1 Bryan J Tessier, Rooseveltown, NY $22,500 2 Susan C Mosser, North Reading, MA $22,500 3 Manop Nakanant, Watertown, MA $8,282 4 William C Bazilchuk, Waterbury, CT $6,442 5 L Vincent Ballinger, Greenwood, IN $4,601 6 Van Tuyet Nguyen, Bell Gardens, CA $3,681 7 Horace N York, Limington, ME $3,221 8 Stephen A Perry, East Freetown, MA $2,761 9 Dennis P Maher, New Windsor, NY $2,304 10 Serafim Zaharopoulos, Clifton, NJ $1,840 11 Michael Luciano Polera, Poughquag, NY $1,840 12 Mona Butter, Bayside, NY $1,840 13 Randy Sylvester, Dracut, MA $1,748 14 Sotirios M Ganias, Worcester, MA $1,748 15 Maurice F Paradis, Norwich, CT $1,748 16 William W Kingston, Dudley, MA $1,656 17 David S Schulman, Scarborough, NY $1,656 18 Larry Martinez, Newburgh, NY $1,656

BRIAN TESSIER FINISHES FIRST!!
WINS $22,500!!

The 2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic $600 Limit Hold'em Championship went to Bryan Tessier of Rooseveltown, NY. Bryan, playing in his first Limit Hold'em tournament, was able to come back from the felt to claim the Championship Trophy, commemorative leather jacket and $22,500!

The Championship began on Thursday with 179 players and a total prize pool of $92,024. The Final table began at Noon on Friday and shortly thereafter, Serafim Zaharopoulos of Clifton, NJ, was all-in for his last 15K with A2. Susan Mosser had A10 and the 10 kicker left Serafim with 10th place winnings of $1,840. Dennis Maher began the final table as the short stack and was all-in for 6K with pocket 6's. With three way action and a 6 on the flop, Dennis was hopeful but Susan caught a flush on the river and Dennis had 9th place and $2,304 to take home to New Windsor, NY. It was over an hour later and the blinds at 4K/8K before Stephen Perry of East Freetown, MA, was all-in for 13K in the small blind with A9. Horace York, in the BB, had 63 and hit two pair on the flop; an A on the turn was encouraging but the river provided no help and Stephen was the 8th place winner of $2,761. The hand which changed the landscape of the final table was three way action between Susan Mosser, Manop Nakanant and Horace York. Each had a 10 and each turned a straight but Susan caught a flush on the river to cripple Manop; Horace was all-in and finished in 7th position with $3,221 to take home to Limington, ME. Van Nguyen of Bell Gardens, CA, twice lost to pocket 10's; once with pocket 7's and in the end with A10. Van would take 6th place and $3,681 for her efforts.

With blinds at 6K/12K and 5 players remaining, the chip leader was Susan with Manop maintaining 2nd. Bill Bazilchuk held 3rd with Vince Ballinger and Bryan trailing the field. Bryan's comment during a break was that "I like my position" which proved prophetic. Vincent Ballinger of Greenwood, IN, was down to the felt with pocket 4's but Manop paired a Q to relegate Vince to 5th place with winnings of $4,601. Bill Balzilchuk, with 107, was ahead of Susan with 103; but a 3 on the flop would send Bill home to Waterbury, CT, in 4th place with $6,442. Manop Nakanant of Watertown, MA, began the final table as the chip leader but could not convert his advantage to victory. He was betting to the river with a flush but Susan filled on the river to leave Manop as the short stack heading into the next level. Manop lost a series of hands and was finally all-in; he was out-kicked by Bryan and took third place good for $8,282.

Heads-up play began with the chip advantage to Susan Mosser of North Reading, MA. She was able to add to her lead and eventually had Bryan down to the felt but he hit a straight to survive and never looked back. After re-building his stack and taking the lead, Bryan and Susan agreed to split the prize pool with Bryan taking the Championship Trophy and commemorative leather jacket. Susan took $22,500 for 2nd place.

And Bryan Tessier was the Foxwoods Poker Classic $600 Limit Hold'em Champion for 2008!

Reported by Jeffrey A. Toth for Foxwoods Resort Casino

2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic