Justin Bonomo Wins WSOP Circuit Event at Caesars PalaceMichael Mizrachi, Men 'The Master' Nguyen Finish Second and Third |
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The World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Palace has always been one of the more recognizable stops on the tour, simply due to its location in Las Vegas. The $5,000 championship event attracted a field of 187 players and generated a total prize pool of $896,950.
In the past, players such as John Spadavecchia, Allen Cunningham, and Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll have claimed the main-event title, and this year’s winner would be no stranger to the poker community, as well. It was just a matter of who would come out on top.
The first player to exit the final table was Russian Evgeny Serebryakov, who had previously taken down a preliminary event at the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic last December. Serebryakov tried a risky squeeze-play that was picked off by Justin Bonomo (pictured above right) and collected $24,666 for his ninth-place finish. Busting in eighth place shortly thereafter was Nashaat "Tony" Antonious, who picked up $29,151 for his efforts.
The next two players to bust were former WSOP-C ring winners. Jack Schanbacher, who picked up his gold ring at Harrah’s in Atlantic City last year, went out in seventh place, adding $35,870 to his poker résumé, bringing his lifetime winnings to over $1 million.
Sixth place belonged to one of the hottest players on the WSOP Circuit, Dwyte Pilgrim. The Brooklyn, New York, native won his first gold ring at Caesars in Atlantic City and then took down the championship event at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego. His run at a third title fell just short, and he earned $44,848 as a consolation prize.
WSOP bracelet winner Matt "mattg1983" Graham busted in fifth place after holding the chip lead at one point. The 25-year-old picked up $56,059.
Fourth place belonged to Jeremiah "BrandiFan" DeGreef. He may not be a household name in the poker world yet, but the popular forum moderator had plenty of support from the online community in his quest for his second gold ring. DeGreef picked up his first ring just a week ago in the same series and added $71,756 for his final-table appearance.
Immediately after three-handed play began, Men "The Master" Nguyen (pictured above left) was eliminated. Nguyen was gunning for his record fifth gold ring, but once again fell just short of the top prize, picking up $91,937 instead.
Going into heads-up play, both Bonomo and Michael Mizrachi (pictured right) were pretty much even and stacked deep enough for a long and grueling match. The players didn’t disappoint, and heads-up play ended up taking longer than the rest of the final table combined.
After several lead changes and all ins, Mizrachi was eliminated in second place, pocketing $143,512. Bonomo, who had made this exact same final table three years in a row, finally picked up his first live win of his career and took home the lion’s share of the prize pool with $227,692.
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