Hook ‘em Horns!
Michael Benvenuti, a University of Texas Student, Wins 63-Grand in Hold'em Tournament at Beau Rivage
Biloxi, MS (January 7, 2009) - On the night after the University of Texas Longhorns staged a dramatic comeback in college football's Fiesta Bowl, UT student Michael Benvenuti won $63,898 at the fourth event of the 2009 Southern Poker Championship. Benvenuti is a 22-year-old college student majoring in neurobiology. He is originally from Newport Beach, CA. Benvenuti was presented with a custom-made white gold bracelet encrusted with diamonds, the crowning achievement of victory at all SPC tournaments. Benvenuti also received a $10,000 buy-in to the World Poker Tour championship event, which will be played January 14th-17th.
The tournament attracted 216 entrants. This was the first of two $1,070 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournaments on the 15-event schedule. The competition took place over two straight days. Only the top 18 players collected prize money. The total prize pool amounted to $199,520. All the action took place in the tournament ballroom, set up inside Beau Rivage Resort & Casino.
After 207 players were eliminated on day one, the final table was played on day two. The final table started with two players in close proximity to the chip lead. Ron Feske (298K) enjoyed a slight advantage over Ryan Williamson (289K) with the remainder of the field needing to win a big hand to leap to the biggest stack. The eventual winner, Benvenuti started off in fifth place (with 203K).
Play was conservative during the early stages, as the higher $1,000 buy-in for this event apparently drew a higher-caliber of poker talent than some of the previous smaller buy-in events. Players were eliminated in the following order:
9th Place - Everett Carlton, from St. Paul, MN was the first player to bust out. Carlton has a number of previous in-the-money finishes, included six times at the WSOP, including two final tables. But ninth place was as high as he could climb in this tournament, which paid $3,990.
8th Place - James A. Barnwell got into a race situation, and lost the near-coin flip. He moved all-in with A-J and faced-off against pocket sixes. Barnwell desperately needed an ace or a jack to stay alive, but missed hitting his card. That meant the pipeline fitter from Crossville, TN was disconnected from the final table, netting $5,986 in prize money.
7th Place - Wendell Barnes was eliminated when he flopped a set of nines, but ended up losing to a straight. The 42-year-old welder from Charlton, MA was torched from the final seven, resulting in a payout of $7,772.
6th Place - Gabe Costner arrived at the table as the shortest-stack. He leapfrogged three spots up the money ladder, finishing in sixth place. Costner finally went out when his K-J was hammered by A-Q. Kostner managed to catch a jack, but his opponent drew an ace - ending the dreams of the former financial advisor-turned poker pro now living in nearby Long Beach, MS. Sixth place paid $9,707.
5th Place - Ryan Williamson took what must be the worst beat so far of this year's SPC. He lost with aces-full. There was no bad-beat jackpot which might have offered some consolation. Williamson turned aces full of fours. He must have mentally stacked the big pot before the showdown. But the catch was that opponent Donnie Henson had A-10 and had flopped aces full of tens. Williamson was drawing dead from the start, and departed shaking his head in disbelief. The appraiser from Savannah, GA pocketed $11,642.
4th Place - John Pack was eliminated when he was all-in with a flush draw against Michael Benvenuti. On the turn, Pack held the ace of diamonds, which amounted to the nut-flush draw with a card still to come. But Benvenuti was already sitting on a made-flush which ended up scooping the pot. Pack packed up and left. He had previously won an event at the World Poker Open in Mississippi. He remarked that he came to the casino with only $200 in his pocket and won just enough money playing blackjack to enter the poker tournament. He parlayed that investment into a payout totaling $15,513.
3rd Place - Jeffrey Vanchiro, a self-described 'world-famous graffiti vandal' from Queens, NY tagged the tournament prize pool for $19,383 with his third-place finish. Vanchiro was short on chips late in the tournament and moved all-in holding K-9. Benvenuti had more than enough chips to cover the raise, and called with a normally unplayable hand -- 5-3. Benvenuti ended up making a pair of fives, which sprayed the graffiti artist with third place.
2nd Place - When heads-up play began, Michael Benvenuti enjoyed a 3 to 1 chip advantage over Ron Feske. Just a few hands into play, the final fateful hand determined the outcome. Feske was dealt A-3. Benvenuti was dealt A-Q. After the flop came Q-4-2 Feske moved all-in with his inside straight draw (and what he probably thought was a live ace). Benvenuti was glad to oblige the bet with a call holding top pair, top kicker. Down basically to a five which would complete a straight, Feske missed on the turn and river and ended the tournament as the runner up. Feske has previously won tournaments held at Beau Rivage. But this was his biggest career cash, with $35,254 added to his poker bankroll.
1st Place - Michael Benvenuti was thrilled with his first-ever tournament victory. In fact, this was his first recorded cash ever in a live poker tournament.
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