes.

2nd place: The final match lasted just under an hour. Kats started with the lead, but Parde was never far behind as the chips went back and forth. With blinds now at 20,000-40,000 and 5,000 antes, the killer hand came down. The flop showed 8-7-3, and all the chips went in the middle. Parde, with Qc-8c, was in the lead with a paired 8, while Kats, with Jc-10h, had two overcards and an inside straight draw. A 9 turned to give Kats a straight, and Parde, drawing dead, was suddenly down to 80,000 chips. Parde was all in on the next hand with 9h-7h against Kats’ Ks-7s. A board of 4-2-8-Q-J didn’t make any difference, and Kats had his first big cash.

Parde, 33, a U.S. Postal Service mailman from Lincoln, Nebraska, was making his second Circuit final table. His second-place finish paid him $15,318. He also has a couple of cashes in the Poker Classic events here.

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #20 Final Results

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

– Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson

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Texas Holdem Bonus Poker at Doyles Casino

February 28th, 2010

Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker at Doyles Casino

Doyles Casino

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2010 WSOP Circuit Events at Horseshoe Council Bluffs – Event #18 Final Results

February 28th, 2010

2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 26
Event #18
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 + $55
Number of Entries: 153
Total Prize Money: $74,205

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1. Timothy Morgan Pompano Beach, FL $24,045

2. Joel Wassom Dickens, IA $12,615

3. Danny Walker Omaha, NE $7,421

4. Roger Lipton Greenwood, NE $5,936

5. Bernard Morrow Grand Island, NE $4,452

6. Saad Vasquez Castle Rock, CO $3,710

7. Eric Koffman Bay City, MI $2,968

8. Lee Patitz Hastings, NE $2,226

9. Jeff Banghart Bennington, NE $1,484

10.Kyle Caslin $1,187

11.Mark Fink $1,187

12.Randy Crow $1,187

13.Cary Long $1,039

14.Doug Carli $1,039

15.Joel Merwick $1,039

16. Stanley Schrier $890

17.Joe Farb $890

18.Derek Masek $890

Despite Big Chip Lead He Agrees to Deal In Order to Get His First Title and Ring

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #18 Winner Timothy Morgan

Council Bluffs, IA — Timothy Morgan has had a lot of cashes – 19 along with nine final tables in 2009 alone – but no wins. He came close a number of times, including a second in the Southern States Poker Championship. Tonight he got heads-up in the 18th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $500 no-limit hold’em. At that point, he had better than a 2-1 chip lead, but was afraid of bubbling a win again. So he made an even-money chop in order to bring home his first title along with the diamond-and-gold trophy ring. “I did it for my wife Lisa,” he said. “She’s put up with my shenanigans for a long time.” First place paid $24,045, but he and Joel Wassom got $18,330 each for their split in this event.

Morgan, 57, is a full-time player from Pompano Beach, Florida. He used to be a commercial diver in the New England area doing salvage, bridge and underwater demolition work. He later bought a marine salvage and towing business which his wife now runs. He’s been playing poker for 20 years, seriously since the Moneymaker revolution.

This $500 event attracted 153 players. The prize pool was $74,205. The second-day final table was totally dominated by Danny Walker until the very late stages when Morgan began grinding him down, sometimes three-betting him, until he finally knocked Walker out by flopping two small pair to beat Walker’s pocket kings.

As a side note, Doug “Rico” Carli had tournament payouts the past two days, extending his world’s record for Circuit cashes to 42.

The final table began with blinds of 1,500-3,000, 15 minutes left. About four laps ahead of everyone else in chips was Walker, with 423,000.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Danny Walker 423,000

2. Saad Vasquez 151,300

3. Lee Patitz 43,900

4. Bernard Morrow 77,400

5. Eric Koffman 102,200

6. Joel Wassom 32,200

7. Jeff Banghart 116,000

8. Roger Lipton 68,900

9. Timothy Morgan 68,900

9th place: Jeff “MrRain” Banghart was first to check out after he was all in with A-8 against Walker’s pocket 7s. A board of 4-4-8-7-K gave Walker a full house and even more chips (as if he needed them). Banghart’s nickname comes from his ownership of a lawn sprinkler company. He has so many poker accomplishments that he provided a printout of them because there wouldn’t be room on the bio sheet. Online he has more than $1.2 million in cashes, including four six-figure payouts. He has three prior Circuit final tables at Council Bluffs including a win in the opening event last year. His biggest cash ever was $237,500 for coming in 41st in the WSOP main event in 2007. The Rain Man is from Bennington, Nebraska. His finish tonight paid $1,484

8th place: Not long after, Lee Patitz, winner of the opening event here, had all his chips in with 9d-8s against Roger Lipton’s A-8 Three diamonds and an ace flopped. Patitz missed his flush draw, and Lipton’s paired ace ended his hopes for a second ring, but he cashed for $2,226. Patitz, 73, is from Hastings, Nebraska, where he works as a power plant operator. When he won his first event, he said that he was having “fun, fun, fun.” He still is, he said.

7th place: After a break, blinds were 2,000-4,000 with 400 antes. Holding pocket aces, Eric Koffman made what turned out to be a big mistake when he just limped. Walker, in the small blind, called for the additional 2,000 with 9-2 suited. A flop of k-9-9 gave him trips. He put Koffman all in, winning when a J and 10 came. Koffman, 35, is a property manager from Bay City, Michigan. He has a prior Circuit final table, cashing 7th in a $500 event at Tunica earlier this year. .

6th place: After several all-ins and survivals, another player exited. This time it was Saad Vasquez, who went in with K-J and couldn’t catch Walker’s A-2 after the board came Q-10-4-8-A. Sixth paid $3,710. Vasqez is from Castle Rock, Colorado, where he owns an unusual business: a medical marijuana dispensary.

Walker, meanwhile, had knocked out three of the first four players and had now amassed about 450,000 chips, close to half of all those on the table.

5th place: With blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 500 antes, an unstoppable Walker continued his massacre. His next victim was Bernard Morrow, who moved in for 40,000 with K-Q, well ahead of Walker’s Kh-10h. No problem. Walker promptly made a flush on a flop of 9h-7h-5h, and we were down to four. Morrow, 58, is a 58-year-old government worker from Grand Island, Nebraska. This final table is his best yet. Fifth place paid $4,452.

Walker went after the next all-in player, and again was behind with A-7 to Joel Wassom’s A-J. The best Walker could manage this time was a chop when the board came 4-10-A-K-4. Was Walker slipping? Maybe. On the next hand he challenged an all-in Roger Lipton, again behind with 6c-3c to Lipton’s A-6. He was about to knock Lipton out with two pair, 6s and 3s, when the board showed 4-3-8-6. But he let Lipton get away when a river 4 gave his opponent 6s and 4s. Shame on you, Danny.

4th place: Perhaps Walker had now given up knocking out players, because he let Morgan do the next job. Roger Lipton was all in with Ac-10c and Morgan had Ah-Qh. A board of Jc-5h-7h-Kc gave both players flush draws. Morgan got there when a 2h gave him the flush and Lipton left in fourth place, paying $5,936. Lipton, 36, from Greenwood, Nebraska, owns a trucking company. This is his first final table here.

3rd place: Three-handed, Walker still led, but by now not nearly as much, and after losing a couple of pots to Morgan, dropped back into second place behind him. Soon after we had another confrontation between the two players. When the flop came Q-8-6, Walker bet 55,000, Morgan made it 120,000 to go and Walker, with pocket kings, moved in. Morgan turned up 8c-6c for two pair, and won after a jack and deuce came. Finishing a disappointing third, Walker settled for $7,421. Walker is a 25-year-old gambler from Omaha. His cashes include a win and a second in Circuit events here, three final tables at the L.A. Poker Classic, and a 30th in a $1,500 7-card razz event at the WSOP.

2nd place: Despite being well in front, with about 800,000 chips to around 350,000 for Wassom, Morgan agreed to the chop and first-place honors. Wassom, 40, is from Dickens, Iowa, where he is a security/safety director.

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #18 Final Results

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

– Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson

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2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #19 Final Results

February 28th, 2010

2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 26
Event #19
Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
Buy-In: $200 + $35
Number of Entries: 63
Total Prize Money: $12,222

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1. Curt Timperley Battle Creek, NE $4,400

2. Glen Walston Bedford, IA $2,444

3. Ronald Grandgeorge Papillion, NE $1,344

4. Joe Miklas Crescent, IA $978

5. Jack Spencer Bedford, Iowa $856

6. Doug Dickenson Kansas City, MO $733

7. Lawrence Berg Las Vegas, NV $611

8. Jim McGill Carter Lake, IA $489

9. Dave Schenk Hiawatha, IA $367

Truck Driver Curt Timperley Hauls in Win No. 2, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

It’s His Fourth Cash and Third Final Table So Far at Council Bluffs Circuit

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #19 Winner Curt Timperley

Council Bluffs, IA — “I’m hot. I can’t ever remember running this good for this long,”
Curt Timperley remarked after winning his second event at the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $200 pot-limit Omaha hi-lo. The win in event 19 paid $4,400.

Earlier he won a $200 no-limit tourney. And he has two other cashes as well, one being a third in Omaha hi-lo! Not bad for someone whose past tournament cashes were limited to small local buy-in events.

Driving around the Midwest, the grocery warehouse truck driver frequently checks the action at casinos along his route. He splits his poker time between tournaments and live games, and is able to pack in about 50 tournaments a year..

This tourney had 63 players and a $12,333 prize pool. When we got to the final nine, Doug Dickenson had a slight lead over Lawrence Berg, 75,000 to 72,000.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat Name Chip Count

1.Curt Timperley 57,000

2. Jim McGill 11,500

3. Glen Walston 50,000

4. Joe Miklas 33,500

5. Doug Dickenson 75,000

6. Ronald Grandgeorge 7,500

7. Lawrence Berg 72,000

8. Dave Schenk 10,000

9. Jack Spencer 38,000

Final table play commenced with blinds of 1,000-2,000 and 24 minutes left.

9th place: Dave Schenk was all in with A-3-J-K against Berg with J-2-4-6. Neither player managed a low when the board came A-3-3-6-9, but Berg settled for deuces full, leaving Schenk in ninth place, worth $367. Schenk, 47, is a youth worker from Hiawatha, Iowa.

8th place: With blinds at 1,500-3,000, Jim McGill found himself all in from the big blind, with a nondescript 10-6-5-5. Doug Dickenson had A-3-7-9 with two spades, and when three spades came on a board of 9-4-4-Q-J, McGill left with $489 for eighth. McGill, describing his occupation as a “bar drinker,” is 57, from Carter Lake, Iowa, and this is his first live final table..

7th place: Blinds were now 2,000-4,000. Suddenly, two players with two big hands built a very big pot. Berg had A-A-2-5 and Timperley A-A-9-7. Pre-flop, Timperley bet the pot, Berg re-potted it and went all in, and Timperley called.. The board came K-7-8, giving Timperley a pair of 7s and Berg a draw to a nut low. Then two 9s gave Timperley 9s-full while Berg missed his low draw. Timperley had him covered and moved into a big lead as Berg, a 32-year-old Las Vegas poker dealer, cashed seventh for $611.

6th place: Next to go out was Dickenson. He had A-4-9-Q and a flop of K-2-3 gave him draws to a nut low and a heart flush. At the same time, Timperley, holding K-K-3-Q, flopped a set of cowboys. Dickenson missed low when two paints came, and he took home $733 for sixth. Dickenson, making back-to-back final tables, is a 68-year-old CPA from Kansas City, Missouri,

5th place: With blinds of 2,500-5,000, Jack Spencer was in the big blind and he was left with a single 1,000 chip when his J-10-8-4 went nowhere. He stayed alive for a few hands by twice making a set of fours to take half of four-way pots. All in again from the big blind, he had all four players going after him. When the board came Q-Q-5,Glen Walston bet out, and Spencer, with K-9-8-2, knew he was dead. The other two players folded, Walston turned up A-Q-J-7 for trip queens, and Spencer, a 54-year old farmer from Bedford, Iowa, went out after two more 5s didn’t help.

4th place: The next player went out after a set-over set flop.”Grocery” Joe Miklas had pocket deuces and flopped the lower set when the board showed Q-2-9. Timperley had pocket queens and the grocery man was now dead to a fourth deuce. Instead, two more 9s came, and Miklas cashed fourth for $978. Miklas, 55, is a small business owner from Crescent, Iowa.

3rd place: Hanging on with a single 500 chip, Ronald Grandgeorge committed it from the big blind. After his two opponents checked down a board of 2-6-2-7-7, Timperley turned up A-2-3-Q for a nut low and three deuces and Grandgeorge, with 3-4-8-6 went out with $1,344 for third. Grandgeorge, 53, is retired from the U.S. Air Force. He earlier finished eighth in pot-limit Omaha event..

The two finalists, Timperley and Walston, started their match-up fairly even in chips. As play went on, blinds moved up to 4,000-8,000. Timperley soon moved into the lead and steadily kept increasing it. On the final hand the board showed 2s-Qc-3c-9d-8c. Walston had 8d-3h-7h-Qh for two pair and no low. Holding Jc-8h-7d-8c, Timperley scooped with a flush. For second, Walston, a 60-year-old farmer from Bedford, Iowa, took home $2,444.

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #19 Final Results

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

– Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson

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Full Tilt Poker Sit and Go Madness – More Than $150K in Cash and Prizes

February 26th, 2010

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2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #17 Final Results

February 26th, 2010

2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 25
Event #17
H.O.R.S.E
Buy-In: $300 + $45
Number of Entries: 36
Total Prize Money: $10,476

Final Results:

Place Name Hometown Prize

1. Tim McReynolds Omaha, NE $5,028

2. Ray Babb Soldiers Grove, WI $2,829

3. Todd Kidd Beloit, IL $1,729

4. Loren “Matt” Rice West Union, IA $890

Liver Transplant Survivor Tim McReynolds Plays First H.O.R.S.E. Tournament and Wins

Omaha Attorney is Now Freerolling After Being Given Six Months to Live

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #17 Winner Tim McReynolds

Council Bluffs, IA — Here’s one for the books: a liver transplant that not only saved someone’s life, but his poker game as well.

Tim McReynolds is an attorney from Omaha who used to do corporate mergers and later had his own law firm. Four years ago his liver began failing, along with his mental acuity. He started playing poker two years ago, but was terrible at it because his mind wasn’t working very well. Then, last August, he had a liver transplant. He rebounded in health, and his mind immediately regained its sharpness, along with his poker game. Tonight he tried playing H.O.R.S.E for the first time, and thanks to his new liver and rejuvenated brain, he won it. McReynolds’ operation was in August. Afterwards, the doctors told him he had six months to live. That date arrived Feb. 15, McReynolds still feels great, so every new day is a freeroll for him. He also went back to doing corporate mergers.

Before poker, McReynolds used to be a blackjack card-counter until he got thrown out of three casinos. Until tonight he played only hold’em, and came third in a tournament at Caesars Palace recently. In any event, despite his win tonight, he still considers himself a novice. First place officially paid $5,028, but most of the money had been distributed in two deals.

This event had 36 players, a prize pool of $10,476, and only four players for the final table. Before that, the final nine made a deal allowing everyone to get back his buy-in.

Play got underway for the final four in a stud hi-low round with 1,500 antes and 6,000-12,000 limits. McReynolds was in front with 99,500 chips. .

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Todd Kidd 20,000

2. Ray Babb 75,000

3. Tim McReynolds 99,500

4. Loren “Matt” Rice 20,500

4th place: Starting lowest-chipped with 20,000, Todd Kidd was quickly all in with three-way action. Going for low, and showing 7-Q-K-8, the best he could have was an 8-7. He did, but it wasn’t good enough because Todd Kidd made an 8-6, while McReynolds took high with trip deuces. Fourth officially paid $890. Rice, 42, from West Union, Iowa, is a professor of economics

McReynolds, meanwhile, took some hits, began to drift down and was quite low when he got quartered in an Omaha round with 8,000-16,000 limits. McReynolds held A-4-9-9 to Ray Babb’s A-3-3-4. A board of 3-10-6-5-9 gave Babb a set of treys and the same low as McReynolds. But McReynolds hung on, scooped the next pot, and began climbing up again.

3rd place: McReynolds then took the lead when he knocked out Todd Kidd in a razz round, making a 9-low to Kidd’s 10-low.Kidd, 45, is a trucking manager from South Beloit, IL. Third officially paid $1,729.

Heads-up, McReynolds had 165,000 chips to 55,000 for Ray Babb. Soon after, Babb doubled through in a stud round with 12,000-24,000 limits, making two pair against McReynolds’ pair of 8s.

2nd place: The match continued for about a dozen hands after that. Finally, the two made a deal: chop the remaining money evenly and deal one hand, with the winner getting the title. Babb started with (8-7)6 and his next two cards were 7s, giving him trips. That’s how he ended after a queen and jack were dealt to him. McReynolds began with (A-K)10. He picked up a 10 on fourth street and another on the river, and his three 10s beat Babb’s three 7s. Babb, 68, is a rancher from Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. Second officially paid $2,829.

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #17 Final Results

2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

– Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson

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