JAEIK CHO STARS IN ATLANTIC CITY ANIMAL HOUSE
Atlantic City, NJ (March 7, 2011) – Caesars Atlantic City has produced several exciting moments at its WSOP Circuit events over the years.

The most memorable moment of all took place four years ago when a player at the final table was disqualified and escorted off the property.  What made the incident unforgettable was that the ejected player happened to be the chip leader at the time he made his unwanted exit.  No doubt, that was the only time that’s ever happened in tournament poker.

What happened on Monday night at the most recent WSOP Circuit event wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic as the 2007 fiasco.  But the finale was undoubtedly the most interesting and exciting of any of the five events completed thus far.

The final table of Event #5 played out more like a small-time beer-drinking poker party held inside a frat house rather than a major poker tournament with thousands of dollars up for grabs and national-points rankings at stake.  

Players screamed for cards.  Winners pumped fists.  Losers slammed cards on the table.  And then there were the railbirds, a goofy gander of deadbeats who picked their favorite player-finalists and turned the competition into a circus.

No doubt, the ringmaster was a life-loving free-spirit named Matthew Piccolo.  When picturing Mr. Piccolo, think of an unshaven Chris Farley wearing an Oakland Raiders cap.  Piccolo baited opponents.  He talked incessantly.  He high-fived people in the crowd he did not know.  When Piccolo was all in (which happened several times), he ran away from the table into another tournament area and screamed for cards.  Piccolo even openly yelled for bigger stacks to win key showdowns so he could move up the pay ladder – bad poker etiquette to be sure, but hilarious theatre nonetheless.   

For what it’s worth, the other players at the table didn’t seem to mind being invited to the party one bit.  Like drinking buddies huddled around a desk inside a dorm room, the final table featured a whirlwind of casual conversation and good natured back-and-forth banter.

If Piccolo was the ringmaster in this one-table circus, then Jaeik Cho ended up as the high-flying trapeze act.  He dominated the final stages of the show en route to what must be considered as a historic poker victory.  He ended up taking first place in what was incredibly his first WSOP-related tournament.

With his win, Cho became the first player from Japan ever to win a WSOP-related tournament.  Hard to believe, but no Japanese player has ever won a WSOP gold bracelet in its 42-year history.  Until tonight, no player from Japan had ever won a WSOP Circuit title in seven seasons.

Cho is a 21-year-old college student from Tokyo, Japan.  Although he is Korean by decent, Cho grew up in Japan and only speaks Japanese and English.  He is currently visiting the U.S. as an undergraduate student attending William and Mary University in Virginia.  He is a senior majoring in economics.

Cho started out playing poker as a freshman at an online poker site.  He was introduced to the game by friends.  He played mostly on weekends and gradually accumulated more than $200,000 in online winnings.  This marked his first major live tournament cash.

Cho clearly understood the importance of his victory.  Not only did he collect $29,843 in prize money, he also was presented with the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring.  But was perhaps most memorable of all was becoming Japan’s first real poker champion.

“Poker is not really that big in Japan right now,” Cho said afterward.  “But it’s doing well in Macau and is going to eventually be very big.  I think poker is going to be huge in Asia someday.”

No doubt, Cho’s victory should fuel additional curiosity about the game back home when he later shares his experience with friends and colleagues.  And when asked about what he remembers most about a cold late winter night in Atlantic City, Cho will undoubtedly recall a final table filled with laughter, joy, and ultimately of triumph.

Indeed, call it "Animal House," with Japanese subtitles.

……………

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continued with the $350 buy in No-Limit Hold’em tournament.  The total prize pool amounted to $138,807.  The top 54 finishers collected prize money.  A complete list of all in-the-money finishers for Event #5 can be found here.

The tournament was played over two days.  After most of the field was eliminated short of a payout on Day One, the following session included just 50 survivors.  It took another four hours to play down to the final table of ten players.

Final table play began on a late Monday afternoon inside the Palladium Ballroon, located on the second floor at Caesars Atlantic City.  The ten finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1    Paul Mattiota    271,000 in chips
Seat 2    Jim Governa    1,300,000 in chips
Seat 3    Oliver Entine    532,000 in chips
Seat 4    Eric J. Crammer    487,000 in chips
Seat 5    Matthew Piccolo    213,000 in chips
Seat 6    Zak Babazarieh    89,000 in chips
Seat 7    Richard Contreras    214,000 in chips
Seat 8    Steven Damico    129,000 in chips
Seat 9    Jaeik Cho    960,000 in chips
Seat 10    Ronnie Plyler    590,000 in chips

The final table began at 7 pm and ended at 11 pm.  Players were eliminated in the following order.

Tenth Place:  A few hands into play, severely short-stacked Zak Babazarieh was eliminated.  At least he could claim being all-in with the best hand.  Babazarieh shoved holding A-T, which was called by an opponent with Q-T.  Both players caught a ten on the flop, but a queen on the turn also gave the evil adversary two pair.  The river bricked.  Babazarieh, from Columbia, MD was forced to settle for the bubble spot before reaching the official final table, taking tenth place.  He received $2,233.

Ninth Place:  Richard Contreras, a 25-year-old unemployed man from Queens, NY was eliminated by – a queen.  Contreras was dealt pocket jacks on what turned out to be his final hand of the tournament.  Unfortunately, his rival had A-Q and flopped a queen – good for higher pair.  That put Contreras out in ninth place with $2,769. 
     
Eighth Place:  Paul “Grapeape” Mattioda is a successful online player who was making his first WSOP-related final table.  Mattioda, who picked his clever screen name from the popular cartoon, lost race on his final hand when his pocket jacks were thumped by A-Q.  An ace flopped, squashing Grapeape like a bug.  He received $3,479.

Seventh Place:  Steven Damico took a bad beat on his final hand.  He took A-Q up against K-T.  The flop came Q-J-6.  That gave Daminco top pair, with queens.  But the bad guy with the K-T flopped a straight draw.  An ace came on the river, completing the straight, and knocking Damico out in seventh place with $4,434 in prize money.  Damico is an accountant from Helmetta, NJ.

Sixth Place:  Eric Crammer went out next when he shoved with K-9 suited, which lost to pocket jacks.  Crammer was fortunate to flop a king, good for top pair.  But the lead was only temporary.  The chip leader hit a set on the turn to match his jacks.  That ripped away Cammer’s remaining chips and gave Jaeik Cho a huge chip lead over the remaining survivors.  Meanwhile, Crammer staggered to the payout window and collected a very respectable $5,732.  He works as a computer programmer from Shillington, PA.
   
Fifth Place:  Ronnie Plyler, from North Carolina, was a force.  But he simply could not overcome Cho’s momentum.  On his final hand Plyler was dealt A-T suited.  He flopped top pair (tens).  Plyler moved all in.  Cho had plenty of chips and faded the bet with a heart-flush draw.  A heart fell on the river, completing the flush for Cho.  That busted Plyler, who went home with $7,515.

Fourth Place:  Jim Governa posed the biggest threat to Jaeik Cho, not only because he had plenty of chips most of the way, but he was not afraid to tangle with the tiger.  But Governa lost two huge hands in a row that put him on the rail.  The crippling hand came when Governa had A-4 against Cho’s A-8.  The flop came A-6-5, good for top pair for both players.  A 3 on the turn gave Governa an open-ended straight draw.  But the river bricked, putting Governa in fourth place.  The police officer from Richboro, PA received a ticket worth $9,992.  He has a number of impressive cashes on his tournament resume, including two second-place finishes last December in the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Atlantic City.

Third Place:  Matthew Piccolo is a 29-year-old professional poker player from Dumont, NJ.  He was formally a restaurant manager.  Piccolo never had many chips.  But that didn’t stop him from enjoying his final table experience like it was his last day on earth.  Piccolo was all-in at least a dozen times, yet always managed to survive.  But his luck finally ran out and he had to settle for third place and $13,479.  Piccolo, who calls himself a “cash game specialist and tourney king” has numerous high finishes in smaller tournaments held at the Borgata Atlantic City and Binion’s in Downtown Las Vegas. 

Second Place:  Oliver Entine, from Philadelphia, was the runner up.  He is a 26-year-old doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is studying statistics, a field that certainly applies to success at the poker table.  Remarkably, this was the first WSOP-related tournament Entine had ever entered.  However, he has a number of high cashes in other minor Atlantic City tournaments including one victory for $15,000.  Second place paid $18,451.

When heads-up play began, Cho enjoyed about a 5 to 1 chip advantage over Entine.  The final hand was played as follows:

Cho –    
Entine –    
Flop –      
Turn –  
River –  

All the chips went in on after the flop.  Entine shoved with two overcards.  Cho called instantly and tabled top pair.  Cho ended up winning with a pair of eights over Entine’s ace high.

First Place:  Jaeik Cho made poker history becoming the first Japanese poker champion in WSOP history.  He received $29,843 for first place, plus the WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Cho now joins previous event winners in the top spot for best all-around player.  They are co-leaders in the point race for the top player at the Atlantic City series. 

Event #1 – Thung “Patrick” Lu defeated 742 players and won $43,184 ($350 NLHE)
Event #2 – Peter Ippolito defeated 254 players and won $30,181 ($570 NLHE)
Event #3 – Mike Summers defeated 158 players and won $12,414 ($350 LHE)
Event #4 – Paul Lambrakis defeated 386 players and won $41,186 ($570 NLHE)

The player who accumulates the most overall points in the 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 four more gold ring events remaining.  The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 13th.  This year’s schedule includes ten gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room.