Yousef "Joe" Saleh Continues Great Year w/ First Gold Ring Win
PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit IP Biloxi, but that is just one of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, 665 runners competed over four starting flights, which generated a $219,449 prize pool.
The top 91 players got paid including Greg Whitworth (10th - $3,289), David Nicholson (13th - $2,826), Craig Flood (20th - $2,197), Rodney Crosby (32nd - $1,583), Cecil White (43rd - $1,188), and Martin Zentner (57th - $815).
Coming out on top was Yousef "Joe" Saleh, who claimed a $34,004 first-place prize and his first gold ring. The victory was just the latest for Saleh, who is enjoying a career year. In fact, he just won “Breakout Player of the Year” at the Gulf Coast Poker Awards, which recognizes players from the south.
“I feel good. I already made two final tables this series. It’s awesome,” Saleh said after the win. “I believe in goals for myself. Last year, I wasn’t in poker that much. I played here at the IP the series and didn’t do anything. Then after that I wanted to take it seriously. There’s a guy who inspired me who said: ‘If you keep playing the way you’re playing and work on it a little bit, you will be a champion.’ I just kind of took it seriously from this day. But it’s still a hobby, I don’t play for a living. I love the game, but it has ups and downs.”
As for his heads-up opponent, Easton Oreman, Saleh said: “He played perfect. We both kind of played perfect. We swapped the chip lead about six times. I went down to one million, four big blinds. But I just kept playing my game and got lucky. You have to take advantage of being lucky, you cannot be lucky and just waste it. You can’t just believe it’s going to happen every day. It doesn’t.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yousef "Joe" Saleh | Meridian, Mississippi | $34,004 |
| 2 | Easton Oreman | Kenner, Louisiana | $21,322 |
| 3 | Jesse Lott | Selmer, Tennessee | $15,903 |
| 4 | Aaron Gamino | Nashville, Tennesse | $12,047 |
| 5 | Gavin Munroe | Gautier, Mississippi | $9,278 |
| 6 | Philip Walsh | Gulfport, Mississippi | $7,269 |
| 7 | Greg Urbanski | Mobile, Alabama | $5,798 |
| 8 | Joseph Hebert | Metairie, Louisiana | $4,711 |
| 9 | Bobby Moree | Pearl River, Louisiana | $3,900 |