WSOP Circuit - Showboat Atlantic City...
2005-06 WSOP Circuit
Showboat Casino – Atlantic City
Official Report
Day One
No-Limit Hold’em
Number of Entries: 96
Total Prize Money: $931,200
End of Day One Standings:
PLAYER HOMETOWN CHIP COUNT TABLE SEAT
Chris Reslock Atlantic City, NJ 49,075 12 4
Steven Jacobs Philadelphia, PA 41,350 13 7
Nick Schulman New York, NJ 39,475 9 1
Neal Gersony Rocky Hill, CT 36,575 11 4
David Weisberger Far Hills, NJ 35,625 10 1
John Juanda Las Vegas, NV 32,000 10 5
Michael Banks Milton, ON (Canada) 31,625 12 3
Daniel Shak Bryn Mawr, PA 31,475 13 8
Alan Schein Aventura, FL 31,000 13 3
Mickey Appleman Fort Lee, NJ 28,525 8 4
James J. Salters Long Island, NY 26,250 8 6
J. Studley New York, NY 23,775 10 6
Pak Kong Lancaster, PA 23,450 12 5
Brian Haveson Newtown, NJ 23,000 11 3
Roland Isra New York, NY 21,225 10 9
Richard Pyne Philadelphia, PA 20,800 9 2
Mike Sich N. Brunswick, NJ 20,475 9 3
Greg Raymer Raleigh, NC 20,025 7 8
Eric Panayiotou Toms River, NJ 19,975 10 4
Don Mullis Mooresville, NC 19,950 13 4
Stefan Wittmoss Stockholm, Sweden 19,000 7 2
Steve Fiosentini Winchester, MA 17,650 10 3
Anthony Licastro Long Valley, NJ 17,350 12 9
Balint Andrew Barta N/A 16,050 12 8
Surinder Sunar Wolverhampton, UK 15,800 11 9
Lee Watkinson Battle Ground, WA 15,750 9 5
Bill Gazes Miami, FL 15,600 7 1
Pat White W. Nyak, NY 15,050 10 8
Alex Jagodik Cleveland, OH 14,800 8 3
Avdo Djkovic New York, NY 14,500 11 8
Sanjay Pandya N/A 13,500 13 6
Andy Bloch Las Vegas, NV 13,350 9 9
Grant Lang Brookfield, CT 12,375 8 1
Glyn Banks Smithville, TN 11,725 7 9
Akio Ishige Atlantic City, NJ 11,450 8 9
Wendy Rosen New York, NY 11,375 7 5
Thomas Francis Manalapan, NJ 11,075 12 1
John Spadavecchia Miami, FL 10,550 13 2
Geoffrey Creagh Towanda, PA 9,875 11 7
Mark Reynolds Eldersburg, MD 9,725 7 3
Joseph Brooks Egg Harbor Twp, NJ 9,450 12 7
Chad Moore Frankfort, IN 8,375 7 6
Bryan Lesser Wesson, NJ 8,200 8 7
Wodyang Lin Morristown, NJ 7,900 8 5
Dan Tolly Kissimmee, FL 7,900 9 4
Frank Vizza CSH, NY 7,075 12 2
John D’Agostino Genobal, France 7,150 12 6
Jan Wronowski NJ 6,725 10 2
Donald Mercer Sneads Ferry, NC 6,100 11 5
Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV 5,600 10 7
Stephen Lazar New Orleans, LA 5,100 9 6
Douglas Johnson Weston, MA 4,775 8 8
Richard Austin Lansdale, PA 4,575 11 1
Michael Fontan Rockaway, NJ 4,300 13 1
Chris Paspalakis Daytona Beach, FL 4,225 7 4
Gordon Eyug Cliffside Park, NJ 4,050 9 8
Herbert Cheng Elmhurst, NY 3,225 11 6
Ken Goldin Voorhees, NJ 3,125 13 9
Weathering the Storm:
2004 WSOP Champion Greg Raymer Hosts
Showboat Atlantic City’s WSOP Circuit Main Event
Former taxi driver and poker local Chris Reslock has the chip lead after Day One
Five inches of snow and freezing temperatures outside could not keep nearly 100 of the East Coast’s best hold’em players from descending upon Atlantic City to play on the fourth stop of the 2005-06 World Series of Poker tournament circuit. The Showboat Atlantic City, owned and operated by Harrah’s Entertainment, recently opened a state-of- the-art poker room. The WSOP Circuit event is the Showboat’s first attempt at hosting a televised major poker tournament.
Interestingly, the Showboat holds the distinction of being Atlantic City’s first casino in to ever host a poker tournament -- which took place back in 1994. Now, eleven years later, poker and the Showboat have jointly entered a new dimension. After a highly-successful series of eight preliminary events, the Showboat’s main event attracted 96 entries. Players are competing for nearly $1 million in prize money.
“This has been a great week -- both for our players and for us,” said Vito Casucci – Showboat Atlantic City Poker Manager. “Overall, we exceeded the turnout that was expected. Given that the Showboat is the newest player in what is a highly-competitive poker market, I’m very proud of our management, the staff, dealers, and everyone associated in bringing the World Series of Poker to Atlantic City.”
After Day One, Atlantic City local poker pro Chris Reslock holds the chip lead. Reslock played masterfully during the first seven hours of the tournament and distanced himself from his rivals. Currently, he is the only player near the 50,000 chip mark. Reslock has been in this spot before. The former taxi driver, who now plays middle- to high-stakes games in Atlantic City, has won his share of poker tournaments and has several in-the-money finishes. Reslock is now in position to strive for his biggest poker win ever.
The $10,000 buy-in championship event attracted several notable players, including two former world champions – Greg “Fossilman’ Raymer (2004) and Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson (2000). Ferguson busted out early. Meanwhile, Greg Raymer is an average chip stack, with about 20,000. Still alive going into Day Two are former WSOP gold bracelet winners and well-known players – including John Juanda, Mickey Appleman, Lee Watkinson, Bill Gazes, John Spadavecchia, and Erik Seidel. Former WSOP Circuit winners Alan Schein and Don Mullis are also still in the tournament.
The official host of the championship event is Greg Raymer. Two weeks after 1998 champ Scotty Nguyen hosted the Ballys-Paris (Las Vegas) tournament, Raymer welcomed many of the best tournament hold’em players to Atlantic City. Nguyen ended up making it to the final table of his event. We will see if Raymer can work his own magic and survive two more days to play at the final table, coming this Friday. But right now, it’s Chris Reslock who is the odds on favorite. He’s in the driver’s seat, holding the cards, and the meter is running.
Play will resume on Day Two at 12:00 noon in the main ballroom at the Showboat Atlantic City. Prize money payouts are as follows:
1st $335,235
2nd 186,240
3rd 102,430
4th 74,495
5th 65,185
6th 55,870
7th 46,560
8th 37,250
9th 27,395
Note: All content in this report may be re-printed by media.
Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director
Showboat Atlantic City Poker Manager – Vito Casucci
Tournament Director – Johnny Grooms
Assistant Tournament Director – Jack Effel
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