Atlantic City, NJ (March 12, 2011) – Imagine a show taking place on the Jersey Shore with a bunch of characters who actually have talent and brains.
This weekend, poker players are the marquee attraction on the world’s most famous boardwalk. Caesars Atlantic City has been poker central over the past two weeks. This is the tenth (of 15) World Series of Poker Circuit stops of the current 2010-2011 season. Players flocked to the Jersey Shore from all over the Northeast and beyond to compete for ten gold rings, piles of prize money, and critical ranking points necessary to qualify for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, coming up in two months.The final event on the Caesars Atlantic City schedule is the $1,500 buy-in Main Event Championship. The three-day No-Limit Hold’em tournament began on Friday. Competition concludes Sunday with the final table. The tournament attracted 442 entries, surpassing even the most optimistic of projections about tournament attendance in what is one of the gaming industry’s most challenged markets. Main Event participation was way up not only from last year’s number (there were 174 players), but was significantly ahead of the championship event which took place at Harrah’s Atlantic City, last December. That tournament attracted 352 entries.The Caesars Atlantic City prize pool amounted to $633,110. The top 46 finishers were paid. Here is a list of players who have finished in-the-money, so far: 10 Adam Lippert BROOKLYN, NY $10,66111 Leo Whitt LOUISVILLE, KY $10,66112 Timothy Begley FREEHOLD, NJ $10,66113 Edward Pham LANSDALE, PA $8,74914 Scott Carpenter FAIRFAX STATION, VA $8,74915 Kevin Wilkie OCEANSIDE, CA $8,74916 Michael Kosowski STATEN ISLAND, NY $7,28017 Angel Modica ASTORIA, NY $7,28018 Mukul Pahuja HICKSVILLE, NY $7,28019 Lynne Mitchnick NORTH BERGEN, NJ $6,13420 Pratyush Buddiga CO. SPRINGS, CO $6,13421 Peter Lee N/A $6,13422 Dylan Drazen ASTORIA, NY $5,23523 Jeffrey Vanchiro BROOKLYN, NY $5,23524 Russell Crane HOWELL, NJ $5,23525 Frank Argano MIAMI BEACH, FL $4,52626 David Zeitlin BROOKLYN, NY $4,52627 Sefula Seji OAK RIDGE, NJ $4,52628 David Fruchter MONTCLAIR, NJ $3,96329 Randy Humphries OXFORD, NC $3,96330 Alex Smith HIGHLAND PARK, NJ $3,96331 Robert Johnson BRIDGEWATER, NJ $3,51332 Daniel Buzgon MARLTON, NJ $3,51333 Michael Leah INNISFIL, ON, CANADA $3,51334 Richard Austin LANSDALE, PA $3,15235 David Fox CORAM, NY $3,15236 Ariel Albilia SYOSSET, NY $3,15237 John Lecato BELLE HAVEN, VA $2,86138 Joseph Udine VOORHEES, NJ $2,86139 Robert W. Carter FUQUAY MARINA, NC $2,86140 Robert Pfeister MIDDLE VALLEY, NY $2,86141 Mark Dambrosio NUTLEY, NJ $2,86142 Donald Durey VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, $2,86143 David Cubeta FALLS CHURCH, VA $2,86144 Wooyang Lin MORRISTOWN, NJ $2,86145 Vasilious Hrisafini BRONX, NY $1,43146 Vincent Moscati VERPLANCK, NY $1,430After more than 75 percent of the starting field was eliminated on Day One, just 82 survivors returned for Day Two action. Those players played down to the final table during Day Two. Play will commence with Day Three starting at 2 pm Sunday afternoon inside the Palladium Ballroom, located on the second floor at Caesars Atlantic City. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts are as follows:
Seat 1: A. G. Winchester Falls Church, VA 1,034,000 in chips
Seat 2: E. Jeff Frazier Troy, VA 956,000 in chips
Seat 3: Roland Israelashvili New York, NY 645,000 in chips
Seat 4: Brian Ali Brooklyn, NY 1,380,000 in chips
Seat 5: Joe Caffrey Silverton, NJ 759,000 in chips
Seat 6: Patrick Houchins Annapolis, MD 1,621,000 in chips
Seat 7: John Andress Doylestown, PA 808,000 in chips
Seat 8: Jerry Van Strydonck Arlington, VA 1,177,000 in chips
Seat 9: Jeff Rowland Indianapolis, IN 438,000 in chipsAmong the most notable players among the final nine is Roland Israelashvili, who is the defending champion of this event. Should he win, Israelashvili would become the first-ever WSOP Circuit Main Event champion to repeat in the seven-year history of the national tournament series.The current chip leader is Patrick Houchins, from Annapolis, MD. He is a 26-year-old professional poker player. Houchins is known online as “Cake Jones.”The winner receives $139,284 for first place. He also receives the coveted gold ring, the token prize for winning a WSOP Circuit event. The champion will also gain an automatic seat into the season-end National Championship finale, which is to be televised from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.This final tournament caps yet another successful tournament series at Caesars Atlantic City. The following players won the first nine events: Event 1 – Thung “Patrick” Lu defeated 742 players and won $43,184 ($350 NLHE)
Event 2 – Peter Ippolito defeated 254 players and won $30,181 ($570 NLHE)
Event 3 – Mike Summers defeated 158 players and won $12,414 ($350 LHE)
Event 4 – Paul Lambrakis defeated 386 players and won $41,186 ($570 NLHE)
Event 5 – Jaeik Cho defeated 477 players and won $138,807 ($350 NLHE)
Event 6 – Travell “T” Thomas defeated 155 players and won $30,445 ($750 NLHE)
Event 7 – Mun Nguyen defeated 90 players and won ($350 OM-HIGH)
Event 8 – Gregg Fishberg defeated 185 players and won $46,657 ($1,100 NLHE)
Event 9 – Vincent Basilicata defeated 288 players and won $20,113 ($350 TURBO NLHE)At present, Mun Nguyen, from Pittsburgh, PA leads the race as the Best All-Around Player for the Caesars Atlantic City series. With his first and second-place finishes in two previous tournaments, he was the point leader coming into the Main Event. In addition to the Main Event winner, the player who accumulates the most overall points in the ten gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship.