Car Dealership Owner Joseph Mascio
Grinds His Way to Win in $500 No-Limit
Atlantic City, NJ—"I just grinded away until I got the right cards," shrugged Joseph Mascio, after winning the 11th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, $500 no-limit hold'em. "I play tight," he said, adding, "tight and smart." The victory was worth $22,194 and the traditional gold and diamond trophy ring. Mascio, 36, is from Sea Isle, New Jersey and has owned the Mascio Motor Car dealership since he was 21. He has only been playing three years, self-taught, and just staring to get into tournaments. He also tried his luck at the main event here last year. Until now he's had just a few small tournament cashes in other Circuit events here.
Mascio came to the final table in average shape. On the first hand, holding 8-7 of clubs, he flopped a straight to win a big pot, and kept climbing after that. Married with two children, Mascio also likes golf and coaching baseball and basketball to young schoolchildren.
This tournament played down to 10 on day one, and the players returned at 4 p.m. the next day to reach the official final table of nine.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Joseph Mascio 131,000
Seat 2. Mariano Sfameni 76,500
Seat 3. Benjamin Breed 295,500
Seat 4. Joe Notario 177,500
Seat 5. Mike Rodriguez 111,000
Seat 6. Kevin Johnson 198,000
Seat 7. Jay Johnson 126,000
Seat 8. Dean Schultz 32,000
Seat 9. Brian Martinez 53,000
First out was Mike "Gumby" Rodriguez who is 56 and lives in New York City. He was paid $1,370.
Next to leave was Mariano Sfameni. A 39-year-old nightclub owner from Temple, Pennsylvania. Sfameni learned the game from his dad. His other hobbies are "golf, drinking and gambling." Eighth place was worth $2,055.
Finishing in seventh place was Brian "Riot Squad" Martinez. After Benjamin Breed raised with A-K, Martinez moved in with Ad-6c. Two diamonds flopped and a third turned, but Martinez missed his flush when a black ace hit the river, and he collected $2,740. Martinez, 26, is from Astoria, New York and has only been playing for a year.
Dean Schultz went out in sixth place, worth $3,425. His A-K lost to Kevin Johnson's pocket jacks after the board came 2-9-5-3-3. Schultz is a pro from Akron, Ohio. He has numerous cashes, chief among them being $302,475 for winning a 2004 Borgata $2,500 event, and $81,626 for a fifth at the U.S. Poker Championship $10,000 event. The five remaining players then moved to the feature table after the $5,000 championship event came to a conclusion. Blinds at that point were 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes.
Blinds went to 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes with everyone left. Players had now been five-handed for a good two hours. Finally we lost another player when Joe Notario moved in with pocket 8s. He was called by Jay Johnson with pocket jacks and went out with $4,110 for fifth when he couldn't improve. Notario, 62, is retired and lives in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. He taught himself poker 50 years ago and also enjoys golf.
The event got down to three soon after Kevin Johnson was left with 7,000 when his pocket 10s were beaten by Mascio's pocket kings. He was finally all in from the big blind with just 8-3 and had two callers. He was blown away by Breed's K-7 when one cowboy flopped and another came on the river. Fourth paid $5,480. Johnson, 52, is from Bridgewater, New Jersey and retired. His tournament cashes include a win at the Trump Classic in Atlantic City and an eighth in the Bellagio Cup III. He also coaches football and basketball.
At this point, Mascio had about 440,000, Breed 420,000 and Jay Johnson, 215,000. Blinds went to 10,000-20,000 with 3,000 antes. It then got heads-up when Mascio moved in with A-10 and was called by Johnson with A-Q. The board came 3-J-10-6-J, and Johnson collected $6,850 for third. Johnson is a 51-year-old sales rep from Philadelphia who learned poker four years ago by coming to Atlantic City. He's played about five Circuits, and this is his poker highlight.
Heads-up, Mascio had roughly 700,000 chips to 300,000 for Breed. On the final deal, Mascio raised with pocket 10s and Breed moved in with Ac-4c. A flop of Qd-2c gave Breed a flush draw but he missed when a 5 and jack, both offsuit, followed. Second paid $11,645. Breed, 32 from Bear, Delaware, is a karaoke jockey and club manager who has been playing since childhood. He is married with three children.
Max Shapiro
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