The PokerStars.net Empire State Hold��em Championships wrapped up a few days ago after several successful events at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. After 1,966 entrants took to action over the course of the series, a whopping prize pool of $941,985 was created! That��s not bad considering the buy-ins were smaller, ranging from $180 up to the $2,500 Main Event.
One of the unique things that Turning Stone offers to its players is the ability to play at the casino at age 18. Back before they were well known players in the poker community, some of the best young grinders of today cut their teeth at Turning Stone, and more specifically at the Empire State Hold��em Championships, which have been yearly since 2003. It has been one of the best smaller-stakes tournament series since its inception, and now with PokerStars.net having sponsored the event, things are really looking even better.
"The PokerStars.net Empire State Hold��em Championships was a great series for us," said Jason DiBenedetto, director of poker operations for Turning Stone. "We were very pleased with the overall turnout for the event. PokerStars.net was a great sponsor for the event and it was a pleasure working with their team. From the PokerStars.net players�� party in our Lava Nightclub through the Main Event, I think players enjoy having a sponsor like PokerStars.net that brings any regular event up to the next level."
Among some of the names to make the trip to the middle of New York this year were Christian Harder, Shawn Busse (defending champion ESHC Main Event), Tom Marchese, Andrew Chen and Matt Vance. Harder took second ($69,222) in the $2,500 Main Event, Marchese took fourth ($31,117), Chen got seventh ($13,860) and Vance placed tenth ($8,004). Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso was also on hand to play and ran her Bigslick Boot Camp course prior to the Main Event. She was joined by fellow team member and husband Chad Brown along with Kevin Saul and Olivier Busquet on the felt, although none of them could post any big results. Let��s take a look at the results.
Event No. 1: $240 NLHE Deepstack Turbo
Entrants
Prizepool
163
$34,230
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Tim Pink
$5,114
*2
Eric Beck
$4,363
*3
Shawn Johnson
$4,363
*4
Stan Sadinsky
$4,363
*5
Shaun Hartlin
$4,363
6
Carl Pion
$1,388
7
Jim DeRue
$1,123
8
Dennis Durkin
$964
9
Andy Cohen
$806
10
Joe Nertney
$648
Event No. 3: $240 NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
122
$25,620
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Joshua Giller
$4,964
*2
Robert Miller
$4,964
*3
Jeffrey Harter
$4,964
4
Nicholas Thuell
$1,953
5
James Kellish
$1,396
6
Daniel Dizenzo
$$1,060
7
Kyle Caminiti
$840
8
Robert Szweczyk
$722
9
James Sansone
$604
10
Timothy Coady
$485
Event No. 5: $1,085 NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
39
$39,000
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Leslie Hardy
$11,728
*2
Duncan Jones
$11,727
3
Shawn Busse
$5,296
4
Kyle Smallgange
$3,783
5
David Kent
$3,026
6
David Fischer
$2,270
Event No. 7: $240 + $100 NLHE Bounty
Entrants
Prizepool
147
$29,400
Place
Player
Prize
1
Stephen Caruso
$9,060
2
James Poper
$5,504
3
Silvio Deubeis
$3,379
4
Andrew Zeeman
$2,353
5
Jason Taylor
$1,683
6
David Harris
$1,278
7
Curtis Bailey
$1,012
8
David Hollenberg
$870
9
Eric Beck
$727
10
William George
$585
Notable Finishes: Rich Ryan (12th - $442)
Event No. 10: $350 NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
612
$183,600
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Matthew Smith
$20,003
*2
Douglas Conant
$13,807
*3
Jeremy Kozub
$13,807
*4
Darrin Bracken
$13,807
*5
David Harris
$13,807
*6
James Willey, Jr.
$13,807
*7
David Battaglia
$13,807
*8
Jeffrey Kocz
$13,807
9
James Sansone
$2,850
10
Brian Jhohnson
$2,138
Event No. 12: $2,500 PokerStars Main Event
Entrants
Prizepool
175
$402,500
Place
Player
Prize
1
Adam Hui
$115,722
2
Christian Harder
$69,222
3
Jonathan Dimmij
$44,196
4
Thomas Marchese
$31,117
5
Philip Gisiano
$22,449
6
Michael Liscio
$17,139
7
Andrew Chen
$13,860
8
Wendall Barnes
$11,908
9
Joshua Giller
$9,956
10
Matthew Vance
$8,004
Notable Finishes: Jared Vengrin (20th - $4,100)
Event No. 14: $340 Suvivor NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
72
$21,600
Place
Player
Prize
1
Nicholas Banker
$2,860
2
Jeanne Nelson
$2,860
3
David Grana
$2,860
4
Carl Dettelis
$2,502
5
Sean Hegarty
$2,380
6
Michael Bailey
$2,380
7
Barney Trembetzky
$2,380
8
Ron Miller
$2,380
9
Shaun Hartlin
$350
Event No. 15: $550 Deepstack NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
79
$39,500
Place
Player
Prize
1
Travell Thomas
$13,027
2
Cherish Andrews
$7,280
3
Albert Smith
$4,406
4
Daniel Demeo
$3,640
5
Marcus Gray
$2,682
6
Calvin Cruz Ventura
$2,107
7
Steven Stahursky
$1,724
8
Howard Kass
$1,341
9
Carl Dettlis
$1,150
10
Ryan Kass
$958
Event No. 16: $255 NLHE Bounty
Entrants
Prizepool
117
$20,475
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Andrew Priore
$4,335
*2
Brandon Spicer
$3,200
*3
Raymond D��Argenio
$3,200
*4
Michael Emmert
$3,200
5
Charles Thomas
$1,172
6
Sean Wallace
$890
7
John Shultz
$705
8
John Dunn
$606
9
James Kellish
$506
10
Marylynn Giacobbe
$407
Event No. 17: $240 Suvivor NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
36
$7,560
Place
Player
Prize
1
William Patterson
$1,700
2
Pete Cardarelli
$1,200
3
Timothy Brit
$1,095
4
Terry Evans
$1,095
5
Thomas Trusilo
$1,094
6
Justin Rebollo
$800
Event No. 19: $340 NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
63
$18,900
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Gary Capoccia
$6,233
*2
David Wallace
$2,796
*3
Jeffrey Black
$2,795
4
Matthew Gordon
$1,742
5
John Shultz
$1,283
6
Lucio Procopio
$1,008
7
Kirk Fisher
$825
8
Jeffrey Emmert
$642
9
Donald Spicer
$550
10
Roland Hayes
$459
Event No. 121: $550 NLHE
Entrants
Prizepool
179
$89,500
Place
Player
Prize
1
Brian Zimcosky
$24,731
2
Jason Kufs
$16,392
3
Andrew Bechtold
$9,827
4
Greg Pogarsky
$6,919
5
Travell Thomas
$4,992
6
Sean Wallace
$3,811
7
Jarrod Tavares
$3,082
8
Michael Pisani
$2,648
9
Victoria Larkin
$2,214
10
Melissa McGinnis
$1,780
Event No. 23: $180 NLHE High Heel Poker Tour
Entrants
Prizepool
46
$6,900
Place
Player
Prize
1
Tracy Rouse
$2,310
2
Christine Hirsch
$1,440
3
Kathy Lamandia
$937
4
Kim Perrella
$669
5
Lisa Gauthier
$535
6
Marcia Roddell
$402
7
Barbara Wampole
$200
8
Raman Brar
$200
Event No. 24: $240 NLHE Deepstack Turbo
Entrants
Prizepool
116
$23,200
Place
Player
Prize
*1
Matthew Testa
$1,501
*2
Peter Cardarelli
$1,501
*3
Joseph Siracusa
$1,501
*4
Justin Howland
$1,501
*5
Marcia Riddell
$1,250
*6
Christopher Nicolo
$1,250
*7
Sophear Ung
$1,000
*8
John Ostwald
$1,000
*9
Bruce Bardin
$1,000
*10
Dan Fignar
$1,000
* - Denotes a chop
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