NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TIME

Atlantic City, NJ (December 10, 2009) – The fifth event of the World Series of Poker Circuit Events at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City came to an end shortly before midnight Wednesday, December 9th when Peter Campos, a 30-year old former military man turned online cash game pro defeated Poker Pro Magazine writer, Cris Belkewitch heads up for the win.

The two-day event attracted a field of 385 players, each looking to win a coveted WSOP Circuit Event ring and the $41,080 first place prize.

The final table began just before 6 pm with blinds and antes of 3,000/10,000/20,000 and action picking up right out of the gate with Stanley Kivel in the middle of much of it. A few hands after hitting his gutshot straight to double up his chip stack, he saw nice portion of it go to Peter Campo after calling him down to the river for a total of about 200k.

Minutes later, he moved all-in after a flop of with suited. Mike Beasley made the call with top pair, . The turn and river missed Kivel sending the cigar-wielding 64-year old retiree from Long Island, NY out in ninth. Kivel earned $5,602.

Next to go was Ilya Soyfer. The 31-year old software integrator from Old Bridge, NJ suffered a major glitch when his aces all-in got cracked by the pocket fours of Peter Campo when a four hit the flop. No help on the turn and river sent Soyfer to rail in seventh along with $9,336.

A short while later, Peter Campo called the all-in raise of Charles Beck. Campo’s jacks gave him a huge lead over the pocket fours of Beck. The 22-year old was unable to improve on the board and settled for sixth place.

With play down to five and antes and blinds at 4,000/15,000/30,000, the short stack, 83-year old David Bedenbaugh decided to make some moves.

Bedenbaugh, who had once proudly served in the US Army and saw through both the Great Depression and a World War, survived three all-ins. After his second all-in showdown, Bedenbaugh got up to shake his opponent’s hand before the table pointed out to him that he had actually won the hand.

“I won the hand?” he said, surprised.

The handful of spectators cheered Bedenbaugh on. “Let’s go pops!” yelled one railbird. Bedenbaugh was finally eliminated however after his failed to hold up against the of Peter Campo.

Ebedenbaugh earned $13,071 for his fifth place finish; an amazing accomplishment for the octarian, not just because of his age, but also because he only began playing poker one year ago.

“Just a lucky dog, that’s all,” Bedenbaugh quipped as he went to collect his earnings.

The fourth place finisher was Greg Fishberg, a 33-year old who formerly owned a business in the golf industry. His failed to improve over Campo’s 7’s all-in. Fishberg took home $14,938.

With comparable chip stacks, the three remaining players starting talking deal, but Chris Quan, as astute a poker dealer you will find, held fast and wanted none of it.

“Guys you’re going to have to step away from the table”, he declared. “I don’t want to see nothing, I don’t want to hear nothing.”

The three stepped away and returned a short while later. While the details were not disclosed, Mike Beasley said, “We just softened it up a little bit, that’s all. We’re playing for the money and the ring.”

Play resumed with blinds at 5,000/25,000/50,000. After shipping a sizable portion of his stack over to Campo, Chris Belkavich, a 28-year old professional player and writer for Poker Pro Magazine, mixed it up with Beasley. Belkavich put Beasly in the tank for a while after moving all-in for 800,000. Beasley decided to make the call and showed with Belkavich turning over . Belkavich held his lead through the river.

Beasley was crippled to under 200,000 which went to Belkavich after Belkavich caught a river straight with [A][3] off vs. Beasley’s [A][T] suited. The strip club owner from Hollywod, FL., officially collected an $18,673 -- but chose not to take them in dollar bills.

Heads up was between Peter Campo and Chris Belkavich. The final hand came around 11:40 pm after the flop came . Campo lead out for 150k and Belkavich made the call. The turn was a and Campo moved all-in. After much though, Belkavich called with the rest of his chips and showed flopped middle pair, . Campo turned over for top pair.

The river missed Belkavich, earning Campo the victory and the ring. First and second officially paid $41,080 and $22,780.

The Waterford, CT., resident was indifferent about winning a WSOP Circuit Event ring, but had a change of heart after donning the beautiful piece of jewelry.

“You know, it wasn’t a big deal to me at first, but it’s kinda exciting to actually win one.” he said.

 “I’ve come so close in a few other tournaments so this is really nice”

Still to come are 12 more events and 23 nightly (single-day) satellites which begin at 3 pm and 7pm.  The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City continues through December 20th.