A record-setting field of 3,142 players turned out for Event 34, the $1,000 no-limit hold 'em Seniors Championship. Open only to players born before June 18, 1960, the tournament attracted a massive field to create a $2,827,800 prize pool and a first-place prize of $487,994.
Down to only $400 on Day 1, Harold Angle was ready to go home as he motioned toward his four chips to his son-in-law on the rail. A couple lucky cards fell his way and he was back in contention. Some more hours passed and he had chips to toss around. Then came the money bubble and, finally, two days later, he was headed to the final table where he would win his first World Series of Poker bracelet. The 78-year-old retiree from Sun City, Fla., formerly worked in sales for a major show manufacturer. The oldest player at the final table only meant more experience and, of course, a bigger pay day.
Wearing his lucky Jacksonville Jaguars hat (his daughter is a cheerleader for the team), Angle was cheered on by his daughters and his wife of 60 years. He has come a long way from his first hand of poker in 1946 in a pool hall in Ohio; he's a WSOP champion.
"It was a great tournament," he said. "I did not run into any rude people the entire time. Everyone congratulated each other. It was the best. I had the best time ever."
Never playing a hand of online poker in his life ("I don't even know how to turn a computer on"), Angle said that there are three things you need to play winning poker: patience, knowledge of the game and luck. When at home in Florida, he sometimes plays poker at the Hard Rock Casino and while there, he often considers himself "a grandfather to the whole table."
He plans to split the prize money with his children and their families and will definitely be back to defend his title in 2011; however, he will not be playing in the $10,000 main event this year. Besides the bracelet and the cash, Angle was awarded the "Golden Eagle" trophy, which will be engraved with his name. The trophy is passed from champion to champion every year.
Other notable finishers from Event 34 include Berry Johnston (39th), John Spadavecchia (56th) and Eddy Scharf (73rd).
Below are the complete results of Event 34 at the 2010 World Series of Poker:
Event 34: Seniors' Championship
Buy-in: $1,000
Entries: 3,142
Prize pool: $2,827,800
Players in the money: 324
1. Harold Angle ($487,994)
2. Michael Minetti ($301,839)
3. John Woo ($213,612)
4. Eric Stemp ($154,624)
5. Daniel Camillo ($113,225)
6. Preston Derden ($83,872)
7. Jack Ward ($62,833)
8. Carlos Pianelli ($47,591)
9. Jay Hong ($36,450)
10. Edward Weiss ($28,221)
11. Bruce Angeski ($28,221)
12. Jeanne Nelson ($28,221)
13. John Wrona ($22,085)
14. Tom Schneider ($22,085)
15. Bruce Peterson ($22,085)
16. Thomas Scott ($17,475)
17. Jon Hair ($17,475)
18. Michael Woo ($17,475)
19. Robert Cain ($13,969)
20. Larry Ross ($13,969)
21. Ken James ($13,969)
22. Dave Lambertson ($13,969)
23. Brian Appelbaum ($13,969)
24. Layne Black ($13,969)
25. James Polanski ($13,969)
26. Derek Payne ($13,969)
27. Samuel Blum ($13,969)
28. Kenneth Clark ($11,282)
29. Richard Gross ($11,282)
30. Duane Gerleman ($11,282)
31. Adam Bachrach ($11,282)
32. David Kraus ($11,282)
33. Eddylee Martin ($11,282)
34. Allen Narbonne ($11,282)
35. John Morgan ($11,282)
36. Douglas Houghton ($11,282)
37. Harry Weinberg ($9,218)
38. Jeff Heiberg ($9,218)
39. Berry Johnston ($9,218)
40. Donnacha Odea ($9,218)
41. Fariborz Badimansour ($9,218)
42. Fred Berger ($9,218)
43. Richard Grosely ($9,218)
44. Larry Vance ($9,218)
45. Chad Brownhill ($9,218)
46. James Winniman ($7,606)
47. Harlan Miller ($7,606)
48. Clifford Friend ($7,606)
49. Robert Belton ($7,606)
50. Joel Marcus ($7,606)
51. Carole Wueste ($7,606)
52. Salah Levy ($7,606)
53. Steve Gersch ($7,606)
54. Michael Mueller ($7,606)
55. Russell Morley ($6,334)
56. John Spadavecchia ($6,334)
57. (Did not report) ($6,334)
58. Donald Otto ($6,334)
59. Gary Burks ($6,334)
60. David Standley ($6,334)
61. Salim Batshon ($6,334)
62. Vasilios Tzetzos ($6,334)
63. Skip Plotnicki ($6,334)
64. Thomas Spruitenburg ($5,316)
65. Charles Anderson ($5,316)
66. Michael Lawrence ($5,316)
67. Danny Lindstrom ($5,316)
68. Paul Schulze ($5,316)
69. Mark Jagiello ($5,316)
70. George Zater ($5,316)
71. Burt Grenell ($5,316)
72. Bobby Binsky ($5,316)
73. Eduard Scharf ($4,524)
74. Alan Denkenson ($4,524)
75. John Benedetto ($4,524)
76. Mark Daly ($4,524)
77. Michael Baker ($4,524)
78. Susie Isaacs ($4,524)
79. Bob Sweedler ($4,524)
80. Jake Wells ($4,524)
81. Duane Carlson ($4,524)
82. Robert Barley ($3,874)
83. Lawrence Huffman ($3,874)
84. Gary Braine ($3,874)
85. Joseph Aronesty ($3,874)
86. Sam Crimaldi ($3,874)
87. Jack King ($3,874)
88. Chris Wunderlich ($3,874)
89. Michael Hirschensohn ($3,874)
90. Chester Adamson ($3,874)
91. Kenneth Billings ($3,365)
92. Jeffrey Taylor ($3,365)
93. James Gleason ($3,365)
94. Jeffrey Paszkiewicz ($3,365)
95. Johnnie Linn ($3,365)
96. William Paterson ($3,365)
97. Kent Corser ($3,365)
98. Robert Bogo ($3,365)
99. Robert Damon ($3,365)
100. Lora Stewart ($2,940)
101. Robert Jarman ($2,940)
102. David Nelson ($2,940)
103. Donald Berkeley ($2,940)
104. George Palomarez ($2,940)
105. James Allen ($2,940)
106. Richard Lee ($2,940)
107. Russ Murphy ($2,940)
108. Doug Rieper ($2,940)
109. Jack Sharp ($2,940)
110. Wendell Phillips ($2,940)
111. Richard Gorosh ($2,940)
112. Richard Walter ($2,940)
113. Terry Schmidt ($2,940)
114. Charles Shoten ($2,940)
115. Kevin Landry ($2,940)
116. John Harrison ($2,940)
117. Joseph Mauro ($2,940)
118. Michael Caito ($2,940)
119. Phil Hall ($2,940)
120. Ronald Giles ($2,940)
121. John Isler ($2,940)
122. Odette Tremblay ($2,940)
123. Bruce Baker ($2,940)
124. Ernie Galliani ($2,940)
125. Jim Stephens ($2,940)
126. Hieu Ngoc Ma ($2,940)
127. Osvaldo Marchi ($2,940)
128. Aubyn Shettle ($2,940)
129. Guy Cicconi ($2,940)
130. James Colombo ($2,940)
131. Robert Mitchell ($2,940)
132. Frank Croschere ($2,940)
133. Douglas Hunichen ($2,940)
134. Donald Baker ($2,940)
135. Michael Shaw ($2,940)
136. Alex Spiers ($2,940)
137. Victor Debrouwer ($2,940)
138. Richard Nadler ($2,940)
139. Bill Bennett ($2,940)
140. Gerald Walter ($2,940)
141. Yu Hsu ($2,940)
142. Roland Deslippe ($2,940)
143. Gerald Shebar ($2,940)
144. Janet Blacik ($2,940)
145. Jerry Leva ($2,601)
146. Michael Guzaldo ($2,601)
147. Douglas Lyon ($2,601)
148. Robert Baffa ($2,601)
149. Bruce Allen ($2,601)
150. Richard Collins ($2,601)
151. (Did not report) ($2,601)
152. Steve Shulman ($2,601)
153. Frank Derry ($2,601)
154. Robert Crawford ($2,601)
155. David Cohen ($2,601)
156. Walter Shawne Browne ($2,601)
157. Thomas Rini ($2,601)
158. Bertel Ladner ($2,601)
159. James Brown ($2,601)
160. Randy Zitta ($2,601)
161. Thomas Miller ($2,601)
162. Robert Gray ($2,601)
163. Jack Sloan ($2,601)
164. Richard Orchid ($2,601)
165. Michael Schwartz ($2,601)
166. John Brown ($2,601)
167. Michael Vlastnik ($2,601)
168. David Collins ($2,601)
169. Jay Levine ($2,601)
170. Steven Sobel ($2,601)
171. Charles Miller ($2,601)
172. Scott Buller ($2,601)
173. Harry Tomishima ($2,601)
174. James Henson ($2,601)
175. James Duke ($2,601)
176. James Bradford ($2,601)
177. Edward Dubrovich ($2,601)
178. John Ross ($2,601)
179. Ricky Mitchum ($2,601)
180. Philip Smith ($2,601)
181. William Payne ($2,601)
182. David Gressett ($2,601)
183. Steven Hall ($2,601)
184. Ronald Maria ($2,601)
185. Jim Brown ($2,601)
186. Randall Manago ($2,601)
187. William Smith ($2,601)
188. Fred Womack ($2,601)
189. Kevin Parmely ($2,601)
190. Harry Snyder ($2,318)
191. Gregory Webb ($2,318)
192. Greg Duros ($2,318)
193. Chris Platt ($2,318)
194. Donald Geiger ($2,318)
195. Alan Epstein ($2,318)
196. Joseph Lavenia ($2,318)
197. Thomas Kajewski ($2,318)
198. Paul Fisher ($2,318)
199. Dao Bac ($2,318)
200. James Mcgoldrick ($2,318)
201. Jeffrey Stroiman ($2,318)
202. Keith Uchima ($2,318)
203. Michael Kinney ($2,318)
204. Gunter Wagner ($2,318)
205. George Sideris ($2,318)
206. Robert Webber ($2,318)
207. Lauralynn Williams ($2,318)
208. Virgil Crabtree ($2,318)
209. (Did not report) ($2,318)
210. Stuart Locascio ($2,318)
211. Michael Mccauley ($2,318)
212. Michael Shannon ($2,318)
213. Toshio Nanao ($2,318)
214. Jorge Barer ($2,318)
215. Danny Wenzler ($2,318)
216. Gary Haglund ($2,318)
217. Jeffrey Cavan ($2,318)
218. Harvey Milstein ($2,318)
219. Nicholas Cologna ($2,318)
220. Michael Gonzales ($2,318)
221. Daniel Tupper ($2,318)
222. Robert Flowers ($2,318)
223. William Scara ($2,318)
224. Terrance Milko ($2,318)
225. TJ Cloutier ($2,318)
226. Larry Kabriel ($2,318)
227. Bill Swan ($2,318)
228. Mark Mueller ($2,318)
229. Dale Hanke ($2,318)
230. Larry Terris ($2,318)
231. James Mudd ($2,318)
232. Larry Dragon ($2,318)
233. Johnney B Jr Miller ($2,318)
234. Tom Berting ($2,318)
235. Richard Walker ($2,092)
236. (Did not report) ($2,092)
237. Stephen Hagar ($2,092)
238. William Saemann ($2,092)
239. (Did not report) ($2,092)
240. Ed Smith ($2,092)
241. Andrew Garvin ($2,092)
242. William Rogers ($2,092)
243. David Danheiser ($2,092)
244. Paul Zdebiak ($2,092)
245. Gerald Davidow ($2,092)
246. Randy Holland ($2,092)
247. Frank Tenuta ($2,092)
248. Ray Johnston ($2,092)
249. Richard Galpal ($2,092)
250. Robert Buckley ($2,092)
251. Kenneth Morey ($2,092)
252. Timothy Porter ($2,092)
253. Michael Stovall ($2,092)
254. William Ringler ($2,092)
255. Calvin Dennis ($2,092)
256. Mordechai Kitai ($2,092)
257. William Brewer ($2,092)
258. Bruce David ($2,092)
259. John Sheffield ($2,092)
260. Gary May ($2,092)
261. John Marchiando ($2,092)
262. John Cronin ($2,092)
263. Mark Hixson ($2,092)
264. Brian Petersen ($2,092)
265. Deloris Batson ($2,092)
266. Alan Emerson ($2,092)
267. Michael Sprando ($2,092)
268. Ralph Wiggins ($2,092)
269. James Johnson ($2,092)
270. Travis Newberry ($2,092)
271. Jerry Zickert ($2,092)
272. Frederick Lynch ($2,092)
273. Robert Chimento ($2,092)
274. Dennis Day ($2,092)
275. Robert Lichter ($2,092)
276. William Maxwell ($2,092)
277. Dennis Frederick ($2,092)
278. James Hatfield ($2,092)
279. Karen Mccauley ($2,092)
280. Andreas Dassopoulos ($1,894)
281. Douglas Weidman ($1,894)
282. Cody Laycock ($1,894)
283. (Did not report) ($1,894)
284. Larry Newman ($1,894)
285. Christopher Haskins ($1,894)
286. Howard Andrew ($1,894)
287. Joe Chick ($1,894)
288. Hoyt Corkins ($1,894)
289. Rayna Davis ($1,894)
290. Sigi Stockinger ($1,894)
291. Jay Vogel ($1,894)
292. Kenneth Webber ($1,894)
293. George Villano ($1,894)
294. Lance Humphrey ($1,894)
295. Jack Brown ($1,894)
296. David Levine ($1,894)
297. Lawrence Marshall ($1,894)
298. Arthur Reber ($1,894)
299. Joseph Weiss ($1,894)
300. Danny Dalonzo ($1,894)
301. Steven Ward ($1,894)
302. Charles Miller ($1,894)
303. Marios Savvides ($1,894)
304. Raymond Mattatall ($1,894)
305. Larry Fairclough ($1,894)
306. James Behnke ($1,894)
307. Anders Beckman ($1,894)
308. Jim Feist ($1,894)
309. Glenn Yamada ($1,894)
310. Otis Gardner ($1,894)
311. (Did not report) ($1,894)
312. Tom Franklin ($1,894)
313. Beverly Lowry ($1,894)
314. Walter Callam ($1,894)
315. Vahe Markarian ($1,894)
316. Stephen Carpenter ($1,894)
317. Charles Riebe ($1,894)
318. Roy Best ($1,894)
319. Curtis Stokes ($1,894)
320. Wayne Searle ($1,894)
321. Donald Burchell ($1,894)
322. Joseph Wasylean ($1,894)
323. Galen Sliver ($1,894)
324. (Did not report) ($1,894)