PATRICK LU WINS CAEASARS ATLANTIC CITY OPENER
Atlantic City, NJ (March 4, 2011) – Poker action moved 1,200 miles up the Atlantic Coast from South Florida up to the Jersey Shore as the World Series of Poker Circuit shifted from the Palm Beach Kennel Club to Caesars Atlantic City.

This is the sixth straight year Caesars Atlantic City has hosted a WSOP Circuit stop.  The tournament series began with a $350 buy in No Limit Hold’em event, which attracted 742 entrants.  Attendance was up from 682 entries last year.  The total prize pool amounted to $199,820.  The top 81 finishers collected prize money.  A list of those who cashed in EVENT 1 can be viewed here. 

The winner was Tsung “Patrick” Lu, from Flushing, NY.  Lu, now age 34, was born in Taiwan.  This was only the third WSOP-related event Lu has played.  However, he has several other notable cashes, including a victory at the Foxwoods Casino a few years ago.

Immediately following his victory, Lu was presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, the coveted prize awarded to all winners in poker’s biggest and most prestigious national tournament series.  The top cash prize for this win was $43,184, his biggest cash ever.

The tournament was played over two long days.  After most of the field was eliminated short of receiving a payout on Day One, the following session included just 72 survivors.  It took another seven hours to play down to the final table of ten players.

Final table play began on a Thursday evening inside the jam-packed Palladium Ballroom at Caesars.  Three players – Brain Ali, Matthew Lope, and Joseph Opie -- were neck to neck for the chip lead.  But it was Lu who managed to ovecome all the bigger stacks and stole the victory.  The ten finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1    Patrick Lu    968,000 in chips
Seat 2    Thao Tran    231,000 in chips
Seat 3    John Lakatosh    400,000 in chips
Seat 4    Kent DeMott    454,000 in chips
Seat 5    Mitchell Friedman    174,000 in chips
Seat 6    Matthew Lope    1,350,000 in chips
Seat 7    Brian Ali    1,450,000 in chips
Seat 8    Ryan Chapman    696,000 in chips
Seat 9    David Mayo    222,000 in chips
Seat 10    Joseph Opie    1,425,000 in chips

The final table officially began at 9 pm and ended at just shy of 2 am, making for five-hour battle.  Players were eliminated in the following order.

Tenth Place:  The final table began in blazing fashion.  Unfortunately for Thao Tran, he is the one who got burned.  Tran lost most of his chips on the very first hand of play, when his opponent caught a miracle two-outer on the river to make a set.  Five minutes later another river drowned Tran.  He was dealt 6-6 and lost to Q-J when a jack hit the river.  Tran, from Arlington, VA ended up with $3,277 in prize money. 

Ninth Place:  A few minutes later, John Lakatosh went bust with pocket queens.  He moved all-in and got called in two spots.  The three-way pot ended with Brian Ali scooping a huge pot holding pocket tens.  A ten flopped and Ali ultimately made a full house, transforming Lakatosh’s royal ladies into two tramps.  Lakatosh, a poker pro from Red Lion, PA earned $4,078.  He now has more than $400,000 in career tournament earnings.  
     
Eighth Place:  Mitchell Friedman, a businessman from Chatham, NJ went out in eighth place.  He was short stacked and got his chips in with the best hand, but lost.  Friedman was dealt A-2 and pushed.  His raise was called by one of the giant stacks, which showed K-T.  A ten on the turn all but ended Friedman’s dream of victory.  He received $5,136.

Seventh Place:  David Mayo, from Ocean City, NJ arrived at the final table as one of the shortest stacks.  He waited patiently for a playable hand, then finally found something to go with when he pushed with K-Q.  His raise was called by a bigger stack with pocket deuces.  The two ducks quacked and took down the pot, spoiling the Mayo.  His cut of the prize money came to $6,548.

Sixth Place:  If there was a winning ticket for taking bad beats, Joseph Opie hit the daily double.  He lost most of his chips in brutal fashion when his pocket aces were cracked by A-Q suited.  The wicked opponent flopped three spades to make a flush, which was a sledgehammer to Opie’s stack.  The chisel came out a few times later when his A-K lost to pocket jacks.  Opie flopped an ace – good for top pair.  But a jack hit the river, making a set.  For Opie, who works as a landscaper, it was the equivalent of a dog doing his business on a perfectly-manicured lawn.  Opie begrudgedly settled for $8,453.   

Fifth Place:  The next bad beat busted Kent DeMott.  In fact, payback proved to be a witch, with a capital “B.”  Earlier, DeMott had cracked pocket kings by flopping a spade flush.  About an hour later, DeMott got spanked like a crying infant when his A-A was bested by pocket eights.  The flop brought an eight, ruining DeMott’s chances of victory.  The part-time poker player from Leominster, MA received $11,048. 

Fourth Place:  Ryan Chapman, from Germantown, MD was a victim of going card dead at the worst possible time during the tournament.  He wasn’t much of a factor during play and ultimately busted out fourth place, which paid $14,628.  On his final hand, Chapman lost a race holding pocket sixes.  His opponent had A-8 and made two pair.

Third Place:  The expression “Down Goes Ali!” wasn’t heard much in the sports world, but Brian Ali got “Joe Fraziered” from the final table, with Patrick Lu throwing the final punch.   Ali was the lowest of the final three survivors and tried to steal a round of blinds and antes holding A-4.  His raise was called by Lu, who tabled pocket nines.  The middle pair connected with another nine on board and made a full house.  That meant Ali was out in third place, with $19,627.  Ali is a retired from Brooklyn, NY. 

Second Place:  The runner up was Matthew Lope, from Gloucester City, NJ.  The 25-year-old poker player had several chances to win what would have been his first WSOP-related title, but fell just short.  His consolation prize amounted to $26,623.

When heads-up play began, Lu enjoyed about a 3 to 2 chip lead over Lope.  The warriors traded chips back and forth several times with monster hands.  Undoubtedly, the biggest hand took place in the proverbial coin flip of all race hands.  Lu was dealt Qd Qs against Lope’s As Kh.  One of the most exciting boards imaginable came as the following cards came in sequence:  Js 9s 7s Qc 3s.  The flush over set shifted the chip lead heavily in Lope’s favor.  But Lu fought back and won the game’s final hand.  The last cards were dealt when Lope had Ah 4h.  He moved in on a semi-bluff, after the flop came 6h 5d 3d.  Lu was thrilled to call and showed his big overpair – Qc Qs.  The next two cards came 5c 6c, which gave Lu the final pot and the victory.

First Place:  Tsung “Patrick” Lu, from Flushing, NY won $43,184 and his first WSOP gold ring.  He now takes the early lead in the point race for top player at the Caesars Atlantic City series.  The poker player who accumulates the most overall points in the series of ten gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship, to be held in May at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

There are still nine more gold ring events remaining on the schedule.  The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 13th.  In addition to gold ring events starting at noon, there are multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room.