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Poker Tournament Results

38th Annual World Series of Poker

Event #25 - WSOP No Limit Hold'em

June 15, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$2,000
Prize Pool	$2,944,760
Entries	1618
Report Available

Ben Ponzio

Place	Name	Prize
1	Ben Ponzio (Elmwood Park, IL, USA)	$599,109
2	David Hewitt (Greer, SC, USA)	$373,985
3	Justin Rollo (Boston, MA, USA)	$244,415
4	Evan Schwartz AKA "Oakplayer" (Oakland, CA, USA)	$164,907
5	Raymond Travis Rice (Fort Worth, TX, USA)	$111,901
6	Danny Noam (Cave Creek, AZ, USA)	$82,453
7	Adam Ross (Dallas, TX, USA)	$61,840
8	Ken Einiger (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$45,644
9	Darryl Ronconi (Naperville, IL, USA)	$34,748
10	Praz Bansi (London, UK)	$26,650
11	Martin Green (Brighton, UK)	$26,650
12	Yakov Hirsch (Brooklyn, NY, USA)	$26,650
13	Bassam Alsharairi AKA "Sam" (Irvine, CA, USA)	$23,705
14	David Daneshgar (Westlake Village, CA, USA)	$23,705
15	Eric Baldwin (Beaver Dam, WI, USA)	$23,705
16	Kazuki Ikeuchi (Japan)	$20,761
17	Richard Toth (Miskolc, Hungary)	$20,761
18	Peter Auer (Stockholm, Sweden)	$20,761
19	Justin Peche (Thompson, CT, USA)	$17,816
20	Ross Boatman (London, UK)	$17,816
21	Matthew Beisher (Reno, NV, USA)	$17,816
22	Charlie Ng (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$17,816
23	Ben Armstrong (Tulsa, OK, USA)	$17,816
24	Jordan Morgan AKA "iMsoLucky0" (Norman, OK, USA)	$17,816
25	Jeffrey Teck (Chatsworth, CA, USA)	$17,816
26	John Zentner III AKA "The Tank" (Moorpark, CA, USA)	$17,816
27	Jennifer Lam (San Fransisco, CA, USA)	$17,816
28	Chris Collins (Columbus, OH, USA)	$15,166
29	William Corrigan (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$15,166
30	Douglas Miranda (Henderson, NV, USA)	$15,166
31	Brandon Schaefer AKA "Koga" (Seattle, WA, USA)	$15,166
32	Jeff Kennedy (Saint John, CA, USA)	$15,166
33	Roy Mikus (Naperville, IL, USA)	$15,166
34	Nelson Tum (San Diego, CA, USA)	$15,166
35	Henri Kasper (Estonia)	$15,166
36	Hung La (Manhattan Beach, CA, USA)	$15,166
37	Anthony Ruberto (Everett, MA, USA)	$12,810
38	Kevin Saul (Chicago, IL, USA)	$12,810
39	Davis Aalvik AKA "psycho ward" (Long Beach, CA, USA)	$12,810
40	Ryan Perfetti (Baldwinsville, NY, USA)	$12,810
41	Joseph Webber II (Bryan, OH, USA)	$12,810
42	Donald Emery AKA "The Dogfather" (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)	$12,810
43	Costa Anastasyadis (Netherlands)	$12,810
44	Hannojoffen (Germany)	$12,810
45	Daniel Falkenstein (Huntington Beach, CA, USA)	$12,810
46	Derek Boice (Sitka, AK, USA)	$10,748
47	Frank Romero (Dana Point, CA, USA)	$10,748
48	Stephen O'Dwyer AKA "MrTimCaum" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$10,748
49	William Boner (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$10,748
50	Dustin Pattinson (Edinburg, TX, USA)	$10,748
51	Rolf Slotboom (Amsterdam, Netherlands)	$10,748
52	Robert Cooperstein (Brookline, MA, USA)	$10,748
53	Richard Meisner (Short Hills, NJ, USA)	$10,748
54	Ezra Udoff (Rockville, MD, USA)	$10,748
55	Kyle Brossia (Perrysburg, OH, USA)	$8,834
56	Jason Gonong (Dallas, TX, USA)	$8,834
57	Jason Stern (San Jose, CA, USA)	$8,834
58	Roy von der Locht (Germany)	$8,834
59	Vivek Rajkumar (Seattle, WA, USA)	$8,834
60	Brian Lamkin (Austin, TX, USA)	$8,834
61	Robert Rents (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$8,834
62	Jeremiah Santiege (Wichita, KS, USA)	$8,834
63	Lauchlin McKinnon (Donahue, IA, USA)	$8,834
64	Anthony Schwartz (San Ramon, CA, USA)	$7,362
65	Stephen Kroger (Vienna, VA, USA)	$7,362
66	Stephen Feraca AKA "the NUTS" (Plainview, NY, USA)	$7,362
67	Sunny Chattha (London, UK)	$7,362
68	Phillip Rael (Albuquerque, MN, USA)	$7,362
69	Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$7,362
70	Gary Margolis (Sierra Madre, CA, USA)	$7,362
71	Steve Jones (Springfield, IL, USA)	$7,362
72	Ronald Linden (Henderson, NV, USA)	$7,362
73	Jim Huntley (Smyrna, GA, USA)	$6,184
74	Mike Guadano (San Diego, CA, USA)	$6,184
75	Peter Rho (Long Beach, CA, USA)	$6,184
76	Jesse Currier (Brookings, SD, USA)	$6,184
77	Amnon Filippi (New York, NY, USA)	$6,184
78	Ron Haeri (La Jolla, CA, USA)	$6,184
79	Vicken Arslanian (Reseda, CA, USA)	$6,184
80	Michael Watson (St. Johns, NL, Canada)	$6,184
81	Adam Marshall (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)	$6,184
82	Patrick Cottle (Brentwood, MO, USA)	$5,153
83	David Schneyer AKA "Carbide" (White Lake Township, MI, USA)	$5,153
84	Michael Turnbull (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$5,153
85	Angel Freytez (Omaha, NE, USA)	$5,153
86	Doug Lorgeree (Hernando, MS, USA)	$5,153
87	Michael Melkersen (New Market, VA, USA)	$5,153
88	Viken Gazarian (West Hills, CA, USA)	$5,153
89	Liz Lieu (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$5,153
90	Steve Danne	$5,153
91	Terry Kulibert (Appleton, WI, USA)	$4,564
92	David Black (Caledonia, IL, USA)	$4,564
93	Derek Lerner (Montreal, QC, Canada)	$4,564
94	David Derringer (Louisville, KY, USA)	$4,564
95	Waylon Frey (Houston, TX, USA)	$4,564
96	Michael Woo (Hacienda Heights, CA, USA)	$4,564
97	Sabri Alenius (Sweden)	$4,564
98	Jeremy Menard (Raleigh, NC, USA)	$4,564
99	Benjamin Kramer (Terre Haute, IN, USA)	$4,564
100	Mike Lancaster AKA "Champagne" (Vancouver, BC, Canada)	$4,123
101	Robert Bansyckle (Spring Lake, NJ, USA)	$4,123
102	William Jensen (College Park, MD, USA)	$4,123
103	Chris Klodnicki (Voorhees, NJ, USA)	$4,123
104	Richard Stephen (Sugar Land, TX, USA)	$4,123
105	Earl Plyler AKA "bo" (Smith Mountain Lake, VA, USA)	$4,123
106	Jeremiah Fitzpatrick (Bringhton, MA, USA)	$4,123
107	Bryan Griggs (Newcastle, WA, USA)	$4,123
108	Joep Durkstra (Netherlands)	$4,123
109	Donovan Panone (Marietta, GA, USA)	$4,123
110	Christopher Guinnup (Saline, MI, USA)	$4,123
111	Ly Le AKA "Leroy" (Huntington Beach, CA, USA)	$4,123
112	Roger Linnemann (Fort Myers, FL, USA)	$4,123
113	Matthew Shepsky (Stokie, IL, USA)	$4,123
114	Ernest Guthrie (New Zealand)	$4,123
115	Anthony Gargano (Sterling Heights, MI, USA)	$4,123
116	Aditya Agarwal (Philadelphia, PA, USA)	$4,123
117	Michael Mateo (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,123
118	Michael Shklover (Stamford, CT, USA)	$4,123
119	Christopher Gulla (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,123
120	James English (Tamarac, FL, USA)	$4,123
121	Brian Ragauckas (Secaucus, NJ, USA)	$4,123
122	Jon Eaton AKA "sketchy1" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,123
123	Warren Karp (Lake Forrest, CA, USA)	$4,123
124	Robert Topham (Salt Lake City, UT, USA)	$4,123
125	David Israelite AKA "Izzy" (Alexandria, VA, USA)	$4,123
126	Carl Deprete (Delray Beach, FL, USA)	$4,123
127	Levon Zakarian (Reseda, CA, USA)	$3,828
128	Eugene Bauerlein (St.Petersburg, FL, USA)	$3,828
129	Darren Black (Portland, OR, USA)	$3,828
130	Alexander Brigandi (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,828
131	Gregory Dockus (Columbus, OH, USA)	$3,828
132	David Peay (Harrisburg, NC, USA)	$3,828
133	Garrett Allen AKA "got an arm" (Gilbert, AZ, USA)	$3,828
134	Mario Perez (El Paso, TX, USA)	$3,828
135	Shane Foulds (North Vancouver, BC, Canada)	$3,828
136	James Lamatria (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,828
137	Daniel Spangenberg (Mantomedi, MN, USA)	$3,828
138	Christopher Valterza (Chicago, IL, USA)	$3,828
139	Michael Gustyn (Niagara Falls, OH, USA)	$3,828
140	Scott Preston (Simi Valley, CA, USA)	$3,828
141	Andrew Webking (Bellevue, WA, USA)	$3,828
142	Brian Kennedy (El Paso, TX, USA)	$3,828
143	John Kim (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,828
144	Chris Gunter (Port Richey, FL, USA)	$3,828
145	Shannon Frankfather (Findlay, OH, USA)	$3,828
146	Gabriel Cook (Terre Haute, IN, USA)	$3,828
147	John Morris (UK)	$3,828
148	Mark Hope (Denver, CO, USA)	$3,828
149	John White (Houston, TX, USA)	$3,828
150	Shannon Elizabeth (East Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$3,828
151	Michael Swick (San Jose, CA, USA)	$3,828
152	Ivan Caldwell (Henderson, NV, USA)	$3,828
153	Mazen Nassar (Worth, IL, USA)	$3,828

Tournament Report

The winner of the $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship was Ben Ponzio, from Elmwood Park, IL. He is 32-years-old and married. He has one daughter. Ponzio works for a major Chicago area radio station as the advertising sales manager.
-- Ponzio's full name is Alessandro Ben Ponzio. He took his first and middle name from his grandfather and great grandfather.
-- In addition to playing poker, Ponzio enjoys fantasy sports.
-- Ponzio is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He earned his degree in speech and communications.
-- Ponzio works for Chicago's WBBM-FM which is a hits and hip hop station. He was scheduled to work the morning after the tournament, but his WSOP victory will cause him to miss a day at the office. "I didn't want to take an extra vacation day until I knew I would get this far," Ponzio explained later.
-- "Sure, I'm going back to work," Ponzio said in a post-tournament interview. "Six-hundred thousand (dollars) is a lot of money. But it's not enough to live on the rest of my life."
-- This is the third time Ponzio has attended the WSOP. He cashed one time previously - with a 122nd place finish two years ago. His combined tournament winnings coming into this event totaled just $9,000. First place in this tournament paid a whopping $599,109.
-- Ponzio developed and was credited with a math theorem in high school. It is a formula designed to measure the size of circles.
-- Adam Ross, from Dallas, TX finished in 7th place. The Stanford University graduate who also received his law degree from the University of Texas Law School was once the Texas State Wrestling Champion.
-- Ken Einiger, a native New Yorker who now resides in Las Vegas, finished in 8 th place. He won the world blackjack championship last year.
-- Rolf Slotboom, Dutch writer and poker theorist, took 51st.
-- Card Player magazine editor-in-chief Jeff Shulman finished 69th .
-- Actress Shannon Elizabeth, best-known from her role in the "American Pie" series of hit movies (the sexy "Eastern European chick"), finished 150 th.
by Nolan Dalla