Friday, September 18, 2015 11:56 PM Local Time
Matthew Ezrol Wins PBKC HORSE Event
Event #2
HORSE
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 57
Prize Pool: $17,100
September 17-18, 2015
Florida pro pockets $6,412 along with his first gold ring.
West Palm Beach, Fla. (September 18, 2015) — Matthew Ezrol of Coconut Creek, Fla. is the World Series of Poker Circuit’s most recent gold ring winner. Ezrol outlasted an intimate field of 57 players in Event #2 of the Palm Beach Kennel Club’s series, a $365 HORSE event. The victory yielded Ezrol a first prize of $6,412, catapulted him into a tie for first in the Casino Championship race and sent him home with his first gold ring.
“It feels great,” he said. “I was down to two big bets at one point and battled for four or five hours heads up with [Steve Allen].”
During the late stages of play, no one would have suspected the duel for gold would come down to Ezrol and Allen. The final table chip leader, Matthew Ehrlich, ran up a stack during the early stages of the finale and appeared to be in the process of running away with the title. From holding more than half of the chips in play six-handed, Ehrlich’s stack did nothing more than grow, grow, grow. The field narrowed around him, but his chips continued to go sky high. By the time three remained, Ehrlich held an advantage over Ezrol and Allen that bordered on insurmountable.
“He had like 400,000 [chips] of the 570,000 in play three handed and got third,” Ezrol recalled. “Me and [Allen] were playing pretty tight. [Ehrlich] pretty much doubled each of us up and gave it away over time. The next thing you know, [Allen and I] were heads up and [Ehrlich] was getting third.”
The third-place finish earned Ehrlich a consolation prize of $2,599 and left Ezrol and Allen to partake in what would be a heads-up marathon. In the end, Ezrol sent Allen home during a round of Omaha 8. Allen’s runner-up finish was good for $3,967.
The gold ring victory marks the first of Ezrol’s poker career. In addition to three Circuit cashes, Ezrol owns 11 WSOP cashes totaling more than $150,000.
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Event #2 was the second of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit schedule at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The $365 HORSE event attracted 57 players. The total prize pool came to $17,100 and the top six finishers were paid.
The tournament began Thursday, September 17 at 5 p.m. and Day 1 wrapped at about 2:15 a.m. Day 2 resumed Friday at 3 p.m. with seven players remaining and action concluded just after 10 p.m.
Final results:
1st: Matthew Ezrol - $6,412 + Circuit gold ring
2nd: Steve Allen - $3,967
3rd: Matthew Ehrlich - $2,599
4th: Corey Goldsmith - $1,796
5th: Charles Janney - $1,317
6th: Robert Campbell - $1,009