CHRIS RESLOCK WINS RECORD FOURTH WSOP CIRCUIT GOLD RING AT HARRAH

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Chris Reslock made World Series of Poker Circuit Event history Saturday afternoon after winning a record-tying fourth gold ring at Circuit Event #9, the $350 buy-in Seven Card Stud Event at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

Reslock outlasted a field of 79 players in the Stud event, the first-ever held at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, to join the ranks of Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mark “Pegasus” Smith, who currently hold the record for WSOP Circuit gold rings with four each.

Reslock is a former Atlantic City cab driver who began playing poker 12 years ago to supplement a modest income hustling fares. Since then, he has gone on to cash in over 80 major tournaments. His win at Harrah’s AC puts him over the $1.7 million mark in lifetime tournament earnings.

In 2007, Reslock defeated Phil Ivey heads up at the World Series of Poker $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship.

While the final table competition in Circuit Event #9 at Harrah’s Resort was not as elite as that which he faced three years ago at the Rio in 2007, Reslock was nonetheless up against solid players, all well-versed in stud.

Joining Reslock at the final table were pros Chris Tryba, “Karate” Mike Santoro and cash game specialist, Joe Loguidice.

Despite being fifth in chips at the start of the final table, Reslock was clearly the player to beat.

Name

Hometown

Seat

Chip Count

Chris Tryba

Las Vegas, NV

1

42,500

Joe Loguidice

Atlantic City, NJ

2

115,000

Lee Berkovits

Philadelphia, PA

3

101,500

Robert Sherer

Seattle, WA

4

148,500

Frank Curtis

Vineland, NJ

5

144,000

Elliott Zaydman

Glen Rock, NJ

6

48,000

Chris Reslock

Atlantic City, NJ

7

80,000

“Karate” Mike Santoro

Egg Harbor TWP, NJ

8

111,000

Early, Reslock was able to take a much-needed pot from Santoro, who himself soon chipped up through Lee Berkovits in a hand in which he lead the betting all the way through seventh street.

The short stack, Chris Tryba, waited patiently for a spot which came at the next level (6k-12k) three-handed vs. Santoro and Berkovits.

After Tryba brought-in for 10,000, Berkovits completed to 12,000 and got a call from Santoro. Tryba moved all-in for his remaining 14,000. The two opponents came along and after each street was dealt, Tryba’s two-pair 6’s and 3’s were good enough to triple up.

Berkovits picked off the remainder of Santoro’s chips a few hands later, eliminating him in eighth place. “Karate” Mike is a 28-year martial artist with three world karate titles and two international medals in full contact Tae Kwon Do. He collected $918 for his finish.

Amazingly, the remainder of the eliminations would be at the hands of Reslock.

The first bounty Reslock claimed was Berkovits. Reslock and Frank Curtis called Berkovits down to sixth street. On seventh, Reslock raised Berkovits to 24,000 and both Curtis and Berkovits made the call.

Reslock showed the 2-6 straight, good to take the massive pot, busting Berkovits in 7th and leaving Curtis with a huge dent in his stack.

Berkovits is a 56-year-old antique dealer from Philadelphia. For seventh place, he pocketed $1,063.

The remaining six players came back from the first break to 2,000/2,000 antes and bring-ins and 8k-6k limits. Shortly after play resumed, Reslock eliminated both Frank Curtis and Lee Berkovits in sixth and seventh places, respectively. Sixth paid $1,292 while seventh was worth $1,652.

After taking a hit that left him with just over 40,000, Joe Loguidice was the next player out. Reslock completed to 8,000 and Loguidice three-bet to 16,000. Reslock made it 24,000 to go and Loguidice raised again with his remaining 21,000 chips. Reslock made the call and took the pot with a pair of aces after the cards were dealt out.

Loguidice, a 42-year-old cash game specialist from Atlantic City, headed to the payout table to pick up his $2,229 fourth place prize.

Three handed, Reslock was at 580,000 chips, Robert Sherer sat on a 175,000 chip stack while Elliott Zaydman was down to just 40,000. Zaydman was able to double through Reslock a couple of times, but with limits now at 10,000-20,000, Reslock turned up the aggression.

Reslock enticed Zaydman to come along after completing to 10k and led the betting all the way through seventh street, ultimately taking the pot with sevens full of fives, besting Zaydman’s wheel and sending him to the rail in 3rd. Zaydman is a self-employed 56-year-old from Glen Rock, NJ, originally from Russia.

Heads up, Reslock held a massive chip lead over Sherer with 3,000/3,000 antes/bring-ins and 12,000-24,000 limits. Reslock played an optimal heads up match, yielding his antes and bring-ins to his younger opponent until he found a good spot.

Reslock’s opportunity came after he completed to 12,000 with the   and Sherer called with the  . Sherer was dealt the   on fourth street and raised Reslock to 48,000. Reslock called with the  .

On fifth, Sherer bet 24,000 with the  . Reslock raised his opponent all-in after he was dealt the  . Sherer called, sure that his trip deuces were good, but was taken aback when Reslock turned over pocket sevens for the higher set.

Sherer was unable to fill up on sixth or seventh streets, giving Reslock the record-tying victory.

Sherer is 33 years old from Seattle, WA. An avid runner, he is a three-time marathon winner. For his runner-up finish in the stud event at Harrah’s Resort, he collected $4,836.

After the win, Reslock said he praised the decision to bring stud to the Circuit Events at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

“This was a significant event and very well run, [Harrah’s Resort Poker Director] John Arthur is one of the best tournament directors there is.”

While he says that the varying sizing bets of the no-limit variation makes hold’em particularly challenging, Reslock says that overall, stud requires significantly more skill.

“In stud, there is more available information that you have to process than hold’em and more hidden information that you have to deduce with far more combinations and possibilities.“

Reslock says that he began playing poker as a cab driver when card rooms were first brought into Atlantic City. He recalls playing $10-$20 seven card stud with Phil Ivey and says that Ivey along with David Oppenheim are two of the best stud players in the world.

Reslock humbly does not include himself in that category. In fact, even today, he is hesitant to even consider himself a professional poker player.

“I know it’s unpopular, but I am cautious about the idea of poker as a career, especially when it comes to young people,” Let’s just say that for me, poker is a profitable hobby.

See the complete Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City Circuit schedule and previous results here.  The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s runs through December 22nd. You can find the complete 2010/2011WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.

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