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By: Nolan Dalla The
first event of this year’s Caesars Atlantic City tournament series began with a
huge turnout and unexpected drama.
A near-record 1,056 players showed up for Event #1, the $300 buy-in
No-Limit Hold’em championship.
This was one of the largest fields in the four-year history of the WSOP
Circuit. Only events a few events held
last year in Tunica and Atlantic City attracted a bigger turnout. The
two-day tournament was won by Frank Panetta, a 76-year-old former real estate
investor from Brick, NJ. Now
retired, Panetta is a regular inside Atlantic City’s poker rooms. Cheered on by his wife of 52 years, Panetta
earned his biggest poker cash ever as he officially collected $76,104 in prize
money. Experience clearly counts
for something. Panetta’s
victory was nearly overshadowed by what must be considered one of the oddest
and most awkward moments in poker tournament history. When play was at five-handed, the chip leader was
disqualified from play and was forcefully removed from the tournament
room. It was a stunning turn of
events for the remaining players and for the hundreds of spectators swarming
over the feature table watching and witnessing a possible first in tournament
poker. Although no one can be
certain, no chip leader has ever been disqualified from a major poker
tournament. A complete review of
the episode unquestionably reveals that the proper decision was made
(Note: See full description below). The large field packed inside the special events
facility at Caesars Atlantic City meant that the top 99 players collected prize
money. After 1,018 players had
been eliminated on the first day, the remaining 38 contestants returned to
their seats on Day Two to compete for a seat at the final table. When the final nine had been determined,
Pennsylvania’s Andy Santiago had ascended to the chip lead. He was one of two finalists with one
million chips or more. The
colorful (and very loud) Virginian, Lesley Thornburg arrived at the final table
in second place, with exactly one million. All remaining players had less than 700,000, with three
players short-stacked: Seat 1: Lee
Ervin 104,000 Seat 2: Andy Santiago 1,244,000 Seat 3: Todd
Rebello 252,000 Seat 4: Mike
Santoro 140,000 Seat 5: Frank
Panetta 700,000 Seat 6: Edward
Sullivan 364,000 Seat 7: Don
Mercer 336,000 Seat 8: Francis
Snyder 47,000 Seat 9: Lesley S.
Thornburg 1,000,000 Players were eliminated in the following order: 9th Place – Francis Snyder did not last
long. He had just enough chips to
post his big blind. On his final
hand of the tournament, he was all-in a four-way pot holding pocket sixes. The final board showed K-K-9-3-A, which
failed to improve the vulnerable hand.
Mike Santoro ended up scooping the pot with an ace (good for two pair),
which meant an early and undesirable elimination for Snyder. The 22-year-old Philadelphian collected
$6,342 for ninth place. 8th Place – Next, an odd thing happened when
“Karate Mike” Santoro got chopped off the final table under the most unusual
circumstances. Committing every
poker player’s nightmare blunder, he admittedly misread his hand when four
diamonds were on board, and (mistakenly) thought he held the king of
diamonds. Santoro was dejected
afterward, but took the misfortune in stride. Frank Panetta seized the pot, and the Tae-Kwon Do instructor
and poker player from nearby Egg Harbor Township, NJ earned $9,513 for eighth
place. Santoro’s error in judgment
is certainly not indicative of his excellent tournament results in recent
years. Santoro had previously
finished high in the U.S. Poker Championship and events held at the Borgata Casino
in Atlantic City. 7th Place – Don Mercer was one of two
North Carolinians at the final table.
On what proved to be his last hand, he took a tough beat when his A-J
was crushed by the chip leader’s Q-4, resulting in a seventh-place finish. Mercer had A-J suited but Andy Santiago
managed to flop two pair – queens over fours. A jack on the river (good for a pair) was purely academic. The 61-year-old retiree ended up taking
$12,684 for the seventh position. Then, the real drama began. One of the biggest hands of the
tournament unfolded when the eccentric and boisterous Virginian, Lesley
Thornburg got tremendously lucky and survived his first all-in of the day. Thornburg, who had been given two
warnings for unsportsmanlike behavior on the previous day, pushed everyone’s
patience to the limit with a ceaseless display of loud comments and baiting tactics
lasting several hours. Nearing
disqualification, opponents breathed a temporary sigh of relief when he called
an all-in raise by Andy Santiago – holding a totally dominated hand (Thornburg’s
A-7 a huge dog versus A-Q).
Kaboom! A seven flopped and
the Virginian had seized the chip lead with a cavalier display of luck. The magic (or misfortune, depending on
one’s perspective) would continue. 6th Place – Just two hands later, Thornburg the
new chip leader caught lightening in a bottle once again. He called an all-in bet by Edward
“Yank” Sullivan, who had raised all-in pre-flop with 7-7. Thornburg tabled 4-4 and needed
help. Wham! A four flopped, and the huge crowd
turned a mental backflip.
Thornburg ended up making a full house and all poor Yank could do was
walk away with a bad beat story.
Edward “Yank” Sullivan, a carpenter and boilermaker from Durham, NC
collected $15,855 for sixth place.
Sullivan also finished 122nd in the WSOP main event last
year. 5th Place – Then, all hell broke loose. Literally. Holding onto a perilous chip lead, Thornburg lost
self-control and began jamming chips into the pot with reckless abandon. Warned by tournament officials
(repeatedly) to stack his chips properly and obey the rules, Thornburg crossed
the final demarcation of everyone’s patience when he shoved half of his stack
into the pot and then later announced, “all in.” Fed up with the annoying and confusing antics, officials
announced Thornburg’s immediate disqualification. Lesley Thornburg, a general contractor from Richmond, VA
earned $19,026 in prize money. 4th Place – Thornburg’s chips were
removed from play. By default,
Andy Santiago had regained the chip lead.
Following the ejection, play was considerably more civil with the
remaining four players cordially trading chips and conversation back and forth
for 45 minutes, before the next player’s elimination. That came when Lee Ervin, a 56-year-old attorney from
Staunton, VA was cut away from the finale by the slimmest of margins. On his final hand of the night, his Q-6
lost to Q-7 when a queen flopped.
Unfortunately, Ervin held the inferior kicker. Ervin pocketed $22,197. 3rd Place –
After a financial deal was struck between
the remaining three players, Todd Rebello went out next. He took a bad beat holding Q-J against Frank
Panetta’s Q-9. A nine flopped and
in an instant, Rebello went from the potential chip leader to the third place
finisher. Rebello, a salesman from
Massachusetts with many tournament cashes along the East Coast, pocketed
$25,368 as the official payout. 2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Andy Santiago enjoyed a
slight chip lead. But he lost a
few hands and was covered by Panetta, who by that time had assumed the chip
lead for the first time in the tournament. The final hand dramatic hand to what had been a day filled
with suspense came about six hours into play when Panetta held the K-10 of
hearts and called an all-in pre-flop raise by Santiago, holding the dominated K-7. The flop was horrible for Santiago,
getting absolutely no help and to make matters worse -- losing a potential
out. A flop of Q-5-4 with two
hearts meant that Santiago was down to just two outs (two black eights). A heart on the turn sealed the deal,
giving Panetta a flush, and Santiago was suddenly drawing dead. The tournament was finally over. Frank Panetta had won his first major
event, and Andy Santiago – the chip leader most of the way – was left to ponder
what might have been. As the runner
up, Santiago officially collected a prize totaling $42,824. The 34-year-old poker pro, and proud
father of two, had previously won several daily tournaments held in Atlantic
City. 1st Place – For first place Frank Panetta pocketed his biggest
poker win ever. He also received
the coveted gold and diamond ring, presented to each and every tournament
winner at Caesars Atlantic City.
Panetta’s victory proves once again, that one is never too old to win a
poker tournament or enjoy the game.
As winning photos were taken and chips were stacked at the end of the
night, the 76-year-old retiree and grandfather of four proudly introduced his
wife in the post-tournament ceremony conducted at the final table. He received hearty congratulations from
his opponents and from several well-wishers in the crowd. Alas, experience counts. Silver hair is a sign of wisdom. And sometimes, nice guys even finish
first.
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