Paul Vogel Earns Well Deserved Victory

Amateur Poker Player from Merrick, NY Wins WSOP Circuit Event, $61,599 and Gold Ring at Caesars Atlantic City

Generous Tournament Structure at WSOP Circuit Continues to Gain Positive Feedback

Atlantic City, NJ – Paul Vogel, a 42 year old information systems manager from Merrick, NY won his first major poker tournament today. He won the $1,000 (+80) buy in No Limit Hold’em tournament held at Caesars Atlantic City. Vogel collected the top cash prize totaling $61,599. He was also presented with his first gold ring, which is the ultimate token of achievement given out to all tournament champions who win WSOP Circuit events held around the country.

The father of five considers himself to be a recreational poker player. But he has aspirations of improving and doing big things in the game. Vogel plays online primarily. However, he has competed in the WSOP Main Event twice. This marked Vogel’s first major victory ever and was the biggest payday of his career, so far.

This marked the seventh of 12 WSOP Circuit events on this year’s Caesars schedule. The two-day tournament attracted 196 entrants. Most of the field was eliminated on day one, which clocked in at 14 hours. Four tables of survivors returned for day two which played another 18 hours. The top 18 finishers divided up prize money from a $190,120 prize pool.

Final table play began on a Wednesday night and was held inside the Palladium Arena at Caesars. There were no previous WSOP Circuit winners among the final nine, thus guaranteeing a first time champion. Paul Vogel arrived as chip leader and was in a comfortable position throughout the competition. He faced serious threats from various challengers, but never lost his chip lead at any point during the nine hour finale.

The low blinds (2,500-5,000) and average chip stack of 165,000 at the start gave all competitors plenty of time to be patient and wait for a hand. In fact, the tournament structures for all the tournaments played at Caesars this year have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from many players and postings at online poker forums. Tournament players have been given plenty of starting chips and blind increases have been incremental, allowing for skillful play to overcome the short-term luck factor which is a part of all tournaments. This has resulted in several lengthy final tables, which have lasted 8 to 10 hours on average.

The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count
1 Anthony J. Tannoya Woodbridge, VA 140,000
2 Bruce F. MacGregor Port Orange, FL 293,500
3 Kenneth Packer Fayetteville, NC 130,000
4 David Zeitlin Brooklyn, NY 129,500
5 Brandon Croft Sumter, SC 271,500
6 Paul Vogel Merrick, NY 405,000
7 Keith Crowder Philadelphia, PA 275,500
8 Pete White Jersey City, NJ 135,000
9 Eugene Castro New York, NY 98,000

Final table player introductions can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/7507E

Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: Castro Overthrown Eugene Castro, a poker professional from New York City, was the first player eliminated. He was short stacked and got all his chips into the pot with the best hand. But his A J ended up losing to K J when a K flopped. Castro is the founder of an organization called Poker Player International. He has earned three major tournament victories, and has over 20 cashes in his tournament career. He finished in the money in last year’s WSOP Main Event held in Las Vegas. Ninth place paid $3,802.

Eighth Place: White Goes Dark Pete White (a.k.a. Pedro Vicente), a recreational poker player from Jersey City, NJ was making his second final table appearance so far at this year’s Caesars series. He took fifth place in an event played just three days ago. This time, White finished in eighth place after being low on chips and moving in on a steal attempt. He was called by pocket 10’s which ended up scooping the pot. White added $5,704 to his poker bankroll and remains a player to watch for the remaining events to be played here in Atlantic City.

Seventh Place: Tannoya Out Anthony J. Tannoya, a computer engineer from Woodbridge, VA went out in seventh place. He survived about two hours at the final table before finally running out of chips. The former Air Force serviceman flew away with $7,605 in prize money.

Sixth Place: Big Draw Misses Bruce F. MacGregor, a land developer from Port Orange, FL was eliminated after he missed a monster draw, and went bust. MacGregor had A 10 suited and flopped a flush draw as well as a straight draw. But two bricks on the turn and river ended his tournament life. MacGregor, who is a Vietnam veteran, pocketed a nice score to the tune of $9,506. His previous tournament accomplishments include a win at a major event held in Costa Rica, as well as 14 other cashes in major tournaments throughout the U.S.

Fifth Place: Brooklyn Pro Can Fuggetaboutit David Zeitlin, a poker pro from Brooklyn, NY took two beats late and lost most of his stack. He finally moved all in on what turned out to be his final hand, holding pocket 4’s. He was called by an opponent with A J, who caught an A. The pretty much ended Zeitlin’s night. The 36 year old pro collected $11,407.

Fourth Place: Packer Sent Packing Kenneth Packer, a 39 year old self employed part-time poker pro from North Carolina, took a brutal beat on his final hand. His stack was slightly below average and after the chip leader made a raise, Packer moved all in with pocket K’s. He got a call, and looked to be in great shape to double up. But the board came with four clubs, and the chip leader’s Ac played to make the nut flush. Packer was disappointed with the result but could certainly be proud of the cash prize for fourth place, which amounted to $15,210. Packer noted that he mostly plays in cash games, and has been a winning player for the past ten years.

Third Place: Adult Nightclub Manager Gets Last Call Brandon Croft, who manages an adult nightclub in South Carolina, was bounced from the final table when he tried to bluff on the river following a missed flush draw. He ran into Paul Vogel’s set of 5’s, who called the bluff instantly. Croft had battled for nearly three hours when play was at three handed, but finally succumbed to the temptation to try and steamroll his opponent, at what turned out to be the worst possible moment. This was Croft’s second final table appearance in a WSOP Circuit event at Caesars. He collected his biggest payday ever, at $19,012.

Second Place: Crowder Crushed Keith Crowder, a 39 year old real estate investor from Philadelphia, PA was certainly a tough adversary. He was able to draw very close to even in chips at one point when play was heads up. In fact, the determined duo played nearly 100 hands together and battled for about three hours before Crowder ultimately lost his final hand holding A Q to a pair of 8’s. Crowder picked up a big draw after the flop, but missed twice, which gave the last pot of the night to Paul Vogel. Crowder’s take of the prize pool amounted to $32,320. He has previously made it to other final tables at major poker tournaments played elsewhere. But this was his best WSOP related finish, to date.

The final hand of the tournament can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/EBF44

First Place: Vogel Victorious Paul Vogel, an information systems manager from Merrick, NY won a WSOP Circuit title for the first time and officially collected $61,599 in prize money.

An interview with Vogel moments after his victory can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/89390

The WSOP Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 14. This year’s schedule includes 12 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, in addition to cash games going around the clock inside the Caesars Poker Room. The $4,900 (+250) Main Event starts on Friday, March 12th and will be a three day event.

This marks the fifth straight year that Caesars Atlantic City has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the seventh WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, and Council Bluffs. Upcoming Circuit events will take place at Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s St. Louis, Caesars Las Vegas, and Harrah’s New Orleans.