Brian ODonoghue Wins Six-Max Event at Harrah’s Philadelphia
John Alfera Takes Over Casino Champion Points Lead through Eight Events
CHESTER, PA – The World Series of Poker Circuit at Harrah’s Philadelphia is now in its final innings.
With eight gold ring tournaments now complete (of 12), two-thirds of the schedule have now been completed. The WSOP National Championship points leader board has been completely shaken up through eight events so far here at Harrah’s Philadelphia with the leader board certain to continue to be reconfigured throughout the weekend.
The latest tournament champion is Brian O’Donoghue, from Bayside, NY. He is a 27-year-old poker pro.
ODonoghue collected $13,359 in prize money. This was his second WSOPC gold ring win. In addition to first place prize money and his second Ring, ODonoghue racked up 50 points toward the WSOP National Championship. With 112.5 total points, he joins a host of other players so far this series who staked their claim near the top of the points leader board.
The runner up in this event, John Alfera of Pittsburgh, is seeking an alternative route toward his National Champion seat, by winning the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino Championship. With second and third place finishes so far this season, Alfera sits atop of the points leader board for the series here at Harrah’s.
The casino champion is the player who earns the most points at each of the 17 stops of the 2011-2012 season. Those 17, along with the 17 Main Event winners from each stop, will join 66 at-large bids at the Rio in July to play for over a $1 million prize pool and a WSOP Bracelet under the ESPN spotlight.
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Officially listed as Event #8 -- the $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament attracted 170 entries.The total prize pool came to $49,48 with the top 18 players making the money. All players who cashed received WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points.
After a day and a half of play, those 170 players where whittled down to a final table.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Ben Anderson | Phoenixville, PA | 1 | 228,500 |
| Robert Parker | Staten Island, NY | 2 | 450,000 |
| Ilya Soyfer | Lansdale, PA | 3 | 108,000 |
| Anthony Zinno | Boston, MA | 4 | 125,000 |
| David Harris | Salem, NJ | 5 | 300,000 |
| John Alfera | Pittsburgh, PA | 6 | 276,000 |
| Brian ODonoghue | Bayside, NY | 7 | 158,000 |
6th Place – After the elimination of Ilya Soyfer in seventh ($1,903) Robert “Bobby Bunz” Parker was the next to hit the rail. Parker is the owner of Full Cup, a New York music Venue (http://www.fullcupsi.com) This was Parker’s second final table appearance of this year’s Circuit Series at Harrah’s Chester. Sixth place paid $2,465.
5th Place – The fifth place finisher in this event was Benjamin Anderson. An idealistic player, Anderson notes that his poker ambition is “to never take poker more seriously than real life,” Good advice in a game such as poker, where the ups and downs can really take hold of a player. Anderson took home $3,248.
4th Place – David Harris was the fourth place finisher. Harris, a 21-year-old student from Salem, NJ pocketed $4,355 for fourth place.
3rd Place – Anthony Zinno, an attorney from Boston, MA, was the third place finisher. This was his second final table of this year’s Series at Harrah’s Philadelphia. He previously finished in fourth in the PLH/PLO event. He collected $5,942 for third.
2nd Place – Heads up was between John Alfera and ODonoghue. About twenty minutes into play the ODonoghue emerged the victor. Alfera hails from Pittsburgh, PA. He has over a dozen WSOP-related cashes, including an earlier third place finish in this series at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The two final table finishes put him at 67.5 points, and put him in the lead for Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino Champion. Second place paid $8,255.
For the win, Odonoghue was awarded $13,359 and his second WSOPC gold ring. He is a 27-year-old poker pro from Bayside, NY. Odonoghue won his first piece of WSOPC hardware back in February during the Palm Beach Kennel Club Series and now has 112.5 points in the WSOP National Championship race.
ODonoghue joins five previous Ring Event winners in third place for the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino Championship with fifty each. Ryan Gentry sits in second place, while Alfera, with second and third place finishes this series is at the top of the points race with 67.5 total points.
The Casino Champion is the player who earns the most points through the 12 events at Harrah’s Philadelphia. This player will earn an automatic seat to the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship to be held in late May. More information about the WSOPC National Championship can be found here. An explanation of the points system can be found here.
Still to come are 4 events. See the complete Harrah’s Philadelphia Circuit schedule and event results here. The WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Philadelphia runs through May 7th. You can find the complete 2011/2012 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.
*100 top WSOP and WSOP Europe qualifiers have been invited to buy into the WSOP National championship, resulting in a potential prize pool of upwards of $2,000,000. More info at: http://bit.ly/y2YwU8
MORE ABOUT THE WSOP CIRCUIT AT HARRAH’S PHILADELPHIA
Harrah’s Philadelphia is a casino and racetrack located in Philadelphia, PA -- about 15 minutes south of Philadelphia International Airport. It is the 16th (of 17) WSOP Circuit host properties. Harrah’s New Orleans is the last remaining stop of the 2011-2012 WSOPC season.
This marks the second season that the WSOP Circuit has visited Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Harrah’s Philadelphia first opened in 2007, offering slot games and horse racing. Table games were introduced to the casino in 2010 after they were legalized by the state of Pennsylvania.
Harrah’s Philadelphia originally opened as Harrah’s Chester, but is currently in the process of rebranding itself as Harrah’s Philadelphia, which is expected to be complete on May 1st.
Harrah’s Philadelphia’s “12 Rings in 12 Days” series is taking place April 25-May 7. Tournaments are held in the ballroom located on the second floor of the casino. Cash games can be found in the poker room next to the race book also located on the second floor.
Each Ring Event Final Table will be streamed live from the final table stage area in the ballroom. The live stream can be accessed at: http://www.wsop.com/2011/circuit/live-video/. Because final table start times are tentative, viewers should follow the WSOP on Twitter @wsop to be notified when live streams begin.
Media Contact:
Alan Fowler
WSOP/Caesars Interactive Entertainment
afowler@caesars.com