Stephen Dees from Worthington, Ohio captured last night his first-ever gold ring and the amount of $20,303 after winning the $365 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em event on the 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City schedule.
The tournament was the sixth gold ring one to take place as part of the festival. It was a two-day one and kicked off on March 20, drawing a field of 282 players. They created a prize pool of $84,600. The money was distributed to the top 30 finishers, with lowest payouts worth $574.
The event’s first day was completed with 17 players bagging up their chips. On Day 2, it took them about four hours to set the official nine-handed final table. It began with Dees himself holding the chip lead. The player had a total of 1,464,000, almost two times more than Alexander Queen from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania who ranked second in chips at that time.
In fact, the two players faced each other heads-up. Two-handed action kicked off with Dees holding 3,845,000 in chips against his opponent’s 1,795,000. It took about two hours of play before the name of the champion became clear. On what turned out to be the last hand in play, the flop came [Kd][4c][4h]. Dees made a half-pot bet and Queen called. Dees made another rather big bet on the [6d] turn. The [2c] appeared on the river and Dees shoved all in. Queens needed a few minutes to think on his next move and eventually decided to call.
Dees turned [Qc][4d] and Queen mucked his cards. Thus, Dees won the pot and the tournament as a whole. As for Queen, he collected the amount of $12,548 for his second-place finish.
Thomas Balla from Bellerose, New York took 3rd place for $9,105. Quintin Trammell from Staten Island, New York took 4th place, good for $6,717. Vincent Moscati from Verplanck, New York received $5,038 for his 5th place in the event. It is interesting to note that the player has won 4 WSOP Circuit gold rings so far.
Patrick Salierno from Yonkers, New York finished 6th for $3,839. Carlos Pacheco from Mt. Kisco, New York scooped a payout of $2,971 for his 7th place in the tournament. James Hundt Jr. from Latham, New York took 8th place for $2,335. Rounding out the final table, Joseph Reddick from Bronx, New York took home the amount of $1,863.
