atlantic city, Nj – While the Eastern Regional Championship was drawing to its own close late Wednesday, Jason Stone, a 30-year-old paramedic from Hartsdale, NY took down the $350 buy-in, No Limit Hold’em event #11 of the WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
Stone beat out 288 other competitors to claim first place prize, worth $20,184 and the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring.
Atlantic City’s own Chris Reslock, who is currently tied with Men Nguyen and Mark Smith for having a record four WSOP Circuit gold rings, made it to the final nine in this event, positioning himself for sole claim of most WSOPC ring wins. This was his second final table of the 2010/2011 Harrah’s Resort AC Circuit Series.
In addition to breaking the Circuit record, a win for Reslock would have also have put him five points above the current Harrah’s AC Casino champion points leader, Jesus Cabrera to take the title right from under his feet along with an automatic seat into the $1 million dollar freeroll WSOP Circuit National Championship. The shortstack, however, Reslock had a long uphill road to claim both distinctions.
The chip counts when final table play began were as follows:
|
Name
|
Hometown
|
Seat
|
Chip Count
|
|
Chris Reslock
|
Atlantic City, NJ
|
1
|
66,000
|
|
John King
|
Clayton, NC
|
2
|
550,000
|
|
Nick Persian
|
Haymarket, VA
|
3
|
554,000
|
|
Charles Furey
|
Bridgewater, NJ
|
4
|
158,000
|
|
Bryan Kessler
|
Cherry Hill, NJ
|
5
|
222,000
|
|
Jason Stone
|
Hartsdale, NY
|
6
|
123,000
|
|
Alex Leitzes
|
Yardley, NY
|
7
|
250,000
|
|
Leonid Le
|
New York, NY
|
8
|
520,000
|
|
Peter Ippolito
|
East Meadow, NY
|
9
|
213,000
|
9th Place – Although able to double up early, Reslock fell short of his goal and was eliminated in ninth place. Ninth place was worth $1,852
8th Place – Brian Kessler was the eighth place finisher. The 21-year-old student from Cherry Hill, NJ collected $2,321.
7th Place – Out in seventh was Charles Furey. The 47-year-old pro earned $2,954.
6th Place –Alex Leitzes of Yardley, NY was eliminated in sixth place, worth $3,816.
5th Place –Having recently recovered from an infection that required heart surgery this past March, Peter Ippolito, a 24-year-old poker pro from East Meadow, NY played a strong tournament that resulted in a fifth place finish. He took home $5,008
3rd Place – The third place finisher was John King, a 28-year-old lab tech from Clayton, NC. For third place, King pocketed $9,051.
Heads up was between Stone and Nick Persian with Stone emerging the victor. Persian is a 22-year-old student from Haymarket VA. The runner-up spot was worth $12,474.
For his victory, Stone collected $20,184. He also picks up the WSOP Circuit Gold ring and 50 points toward qualifying for the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship.
The next WSOP Circuit stop will take place at Choctaw Casino Resort, located in Durant, OK, one hour north of Dallas, TX. The ten ring-event series will begin January 6 and end on January 25, 2011
The next Nationally Televised Regional Championship is set to take place at Harrah’s Rincon. The tournament runs March 10-March 30. The $10,000 buy-in Regional Championship runs March 27-30, 2011.