Seth Fischer overcame some touch competition at the final table to win the main event that concluded the Trump Taj Mahal's 2008 Trump Classic Poker Tournament in Atlantic City.
The final event attracted only 16 entrants, but it was a $5,000 buy-in, no-limit hold 'em event and Fisher had to carve his way through a final table that included former World Series of Poker finalist Michael Binger and well-known pro Chris "Syracuse" Tsiprailidis.
That was no mean feat, either. Tsiprailidis, who lives in the Atlantic City area, was playing on his home turf in a casino where he won the United States Poker Championship no-limit hold'em event on September 27, 2008 and took home $73,152 for his efforts.
Michael Binger, with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and former physicist at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center, has more than $5 million in career winnings, including a third place finish at the 2006 World Series of Poker main event that yielded a $4 million pay day. More recently Binger took first place on November 16, 2008 at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, winning $181,379.
In addition to his $34,560 payday at the Trump, Fischer also finished second at the $2,500 buy-in six-handed event at the 2008 World Series of Poker, winning $330,519. While he isn't in the multi-million dollar winnings category shared by Binger and Tsiprailidis, he did come to the final table with experience and savvy enough to finish the job and seal the deal.
The Trump Classic Poker Tournament was the last poker tournament of 2008, and played during what amounts to poker's tournament off season-the period between mid December and early January. The Trump Classic began on December 15 and ended December 30, and for Seth Fischer it was a nice way to close the year.
TRUMP TAJ MAHAL TRUMP CLASSIC
EVENT 16 12/28-30/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM CHAMPIONHIP
BUY-IN $4,800 + $200
PLAYERS 16
PRIZE POOL $76,800
1. Seth Fischer . . . . . . . $34,560
2. Duane Hunton . . . . . $19,200
3. Michael Binger . . . . $11,520
4. Guy Ciccom . . . . . . . . $7,680
5. Chris Tsiprailidis . . . . $3,840
EVENT 15 1/1/09
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM TURBO
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 16
PRIZE POOL $4,800
1. William Liston . . . . . . $2,160
2. Pietro Maniscarco . . . $1,200
3. Casey Passmore . . . . . . .$720
EVENT 14 12/31/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 21
PRIZE POOL $10,500
1. Chris Reslock . . . . . . . $4,725
2. Brett Guthrie . . . . . . . $2,625
3. Michael Edelman . . . . $1,575
EVENT 13 12/30/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 57
PRIZE POOL $17,100
1. Gilbert Sacks . . . . . . $7,524
2. Andrew Huene . . . . . . $4,019
3. David Semless . . . . . . $2,565
4. Scott Anderson . . . . . . $1,710
EVENT 12 12/27/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $80
PLAYERS 26
PRIZE POOL $26,000
1. Yoshio Nakano . . . . . $11,700
2. Robert Aerenson . . . . $6,500
3. Shakhin Mamedov . . $3,900
EVENT 10 12/24/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 36
PRIZE POOL $10,800
1. Levy Simantov . . . . . . $4,860
2. James Schmidt . . . . . . $2,700
3. Howard Wolper . . . . . $1,620
EVENT 9 12/23/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 27
PRIZE POOL $8,100
1. Chris Reslock . . . . . . . $3,645
2. Robert Jordan . . . . . . $2,025
3. Shane Wiley . . . . . . . . $1,215
EVENT 7 12/22/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM-SENIORS ONLY
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 48
PRIZE POOL $14,400
1. Frank Maressa . . . . . . $6,480
2. Robert Teti . . . . . . . . . $3,600
3. Joseph Gay . . . . . . . . . $2,160
EVENT 6 12/20/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 63
PRIZE POOL $31,500
1. Wayne Hassell Jr. . . $13,860
2. Kevin Mason . . . . . . . $7,402
3. Joseph Chaplin . . . . . $4,725
4. Ralph Villela . . . . . . . $3,150
EVENT 5 12/19/08
NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 26
PRIZE POOL $7,800
1. Steven Macchia . . . . . $3,510
2. William Schmidt . . . . $1,950
3. Samuel Paolini . . . . . $1,170
EVENT 4 12/28-30/08
OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 23
PRIZE POOL $11,501
1. John Ruggieri . . . . . . $5,176
2. Josh Barr . . . . . . . . . . $2,875
3. Peter Senak . . . . . . . . $1,725
