Atlantic City, NJ – The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit final table began on the eve of the Main Event and went so long, it ended just as players were funneling into the room preparing to play the next day’s championship. Indeed, if some poker tournaments have become an around the clock pursuit, most of the WSOP Circuit events played this year at Caesars Atlantic City may as well start serving breakfast. Today’s early bird special included hot coffee, bacon, eggs, and about ninety grand in prize money.The man who scrambled his opponents and toasted the competition was Thomas “Sandy” Taylor, who brought home the bacon with his first WSOP-related victory, following a number of big cashes in other tournaments. He is a 27-year-old professional poker player from Innisfil, Ontario (Canada). Taylor collected a cash prize totaling $89,570. He was also presented with his first gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement given out to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events held around the country.The $1,500 (+100) buy in No Limit Hold’em tournament won by Taylor marked the eighth of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s schedule at Caesars Atlantic. The two-day tournament (which actually stretched into three days) attracted 190 entrants. Most of the field was eliminated on Day One which clocked in at 14 hours. Six tables of survivors returned for Day Two which played another backbreaking session totaling 22.5 hours. This tournament was not for the faint of heart. The top 18 finishers divided up prize money from a $276,450 prize pool.Final table play began on a Thursday night and was held inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars. The last hand of the tournament was finally dealt out the following morning at 11:35 am. There were no previous WSOP Circuit winners among the final nine, thus guaranteeing a first time champion. Taylor arrived as chip leader and was in a comfortable position during most of the competition, or at least as comfortable one could possibly be propped in an upright position under glaring lights engaged in an all-nighter. Mark Nimorov managed to seize the chip lead away from Taylor about nine hours into the finale. Then later, Vincent DeVita took his turn as the biggest stack. Then, Taylor regained his advantage in the chip lead merry go round.The low blinds (6,000-12,000) and average chip stack of 600,000 at the start of the marathon gave competitors plenty of time to be patient and wait for a hand. Truth be told, if patience was a virtue, the top finishers in this tournament must all qualify for sainthood. Tournament structures at Caesars this year have received positive feedback from many players and postings at online poker forums. Tournament players have been given plenty of starting chips and blind increases have been incremental, allowing for skillful play to overcome the short-term luck factor which is a part of all tournaments. This has resulted in several lengthy final tables, which have lasted 8 to 10 hours on average. But this finale obliterated all previous Caesars’ events on record, making the end result not only a test of poker skill, but of physical and mental endurance. It was the longest final table in the six-year history of the WSOP Circuits, for a preliminary (non-Main Event).
The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:
|
Seat |
Player |
Hometown |
Chip Count |
|
1 |
Don Matusow |
Philadelphia, PA |
460,000 |
|
2 |
Mark Nimokov |
Brooklyn, NY |
300,500 |
|
3 |
Scott Lazewski |
Manaklapan, NY |
540,000 |
|
4 |
Francis Anderson |
Poughkeepsie, NY |
620,000 |
|
5 |
Steven Tabb |
Newton, MA |
375,000 |
|
6 |
Christopher Paul Carey |
Hillsborough, NC |
319,000 |
|
7 |
Vincent DeVita |
Bayville, NJ |
201,000 |
|
8 |
Thomas “Sandy” Taylor |
Innisfil, ON (Canada) |
953,000 |
|
9 |
Scott Tuchman |
Mays Landing, NJ |
90,000 |
Players were eliminated in the following order:
Ninth Place: Local Player Busts
Scott Tuchman, a professional poker player from nearby Mays Landing, NJ, was the first to be eliminated. He was the shortest stack and moved all in with pocket 6’s hoping to double up. He got a call from AK, which managed to hit an ace on the flop. That’s not exactly what Tuchman had in mind as far as the final outcome. Hence, the player who had previously done well in various deep stack tournaments around the country ended up taking $5,529 in prize money. This marked Tuchman’s first appearance at a WSOP Circuit final table.
Eighth Place: A Bad Beat
Scott Lazewski, a poker pro from Manalapan, NY went out next when his AK took a bad beat against AJ. Lazewski seemed headed for a double up, but a J came on the turn, ending Lazewski’s tournament life. The poker pro who also has a pilots license crash landed in eighth place with $8,294.
Seventh Place: Pocket Aces Cracked
Francis Anderson, an online poker pro from Poughkeepsie, NY was eliminated on what is every Hold’em poker player’s worst possible nightmare. He moved all in with pocket A’s and was called by a bigger stack holding pocket 9’s. Anderson was way ahead after the turn, but an ugly 9 fell on the river disconnecting the online pro from the finale. Anderson added $11,058 to his poker bankroll.
Sixth Place: Another Pro Bites the Dust
Steven Tabb, a professional poker player from Newton, MA went bust holding pocket 7’s. He went all in a coin flip race against AK. When a K fell on the river, Tabb was sent packing. The Boston area poker pro has previously cashed several times in major events. Oddly enough, he specializes in 5 Card Draw games played online. This was Tabb’s highest WSOP related finish to date, worth $13,822 in prize money.
Fifth Place: Tow Truck Driver Gets Hauled Away
Christopher Paul Carey, a tow truck driver from Hillsborough, NC stood the test of time. But he finally went out holding AQ, which lost to pocket A’s. Carey received a payout totaling $16,587.
Fourth Place: Matusow (Not that Matusow) Out Fourth
Don Matusow (no relation to the famous poker pro), who works in sales and lives in Philadelphia, exited after he lost a race to a small pocket pair. Matusow took AK up against pocket 5’s, which was flattened when a 5 fell on the turn, making a set for Vincent DeVita. The grandfather who has made it to numerous final tables in small tournaments in the area, collected a nice prize which amounted to $22,116.
Third Place: Nimorov No More
Mark Nimorov, an Israeli native who now lives in Brooklyn, NY was eliminated after taking the chip lead momentarily. But he suffered a bad run of cards late and went out with pocket 9’s which was steamrolled by Vincent DeVita’s pocket K’s. The business owner scooped $27,645 from the prize pool.
Second Place: DeVita Finally Succumbs
Vincent DeVita, a senior vice president from Bayville, NJ finished as the runner up. He collected a well deserved $46,997 in a final table performance that was one of the most impressive of any at Caesars this year.
The biggest hand of the tournament occurred when DeVita moved all in pre-flop with AJ, and Taylor snap called with pocket 10’s. When a 10 fell, that gave Taylor the huge pot, and eventually led to his victory.
DeVita managed to make a comeback and the two players battled for nearly three hours of heads up play. The final hand of the tournament came when DeVita’s AJ lost to Taylor’s pocket 5’s.
First Place:
Thomas “Sandy” Taylor, from Innisfil, Ontario (Canada) won the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring and the $89,570 top prize. Not merely content with nearly six figures in profit and the WSOP Circuit’s ultimate token of achievement, following 36 hours of poker playing within just two days, Taylor waltzed over to the registration area for the championship event and plunked down the entry fee, which began just a few minutes after his victory.
“I’m not finished yet,” he said.