World Series of Poker Circuit Event action at Harrah’s Chester continued through the weekend with the Sunday conclusion of event #2, the $555 buy-in, No Limit Hold’em event. The winner of the two-day tournament was Matthew Lope, a 25-year-old aspiring poker pro from Mt. Laurel, NJ.
Having worked “odd jobs” for many years before discovering the game, Lope says that poker is the perfect fit for him. He cashed in his first-ever WSOP Circuit Event last month in the 742-player opening event at Caesars AC, finishing in second place for a $26,623 payday.
Lope doesn’t at all consider finishing as the runner up in that event a defeat, but an opportunity to make bigger things happen for him in the future.
Indeed, bigger things are happening for the area local, who plays regularly in the poker room here at Harrah’s Chester.
The second of ten official ring events scheduled for the Circuit series at Harrah’s Chester attracted 176 players for a total prize pool of $83,130. After 21 levels of play, 11 players returned at 2pm on day two to play down to a winner.
With more than a 2-1 chip lead over his nearest opponent, Lope was unstoppable during the tournament’s final stage. He used his stack to his advantage to take down smaller pots and was always ahead in each all-in heads up confrontation, resulting in the elimination of five of his final table opponents.
| Name | Hometown | Seat | Chip Count |
| Larry Kolk | Levittown, PA | 1 | 262,000 |
| Todd Shackle | Moon TWP, PA | 2 | 177,000 |
| Gordon Eng | Cliffside Park, NJ | 3 | 290,000 |
| Anthony Marioni | Mt. Ephraim, NJ | 4 | 44,000 |
| Peter Kang | Broomall, PA | 5 | 190,000 |
| Julius Krewina | Wilmington, DE | 6 | 145,000 |
| Matthew Lope | Mt. Laurel, NJ | 7 | 626,000 |
| Trevor Keller | Souderton, PA | 8 | 86,000 |
| Tim Bryan | Centreville, VA | 9 | 250,000 |
Ninth Place
With the tenth place elimination of the last woman standing, Jatawny Muckelvene, the official final table got underway just after 2:30 pm with blinds and antes at 3,000/6,000/1,000. A succession of early eliminations set the tone for the evening, beginning with the table’s two short stacks.
Trevor Keller determined that the time was as good as any to make a final stand and got his remaining chips in the middle with . Unfortunately for Keller, Lope made the call with pocket kings, leaving Keller to watch his short stack get swallowed up after a queen-high board.
Not long after Keller’s elimination, the other shorty, Anthony Marioni got all in with pocket tens to Gordon Eng’s K-Q suited. Marioni found himself on the wrong side of the coin flip after the flop came down followed by a nine and trey on the turn and river.
Keller is a 24-year-old sheriff’s deputy from Souderton, PA. Shackle is a 21-year-old poker player from Mt. Ephraim, NJ. Their ninth and eighth place finishers marked their first WSOP-related cashes which paid $2,000 and $2,508, respectively.
Seventh Place
Peter Kang suffered an awful beat in an all-in with pocket kings vs. Larry Kolk’s A-Q when Kolk paired his high pocket card on the river. Kang was forced to settle for seventh place, worth $3,197.
Sixth Place
Just before the end of the level, on a board of , Julius Krewina moved all-in with what seemed to be a formidable hand - pocket 8’s. Lope however, was sitting on pocket aces. Lope made the easy call and eliminated Krewina after the river blanked. Krewina is a 62-year-old poker room supervisor from Wilmington, DE. For sixth place, he picked up $4,142.
Fifth Place
Play eased a bit after the blinds increased to 6,000/12,000. Halfway through the level, Lope and Kolk went heads up to a flop of , after which Kolk put his remaining chips in the pot with top pair. Lope had the same pair but a better kicker, which played after the turn and river. Kolk is a 39-year-old married father of four from Levittown, PA. The aspiring poker pro took home $5,458 for finishing in fifth.
Fourth Place
Lope’s final table domination continued through the 8,000/16,000 level of blinds. On a flop, Lope re-raised Tim Bryan all-in. Bryan called, turning over , but was trumped by Lope’s . Bryan was left drawing dead after a third king hit the turn and made his exit from the final table stage to pick up $7,318 fourth place prize money after a blank on the river.
Third Place
Three-handed, Lope was nearly invincible with over 80 percent of the remaining chips in play. The remaining stacks made a few feeble attempts to take some units off of the chip leader, but ultimately got it all-in against each other with Shackle holding vs. Eng’s . Three hearts fell on the flop before the hit the turn. Eng was able to catch one of his 15 remaining outs when the river came the . Shackle is a 24-year-old college student and valet attendant from Moon Township, PA. He collected $9,985 for third.
Second Place
Heads up, Lope had a 3.5-1 chip lead over Eng. Eng made a valiant effort to chip up during the matchup but ultimately got it in with vs. Lope’s . The final board of the evening was dealt out , giving Lope the victory.
For his runner-up finish, Eng pocketed $13,871. Eng is from Cliffside Park, NJ. He worked at Merck Pharmaceuticals for five years before making the decision to play poker for a living. He has countless major tournament cashes and final table appearances.
For the win, Lope was awarded $22,447 in prize money along with the coveted WSOPC gold ring.
“All of the work is done on day one,” said Lope after the tournament. “Starting day two with so many more chips than I did at AC, a lot would have had to go wrong for me not to finish first or second today.”
“To have everything come together this time around, it feels really good.”
In addition to the cash and the ring, Lope picks up 50 points in the WSOP Circuit National Championship points race and is now tied with the winner of event #1, Rocco Luciano for the overall Casino Championship points race here at Harrah’s Chester.
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. However, now with 87.5 overall points, Lope is in prime position to claim one of the 34 seats that will be awarded to the top point earners through the 15 events of the 2010/2011 WSOPC season.
Still to come are seven ring events. See the complete Harrah’s Chester schedule and previous results here. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Chester runs through May 10th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.