It was a huge Sunday for online poker players in the Garden State highlighted by the conclusion of the NJ Winter Series at PokerStars NJ.
Matthew "MattEMenz" Mendez secured not only his second biggest online poker cash haul when he took down the NJ Winter Series 10 - Main Event: $400 NL Hold'em, $75,000 Gtd, but also was the biggest single prize awarded in scheduled online poker tournaments at New Jersey regulated online poker rooms for the year ($20,936).
Mendez's biggest win came a decade earlier and three years before Black Friday when American players were abundant on major worldwide poker networks. In April 2008, he banked $53,452 for a third-place finish in the $750,000 Guarantee at Full Tilt Poker.
Also winning big in the NJ Winter Series Main Event were Richard "maddoggrik" Allen (fourth - $8,702), Fred "Scooby-D0O" Farrell (fifth - $5,938), Michael "KneadDaRiver" Bees (sixth - $4,607), Jason "TiltedHard" Lawhun (seventh - $3,583) and Joseph "B3ndTheKnee" Liberta (ninth - $1,945).
Meanwhile, Andrew "HashtagRack" Brenner snagged his biggest online cash after he took down the NJ Winter Series 9: $200 NL Hold'em [Progressive KO,6-Max], $20,000 Gtd for $7,798 including bounties. Well-known New Jersey grinder Norman "ADMSnackBar" Michalek finished just behind him in second place in this tournament for $4,120, while Devin "DangerFloof" Powers squeaked into the final table with a sixth place finish worth $957.
Ryan Hohner not only won the WSOP.com NJ/888poker NJ $10,000 Fierce Warrior for $3,695, but also had a runner-up finish in the PokerStars NJ Nightly Stars $100, $12,000 Gtd for $2,661 and an eighth-place finish in the WSOP.com NJ/888poker NJ $10,000 Warriors�� Opening Strike for $311.
Yong Kwon also had a great Sunday. The online poker specialist won the partypoker NJ/BorgataPoker.com Sunday Seconds $10K Gtd for $3,976 and also snagged a bigger cash of $5,457 with a runner-up performance in the PokerStars NJ Sunday High Roller [Six-Max], $15,000 Gtd.
Remarkably, Daniel Lupo managed to win almost $12,000 on Sunday without an outright victory thanks to four final table finishes in big tournaments. Lupo's final table appearances were in the WSOP.com NJ/888poker NJ $30,000 The BIG Deal (third - $4,203), the WSOP.com NJ/888poker NJ $50,000 Ultimate Warrior (fourth - $3,514), the partypoker NJ/BorgataPoker.com Sunday $40K gtd (sixth - $2,987) and the Nightly Stars $100, $12,000 Gtd (sixth - $858).
NJ Winter Series 10 - Main Event: $400 NL Hold'em, $75,000 Gtd
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$375+25
273
$102,375
Place
Player
Prize
1
Matthew "MattEMenz" Mendez
$20,936
2
TRX350FM
$15,356
3
hyerolla777
$11,568
4
Richard "maddoggrik" Allen
$8,702
5
Fred "Scooby-D0O" Farrell
$5,938
6
Michael "KneadDaRiver" Bees
$4,607
7
Jason "TiltedHard" Lawhun
$3,583
8
TeethOfBags
$2,559
9
Joseph "B3ndTheKnee" Liberta
$1,945
Sunday High Roller [6-Max], $15,000 Gtd
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$470+30
43
$ 20,210
Place
Player
Prize
1
PuppyL0ve
$8,084
2
Yong "iFoldN0T" Kwon
$5,457
3
LCC102515
$3,032
4
David "coles93" Coleman
$2,021
5
hummylun_plz
$1,617
Nightly Stars $100, $12,000 Gtd
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$91.80+8.20
187
$17,167
Place
Player
Prize
1
FeelGruesome
$3,691
2
Ryan "ISlowRollYou" Hohner
$2,661
3
You Are Tim
$2,017
4
pd55473
$1,502
5
axn87
$1,030
6
Daniel "AvaGray" Lupo
$858
7
Norman "ADMSnackBar" Michalek
$687
8
Jamie "moosedeer17" Reyes
$515
9
Daniel "JerseyRU" Pipitone
$343
Sunday $40K gtd
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$200+15
262
$52,400
Place
Player
Prize
1
vsamba99
$10,480
2
madrush479
$6,901
3
jkidd1084
$4,978
4
MrLucky13
$4,192
5
TheReader23
$3,511
6
Daniel "centrfieldr23" Lupo
$2,987
7
Anthony "Flawlessbink" Maio
$2,463
8
Michael "MikeDB7" DellaBarca
$1,939
9
BLUFF-THIS
$1,415
Daily $10K
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$100+9
127
$12,700
Place
Player
Prize
1
TENAFLY_BILL
$2,774*
2
supremetny
$2,661*
3
katarina
$1,397
4
Michael "MikeyCasino" Azzaro
$1,080
5
Bumpy_Toes
$794
6
bigant715
$635
7
Mohammed "MoeFarah" Farah
$508
8
Yong "OWNEDLOLUMAD" Kwon
$400
9
Isaac "Ikelove227" Furman
$318
*Reflects heads-up deal.
Sunday Seconds $10K Gtd
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$150+12
93
$13,950
Place
Player
Prize
1
Yong "OWNEDLOLUMAD" Kwon
$3,976
2
Isaac "Ikelove227" Furman
$2,581
3
CoolieCardCutta
$1,883
4
Michael "MikeyCasino" Azzaro
$1,256
5
AcesCracked1971
$1,011
6
Bob "SLHalper13" Taylor
$802
7
Vladimir "Donate_here" Alexandrov
$628
8
oh_shoot
$488
9
mrnissan50
$383.62
$10,000 Warriors�� Opening Strike
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$45.50+4.50
187
$12,968
Place
Player
Prize
1
supremetny
$3,501
2
sansara52
$2,042
3
fadiphatu1
$1,167
4
JNP09123
$908
5
rjsk0531
$778
6
ShipThis_1
$648
7
itashi28
$493
8
Ryan "sychosid" Hohner
$311
9
SoccerMommy
$220
$50,000 Ultimate Warrior
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$200+15
174
$50,200
Place
Player
Prize
1
kazuomatsui
$13,554
2
Big_Bux_Buro
$7,907
3
sevenstars
$4,518
4
Daniel "centrfieldr" Lupo
$3,514
5
OnTheRun187
$3,012
6
Bigcakes1
$2,510
7
KevDurant35
$1,908
8
Ross "BlueTang" Gottlieb
$1,205
9
arose
$853.40
$10,000 Fierce Warrior
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$91+9
105
$13,195
Place
Player
Prize
1
Ryan "sychosid" Hohner
$3,695
2
KevDurant35
$2,138
3
Fred "BiggDaddy" Farrell
$1,227
4
Ryan "Hagzzz021" Hagerty
$963
5
Anthony "iamskynet" Cicali
$831
6
arose
$699
7
Andrew "smaulerg" Glauberg
$554
8
Daniel "juice" Buzgon
$369
9
rumpthumperr
$277.09
$30,000 The BIG Deal
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$467+33
61
$35,025
Place
Player
Prize
1
blinktwice
$10,157
2
.BEAST.
$5,954
3
Daniel "centrfieldr" Lupo
$4,203
4
Joseph "megolaman1ac" Liberta
$3,503
5
johnnygolf78
$2,802
6
RIP_Neiko
$2,417
7
rbam13
$2,066
8
Ashisit
$1,716
9
Anthony "l0lflawless" Maio
$1,226
If you play regulated online poker tournaments in New Jersey and would like your real name appearing in future articles, please contact Jason Glatzer via email at [email protected] or via Twitter under @JaxonPoker.