WSOPC Atlantic City Main Event Won By Roland Isra

admin, March 17, 2010 9:18 am

Roland Isra (52) has won the 2010 WSOP Circuit Atlantic City Main Event, after defeating a field of 174 players over three days to take down the title and the $264,715 first place prize.
The $5,000 no-limit hold’em championship event got started on Friday, March 12th and by Sunday, March 14th the remaining nine players in the competition took their places at the final table.
As a poker pro, Roland Isra didn’t allow the fact he was seventh in chips worry him and amazingly he hadn’t eliminated a single player at the table until the heads-up stage had been reached. Instead he was able to keep his tournament alive by playing a patient and selectively aggressive game, which allowed him to win a number of pots without a showdown of cards.
Isra was born in the former Soviet Union territory of Georgia, and the now native New Yorker worked as a jeweler for over 25 years before turning his attentions towards professional poker in 2002. Following his victory, Isra commented:
“I’ve been trying very long to get this gold ring and finally this makes me very happy. I really don’t like to wear any jewelry because I was handling it for a long time, but this one is going to stay with me.”
The other short stacks at the table, Austin, Dimitroulakos, and Chan, were eliminated first, and by the time the final table had reached the three handed stage it was another four hours before Witcher exited the tournament in 3rd ($81,702) to force heads-up play between Roland Isra and Chris Mitchell.
After a couple of hours of heads-up play, both players got their chips into the centre of the table on a 10-9-6-A board, with Mitchell holding Q-J to Isra’s A-9. The river changed nothing and Christopher Mitchell walked away with the $138,894 runner-up prize, while Roland Isra whose biggest score to date was $16,739 collected an impressive $264,715 as well as a $10,000 seat to the 2010 WSOP Main Event in June.
Commenting on his famous win and his amazing comeback, Roland Isra said, “when it’s your day, it’s your day.”