Event #1: $365 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK

Local actuary starts the series with a big score, already eying up Casino Championship

It’s a story that’s been written so many times in the history of the WSOP Circuit, it’s almost not surprising anymore. Every so often, a player defends his title in a ring event or takes down the tournament they came tantalizingly close to winning the year prior.

Nick Verderamo is the most recent player to pull off that feat, conquering the series’ opening event to claim his first ring and the top prize of $27,126. His victory comes one year removed from a fourth-place finish in the same event and hot on the heels of a career-best score earlier in the week.

Verderamo is a 26-year-old actuary who lives here in the Baltimore area. He studied his trade at the University of Connecticut, graduating in 2012 and jumping straight into his field of expertise full-time. He’s been playing poker his whole life, too, learning the game from his late grandfather as he was growing up.

The champ got off to a hot start in this event, running up a big stack early on. “I thought our table was pretty poor to start off,” he said bluntly. “I stacked up to 200k in the very early levels, and then I just avoided confrontation with some of the better players and some of the bigger stacks. I was able to steal blinds and antes when I needed. I got the money in in good spots.” That’s precisely the recipe for success in tournament poker.

The 441-entry starting field was trimmed to 25 survivors over the course of Day 1, and Verderamo finished the day just inside the overnight top ten. By the time the final nine players combined around the final table on Day 2, he was second in chips and the only immediate threat to Kevin Elia’s chip lead. Elia ran poorly from there on out, though, falling in fifth place and leaving a vacancy atop the leaderboard.

Verderamo stepped up to fill that spot, turning on the afterburners in the after-dinner levels. “I was on a heater the last 30-45 minutes,” he said after the win. “Really, once we hit five-handed after the dinner break, I was on fire. I ran much better this time than I did earlier in the week.” His final table run-good included beating pocket kings with ace-queen and cracking pocket aces with king-jack suited.

The previous result Verderamo is referring to was a career-best that he accomplished just a few days ago — a significant five-figure score for a runner-up finish in a big $1,100 event on the other side of the city. The two results combined netted him just shy of $100,000 for the week.

Despite his recent run of success, Verderamo has no plans to make poker his full-time occupation. “I love my job, I love my coworkers,” he said. “I like tournaments a lot more than cash, and I’m not sure tournaments alone are a sustainable future. So I like it on the side.”

Though poker is nothing more than a hobby for now, Verderamo takes as many opportunities as he can to play tournaments in the area — “anything from $365 to $3k,” as he says. This 12-day series of events provides a good opportunity for him to put in some extended hours on the felt, and he plans to do just that. “My goal this year was to try to win [Casino Champion],” he said, “so I’ll be playing most of the events.”

There’s a long to go, but Verderamo is well on his way to realizing that goal. The win gives him the early lead with 50 points on the Casino Champion leaderboard at Horseshoe Baltimore.

Behrooz Jamshidi is all in for just less than 800,000, heads-up for his tournament life against Adam Jones.

Jamshidi:   
Jones:   

The     flop is bad news for Jamshidi, leaving him in an even bigger hole with two cards to come. "I'm dead, aren't I?" he asks rhetorically. The dealer nods slightly as he burns and turns the   onto the turn. That card keeps Jamshidi's hopes for a chop alive, at least, but the river is the useless  . Jones wins the pot with two pair, eliminating Jamshidi in third place.

The heads-up match for Event #1 pits Jones against Nicholas Verderamo for the ring, and the latter begins the duel with a sizable lead.

Nicholas Verderamo - 5,250,000 (88 bb)
Adam Jones - 2,970,000 (50 bb)
Behrooz Jamshidi - Eliminated

Kevin Elia open-shoves the button for his last 560,000, and Jordan Hogans re-shoves from the small blind, isolating himself against the at-risk Elia.

Elia:   
Hogans:   

The board comes      , and Hogans' kings hold to earn him the pot. Elia is eliminated in fifth place.

Jordan Hogans - 1,450,000 (29 bb)
Kevin Elia - Eliminated

Behrooz Jamshidi opens the cutoff to 120,000, and Adam Jones calls in the small blind. From the big blind, Joseph Wang squeezes all in for 295,000 total, and both opponents call the remainder to create action on the side.

The flop is    . Jones bets 250,000, Jamshidi folds, and Wang is now heads-up with a chance to triple-up as the cards are tabled.

Jones:   
Wang:   

The   turn and   river complete the board with blanks, and Jones wins the pot with two pair, kings and jacks. Wang is eliminated in sixth place.

Adam Jones - 2,340,000 (59 bb)
Joseph Wang - Eliminated

Gerald Pervall opens with an under-the-gun raise, and Nicholas Verderamo three-bets from the cutoff. Pervall ends up all in for around 500,000 total, heads-up for his tournament life.

Pervall:   
Verderamo:   

An ace on the flop is a disaster for Pervall, and the       run-out gives Verderamo the pot with aces up. Pervall is eliminated in eighth place.

Nicholas Verderamo - 1,800,000 (45 bb)
Gerald Pervall - Eliminated

Joseph Wang opens with a min-raise to 80,000 in middle position, and Gerald Pervall three-bet shoves for 280,000 a couple seats over. Wang calls to put Pervall at risk.

Wang:   
Pervall:   

The     flop is fun for both, giving Pervall a straight-flush draw but Wang the rest of the diamonds as outs. The   on the turn improves the former to a set of eights, but Wang now has an open-ended straight draw with one card to come. The river is the blank  , though, and Pervall doubles up.

Gerald Pervall - 660,000 (17 bb)
Joseph Wang - 620,000 (16 bb)

Jordan Hogans is all in for his last 335,000 against Jennifer Oar, and he's run into a monster.

Hogans:   
Oar:   

The board runs out      , and Hogans rivers two pair to notch the come-from-behind double-up.

Jordan Hogans - 760,000 (25 bb)
Jennifer Oar - 440,000 (15 bb)

With the elimination of start-of-day chip leader Adam White (pictured) in 10th place, the final nine players are now gathered around the Event #1 final table. Here's the remaining lineup:

Seat 1: Joseph Wang - 602,000
Seat 2: Jennifer Oar - 892,000
Seat 3: Gerald Pervall - 510,000
Seat 4: Kevin Elia - 2,512,000
Seat 5: Jordan Hogans - 300,000
Seat 6: Behrooz Jamshidi - 761,000
Seat 7: Nicholas Verderamo - 1,163,000
Seat 8: Phillip Doucet - 738,000
Seat 9: Adam Jones - 758,000

Hanover's Kevin Elia has opened up a huge lead over the course of the day so far, and he enters the final table with more than twice as many chips as his nearest challenger. Elia has two prior runner-up finishes in ring events, including one in this building two years ago, and he's put himself in a good position to do one better than those results this time around.

Everyone left is guaranteed to earn $2,565, with a top prize of more than 10 times that amount awaiting the winner. Blinds are 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante in the current level, putting the average stack around 38 big blinds.

The final 25 players are back in their chairs — or most of them, at least — and the cards are in the air for Day 2.