No Limit Hold'em Results & Report

The Sharpsville, PA, resident walked away with the championship trophy, commemorative jacket and $163,842! Truly a remarkable performance! The final table began slowly but when the blinds went to 6000/12000, things heated up.

In rapid succession three players were collecting their prizes. Loren Klein, Golden, CO, had pocket 9's but Bob Tresca had pocket 10's and Loren was in 10th with $9,296. Stephen Levenson of Skillman, NJ, went allin with AQ; the board was no help as this time Ronnie Passariello's pocket 9's held. Stephen took home $10,458 for 9th. Bill Edler had K10 but Greg Monaldi had pocket A's and Bill would return to Rodeo, CA, with $11,620 and 8th place. Meanwhile Joe is slowly adding to his stack; he takes a large pot with pocket A's to Bob Tresca's AK.

Action slowed again until the blinds went to 8000/16000. One hand in, Robert Tresca had A9 which led Brian Lesser's KQ until a Q came on the flop. Bob might have been better off except for one hand which occurred earlier. After a flop of As10d9d, Brian was all-in with JdQd and Bob called with pocket 10's for a set.

The turn was Ad giving Bob a full house; however, Brian caught the 8d for a straight flush leaving Bob with few chips. Bob, a native of Newton, MA, collected $13,944 for 7th place. As he was getting close to the felt, Dick Carson of Las Vegas, NV, made his stand with 102; Joe had AJ and with no help from the board, Dick took 6th position worth $18,592. Joe further added to his growing stack by taking large pots from Mazen Nesheiwat; once with K3 to Q10 and then with pocket J's to A10. By the time the blinds went to 10000/20000, Joe was the chip leader.

Brian Lesser, Weston, MA, was the hard luck 5th place finisher. He had AQ for all-in which Joe called with Q10. When a 10 came on the turn, Brian was taking home $23,240. One hand was all Joe needed to get to heads up play. Gregory Monaldi, Davie, FL, with pocket 9's and Ronnie Passariello, Rowley, MA, with pocket J's were both topped by Joe's pocket K's. Greg had fewer chips than Ronnie so he was in 4th for $32,536 and Ronnie took 3rd for $48,804.

Entering heads up play, Joe has a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Mazen Nesheiwat of Poughkeepsie, NY. Mazen took a stand with 56 after a K76 flop but Joe had K8; an 8 on the river gave Joe two pair and the Championship. Mazen was rewarded with $88,312 for 2nd position.

Reported by Jeffrey A Toth for Foxwoods Resort Casino