Tag Archives: United States Poker Championship

Chris Reslock

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One of the nicest professionals that you will meet at the poker table is Chris Reslock. Reslock is a professional poker player in the Atlantic City, NJ area that used to be a cab driver. Once poker became legal in AC, he started playing poker and became proficient in most games but favored $10-$20 Holdem. He made so much money playing poker that he decided to park the cab and to stick with poker.

For the first few years of Reslock’s pro career, most of his wins centered around the Atlantic City area. He won a stud event at the 2001 United States Poker Championship, two events at the 2003 Tropicana Poker Championship Series, and one at Showdown at the Sands in 2003. He also made numerous final table appearances and money finishes.

His biggest poker score to date and his first significant tournament win came at the World Series of Poker Circuit in 2005. He took down the Main Event of the Atlantic City WSOP-C stop to win his first gold championship ring and $335,235. Ten days later he would finish runner up at the Trump Classic Main Event and take down $126,000. Reslock would win his 2nd WSOP Circuit ring in 2006 when he won a preliminary event at the Harrah’s Atlantic City circuit event.

Relock at present has only seven cashes at the World Series of Poker for his career, but two of them are some of the biggest accomplishments on his poker resume. First, Reslock won his first, and so far only, WSOP bracelet when he won the 2007 Seven Card Stud World Championship. The final table of this pro heavy field included Phil Ivey, David Oppenheim, Ted Lawson, and Marco Traniello. Reslock made it heads-up with Ivey and defeated Ivey in short order to win his first WSOP bracelet. Later, Reslock would make the money of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, finishing 15th out of 148 of the best players on the planet.

Reslock has several other poker titles in the AC area. He took two titles at the 2006 Trump Classic and then came back in 2007 to take another title at the Trump Classic and make 2 other final tables. He also made two final tables at the 2007 United States Poker Championship.

2008 has also been a good year for Reslock as he started off the year winning his 3rd WSOP Circuit ring at the circuit stop in Tunica, MS. He then won two titles at the 2008 United States Poker Championships and made two final tables at the World Poker Finals. In total, Chris Reslock has earned over $1.45 Million in live tournaments. Not bad for a former taxi driver.

Chris Reslock brings a solid style of poker to the table in any poker game he plays and has enjoyed in just about every form of poker played inside of a casino. This former taxi drive will come to the table and charm you with his friendly personality. Afterward, he will “taxi” your chips right into his stack.

Hoyt Corkins

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Hoyt Corkins is probably one of the most soft spoken poker players that you will ever meet. He comes to the table wearing his signature cowboy boot and hat. Upon talking to him and finding out about his ranch in Alabama, you would likely peg him as a fun loving cowboy at the table to have a good time. You will soon find out that he is a fearsome poker player after all your chips are in his stack.

Corkins learned how to play poker at the age of 19 from his father. He started playing professional poker tournaments in the late 80 and had some mild success, including a win in Pot Limit Omaha at the 1990 Super Bowl of Poker and a 1990 WSOP Main Event win. However, his first major poker title did not come to him until 1992.

Corkins won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1992 in Pot Limit Omaha. His win earned him $96,000 and his first major title. He would then finish in 10th in the Pot Limit Holdem event later in the series. After his win, Corkins would leave the poker scene for 11 years. He went through a divorce and decided to stay away from the game. It wasn’t until his new fiancé prompted him to return to poker that he decided to give poker another go.

Corkins came back to poker in 2003 and in short order took down his 2nd major title, this time with the World Poker Tour. Corkins won the World Poker Finals to take home his first WPT title and the $1.089 Million prize. Two months later in early 2004, Corkins would finish in 2nd at the PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure for another $290,065.

Corkins was now a force in the poker world and continued to make many strong finishes in poker. He finished 3rd in the Main Event of the United States Poker Championship in 2004 and then followed up with a 2nd place finish at the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions. He then made his third WPT final table in 2006, finishing 3rd at the Legends of Poker.

Corkins would win his 2nd WSOP gold bracelet in 2007 when he took down the $2,500 Six Handed No Limit Holdem event. A few months later Corkins would come just short of his 2nd WPT title, finishing 2nd at the World Poker Open in Tunica MS. The 2008 WSOP was also strong for Corkins. He finished in the money five times, including a 4th place finish in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event and money finish in the Main Event.

Hoyt Corkins has earned over $4 Million in live tournaments for his career. Outside of poker, Corkins tends sixty head of cattle at his ranch in Alabama. His fearsome play at the table has earned him the nickname of “nightmare.” Phil Hellmuth says that he is a “great bluffer who constantly puts people to the test.” With the support of his family, Corkins has come back to the poker world after an 11 year absence to dominate it. At just 40 years of age, Corkins will be bringing his soft spoken nature to the tables for many years to come, and walking away with most, if not all, of his opponent’s chips.

O’Neil Longson

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O’Neil Longson is a professional poker player based out of Las Vegas that is considered to be one of the best Pot Limit Omaha players on the planet. He has been making a killing at both the cash games and in tournaments for many years. His game is not just limited to Omaha as his long tournament history goes to show.

Longson holds three World Series of Poker gold bracelets. He took his first in 1994 when he won the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. It then took him 9 nears to win his next bracelet, which he achieved in 2003. He won the $5,000 NL Deuce to Seven Lowball bracelet and $147,680. His third and final bracelet came in 2005 when he took the $1,500 Razz event. In addition to his three WSOP bracelet, Longson has also cashed twice in the WSOP Main Event.

Outside of the World Series of Poker, Longson has taken several other top titles as well. He won the Main Event of the 1995 L.A. Poker Classic and then followed it up later that year with a win at the Four Queens Classic in Pot Limit Omaha. He also took the 1996 Stud Championship event at the United States Poker Championship. He would win $200,000 for that title. In addition to these wins, Longson finished runner up in the 1997 Hall of Fame Poker Classic Main Event and in the 1998 United States Poker Championship Main Event. For his career, Longson has won over $2.1 Million in live tournaments.

Longson does not play as many tournaments nowadays because he has developed a hearing problem. He still plays a lot of cash games and terrorizes the players with his wild play. Even being hard of hearing, Longson is still a threat in a tournament. He just won a Pot Limit Omaha event in October 2008 at the Caesars Poker Classic.

O’Neil Longson has had a long and successful career. While it remains to be seen how long he will still play in tournaments, his success still speaks volume for his ability. His prowess at Pot Limit Omaha is the stuff of legend and stories about O’Neil Longson will probably continue long after he decides to step away from the game.

Daniel Negreanu

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Daniel Negreanu grew up in Toronto Canada and had aspirations as a young man to be a comedian and actor. Around the age of 16, he was introduced to poker and soon afterward, poker and pool were the main focuses in his life. He eventually dropped out of high school to focus on playing poker. He started by playing in card rooms around Toronto until he was old enough to play in legal casinos. When he was finally old enough, he took a trip to Vegas but lasted only 8 months before he was broke again. He went back home to Toronto to rebuild his bankroll and the rest from there is history.

Negreanu started winning tournaments back in 1997 when he won events at Heavenly holdem and two at the World Poker Finals. His success continued into 1998 when he won events at the California State Championships, the Orleans Open, and another event at Heavenly Holdem. His first major poker victory came in 1998 as well when he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem event.

Negeanu would go on in 1999 to win the Main Event of the United States Poker Championship and $210,000. While he had a few cashes after that, he was kind of quiet on the poker front until the 2001 WSOP when he made a final table in the Razz event and finished 11th in the Main Event that year. 2001 and 2002 would turn out to be solid years as he several final tables and took several small tournaments. In 2002 he made 2 WSOP final tables, finishing runner up in the $5,000 Omaha 8 Event.

It wasn’t until 2003 that Daniel would score his next major poker title. He had 3 final tables at the 2003 WSOP and took home his second bracelet in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event. He also finished runner up in the $3,000 No Limit event that year.

2004 would prove to be Negreanu’s most successful year in regards to tournaments. He exploded onto the World Poker Tour scene. He had 6 cashes that year in the WPT, including 4 final tables and 2 victories. His two victories came at the World Poker Classic and the Borgata Poker Open. He also finished 2nd in the PartyPoker.com Million and 3rd in the PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure. He won over 3.7 Million in the WPT alone that year.

2004 was also a highly successful year for Daniel at the World Series of Poker as well. He cashed 6 times at the WSOP, which included 5 final tables, and his third WSOP bracelet. He took down the $2,000 Limit Holdem bracelet and nearly pulled off the $1,000 NL bracelet, but fell short in 3rd place. He also took home Player of the Year honors that year, winning himself a SUV in the process.

Although he would go on to make 2 more WPT final tables in 2005, his next big win was not until the WSOP Circuit Championship in 2006. For some reason, going into 2006, Negreanu was considered on a downswing in poker, not having a significant finish in 2005. The 2006 WSOP-C event in Tunica MS was the first major poker event of the year, and Negreanu was in the field. He made the final table, and never looked back and eventually emerged as the victor and $755,525 richer. To date, this is his only WSOP-C victory.

Negreanu would go on to have a solid WSOP in 2006 as well. He finished 2nd to Mike Sexton in the 2006 Tournament of Champions and then proceeded to cash 5 times in the WSOP. He made the final table of the $2,000 Omaha 8 event, finished 8th in the $2,500 Short handed event, and finished in the money in the Main Event. Negreanu would finish off the 2006 year with a 3rd place finish in the WPT event at the Doyle Brunson North American Championship, taking home $592,000.

Daniel would brag about how he loved Tunica later after the start of the 2007 year. He took 2nd in the WPT event at the Gold Strike Casino. This event won him $502,691 and was his 2nd big score in Tunica in two years. Beyond the WPT event, Negreanu’s 2007 was uneventful with the exception of his WSOP. He made 2 final tables at the WSOP, finishing 3rd in the $1,500 NL Shootout and 5th in the $2,000 Seven Card Stud event later won by Jeffrey Lisandro. He would finish the year with a 14th place finish at the Doyle Brunson classic for nearly $100,000, but overall it was an uneventful year.

2008 was looking to be relatively uneventful for Negreanu as he only had one cash in major tournaments. It seemed he was saving himself for the 2008 WSOP as he went on fire once the WSOP began. He cashed 5 times during the WSOP which included two final tables, and his first bracelet win since 2004. Negreanu made the final table of the $2,000 Limit Holdem event and ended up heads-up in the event. Once the match reached heads-up play, Negreanu literally won every hand in heads-up play to take down the his fourth bracelet and the $204,863 top prize. Negreanu would also cash in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, finishing 13th. Negreanu would also cash in 3 out of 4 events at the WSOP Europe and finished in 5th in the Main Event of the WSOP Europe for nearly $400,000. While his only significant cashes have been at the WSOP this year, many pros would love to have the year he has had.

For his career, Negreanu has won $10.8 Million which makes him 2nd all-time and 1st all-time for Canadian money winners. Negreanu is also known as one of the nicest players at the table. He is very gracious with fan requests for autographs and photos and takes a lot of time out for promoting the game. He also is a representative of PokerStars.com and runs the poker training site PokerVT.com. At just 34, Negreanu is already the 2nd all-time leader in money in poker history. It is safe to assume he has many good years ahead of him and would probably be a safe bet to be the all-time money winner in poker history when he finally walks away from the game.