Event #25
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $2,000
Number of Entries: 1,619
Total Prize Money: $2,946,580
Date of Tournament: June 15-17, 2007

WSOP GOLD BRACELET WINNER EVENT # 25 – BEN PONZIO

  • The winner of the $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship was Ben Ponzio, from Elmwood Park, IL. He is 32-years-old and married. He has one daughter. Ponzio’s full name is Alessandro Ben Ponzio. He took his first and middle name from his grandfather and great grandfather.
  • Ponzio works as the advertising sales manager for Chicago’s WBBM-FM which is a hits and hip hop station. He was scheduled to work the morning after the tournament, but his WSOP victory will cause him to miss a day at the office. “I didn’t want to take an extra vacation day until I knew I would get this far,” Ponzio explained later.
  • “Sure, I’m going back to work,” Ponzio said in a post-tournament interview. “Six-hundred thousand (dollars) is a lot of money. But it’s not enough to live on the rest of my life.”
  • Ponzio developed and was credited with a math theorem in high school. It is a formula designed to measure the size of circles. Ponzio is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He earned his degree in speech and communications. In addition to playing poker, Ponzio enjoys fantasy sports.
  • This is the third time Ponzio has attended the WSOP. He cashed one time previously – with a 122nd place finish two years ago. His combined tournament winnings coming into this event totaled just $9,000. First place in this tournament paid $599,109.