Caesars Atlantic City Attracts the Largest Championship Field of the WSOP Circuit Season
Atlantic City, NJ – For the fourth consecutive year, the World Series of Poker Circuit has returned to South Jersey. Caesars Atlantic City, located on the famed oceanfront boardwalk, is currently hosting the ninth of 12 WSOP Circuit stops on this year’s tour. The $4,900 buy-in championship event started today, and will be played over the next three days. Day two will be played on Friday. The final table will take place on Saturday, starting at 2 pm EST.
Today’s results from Caesars are certain to weigh heavily on the latest WSOP Circuit championship. At the end of Day One, Dan Hicks from Tampa, FL stands at the top of the leader board with 250,800 in chips. He holds a slight advantage over last year’s WSOP main event finalist, Hevad Khan who is currently in second place. Tournament pro Young Phan ranks third. The average chip stack is about 70,000 chips.
This year’s championship attracted 277 entries creating a total prize pool of $1,357,300. This is largest turnout of any WSOP Circuit main event on the 2007-2008 schedule. The large field edged out the previous high mark previously set by Harrah’s Atlantic City late last year, when 244 players entered that main event. This means that Atlantic City’s two casinos rank as the top two championship turnouts on the fourth season of the World Series of Poker Circuit.
“We at Caesars are thrilled with the turnout for our main event this year,” said Tom McDonough, Poker and Table Games Manager at the property. “The big turnout for this as well as our preliminary WSOP Circuit events proves that poker is alive and well in Atlantic City. The response from our players has been overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to hosting many more WSOP events in the future.”
Several notable poker pros entered the prestigious event, including former WSOP gold bracelet winners Eric Froehlich (2 wins), Cliff Josephy, Chris Reslock, Michael “Little Man” Sica, and Cyndy Violette. Former WSOP Circuit champions included Lou Esposito (2007 Harrah’s New Orleans), Abraham Korotki (2007 Harrahs Atlantic City), Rich Rosetti (2006 Harrahs Atlantic City), and Chris Reslock (2005 Showboat Atlantic City). The defending champion, Danny Yousefzadeh (2007 Caesars Atlantic City) also entered. Other poker notables included Hevad Khan (WSOP main event final table in 2007), Bernie Lee (WSOP main event final table in 2005), and experienced poker pro Young Phan. Dan Shak also played in the event. He is perhaps best known as co-champion of the inaugural Ante Up For Africa” poker tournament held last year at the Rio in Las Vegas. He donated his entire share of the prize money, totaling about $200,000, to the charity designed to help victims of the Darfur tragedy. He was joined by his wife Beth Shak, who finished as the runner-up in a WSOP event last year in Las Vegas.
Most did not survive past the first day. In fact, 204 players were eliminated – leaving just 73 players still alive to compete for the championship. The tournament’s top 27 finishers will collect prize money. The 2008 Caesars Atlantic City champion will receive $431,136 plus an $11,000 bonus prize – good for a guaranteed seat in the 2008 WSOP championship event to be held later this year in Las Vegas. The winner also receives a commemorative gold and diamond ring, presented to each and every WSOP Circuit champion.
On Saturday, the championship finale will be broadcast on a one-hour tape delay over the Internet starting at 3 pm EST. Viewers can tune in and watch coverage at the official WSOP website at: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
Past winners of the Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit championship include:
2006 – Jeffrey King
2007 – Danny Yousefzadeh
End of Day One Standings: 73 Players Remain
Last Name First Name Hometown Table Seat Chip Count
HICKS DAN Tampa, FL 60 1 250,800
KHAN HEVAD Poughkeepsie, NY 38 4 232,900
PHAN YOUNG Irvine, CA 60 7 202,300
CARROLL COE BRYCE Detroit, MI 25 6 188,300
BINGER NICHOLAS Las Vegas, NV 40 2 151,700
CHO STEVEN Derwood, MD 60 8 139,200
LEININGER ROBERT J Erma, NJ 25 4 136,800
VELEZ ADRIAN Queens, NY 60 6 135,400
MORRIS MARC Woolwich Tsp, NJ 38 7 134,500
MADDEN PAT Lexington, KY 40 1 130,000
SIEGEL JOSEPH N. Chardervoi, PA 62 8 129,200
MATHEWS TOBY Plantation, NJ 43 1 125,500
HOYNOWSKI MATT Clark, NJ 45 6 122,300
SCHWARTZ YLON Brooklyn, NY 23 1 120,600
BATRA SUMEET Long Island City, NY 40 8 115,700
SESSIONS RICHARD Ft. Lauderdale, FL 45 1 115,100
CLARKE JEROME Longs, SC 23 7 113,200
FAUVER BRYAN Moosic, PA 25 9 108,500
BYKOFSKY SHEREE Brigantine, NJ 23 2 107,000
RASMUSSEN THAYER St. Petersburg, FL 25 5 106,200
BARRILE CHRISTOPHER Marlborough, MA 25 1 106,000
FOX DAVID Coram, NY 43 6 103,400
WILLIAMSON TIFFANY Columbia, MD 62 5 100,100
SHAMSEDDIN SOHEIL Houston, TX 45 7 97,500
HOOK CHARLES Philadelphia, PA 47 3 96,000
KIRSCH RICHARD Ft. Lauderdale, FL 62 9 88,900
ROLAND MARK Atlantic City, NJ 62 3 85,100
BLACKMAN SCOTT Rochester, NY 62 1 79,600
FRANCOEUR LOUISE Juno Beach, FL 60 5 73,800
PHAM EDWARD Lansdale, PA 43 3 69,700
CLARKE DAVID Basking Ridge, NJ 60 9 68,900
AKASH SETH Ronkonkoma, NJ 40 9 68,500
ROBERTS BRENT Staten Island, NY 62 6 67,400
PRESCOTT ALLIE Memphis, TN 60 2 62,000
SHEHU GENCI Miami, FL 45 9 61,700
ZAKHEIM SCOTT Davie, FL 38 3 60,400
KLOC ANDREW Naugatuck, CT 45 5 60,400
BARDAH RONNIE Brockton, MA 25 2 58,100
RULAPAUGH JOYCE Broomes Island, MD 43 9 55,700
PEACOCK ARTHUR Palm Beach Gdns, FL 62 7 54,200
TAIT MICHAEL Aventura, FL 38 1 54,000
GLANTZ MATTHEW Lafayette Hill, PA 43 2 51,400
RIVERS STEPHEN Baldwin, NJ 47 5 50,400
ESPOSITO LOUIE Howard Beach, NY 23 8 50,100
LEE BERNARD Wayland, MA 47 7 48,800
DENTALE MICHAEL Brooklyn, NY 40 4 48,600
LUSHA SAZAN Staten Island, NY 40 5 48,000
YAGINUMA JESSE Silver Spring, MD 38 2 47,500
GREENBERG STEVEN Flanders, NJ 47 1 45,200
BLEZNICK JARED Long Island City, NY 25 3 45,100
WHITE PATRICK Pearl River, NY 62 4 43,600
GLAZER SCOTT Hollywood, FL 62 2 42,300
RICHEY BRETT New York, NY 25 8 41,700
BERLIN NACHMAN Brooklyn, NY 39 9 38,700
WISIAK ROBERT Queens, NY 38 5 38,600
THURLOW RYAN Eugene, OR 47 6 37,900
VIZZA FRANCIS Cold Springs Hrb, NY 45 3 37,000
OLIVIERI NICK Staten Island, NY 40 7 35,900
RODRIGUEZ STEVEN Staten Island, NY 23 5 32,300
LEWIN MICHAEL Delray Beach, FL 23 4 29,600
PALOMO IAN San Antonio, TX 47 8 29,100
MERRIFIELD STEVEN Fairmont, WV 23 3 27,900
CHILDS WILLIAM Alexandria, VA 38 8 27,600
LOGUIDICE JOSEPH Atlantic City, NJ 23 6 26,700
LACROIX REGENT Longueil, NJ 47 4 26,200
HABER ERIC Syosset, NJ 40 3 25,600
NEWMAN ANTHONY Brooklyn, NY 47 2 24,800
YOUSEFZADEH MEHRDAD New York, NY 23 9 22,900
DEVITA VINCENT Bayville, NJ 45 2 22,600
GOTTESMAN JEFFREY Huntington Valley, PA 43 8 20,800
MITSELMAKHER ALEX Staten Island, NY 43 5 19,900
MAGID GLENN Kinnelon, NJ 43 7 18,500
STABINSKI TODD Miami, FL 60 4 13,500
Prize Money Payouts:
1st $431,136 (plus $WSOP main event entry)
2nd 237,124
3rd 121,257
4th 94,311
5th 80,838
6th 67,365
7th 53,892
8th 40,419
9th 26,946
10th 16,167
11th 16,167
12th 16,167
13th 13,473
14th 13,473
15th 13,473
16th 10,778
17th 10,778
18th 10,778
19th 8,084
20th 8,084
21st 8,084
22nd 8,084
23rd 8,084
24th 8,084
25th 8,084
26th 8,084
27th 8,084
For more information, please contact:
Nolan Dalla -- WSOP Media Director at (702) 358-4642
e-mail: nolandallawsop@gmail.com
Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
Jeffrey Pollack – Commissioner, WSOP
Ty Stewart – Director, Sponsorship and Licensing, WSOP
Craig Abrahams – Director, Broadcasting and New Media, WSOP
Seth Palansky – Communications Director, WSOP
Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Caesars Atlantic City
Vice President of Table Games – Fred Niceta
Director of Table Games – Paul A. Natello
Table Games Manager (Poker) – Thomas McDonough III
Poker Pit Manager – Jake Devries