CASINO CHAMPIONSHIP PROFILE: JUSTIN LIBERTO

Justin Liberto picks up his second gold ring of the season and a seat in the National Championship in Baltimore.

Baltimore, Md. (March 16, 2015) – Justin Liberto has won the Casino Champion title at the Horseshoe Baltimore stop following a strong performance in his home state of Maryland. Liberto earned his second gold ring of the season and reached a total of three final tables over the course of the 12-day series.

Liberto has not played many events on the Circuit this year, but has done well when he has played. He played a full slate of events at the Horseshoe Baltimore Circuit, which happens to be his home casino.

Liberto started out strong to begin the series. He won Event #3 - $580 No-Limit Hold’em for $17,369. It was his second Circuit cash of the season. Both of his two cashes on the season were gold ring winning cashes at that point. He won his first career gold ring at the Harrah’s Atlantic City stop in December by winning a turbo event. According to Liberto, he had only played in one other Circuit event between his two gold ring victories.

The very next day, Liberto jumped in Event #6 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max and made it all the way to the final table. He bagged fourth in chips and ended up finishing in fourth place the next day for his second final table finish of the series. This gave Liberto the lead in the Casino Championship race and he would never relinquish it from there.

In the final event of the series, Liberto went on to tack on another cash and another final table to his strong performance at the Horseshoe Baltimore series. He finished in 6th place of Event #12 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo for $2,207

Liberto finished the series with a total of $25,401 in tournament earnings. Liberto had a strong lead in the Casino Championship series throughout most of the series after his first two final table finishes early in the series. However, on the last day of series there were still a small handful of players that could pass Liberto to earn the title of Casino Champion. Two of those players were Jason Rogers and Steve Karp. Both Rogers and Karp were returning for Day 3 of the Main Event. They each had one runner-up finish earlier in the series and could pass Liberto with a finish of fourth place or better in the Main Event.

Liberto slammed the door shut on Karp and Rogers by reaching his third final table of the series in Event #12. Liberto had officially clinched the title of Casino Champion by reaching the final table and guaranteeing himself a minimum finish of 9th place. Karp went on to finish in 9th place in the Main Event and Rogers exited in 5th place.

Liberto and the Horseshoe Baltimore Main Event winner, Chris Csik, are heading to the 2015 National Championship where they’ll freeroll for their share of an up-to $2 million prize pool against some of the WSOP’s top performers. Besides the six-figure score, the eventual winner of the National Championship will win a gold bracelet.

More information and full point standings for the year-long race are available on WSOP.com.

Liberto’s Horseshoe Baltimore Cashes:

 

Event #3 - $580 No-Limit Hold’em  – 126 entries – 1st place for $17,639
Event #6 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max - 203 entries – 4th place for $5,195
Event #12 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo – 141 entries – 6th place for $2,207