Published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
22 YEAR OLD POKER STAR WINS $878 500 IN U.S. POKER CHAMPS
Starting field of 260 was the challenge for Yale graduate
Alex Jacobs aka "Yahtzem" maintained his characteristic cool and calm exterior whilst exulting within this week as he took home a $878 500 grand prize for winning the U.S. Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
The 22 year old Ivy League graduate overcame a starting field of 260 players to claim victory, with his major prize bringing his total poker earnings to $1 690 000. His previous best placing in a tournament was second in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Foxwoods Poker Classic Championship event in April.
It's been a landmark year for Jacobs; in May he graduated from his course at Yale where he majored in economics and math, and the Foxwoods win netted him a cool $655 000.
To win the U.S. Poker Championship Jacobs had to go heads-up against Jordan Morgan, another young gun poker pro who was signed on as a member of the InterPoker.com Extreme Team this summer. Morgan earned $405 072 for his second place finish.
The top ten players, and their earnings at the final table were:
1st Alex Jacob $878 500
2nd Jordan Morgan $405 072
3rd Michael DeMichele $215 194
4th Daniel Shak $151 902
5th Stephen Feraca $113 926
6th Dale Pinchot $88 610
7th Jeffrey King $63 293
8th Augustin Mendez $50 634
9th Shane Schleger $40 508
10th Akio Ishige $32 912