Nosebleed Cash Game Player Walks Away With First Career Circuit Ring In PLO
While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the High Roller and Main Event, we��d be remiss if we didn��t tell you about the full schedule of side events that have been playing out over the past week at the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond.
In Event #5: $600 PLO, 167 runners created a $86,005 prize pool that was paid out to the top 26 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the official final table were Anthony Huntsman (10th- $1,464), James Burns (12th - $1,464), Peter Kelly (15th - $1,242), Oleh Ferkalyuk (23rd - $1,082), David Watters (23rd - $895) and previous champion Victor Skrobacz (25th- $852).
In the end, it was Illinois native Emanuel Manioudakis who was all smiles after winning his first gold ring, along with a $22,053 payday.
��Wow! What else could a man ask for! I mean a man could die now and still be happy cause ya boy just won a ring,�� Manioudakis said with a big grin on his face after his win.
��I don��t really get to play Circuit tournaments that often,�� Manioudakis stated. ��I��m a nosebleed cash game player but I had the opportunity to either play this or the $5-$5 cash game and now here we are.��
Even though Manioudakis��s doesn��t get out to play tournaments that often, that doesn��t mean that he��s not involved in the poker community.
��Whenever I have the opportunity to play a tournament I do but I��m just so involved in the poker community as I work for Chicago Charitable Games alongside (runner-up) Ken Kaulen who is actually the owner of CCG. Basically every weekend I��m working at KJ and I��m totally fine with that .��
Chicago Charitable Games (CCG) is a weekend charity poker event planning company that helps local and national charities market successful charitable poker nights.
��KJ likes to host the tournaments on the weekends and I like to spend my time there instead of playing full-time,�� Manioudakis continued, ��I��ve been down that route before and I feel being involved in the poker community the way that I am opposed to playing full-time is just something I have more passion for.��
As far as the victory is concerned, it provided Manioudakis with a nice payday of $22,053 but the money wasn��t his motivation.
��For a lot of us that play poker, the money means nothing. We can all burn through $20,000 no problem, it comes down to this ring because anyone who truly loves this game knows that it��s what really holds the crown,�� stated Manioudakis.
The victory wasn��t just a solo one as Manioudakis has support throughout the poker community.
"I want to give a shoutout to myself for playing some darn good poker, I only got my money in behind once all tournament so that��s definitely worth mentioning,�� Manioudakis said cheekily.
��No, but obviously I have a big shoutout to CCG. If it wasn��t for them or Ken (Kaulen) giving me the opportunity to work I honestly wouldn��t be here right now. And shoutouts to friends, family, The Rail Birds, Ice Haze, Chicagoland Poker Community, Insta Mock, Mr. Gutshot, All the Boyz in the Club and CCGPoker.live.��
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emanuel Manioudakis | Villa Park, IL | $22,053 |
| 2 | Kenneth Kaulen | Naperville, IL | $13,629 |
| 3 | Paul Ewen | Hartley, IA | $9,493 |
| 4 | Stephen Laymon | Warren, IN | $6,763 |
| 5 | Stanislav Angelov | Chicago, IL | $4,930 |
| 6 | David Hoffenberg | Skokie, IL | $3,680 |
| 7 | Marcin Dziubek | Palos Heights, IL | $2,814 |
| 8 | Brian McDaniel | Chicago, IL | $2,206 |
| 9 | Trevor Bublotz | Tinley Parl. IL | $1,774 |