The World Series of Poker is the longest-running, largest, richest, and most prestigious gaming event in the world. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the WSOP which takes place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino from May 27th through July 15th, with the Main Event final table played November 7-10, 2009.
Final Results for Event #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:
-- EXCEL results
-- MS WORD report
-- PHOTO of winner
Please note that all material in the attachments, including statistics, facts, and quotes may be freely used by media.
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Thank you for your support of the 2009 World Series of Poker.
-- Nolan Dalla
2009 World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
Official Report
Event #9
Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $1,500
Number of Entries: 1,459
Total Net Prize Pool: $1,991,535
Number of Places Paid: 144
First Place Prize: $428,259
June 3-5, 2009
Tournament Highlights:
The Winner
· The 2009 World Series of Poker $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event is Ken Aldridge, from Pleasant Garden, NC.
· Aldridge is a 57-year-old former teacher. He spent 29-years teaching high school, including several different subjects. He is now retired. “I really value the years I spent as a teacher, because I was always around such a wonderful group of people,” Aldridge said in a post-tournament interview. “I hope that I helped them to become better people. That’s the lesson I hoped to teach the most – to become better people.”
· Aldridge owns a small auto dealership located in central North Carolina.
· In his spare time, Aldridge enjoys playing golf and poker. He considers himself to be a recreational player.
· While at the final table, several of Aldridge’s friends who play in his home game cheered him on to victory.
· This was only the second time Aldridge has ever cashed in a major poker tournament. It was his first in-the-money finish in a WSOP event. Aldridge’s only previous cash took place at the Tunica Grand (Mississippi) in 2005.
· “I really don’t think I made many mistakes,” Aldridge said, somewhat stating the obvious. “I was very happy with how things went. I think I was behind only one time the whole tournament when I was ‘all-in.”
· Aldridge collected $428,259 for first place. He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet. This marked his first time to cash in a WSOP event.
· When asked what he plans to do with the prize money, Aldridge answered: “I guess anyone can always use $428,000.”
· Aldridge revealed that he has almost no short-handed poker experience. “I have never played short-handed, except when I get down to a final table (and players are eliminated),” he said.
· Aldridge revealed that he has no plans to play any more WSOP events this year, other than the $10,000 buy-in championship event. He is going to take a vacation with his family.
The Players
· The final table was comprised of no former WSOP gold bracelet winners. This was the third event of nine held this year which guaranteed a first-time winner.
· The runner up was Carman Cavella, from Turnersville, NJ.
· The third-place finisher was Peter Gould, from London, England. This marked Gould’s fifth time to cash in a WSOP. With this finish, he crossed the $300,000 mark in WSOP earnings.
· The fourth-place finisher was Bryce Yockey, from Torrance, CA. Yockey recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University. The 21-year-old part-time poker player has won some online tournaments, but this was his first foray in a WSOP event.
· The fifth-place finisher was Charles Furey, from Bridgewater, NJ.
· The sixth-place finisher was Manny Minaya, from Tampa, FL.
· Former gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event include – Praz Bansi, Bill Chen (2 wins), Rafe Furst, Todd Witteles, David Daneshgar, and Carlos Mortensen (2 wins).
· Robert Firestone, from Santa Barbara, CA finished 13th place. He is part of the family which started the famous tire company.
· Former gold bracelet winner Rafe Furst, who cashed 31st in this event, is the co-founder of one of the first poker player-oriented charities, “Put a Bad Beat on Cancer,” which started in 2003. Since then, the cause has raised nearly $2.5 million – all of which goes to the cause to fund cancer research.
· The defending champion in this event was Ralph E. Porter, from Woodinville, WA. This year, he did not cash.
Odds and Ends
· This was the largest live Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament in history – with 1,459 players.
· Attendance increased in this event by 18 percent over last year, when there were 1,236 entrants.
· Six-Handed tournaments are not commonly offered at most casinos. The reason is obvious. The tournaments require just as many tables, dealers, and resources as a standard nine-handed event. But in Six-handed tournaments, the number of players (and takeout) is reduced by a third. The WSOP believes the game merits gold bracelet status to the point where four Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournaments on this year’s WSOP schedule.
· Six-Handed Hold'em emphasizes short-handed poker skills. Rather than a full table of nine players, each table is played six-handed (or less, as players bust out). This generally requires competitors to play cards out of the standard range of starting-hand requirements. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory. The game is included on the WSOP schedule in an effort to test as diverse a range of poker skills as possible.
· Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em made its WSOP debut in 2005. Three Six-Handed events were included on the 2006 schedule. Last year, there was only one Six-Handed event. Former champions from these events include Isaac "The General" Galazan, Dutch Boyd, Bill Chen, Jeff Madsen, Jason Warner, and Ralph E. Porter.
· The final table was streamed live on Bluff Media’s online broadcast. For a complete broadcast schedule of all future events, go to:
http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/to...sp?groupID=607
The Event
· The $1,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event attracted 1,459 entrants. This created a prize pool totaling $1,991,535. The top 144 finishers collected prize money.
· The tournament was played over a three-day period.
· Ken Aldridge, the winner, revealed a hand which took place early in the tournament which nearly left him busted. He was all-in and had the worst hand. But he managed to catch a queen on the river (making top pair) which gave him a critical early pot. That windfall led to an eventual payout of more than $400,000.
· The final hand of the night came when Aldridge was up against Carman Cavella. Holding a decisive chip advantage, Aldridge was dealt K-Q. Cavella was dealt K-4 and decided to move all-in in an attempt to steal a round of blinds and antes. But Aldridge called. Both players flopped top pair with a king, but in the end Aldridge’s Q bested Cavella’s weak kicker. That gave Aldridge the final pot of the tournament.
· The tournament officially began on Wednesday, June 3rd, at 12:00 noon. The tournament officially ended on Saturday, June 6th, at 12:40 am.
WSOP Statistics
· Through the conclusion of Event #8, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 13,804 entries. $24,180,105 in prize money has been awarded to winners.
· Through Event #9, eight Americans have won gold bracelets. One Russian player has won. No other nations have been represented at the WSOP gold bracelet ceremony so far, which takes place on the day following the winner’s victory. The ceremony takes place on at center stage of the main tournament room and begins during the break of the noon tournament. The ceremony usually starts around 2:20 pm.
Errors and Omissions (Previous Reports):
· The following text appeared in yesterday’s final report (Event #6):
Freddie Ellis, the new champion, is African-American. He became the fifth African-American in WSOP history to win a gold bracelet -- joining Walter Smiley, Carolyn Gardener, Phil Ivey, and David Williams. What is relevant about cultural heritage is that all of these champions won their WSOP gold bracelets in Seven-Card Stud events (Note: Ivey actually has five WSOP titles, but one came in Seven-Card Stud, another came in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split, and another came in a Mixed game with Seven-Card Stud). Smiley won the Seven-Card Stud title in 1976. Gardener won the Seven-Card Stud championship in 1982. Williams won his gold bracelet in Seven Card Stud in 2006.
The name of one additional player was omitted. PAUL DARDEN is another African-American former WSOP gold bracelet winner. Consistent with the point of the previous text, Mr. Darden won his gold bracelet in the $2,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud championship held in 2001.
· END
Note: All results are now official and may be reprinted by media.
__________________________________
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The 2009 World Series of Poker’s title sponsor is Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. For more information, visit:
www.jacklinks.com
World Series of Poker President and Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Vice President of Sponsorship and Licensing -- Ty Stewart
Vive President of Broadcasting and New Media – Craig Abrahams
Director of Communications – Seth Palansky
Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum
WSOP Events Manager -- Angele Marshall
WSOP Marketing Manager – Elizabeth Anne Hill
WSOP Tournament Director – Jack Effel
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest, and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament, dating back to 1970. In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money. The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN over the previous year. In December 2008 the WSOP was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing only the older and more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties. In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of World Series of Poker EuropeSM in 2007. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at:
www.worldseriesofpoker.com or:
www.twitter.com/wsop
1 Aldridge, Ken $428,259 Pleasant Garden NC
2 Cavella, Carman $264,814 Turnersville NJ
3 Gould, Peter $170,953 London United Kingdom
4 Yockey, Bryce $115,230 Torrance CA
5 Furey, Charles $80,896 Bridgewater NJ
6 Minaya, Manelic $59,049 Tampa FL
7 Bansi, Praz $42,320 London United Kingdom
8 Kenney, Bryn $42,320 Long Beach NY
9 Lipkin, Robert $30,311 Buffalogrove IL
10 Mcnally, Steven $30,311 Henderson NV
11 Puzantyan, Allan $21,707 Beaconsfield QC
12 Henke, Ramin $21,707 Kornwestheim Germany
13 Firestone, Robert $15,394 Santa Barbara CA
14 Densing, John $15,394 Blue Point NY
15 Radonjic, Peter $15,394 Coquitlam BC, Canada
16 Parille, Joseph $15,394 Las Vegas NV
17 Yerushalaim, Benjamin $15,394 Las Vegas NV
18 Mathieu, Clavet $15,394 QB BC, Canada
19 Sukkar, Edward $10,973 Shelby Township MI
20 Crane, Ward $10,973 Berea OH
21 Waxman, Matthew $10,973 ParklanD FL
22 Heroy, William $10,973 Charlotte NC
23 Mackoff, Jonas $10,973 North Vancouver BC, Canada
24 Brown, Alan $10,973 Angus
25 Melnick, Jason $9,021 Brooklyn NY
26 Baker, David $9,021 Rochester Hills MI
27 Fox, David $9,021 Coram NY
28 Burkholder, Troy $9,021 Imperial Beach CA
29 Sass, Alan $9,021 Las Vegas NV
30 Gavatin, Mats $9,021 Lidingo Sweden
31 Furst, Rafael $7,886 Henderson NV
32 Brown, Rodney $7,886 Brea CA
33 Daneshgar, David $7,886 Westlake Vlg CA
34 Blumlein, Frank $7,886 Frankfort Germany
35 Bolden, Gary $7,886 St Louis MO
36 Ansari, Adil $7,886 Odenton Aa MD
37 Fuller, Thomas $6,970 Boulder CO
38 Lacay, Ludovic $6,970 Cornebarrieu France
39 White, Bruce $6,970 Gilbert AZ
40 Young, Justin $6,970 Henderson NV
41 Batell, Michael $6,970 Las Vegas NV
42 Shea, Daniel $6,970 Mckinney TX
43 Smith, Jeremiah $6,253 Harderville MO
44 Awada, Yehia $6,253 Las Vegas NV
45 Lee, Douglas $6,253 Calgary AB, Canada
46 Finne, Timothy $6,253 Fanwood NJ
47 Freire, Richard $6,253 Miami FL
48 Enis, Ryan $6,253 Corinth MS
49 Clark, Justin $5,616 Nevada City CA
50 Toye, Robert $5,616 Baton Rouge LA
51 Lord, Stephen $5,616 Yorba Linda CA
52 Powell, Joshua $5,616 Chilliwack BC, Canada
53 Scatchard, David $5,616 Scottsdale AZ
54 Coetzer, Conrad $5,616 Johnannesburg South Africa
55 Casey, James $5,038 Naperville IL
56 Gonsalves, Markus $5,038 San Diego CA
57 Squires, David $5,038 Hanson MA
58 Stevens, Donald $5,038 Syracuse NY
59 Israelite, David $5,038 Alexandria VA
60 Gilbert, Benjamin $5,038 Studio City CA
61 Berry, Brent $4,520 Port Angeles WA
62 Atkinson, Bruce $4,520 Brighton United Kingdom
63 Cserhati, Zsolt $4,520 Budapest Hungary
64 Bhatti, Deepak $4,520 Las Vegas NV
65 Peters, David $4,520 Toledo OH
66 Conrad, Monica $4,520 Hemet CA
67 Gee, David $4,062 Gilbert AZ
68 Vonschlemmer, Mark $4,062 Baldwin City KS
69 Inselberg, David $4,062 Long Beach NY
70 Chen, William $4,062 Lafayette Hill PA
71 Nyffeler, Andre $4,062 Mahwah NJ
72 Fish, Darryll $4,062 Las Vegas NV
73 Stein, Samuel $4,062 Henderson NV
74 Sheehan, Timothy $4,062 Decatur GA
75 Wilds, Mark $4,062 Biloxi MS
76 Smith, Lucas $4,062 New York NY
77 Cubeta, David $4,062 Falls Church VA
78 Zartman, Kyle $4,062 Sherwood OR
79 Hegeman, Kyle $3,664 Port Jefferson NY
80 Fyshe, Adam $3,664 Ottawa ON, Canada
81 Robb, Richard $3,664 Seneca SC
82 Whybrew, Wesley $3,664 Haslett MI
83 Dilda, Eric $3,664 San Francisco CA
84 Wan, Jeffrey $3,664 Staten Island NY
85 Nguyen, Anh Van $3,664 Mississauga ON, Canada
86 Slaubaugh, Cody $3,664 Henderson NV
87 Sheng, Paul $3,664 San Francisco CA
88 Busch, Mark $3,664 Pittsburgh PA
89 Banks, Jared $3,664 Los Angeles CA
90 Ford, Robert $3,664 Pittsburgh PA
91 Steely, Chase $3,305 Williamsburg KY
92 Mortensen, Juan Carlos $3,305 Henderson NV
93 LaPointe, Troy $3,305 Arlington VA
94 Witteles, Todd $3,305 Las Vegas NV
95 Maguire, James $3,305 Phoenix AZ
96 Wasick, Matthew $3,305 Albion MI
97 Fortin, Patrick $3,305 QB QB, Canada
98 Douglas, Shane $3,305 Priest River ID
99 Abramowicz, David $3,305 Sunfish Lake MN
100 Barratt, Ronan $3,305 Tempe AZ
101 Stout, Matthew $3,305 Las Vegas NV
102 Mao, Nicholas $3,305 Long Beach CA
103 Sanders, Jason $3,305 Simi Valley CA
104 Haxton, Isaac $3,305 Las Vegas NV
105 Juczenko, Eugene $3,305 Kingswood Australia
106 Bowker, Kyle $3,305 Walton NY
107 Terrell, Kenneth $3,305 Lawrenceville GA
108 Bonita, Christopher $3,305 Winthrop MA
109 Kovacs, Andras $2,967 Falkenberg Sweden
110 Hunter, Matthew $2,967 Alexandria VA
111 Wintersberger, David $2,967 Eschenried Germany
112 Iola, Samuel $2,967 Redlands CA
113 McClure, Raymond $2,967 Stratford ON, Canada
114 Toporowski, Donald $2,967 Toronto ON, Canada
115 Khuri, Radwan $2,967 Memphis TN
116 Franklin, Ryan $2,967 Jacksonville FL
117 Bonding, Lars $2,967 Las Vegas NV
118 Begley, Timothy $2,967 Freehold NJ
119 Michaels, Alexander $2,967 Hollywood FL
120 Dovzhenko, Alexander $2,967 St. Petersburg Russia
121 Miceli, Tom $2,967 Redding CA
122 Johnson, Gordon $2,967 Kamloops BC, Canada
123 Dolgin, Aaron $2,967 Woodland Hills CA
124 Machina, Morgan $2,967 Mission Viejo CA
125 Okeefe, Kevin $2,967 Vacaville CA
126 Shahar, Alon $2,967 Fresh Meadows NY
127 Yousefzadeh, Mehrdad $2,668 Roslyn NY
128 Wynn, Gregory $2,668 Phoenix AZ
129 Husaynue, Samir $2,668 West Bloomfield MI
130 Johnson, Darren $2,668 Saskatoon SK, Canada
131 Hahn, Chad $2,668 Westfield IN
132 Tallas, George $2,668 Las Vegas NV
133 Hawit, Andre $2,668 Foster City CA
134 McKay, Randy $2,668 Chicago IL
135 Teng, Andrew $2,668 London United Kingdom
136 Sheirbon, Brent $2,668 The Dalles OR
137 Boghosian, Todd $2,668 Beverly MA
138 Evdakov, Nikolay $2,668 Moscow Russia
139 Shelton, Kenneth $2,668 Dallas TX
140 Fonseca, Alberto $2,668 San Jose CA
141 Schock, Mitchell $2,668 Bismarck ND
142 Esposito, Michael $2,668 Seaford NY
143 Dahlin, Adam $2,668 Maple Grove MN
144 Godfrey, Christopher $2,668 San Jose CA
