CHESTER, PA (May 7, 2013) – Rex Clinkscales has finally done it. After falling short of the win in 14 career WSOP Circuit Final Tables, he is at long last the proud owner of a WSOP Circuit gold ring.
Clinkscales emerged the victor late Monday night in the Harrah’s Philadelphia Main Event, taking home $121,095 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.
“This is unbelievable,” said Clinkscales after the win. “Every Final Table, I’ve run so bad. I’m just glad that I don’t have to hear it anymore from people about not having a ring.”
With the win, Clinkscales makes his exit from the fraternity of players, who time and time again, have climbed high but have failed to reach the proverbial mountain top. Here is the current list of players with most Circuit Final Tables, but no ring:
| Player | Final Tables |
| Dean Schultz | 12 |
| Charlie Dawson | 11 |
| Joel Merwick | 9 |
| Michael Beasley | 9 |
| Drew Woodke | 9 |
| Adam Green | 8 |
| Manelic Minaya | 8 |
| Allie Prescott | 8 |
| Edward Corrado | 8 |
This year’s Main Event drew its largest field ever with 351 players, generating a total prize pool of $526,500. Day one consisted of two starting flights. By the end of the day’s play, Rachel Kranz, a novelist and amateur poker player from New York, NY held a commanding chip lead.
Day two saw 36 players make it into the money, including notable pros Matt Glantz, Everett Carlton, and Cory Waaland. Kranz endured a roller coaster day two and was ultimately eliminated in 35th place, just in the money.
All the while, Clinkscales stayed under the radar, trying to stay in contention. He ended day two second to last in chips with 262,000 and 14 players remaining. Michael Assante led the remaining players to start day three with 1,149,000.
Clinkscales stayed alive through day three, doubling at critical moments while other players hit the rail. He remained near the bottom of the pack, but managed to stay alive. Assante however, lost traction after doubling a few of the shorter stacks and was ultimately eliminated by Ken Silberstein in 5th place ($30,516)
It appeared that Silbertein, who was the runner-up in last year’s Main Event at Harrah’s Philadelphia, would get the win that eluded him in 2012. Silberstein held over 70% of the chips in play with just Clinkscales and Mike Jukich separating him from redemption.
Clinkscales faced an 8-1 deficit vs. Silberstein, but was he was undaunted. In one of the most critical hands of the night, Silberstein called Clinkscales’ all-in for about 680,000 in chips. Silberstein’s A-3 was trumped by Clinkscales’ A-Q. The board ran out clean for Clinkscales, putting him well in contention. Silberstein would also double up Jukich before being eliminated in a disappointing 3rd place ($54,614).
It was down to Jukich and Clinkscales heads up with Jukich holding a slight chip lead vs. Clinkscales. The two battled it out for nearly three hours heads up. Clinkscales slowly built up a 2-1 lead over Jukich before the final hand of the night saw both players all-in with Clinkscales’ pocket 7’s vs. the K-J of Jukich. The final board of the night was no help to Jukich, giving Clinkscales the win.
In addition to the cash and the ring, Clinkscales earns a seat to the WSOP National Championship. Interestingly, because Clinkscales has already locked up a seat by virtue of being the current points leader in the National Championship, he has practically donated a seat back to one of the 60 at-large hopefuls in the points race.
This year’s casino champion at Harrah’s Philadelphia was Chris Reslock, a 65-year-old poker pro and retired taxi cab owner/operator from Atlantic City, NJ. Reslock won two events this series to beat out Peter Ippolito for casino champion honors.
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 WSOP Circuit National Championship to be held May 22– May 24 at Harrah’s New Orleans. More information about the WSOPC National Championship can be found here. An explanation of the points system can be found here.
See the complete Harrah’s Philadelphia Circuit schedule and event results here. The WSOP Circuit Events at Harrah’s Philadelphia runs through May 6th. You can find the complete 2012-2013 WSOP Circuit schedule here.
The final results are as follows:
| PLACE | PLAYER | CITY / STATE / COUNTRY | CASH EARNED |
| 1 | Rex Clinkscales | LAS VEGAS, NV, US | $121,095 |
| 2 | Michael Jukich | ARLINGTON, VA, US | $74,863 |
| 3 | Kenneth Silberstein | PLAINFIELD, NJ, US | $54,614 |
| 4 | Andrew Rudnik | ARLINGTON, VA, US | $40,509 |
| 5 | Michael Assante | WHITESTONE, NY, US | $30,516 |
| 6 | Leonardo Palermo | ORTLEY BEACH, NJ, US | $23,340 |
| 7 | Anthony Natale | US | $18,112 |
| 8 | Jonas Wexler | SOUTHAMPTON, PA, US | $14,258 |
| 9 | Beverly Cheney | GRANDBURY, TX, US | $11,383 |
| 10 | Patrick Friday | US | $11,383 |
| 11 | Kristopher Bradshaw | SCOTTVILLE, MI, US | $9,208 |
| 12 | Matthew Weber | SACRAMENTO, CA, US | $9,208 |
| 13 | David Moersdorf | Gatlinburg, TN, US | $7,555 |
| 14 | George Zinaty | CHARLOTTE, NC, US | $7,555 |
| 15 | Noam Fliegelman | US | $7,555 |
| 16 | James Sloat | FORT MEADE, MD, US | $6,281 |
| 17 | John Renzi | MARCUS HOOK, PA, US | $6,281 |
| 18 | Michael Taylor | CHANDLER, AZ, US | $6,281 |
| 19 | Lawrence Pileggi | Pittsburgh, PA, US | $5,291 |
| 20 | Cory Waaland | GREENVILLE, NC, US | $5,291 |
| 21 | Natale Kuey | BRONX, NY, US | $5,291 |
| 22 | Ido Ashkenazi | FAIR LAWN, NJ, US | $4,517 |
| 23 | Antoine White | Middle River, MD, US | $4,517 |
| 24 | Kevin Smith | ROYERSFORD, PA, US | $4,517 |
| 25 | Brett Schwertley | OMAHA, NE, US | $3,907 |
| 26 | Abraham Araya | CARROLLTON, TX, US | $3,907 |
| 27 | Thomas Christopher | ROCHEPORT, MO, US | $3,907 |
| 28 | Matt Glantz | LAFAYETTE HILL, PA, US | $3,422 |
| 29 | Aaron Overton | PHILADELPHIA, PA, US | $3,422 |
| 30 | Everett Carlton | ST PAUL, MN, US | $3,422 |
| 31 | Erik Roussakis | BERWYN, IL, US | $3,033 |
| 32 | Ryan Hall | NEWARK, DE, US | $3,033 |
| 33 | Loukas Michael | SILVER SPRING, MD, US | $3,033 |
| 34 | Eugene Borukhov | US | $2,722 |
| 35 | Rachel Kranz | NEW YORK, NY, US | $2,722 |
| 36 | Robert Russo | NORRISTOWN, PA, US | $2,722 |
ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport's top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker's longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2012, the event attracted 74,766 entrants from 101 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $222 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. The WSOP Circuit Tour is entering its ninth season in 2012-13. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.WSOP.com.
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