CHESTER, PA – Event #3 of the WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Philadelphia drew to a close Monday with Peter Ippolito, a 26-year-old poker pro From East Meadow, NY emerging the winner. For the win, Ippolito was awarded $17,109 and the WSOP Circuit Gold ring.
Incredibly, the victory marked Ippolito’s third WSOPC gold ring win in just over a year. He earned his first WSOP Circuit victory in a complete rout of the Ring Event #2 Final Table last year at Caesars Atlantic City.
In addition to the money and the ring, Ippolito earned 50 points toward the WSOP National Championship, putting him in prime position for a seat to the WSOP National Championship.
The WSOP National Championship is the season-culminating tournament for the 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit Events. An official WSOP Bracelet Event, the National Championship features a $1 million prize pool put up by Caesars Interactive Entertainment and will be nationally televised on ESPN.
A low projection of qualifying points needed to make the cutoff is estimated at 102.5, however scores of Circuit grinders have flooded the tables here at Harrah’s Philadelphia looking to shake up the points race. Two other pros, Joey Hebda and Everett Carlton also earned enough points here in Event #3 to make them a virtual lock for a National Championship seat.
Event #3 was a $555 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. 126 players entered into the 2-day event, generating a total prize pool of $61,110.
Shortly after midnight on day two, play was down to the final table.
9th Place – With the Ring Event #2 final table continuing through midnight, play between the final nine in Event #3 got underway. Play for the night continued for only a short while, but not before the elimination of Chris Black in ninth place. Back is a 27-year-old poker player from Vancouver, BC Canada. He boasts a lengthy WSOP resume dating back to 2005. In 2006, he cashed in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. His finish tonight earned him $1,253.
8th Place – Play resumed the following day and from there, play became fast and furious. Theodore Peterson, an amateur player from Fortuna, CA, suffered elimination shortly after play resume, taking home $1,936.
7th Place – Everett Carlton is the consummate tournament pro. The 56-year-old poker pro from St. Paul, MN who earned his first WSOP cash back in the 2005 World Series of Poker has 25 WSOP-related cashes to his name and nearly $300,000 in WSOP tournament earnings. In a former life, Everett was a high-stakes golfer but in 2003, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
After his recovery, he set his sights on playing poker, in which he has had moderate success ever since. With seven cashes and 122.5 points toward the WSOP National Championship, Cartlon is almost certain to find himself playing in front of millions watching at home on ESPN this summer. He collected $2,465 for his performance in Event #3 at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
6th Place –Hebda, a 26-year-old former dog catcher from Bloomington, IN turned poker pro finished in sixth place, earning 22.5 points and making him a virtual lock to qualify for the WSOP National Championship with 115 points total. Sixth place paid $3,188.
5th Place – Susan Frazier is the first woman to make a final table so far here at Harrah’s Philadelphia. This was her second in-the money-finish at a WSOP Circuit event with her first coming back in 2009 at Caesars Atlantic City. The amateur from Troy, VA took home $4,193.
4th Place – The fourth place finisher was William Phillips of Metairie, LA. “Wild” Bill as he is known on the WSOP Circuit, co-owns Gulf Coast Poker, a New Orleans poker website covering poker events throughout the Gulf Coast. Phillips has had huge success this season of the WSOP Circuit Events, with his biggest cash coming with a runner-up finish at the IP Biloxi Main Event. He pocketed $5,609 for fourth place here today at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
3rd Place
Ippolito was far and away the most experienced player among the final three, which he demonstrated as he routed his final two opponents. Just a few hands into play three-handed, Kevin Mason was sent to the rail, taking home $7,634 before Ippolito made quick work of his final opponent, Jason Steel. Steel is 41-year-old wrestling coach originally from Philly, but now living in Alpharetta, GA. The married father of two earned $10,576 for his runner-up finish.
Ippolito was awarded $17,109 and his third WSOP Circuit Gold Ring. With the win, he picks up 50 points in his bid for a seat to the WSOP National Championship and joins previous Harrah’s Philadelphia Ring champions Kurt Magalski and Douglas McGlothlin atop of the points race for the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino Championship.
The Casino Champion is the player who earns the most points through the 12 events at Harrah’s Philadelphia. This player will earn an automatic seat to the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship to be held in late May. More information about the WSOPC National Championship can be found here. An explanation of the points system can be found here.
Still to come are 9 events. See the complete Harrah’s Philadelphia Circuit schedule and event results here. The WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Philadelphia runs through May 7th. You can find the complete 2011/2012 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.
MORE ABOUT THE WSOP CIRCUIT AT HARRAH’S PHILADELPHIA
Harrah’s Philadelphia is a casino and racetrack located in Philadelphia, PA -- about 15 minutes south of Philadelphia International Airport. It is the 16th (of 17) WSOP Circuit host properties. Harrah’s New Orleans is the last remaining stop of the 2011-2012 WSOPC season.
This marks the second season that the WSOP Circuit has visited Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Harrah’s Philadelphia first opened in 2007, offering slot games and horse racing. Table games were introduced to the casino in 2010 after they were legalized by the state of Pennsylvania.
Harrah’s Philadelphia originally opened as Harrah’s Chester, but is currently in the process of rebranding itself as Harrah’s Philadelphia, which is expected to be complete on May 1st.
Harrah’s Philadelphia’s “12 Rings in 12 Days” series is taking place April 25-May 7. Tournaments are held in the ballroom located on the second floor of the casino. Cash games can be found in the poker room next to the race book also located on the second floor.
Each Ring Event Final Table will be streamed live from the final table stage area in the ballroom. The live stream can be accessed at: http://www.lnmandiya.com/2011/circuit/live-video/. Because final table start times are tentative, viewers should follow the WSOP on Twitter @wsop to be notified when live streams begin.
Media Contact:
Alan Fowler
WSOP/Caesars Interactive Entertainment
[email protected]