It’s about to be a very merry Christmas for one of the nine players remaining in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Northeast Regional Championship, which is playing out in Atlantic City. A top prize of $358,000 is on the line and every player remaining is assured at least $32,000, or about three times the $10,000 buy-in.
Matt Waxman, who won the WSOP Circuit Championship in Atlantic City a few days ago for his first gold ring, was the Final Table Bubble Boy in the Regional Championship. Waxman check-raised all-in on a flop of J-3-4 and WSOP bracelet winner Chris Bell looked him up with pocket queens. Waxman tabled pocket nines and neither of his two outs hit on the turn or river. The recent gold ring winner picked up $26,000 for his three-day run.
Eleventh place went to fundraiser extraordinaire Beth Shak, who called all-in pre-flop with A-9 of diamonds and was up against the pocket jacks of former World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker final table member Todd Terry. Shak picked up wheel and flush draws on the turn, but the river was a blank and she was relegated to the rails. Shak, who was the runner-up in a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2007 WSOP, banked $26,000 in Atlantic City.
PokerStars pro Victor Ramdin, who has also made charity a top priority in life, took 12th in the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship. Ramdin was all-in before the flop in a race with A-10 against Andy Frankenberger’s pocket eights. Frankenberger, who won this year’s WPT Legends of Poker for $750,000, watched as the five community cards missed Ramdin to all but solidify his final table appearance.
Brett Richey, who has become a household name to many poker players thanks to his North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Bounty Shootout final table appearance and deep runs in the 2008 and 2010 WSOP Main Events, departed in 13th place for $21,000. Richey committed his final chips on a board reading K-7-J-2-5 with three diamonds, but mucked when Jason Burt tabled Q-6 of diamonds for a flush.
Online poker pro Frank Calo and former WPT champ Eugene Katchalov round out the 15 in the money finishers in Atlantic City. Calo got his money in ahead, holding A-K against Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki’s A-5 of clubs, but watched in agony as a five hit on the flop. A running 2-Q solidified his fate and Calo headed to the cage to collect his $21,000 prize for 14th place.
Katchalov 3bet all-in before the flop with 10-8 of diamonds and ran into Michael Raskin’s A-J. Katchalov spiked a 10 on the flop to take a commanding lead in the hand, but an ace on the river gave Raskin the win in dramatic fashion. The top 15 players received a payday after the field numbered 136. By comparison, the first Circuit Regional Championship, which emanated from Chicago at the end of October, drew a field of 226 and offered a top prize of $525,000.
Here’s how the final table stacks up in the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship in Atlantic City. The action kicks off this afternoon and will be filmed for television:
1. Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki – 759,000
2. Chris Bell – 706,000
3. Micah Raskin – 594,000
4. Jason Burt – 579,000
5. Ketan Pandya – 377,000
6. Nick “agriffrod” Mitchell – 332,000
7. Todd Terry – 307,000
8. Andy Frankenberger – 230,000
9. Seth Fischer – 219,000
The blinds sit at 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 1,000. Here are the payouts up for grabs:
1st Place: $358,295
2nd Place: $221,452
3rd Place: $159,851
4th Place: $117,457
5th Place: $87,808
6th Place: $66,758
7th Place: $51,607
8th Place: $40,538
9th Place: $32,362
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for full results on Thursday.
