SAMUEL PANZICA EARNS SECOND RING OF CINCINNATI SERIES
Cincinnati, OH (September 27, 2013) — Samuel Panzica did it again at Horseshoe Cincinnati winning his second gold ring of the 12-day series in the $365 Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys tournament Friday night. The victory marks the third for the 21-year-old professional, each of which came in a different variation of poker.

In addition to $21,538 the win was good for an additional 50 points toward the Casino Championship giving him the current lead in the clubhouse.

Panzica earned his first ring in a $580 No-Limit Hold’em tournament at Choctaw Resort in January of this year at just 20 years old. He followed up that performance by earning Casino Champion honors at West Palm Beach and turned 21 in time for last spring’s WSOP National Championship – a tournament he finished 16th in.

Panzica’s most recent successes came in Ohio at the state’s first major tournament series. He earned his second ring earlier this week in a $580 Limit Omaha Eight tournament and parlayed his hot streak into a third victory Friday night.

“I’ve enjoyed winning each time,” Panzica said. “This time was more fun [than a few days ago] because it wasn’t limit.”

If winning twice in four days wasn’t already impressive enough, making the feat even more unbelievable is the fact Panzica admitted he doesn’t put much effort into learning non-hold’em games.

“I don’t really play non-hold’em very often. If I play it’s mostly pot-limit Omaha, but that’s about it,” Panzica said.

Believe it or not, the win gets more impressive when you take a step back and profile the final table. Among the event’s final nine were three gold ring holders including six-time winner Ari Engel and gold bracelet winner Bryan Campanello.

Campanello began the day second-to-last in chips and was the first player to hit the rail, finishing ninth. Engel, on the other hand, began the day second in chips, but couldn’t get anything going. He exited sixth, coming up short of a record-tying seventh gold ring.

At the end of the day, the Event 8 headline belonged to Panzica.

When the WSOP approached him for a winner shot and post-ring interview, he requested they be pushed back so he could late register the Main Event. The WSOP obliged and Panzica returned 20 minutes later more than willing to do a quick sitdown after doubling his 20,000-chip starting stack after only one hand in the Main Event.

“Just another day at the office,” Panzica said unable to hold back a smile.

Event 8 was the eighth of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit schedule at Horseshoe Cincinnati. The $365 Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys tournament attracted 94 players generating 436 re-buys. The total prize pool came to $71,800 and the top 12 players were paid.

Final table results:

1st: Samuel Panzica - $21,538
2nd: Matthew Goins - $13,313
3rd: Anselmo Villareal - $9,479
4th: Matt Sterling - $6,886
5th: Travis Turner - $5,101
6th: Ari Engel - $3,851
7th: Jason Gwinn - $2,962
8th: Jiaqi Xu - $2,320
9th: Bryan Campanello - $1,850

Full results available on WSOP.com.

Follow the action from the Horseshoe Cincinnati tournament floor with the WSOP Circuit Blog.