Atlantic City, NJ – Some professions make poker seem rather unimportant, by comparison. Matters of war and peace and life and death put the game in its proper perspective that for as exciting as poker might be at times, it pales in contrast to life’s greatest challenges.
No one knows this better than John Hubiak. He is a 29-year-old nurse who works in the intensive care unit of a trauma center. To say Hubiak works in a stressful environment on a daily basis would be an understatement. Indeed, the part-time poker player and full-time medical professional from Taylor, PA often has the lives of strangers in his hands. His split-second decisions can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
Hubiak brought that depth of worldly experience and broader perspective to the poker table, and based on the most recent tournament results from the World Series of Poker Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City, it served him quite well. Hubiak won the $340 buy in No-Limit Hold’em tournament here and collected the top cash prize totaling $58,937.
He was also presented with the coveted gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement given out to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events held around the country.
This was the fourth of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars schedule. The tournament attracted 392 entrants. Most of the field was eliminated on Day One, which clocked in at 14 hours. Five tables of battle-tested survivors returned for Day Two and played another lengthy session, which lasted another 13 hours.
The top 36 finishers divided prize money from a $190,120 prize pool. Among those who finished in the money was former gold ring winner Yat Cheng, who won this year’s inaugural Event 1, which completed just a few days ago. He came in 19th.
Final table play began on a Sunday night inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars and ended at 1 am. The only previous WSOP Circuit winner among the final nine was Julian Manolio, who won a gold ring at Harrah’s Atlantic City two years ago. Alan Sansome, the table’s senior citizen at 70, arrived as chip leader. But all the players were within striking distance of victory, which made this finale an unpredictable affair.
The low blinds (5,000-10,000) and average stack of nearly 300,000 in chips at the start of play meant all players at the table had time to wait it out for the best possible advantage. Play was cautious in the early going. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:
|
Seat |
Player |
Hometown |
Chip Count |
|
1 |
Michael "Katman" Katz |
East Brunswick, NJ |
180,000 |
|
2 |
John W. Jones |
Fredericksburg, VA |
327,000 |
|
3 |
William Daloisi |
Staten Island, NY |
351,000 |
|
4 |
Juilian Manolio |
Maywood, NJ |
384,000 |
|
5 |
Dennis Summers |
Charlottesville, VA |
305,000 |
|
6 |
Alan Sansome |
Clifton, NJ |
400,000 |
|
7 |
Mike Grayhill |
Roanoke, VA |
340,000 |
|
8 |
John Hubiak |
Taylor, PA |
324,000 |
|
9 |
Joseph A. Siracusa |
Stony Point, NY |
395,000 |
The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, in addition to cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs.