Friday, October 30, 2015 4:42 PM Local Time
Tom Masinter Scores a Second Tahoe Gold Ring
Event #1
No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 145
Prize Pool: $43,500
Two poker friends from Dublin, Cali. finish one-two in the Tahoe series opener.
Stateline, Nev. (October 30, 2015) -- Tom Masinter bests his good friend Craig Nicholls heads-up to earn his second career WSOP Circuit gold ring in the opening event at the 2015 Harveys Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit series. He defeated a field of 145 players to earn the top prize of $12,181.
Masinter and Nicholls are both from Dublin, Cali. They have been friends for 10 years now and have enjoyed some of the same home games together. The pair of poker players drove to the series together with the hopes of winning big. The two outlasted the entire field to find themselves heads-up for the gold ring. Masinter would end up edging out Nicholls in a fierce heads-up battle after Masinter was on the right side of an odd hand that had quads on board. Masinter and Nicholls cashed for a combined $19,709.
"We entered the final table today as the two shortest stacks and finished as the two on top," said Masinter.
This is Masinter's second career WSOP Circuit gold ring. He won his first gold ring back in 2010 here at Harveys Lake Tahoe.
"The first [ring] was so special because it's your first ring, it's exciting. But oddly enough, this one was more special because I got to share it with a buddy I drove up with." said Masinter.
Masinter had nine WSOP Circuit cashes for more than $60,000 prior to this victory, but his last recorded cash was way back in January of 2013. Masinter has been away from the game for about two years now. He has traded in the cards and poker chips for a whistle and a whiteboard. Masinter now spends much of his time coaching soccer for his two daughters.
According to Masinter, he thought that the break from poker helped his game, especially his patience. He felt fresh and keyed patience as a strong factor to him winning the tournament. Masinter plans to play a couple more events while he is here. He plans to play in the ongoing Event #2 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry event, as well as next weekend's $1,675 Main Event.
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Event #1 was the first of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit
schedule at Harveys Lake Tahoe. The $365 No-Limit Hold’em tournament
attracted 145 players generating a $43,500 prize pool. The top 15
players were paid.
Day 1 began Thursday at noon and lasted 20 levels. Day 2
began Friday at 1 p.m. with six players remaining. The tournament
concluded at about 4:15 p.m. midway through Level 24.
Final table results:
1st: Tom Masinter - $12,181 + Circuit gold ring
2nd: Craig Nicholls - $7,528
3rd: Robert Angeleri - $5,434
4th: Bill Watchman - $3,993
5th: Tim Phillips - $2,985
6th: Anthony Banuelos - $2,269
7th: Craig Gold - $1,754
8th: Steve Foutty - $1,378
9th: Julius Threadgill - $1,100
Complete results are available under the “Results” tab above.