Jia Liu, a 23 year old mechanic from Brooklyn, had his poker wrench working as he captured Event No. 1 of the 2009 US Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal, a $300 + $40 buy-in no-limit hold 'em event that attracted 154 players and created a prize pool of $46,200. First place resulted in a payout of $15,708 to Jia, who said he would spend some of the money playing future live tournaments.
The runner up was Kerry "Yoda" Small, who owns some businesses and is a residential real estate appraiser. He acquired his nickname because he sometimes uses the Star War's character as a card protector. The force was with him as he took home $8,316, which h he plans to give to his wife. The force was with her too!
Third place was taken by Jamie Ann Kerstetter, who has been playing poker full time since she was laid off as a tax attorney a year-and-a-half ago. She cashed in two WSOP events in 2009, and claims to play with "aimless aggression" but what most of the other players saw was her switching gears and taking their chips.
Now in its 14th year, the USPC runs from November 2-November 24. Here are the results of the first six events.
TRUMP TAJ MAHAL CASINO U.S. POKER CHAMPIONSHIPS
EVENT #6 11/7/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $730 + $70
PLAYERS 78
PRIZE POOL $56,940
1. Ross Myers . . . . . . . . $20,498
2. Robert Fad . . . . . . . . $11,388
3. Kevin Mason . . . . . . . $6,263
EVENT #5 11/6/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 142
PRIZE POOL $42,600
1. Dennis Summers . . . $14,484
2. Benjamin Klier . . . . . $7,668
3. Minh Nguyen . . . . . . . $4,260
EVENT #4 11/5/09
OMAHA HI-LO 8 &
STUD HI-LO 8
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 152
PRIZE POOL $45,600
1. Levy Arner . . . . . . . . $18,240
2. David Sacks . . . . . . . . $9,120
3. Agustin Mendez . . . . . $4,560
EVENT #3 11/4/09
LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 62
PRIZE POOL $18,600
1. Eric Schmidt . . . . . . . $6,696
2. Harold Wolper . . . . . . $3,720
EVENT #2 11/3/09
7-CARD STUD
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 68
PRIZE POOL $20,400
1. Rathe Miller . . . . . . . . $8,160
2. Robert Cohen . . . . . . . $4,692
3. Ronald Maset . . . . . . . $2,448
EVENT #1 11/2/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 154
PRIZE POOL $46,200
1. Jia Liu . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,708
2. Kerry Small . . . . . . . . $8,316
3. Jamie Kerstetter . . . . $4,620
