MICHAEL ROSENBACH WINS SECOND WSOP CIRCUIT GOLD RING -- THIS WEEK
Michael Rosenbach Wins Second WSOP Circuit Gold Ring -- This Week!

Third Final Table for San Francisco Poker Pro – Two Wins Out of Three ‘Aint Bad

Rosenbach All But Locks Up “Best All Around Player” Race at Lake Tahoe

WSOP Circuit at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Main Event Championship Coming Next

Stateline, NV (November 19, 2011) – A November snowstorm did little to dampen the enthusiasm or turnout of the latest World Series of Poker Circuit event, played at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.

Despite several inches of snow and 60 mph wind gusts, poker players from all over the region made it to the Nevada-California border and jammed into the tournament area, located on the second floor of the casino, adjacent to the Hard Rock Café.

A day later -- after 220 players were eliminated and hit the rail, there was only one player still standing – make that sitting –at the table.  He had accumulated all the chips and won first place – worth $26,796 in prize money.  He was presented with his second gold ring – this week.

The latest champion was Michael Rosenbach, from San Francisco, CA.

If his name is starting to sound familiar – it should.  Rosenbach now has two gold rings – both won at Harvey’s.  He also has a fifth-place finish, which all but locks up the “Best All-Around Player” race for this Circuit stop.

Rosenbach is certainly in the zone at the moment.  He’s entered six tournaments, made three final tables, and won two.  Not many players can say they have won 40 percent of the tournaments they’ve played.

“I’m certainly running good at the moment,” Rosenbach replied when asked if he was running good or playing good.  “But it’s probably both.  “I actually did feel a little pressure at this final table because of the (Best All-Around Player) race.”

Rosenbach is certainly running good.  But he’s also playing great poker.  He mentioned one big break he had en route to the finale.  Nearing the end of the first day, Rosenbach was all-in with the worst of it and got lucky.  His K-9 bested A-Q.  After that, it was all smooth sailing for the 29-year-old San Francisco poker pro. 

Rosenbach’s victory came in the tenth of 12 gold ring tournaments scheduled at this year’s Lake Tahoe series.  The two-day $500 (+55) No-Limit Hold’em event generated a total prize pool totaling $107,185.  The top 24 players collected prize money.  All players who cashed received WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points.

Speaking of the points race, Michael Rosenbach widened his lead in the “Best All-Around Player” race at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.  He made his third final table appearance as this series, which gives him a huge advantage as one of the two automatic qualifiers from Lake Tahoe who will play in the National Championship, next May.

A full list of all players who cashed in Event #10 can be seen here.

The first playing session (Day One) began on November 18th and ended with only 13 survivors.  Day Two resumed on Saturday morning, November 19th.  After a one more hour of play, the final ten was set.

The final ten players were as follows:

SEAT 1:  Zach Bassett (Logan UT) – 180,000 in chips
SEAT 2:  Kenneth Paige, Jr. (Lodi, CA) – 160,000 in chips
SEAT 3:  “J-Boy” Jeff (Martinez, CA) – 189,000 in chips
SEAT 4:  Leonel Contreras (Kansas City, MO) – 528,000 in chips
SEAT 5:  Michael Rosenbach (San Francisco, CA) – 335,000 in chips
SEAT 6:  “Creek House” (Live Oak, CA) – 122,000 in chips
SEAT 7:  Gina Intrieri Trampusch (Reno, NV) – 532,000 in chips
SEAT 8:  Kevin Murray (Sacramento, CA) – 296,000 in chips
SEAT 9:  Matt Kursar (Los Angeles, CA) – 126,000 in chips
SEAT 10:  Chris Swan (San Jose, CA) – 250,000 in chips

Matt Kursar, a teacher from Los Angeles, went out in tenth place.  And so, official final table play began at 11 am.  The early start was due to the Main Event beginning on the same day.  Play ended at 4:20 pm local time.  The duration of play was about 5.5 hours.

9th Place – Kenneth Paige, Jr., who owns an auto repair business in Lodi, CA, drove away in ninth place.  Paige has mostly played poker online.  In fact, this was only his fourth time to play in a live tournament.  Paige outlasted 90 percent of the field and ended up with his first WSOP-related cash.

8th Place – Jeffry Foxworthy, a.k.a. “J-Boy” ended up as the eighth-place finisher.  He works in construction.  Foxworthy is also a graduate of Chico State University, where he earned a degree in construction management.  This was Foxworthy’s second time to cash in a major tournament, after his debut in-the-money finish at the Summer Pot of Gold series, two years ago.

7th Place – “Creekhouse” was overflowing with chips for a time but ran dry during his final few rounds at the final table and ended up in sixth place.  He lives in Live Oak, CA.  “Creekhouse,” otherwise known as Rob Pinney, took his unusual nickname because his dream is to buy a home located on a creek.  He has his eye on a certain parcel of real estate in Northern California.  But the home and land is quite expensive.  “Creekhouse” picked a nickname (also an online screen name) as what he calls a manifestation.  He hopes to use some of his poker winnings to eventually be able to afford his dream home.  This was his seventh time to cash in a major poker tournament, and second time to cash at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.

6th Place – Leonel Contreras, from Kansas City, MO finished sixth.  He is a 29-year-old poker pro.  This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

5th Place – Zach Bassett, from Logan UT too fifth place.  He is a 28-year-old accountant.  This was his first time to enter a Circuit event and was also his first occasion to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.  Bassett collected $6,696 in prize money in what was a remarkable debut.

4th Place – Chris Swan, a 22-year-old poker pro from San Jose, CA took fourth place.  He specializes in cash games, but has also enjoyed some tournament success.  This marked his tenth major cash.  Swan collected $8,915 in prize money.

3rd Place – Gina Intrieri Trampusch, from Reno, NV became the highest female finisher at this year’s Lake Tahoe series, so far.  She ended up in third place, which paid $12,054.  Trampusch lost her final hand holding A-8 suited, against Rosenbach’s pocket kings.  She is the co-founder of the Jennifer Harmon Throwdown Charity, which benefits local charities in Nevada.  This was her fifth time to make it to the final table of a major poker tournament.  She has done quite well in other tournaments, mostly played in Reno.

2nd Place – Kevin Murray finished as the runner up.  The 28-year-old part-time poker player from Sacramento earned $16,562.

When heads-up play began, Rosenbach enjoyed about a 4 to 1 chip advantage.  The duel lasted about an hour, with Murray proving to be a stubborn foe.  But in the end, Rosenbach’s roll was too strong to stop.  The final hand was dealt as follows:

Rosenbach:     
Stewart:       
Flop:          
Turn:   
River:     

Rosenbach had his opponent well-covered, when Murray moved all-in pre-flop.  Rosenbach was delighted to call, holding a premium pair.  Murray basically had outs to the ace, and then picked up a few added outs on the flop after catching a jack.  But two blanks on the turn and river

1st Place – Michael Rosenbach won his second WSOP Circuit gold ring.  He also received $26,796 in prize money.  Rosenbach is almost assured to be one of the qualifiers for the WSOP Circuit National Championship – either by qualifying at this event, or by acquiring enough points to get one of the at-large bids.

With his victory, Rosenbach joins eight previous champions who have won gold rings at the 2011 Lake Tahoe series.  He is the only duel winner:

Event #1:  David Clark (Dallas, TX) defeated 260 players and won $18,208
Event #2:  Josh Roberts (Jackson, CA) defeated 521 players and won $32,300
Event #3:  Mark Bonsack (Maple Valley, CA) defeated 85 players and won $7,484
Event #4:  Michael Rosenbach (San Francisco, CA) defeated 101 players and won $13,874
Event #5:  Daniel Aran (San Jose, CA) defeated 188 players and won $13,874
Event #6:  Rudy Sisson (Sacramento, CA) defeated 221 players and won $15,741
Event #7:  Nick Long (South Lake Tahoe, CA) defeated 199 players and won $57,909
Event #8:  Alexandru Masek (San Diego, CA) defeated 206 players and won $15,236
Event #9:  Troy Declue (Wildomar, CA) defeated 186 players and won $13,724
Event #10:  Michael Rosenbach defeated 221 players and won $26,796

The Main Event Championship comes up next and runs Nov. 19-21.

Through the first ten events, Rosenbach (San Francisco, CA) widened his lead as the overall leader in the WSOP Circuit’s “Best All-Around Player” standings for Lake Tahoe.  His lead comes from three final table appearances – including a fifth and two first-place showings.

The player who accumulates the most overall points in Lake Tahoe’s twelve combined gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit National Championship, to be held in Las Vegas, next May.  At least two players from this tournament series will qualify for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, which is classified as a WSOP gold bracelet event.  The other automatic qualifier will be the winner of Lake Tahoe’s Main Event championship.
 
With the first ten tournaments now wrapped up, there are only two more gold ring events remaining in what is being billed as a “12 rings in 12 days” poker series.  The WSOP Circuit at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe continues through November 21st.  This year’s schedule includes not only all the gold ring events, but multiple second-chance tournaments (at 5 pm and 7 pm most days), single table and mega satellites, plus cash games going around the clock inside the Harvey’s Poker Room.