Poker Tournament Results

Harrah’s Atlantic City Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event

Jerry Chan

Tournament Report

It's 'Jerry' Chan, Not 'Johnny' Brooklyn College Student Survives Bad Beat-Filled Final Table Second event of WSOP Circuit series draws yet another big field, pays out over a quarter million in prize money Atlantic City, NJ (March 7, 2007) - The majesty of poker is that almost any player can be king for a day. There are days when everything just seems to go right. The good cards come. The flops bear gifts. Every decision seems to be correct. Some players refer to this phenomenon as 'the zone.' No one will confuse Jerry Chan with a two-time world poker champion and ten-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner. But for a 48-hour period, Jerry Chan - a 23-year-old college student from Brooklyn, NY -- played every bit as well his poker icon namesake. He was….and there is no other way to describe it….in 'the zone.' Mr. Chan won $76,200 in a masterful performance at the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit event held at Caesars Atlantic City. Whether playing at a full table, short-handed, or heads-up, Mr. Chan always seems to have the correct read on his opponents and made the optimal strategic decision. Such discipline was rewarded with Mr. Chan's first-ever tournament victory. The $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament (Event #2) attracted 508 players and took place on the day following the second-largest WSOP Circuit event in history (1,106 registered players). The tournament was played over two days. After 499 players were eliminated during the initial 15 hours, nine survivors returned for the final table on day two. Jerry Chan started with the chip lead, a position he held most of the way in an exciting, and some would say nerve-racking final table. Jose Torres ranked a close second. Seating positions and chip counts began as follows: Seat 1: Ryan Blankenship 188,000 Seat 2: Jerry Chan 492,000 Seat 3: Carl Restifo 440,000 Seat 4: Bobby Roberts 336,000 Seat 5: Brian Murphy 110,000 Seat 6: Jose Torres 412,000 Seat 7: Shane Keller 192,000 Seat 8: Rick Austin 171,000 Seat 9: Perry McGinnis 115,000 Blinds started at 10,000-20,000 with a 2,000 ante. The shortest-stack at the final table belonged to Brian Murphy. He had enough chips to play about three orbits. However, it took just three hands to eliminate the poker player from New Castle, DE. Mr. Murphy was dealt pocket eights and moved all-in. Jerry Chan called the 100,000 raise holding K-Q and caught a queen on the turn to eliminate the first player. Brian Murphy, who works as an accountant, entered $5,080 into his poker ledger for ninth place. A few hands later, Shane Keller lost most of his chips. He moved all-in after flopping second pair (a pair of tens). However,Rick Austin held an ace in his hand and flopped an ace which stood up as the higher pair. Down to just a few chips, two hands later Mr. Keller's hopes were finally extinguished. Shane Keller, a firefighter from Baltimore, MD burned out as the eighth-place finisher. He collected $7,620. This was his first-ever final table appearance in a poker tournament. The final table was an absolute nightmare for Jose Torres, who arrived as the hottest tournament player of the final nine. Second in chips during the early stages of the finale, Mr. Torres took a brutally wicked beat when he had Perry McGinnis covered holding A-Q versus his opponent's A-10. Just when it looked like Mr. Torres would bust out a player and seize the chip lead for the first time, a 10 crashed down on the river demolishing Mr. Torres stack and suspending his hopes of victory. That catapulted Mr. McGinnis up into second place (temporarily) and left Mr. Torres with about 180,000 in his stack. It was the beginning of the end for the poker player who won $300,000 in the last year playing tournaments. Four hands later, Mr. Torres was dealt pocket sevens. But 'seven' turned out to be an unlucky number for the Floridian. He raised all-in and was called by Rick Austin holding pocket kings. The royal pair held up, which meant Mr. Torres was forced to make the much-dreaded shuffle from the final table, into the casino, and on to valet parking. Jose Torres, a 37-year-old business owner and semi-pro poker player, cashed 15 times in major tournaments last year. He has also cashed at the WSOP in Las Vegas five times. Mr. Torres added $10,160 to his poker bankroll for a less-than-satisfying seventh place. After the early fireworks, play got more conservative for the next hour. In fact, it took another 40 hands for the next player to go bust. During that period, Ryan Blankenship was subjected to opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. He lost much of his stack holding A-7 versus Jerry Chan's A-A. But just a few hands later, the tables were reversed and it was Mr. Blankenship's pocket aces which seized back most of those chips which had been lost. Back up to a respectable 200,000, Blankenship was dealt yet another premium hand with J-J. He moved all-in. Bobby Roberts called holding 8-8. Holding an on overpair, it appeared that Mr. Blankenship might double up again and climb higher up the money ladder. But an eight on the river (creating a set of eights for Mr. Roberts) dealt the North Carolinian a fatal blow and put him out in sixth place. Ryan Blankenship, who has finished in the money previously on the WSOP Circuit, collected $12,700 in prize money. The bad beats continued. Bobby Roberts found out the hard way -- what goes around comes around. A few hands after busting out the previous player, Mr. Roberts was dealt A-K versus Rick Austin's A-Q. With such a dominant hand, it appeared to be a perfect scenario for Mr. Roberts to add another 250,000 to his stack. But poker outcomes are impossible to predict and a queen on the flop added yet another horrifying chapter to the tale of final table bad beats. Mr. Roberts failed to improve by catching a king, which resulted in a fifth-place for the player from Virginia. Bobby Roberts, who finished sixth in a major tournament in Mississippi a few months ago, moved one place higher this time - good for $15,240. Down to four players, Carl Restifo was the shortest stack. But he doubled up twice, making Perry McGinnis the next potential target of elimination. Another bad beat nearly came when Mr. McGinnis moved all-in holding K-6 (obviously trying to steal the blinds pre-flop). He was called by Rick Austin, with K-Q. A six flopped, giving Mr. McGinnis a pair. But a queen on the turn turned the tables yet again, and Mr. McGinnis's tournament engine finally ran out of gas. The Director of Transportation from Georgia drove away with $17,780 for fourth place. This was his first-ever final table appearance. Next, all eyes were on Carl Restifo who must have felt like Poland prior to the start of World War II. With Jerry Chan bordering on his right and Rick Austin on immediate his left - both with over a million in chips -- Mr. Restifo was left abandoned to struggle and survive with slightly more than 100,000. The attempt to fight proved valiant but futile. On his final hand of the tournament Mr. Restifo was dealt 4-4. He moved all-in and was called and covered by Mr. Austin, holding 5-5. The higher pair held up and Carl Restifo was history. Mr. Restifo, a securities trader from New Rochelle, NY, cashed for $20,320 as the third-place finisher. When play went heads-up, Jerry Chan had a slight chip advantage - with 1,375,000 to 1,180,000 for Rick Austin. At that point, something seemed to possess Mr. Chan. Perhaps it was his mental focus or an insatiable desire to win, but whatever the motivation Mr. Chan dominated the closing stages of the finale in a manner reminiscent of the poker greats, such as Brunson, Hellmuth, and Chan. Like an alley cat toying with its prey, Mr. Chan's chip lead was never seriously threatened during the final hour of play. Simply put, he made mice of men. This is not to say that Rick Austin did not play well himself. On any other night and perhaps against any other opponent, Mr. Austin might have prevailed. But the night, the glory, the victory, and ultimately the WSOP Circuit gold ring presented to each event winner belonged to Jerry Chan. It took Mr. Chan about 20 hands of one-on-one play to build up the considerable stack advantage which set the stage for the last hand of the tournament. With blinds and antes escalating, Mr. Austin moved all-in with A-5. Mr. Chan had plenty of chips and called holding 9-8. On a night when the best hand rarely held up in heads-up situations, it was no surprise that the underdog hand would bark and bite the mathematically-superior cards. The final board showed a J-10-8-2-2 giving Mr. Chan a pair of eights and a well-deserved victory. The runner up was Rick Austin, from Lansdale, PA. He is a 49-year-old retail store owner who has been married for 30 years. He also has two grown children. Mr. Austin came to the final table with a number of impressive tournament cashes on his resume, including a win at the Borgata Casino last year and 18th place finish in the WSOP Circuit main event, held at Harrah's Atlantic City in December 2006. Second place in this event paid $40,894. The newest poker champion is Jerry Chan. He has never won a tournament before and is relatively new to the poker scene. Mr. Chan is a college student currently studying business as Brooklyn College in New York. His cash prize amounted to $76,200 for the win. by Nolan Dalla - World Series of Poker Media Director