John Creed, a 34-year-old poker pro from Lorton, Virginia, emerged as the winner of the $365 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better, or Event #4 on the 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City schedule. The player took home his career first gold ring and a payout of $9,089 for his performance in the two-day tournament.
Creed tends to call himself a cash game player. Yet, he has collected almost $200,000 in various tournaments over the past three years. As for his preference for the Omaha poker variation, Creed says that it is just his game and that he is a “degenerate” for the action it offers.
The two-day $365 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better started on March 17. The event attracted a field of 101 players and the top 12 finishers were to receive a share of the prize pool, which amounted to $30,300.
Creed did not kick the event off with a good start and at some point on Day 1, he even had only 800 chips left. However, he managed to catch up and gradually accumulated his stack to take down the tournament.
Day 1 of the event was completed with 15 remaining players. Those returned for Day 2 to burst the bubble, set the nine-handed final table, and eventually determine the winner. The day started with Michael Mastrangelo as the chip leader. The player had a total of 132,000 at the time when cards were thrown in the air. Creed was second in chips at that point.
The official final table was reached in Level 18. Creed had the heaviest stack at the beginning of nine-handed action with a total of 234,000 in chips. Eventually, the player faced Michael Bees from Medford, New Jersey heads-up. The two-handed match started with Creed holding five times more chips than his opponent. However, Bees was not willing to give up on the title yet. The player erased the huge gap quite quickly and even took the lead for a while.
Yet, he could not hold up against his tough opponent and after an hour and a half of two-handed play, it became clear that it was Creed who would take home the gold ring. As for Bees, he collected the amount of $5,618 for his second-place finish.
Start-of-the-day chip leader Michael Mastrangelo from Wilmington, North Carolina took 3rd place for $4,000. Jeff Dodson from Chicago, Illinois finished 4th, good for $2,906. Brandon Pearl from Toms River, New Jersey scooped $2,153 for finishing 5th. Gloria Lo Russo from Staten Island, New York took 6th place for a payout of $1,625.
Two-time gold ring winner Aditya Prasetyo from Cambridge, Massachusetts finished 7th for $1,250. One-time gold ring winner Vincent Basilicata from Queens, New York received $979 for his 8th place in the event. Kearns Julien from Brooklyn, New York took 9th place to collect $781.
