Dentist Rami Jradeh Beats Record
Field of 1,000 to Win $300 No-Limit
Largest Number of Entrants for Any
Tournament at Grand Casino Tunica
Tunica, MS -- Exactly 1,000 players lined up to play the 11th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Grand Casino Tunica, $300 no-limit hold'em, the largest number for any tournament in the history of this casino. The mass turnout proved that players had voted their approval of the generous new structure that featured 10,000 starting chips and eight additional levels, giving everyone all the play they could ask for.
At the end, Rami Jradeh, a 35-year-old dentist originally from Syria and now living in
North Quincy, Massachusetts, pulled ahead in a late rush to claim victory. Jradeh played a very patient game at the final table, waiting for opportunities. He said he had the discipline to fold hands, explaining that his strategy was to "beat the time," because "time has no value." Perhaps time didn't have value for him, but his first-place finish certainly did: $74,914 to be exact. Until now, Jradeh has had only a few small cashes at places like Foxwoods and Reno.
Jradeh, who learned poker four years ago playing with friends, plays strictly tournaments, about one a month. He has no plans to play more events because his job and wife are his first priorities. He also had high praise for how well the tournament was run and how much he liked the structure and plentiful chips.
After playing down to three tables on day 1, the players returned the next day, with the final 10 starting at 5 p.m. With 10,000 chips at the outset, the average at the final table was 1 million. Chip-leader Mark Ellis had more than that, 2,012,000, and a lot more after the first hand.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Rami Jradeh 670,000
Seat 2. Terrence Ferentinos 510,000
Seat 3. Michael McKuin 485,000
Seat 4. Scott Dreicer 400,000
Seat 5. Brian Wolfe 835,000
Seat 6. Ben Mintz 1,600,000
Seat 7. Rory Monahan 870,000
Seat 8. Mark Ellis 2.012,000
Seat 9. Greg Stallsmith 665,000
Seat 10. Robert Castoire 1,950,000
The first hand was astonishing: set over set over set, with three players moving in.
First, Scott "Big Sexy" Dreicer, with pocket 4s, moved in for 395,000. Next, Rory Monahan, with pocket kings, went in for his 865,000, and then Ellis went all in with pocket aces. The flop of A-5-4 gave sets to both Ellis and Dreicer. A jack turned, and then a river king gave Monahan a dramatic, but at that stage futile, set of kings! Dreicer went out 10th, which paid $3,146, Monahan was ninth, worth $5,559, and Ellis had zoomed up to about 3.3 million.
Dreicer, 54, is from Jacksonville, Florida, where he is self-employed. Married with two children, he learned poker 14 years, playing with friends,. This is his fourth Circuit, and his poker high point was playing in the WSOP main event.
Monahan is a 26-year-old pro from Carbondale, Illinois who started playing with friends 10 years ago He has a third and a seventh in Ultimate Poker Challenge events, and a 30th in a $1,500 WSOP event. His other interest is sports.
Seven hands later, Ellis gobbled up more chips. This time he called with A-Q after Terrence Ferentinos pushed in for 350,000 with K-Q. A board of Q-10-8-A-9 gave Ellis two pair and an even bigger lead as Ferentinos cashed eighth for $8,333.
Ferentinos, 59, is from Alpharetta, Georgia and in sales. He's married with four children, has been playing four years and has entered many Circuits. His poker highlights include a second at the Foxwood Seniors and two final Circuit tables along with multiple other cashes. He also enjoys fishing.
Action quieted down for a while until hand 23. With blinds now at 25,000-50,000, Brian Wolfe moved in. Saying that Wolfe "might be making a move," Michael "Fisk Flash" McKuin called with J-9. Wolfe turned up Ac-6h, and when four clubs hit the board, his flush left McKuin in seventh place, worth $11,107.
McKuin is 24, from Fisk, Missouri, and this is his second Circuit and poker highlight.
The level ended with Ellis still several laps ahead holding about 3.8 million chips. Blinds now were 30,000-60,000. Midway in the round, Brian Wolfe button-raised all in for 600,000 with pocket 6s. With almost as many chips, Ben "The Destroyer" Mintz called with Ac-Jd from the small blind. The board came 8-3-2-9-4 and Mintz collected $13,881 for finishing sixth.
Mintz, 24, is a student/poker player from Oxford, Mississippi who's been playing four years and entered five Circuits. He has two small prior cashes here.
On the next hand, after the flop came 10-2-2, Greg "The Gee Man" Stallsmith moved in with pocket 8s and got a call from Robert Castoire, who had A-10 for a bigger pair. Two queens came, and four were left as Stallsmith cashed for $16,655. Castoire, who came to the final table second in chips, now had about 3 million.
Stallsmith, 37, is an engineer from Haubstadt, New Jersey. He's married with two children and has been playing for 15 years. This is his first Circuit try.
With blinds at 40,000-80,000 and10,000 antes, Ellis raised under the gun with A-4 and Brian Wolfe moved in with Kh-9h. Wolfe had an inside straight draw when the flop came Q-10-7, along with two live cards, but missed everything when a 6 and 5 came, and finished fourth, which paid $19,430.
Wolfe is 30 and from Duluth, Georgia. A structural engineer, he is married, plays golf, and learned poker 10 years ago from books. This final table is his best poker achievement.
On the next hand, blinds went to 50,000-100,000. Ellis still led with roughly 4 million. Then he lost the lead in a confrontation with Castoire. With a board of A-10-6-Q, Ellis had K-10 for third pair and an inside straight draw. But Castoire, with Q-10, had two pair and moved in. The two pair held up, and Ellis handed over 2,995,000 chips as Castoire was our new leader. Ellis got some of his chips back a hand later by catching a river ace to his A-2 to outdraw Castoire's pocket jacks and double through.
Jradeh, meanwhile, picking up his share of pots, then took 1.3 million from Ellis when his A-5 beat Ellis' K-Q after the board came J-9-3-2-A. By the time blinds went to 60,000-120,000, he was in second place with roughly 3.5 million chips to about 5 million for Castoire and 1.5 million for Ellis.
Some 20 hands later, Ellis, who had picked up chips with a couple of uncalled all-ins, opened for 250,000 wth Ks-Js. Jradeh had Ad-8s and raised all in for another 2.73 million. Ellis called with 2.675 million. The board came Q-8-6-10-2, and Tradeh's paired 8 held up as Ellis cashed third for $22,204.
Ellis, 50, is a land surveyor from Tyler, Texas. He learned poker six years ago by playing, and this is his fourth Circuit. He has a 17th in a $500 event here last year. Ellis is married, has two children and likes to hunt.
Heads-up, Jradeh now enjoyed a 6-4 lead over Castoire. The match-up only lasted a couple of hands. The end came when Castoire raised 400,000 pre-flop. The flop came Qc-9h-5s. Castoire bet 500,000, Jradeh came over the top for 1.3 million more, and Castoire moved in. Castoire had pocket 7s, but was dead to catching the case 7 because Jradeh had Q-7. After a 6 and 4 came, the dentist had extracted his win.
Castoire, 53, is a ship's officer from Cecelia, Kentucky. He's married and learned poker 40 years ago, earning lunch money in the eighth grade. This is his third Circuit. He's had two other cashes here this year, and his poker highlight was busting Stu Ungar at the Taj in 1979.
(As a side note, Larry Gurney would like the world to know that he and his son Chris won back-to-back mega-satellites.)
-- by Max Shapiro
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