Photo Credit: Gillian Epp
Richmond, BC, CA (November 30, 2012) — Sandra Wong and Adina Mazzucco headlined the Casino Champion's race through 10 events at River Rock Casino. The pair separated themselves from the field, Mazzucco with 67.5 points and Wong with 65, but two events remained to be decided on PlayNow.com. Wong made the most of the series' finales, cashing 17th in Event 11 and earning five points, overtaking Mazzucco for the lead. Neither Wong nor Mazzucco would cash in Event 12 and Wong won the title of Casino Champion with 70 points earned. "I want to give a shout out to Adina Mazzucco who obviously knows what she is doing when it comes to poker," Wong told the WSOP. "We have a lot of poker talent (in Vancouver) and to be able to be Casino Champion of this series means a lot to me."Good friend and Canadian poker pro Sean Giesbrecht wasn't far off when he referred to Wong as 'Sandra "Can Do No" Wong'.Wong recorded two third place finishes, a 17th place finish and a 20th place finish in just six events entered. She emerged as the standout player of what was a tremendously successful first Canadian Circuit stop. The series boasted a $1,125 buy-in event with 354 entrants; almost 60 percent more than the next largest $1,125 buy-in event of the Circuit season. Additionally, a $365 turbo tournament drew 381; more than 50 percent more than the next largest turbo event of the season and the Main Event drew 1,032, making it one of the largest poker tournaments held in Canada.Antony Vidmer joined Wong as the only player to record four cashes at River Rock. Vidmer's resume lacked the deep runs of Wong's, and he earned 35 points, well short of the leaders."This is my biggest poker accomplishment to date, my first WSOP Circuit series I played and I'm so happy it happened in my hometown," Wong wrote in an e-mail to the WSOP. "I would be lying to say I didn't get lucky many times to make it as far as I did. I only played six events... I fell short twice from winning my first Circuit ring but the experience has been humbling and invaluable to say the least."
Prior to the River
Rock series, Wong's WSOP resume included an 87th place finish in the
2012 $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Wong says her new
found success has motivated her to play poker more seriously.
Wong is the acting CEO of LuckyLadyGames.com, a development company specializing in casino games on social network platforms. She is no stranger to the gaming industry and is starting to feel comfortable on the WSOP felt as well. Come May 2013, she expects the WSOP to get more comfortable with her."I obviously can't wait to be the first woman to win the ($1 Million National Championship), so see you in New Orleans," Wong said.