Former Television News Cameraman, Jeff Clayton, Turned Poker
Pro Wins WSOP Circuit Gold Ring at Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Playing poker for a living has been called, "a tough way to make an easy living." It's even tougher when the player has a spouse and children at home, who count on financial support. But Jeff Clayton appears to be making the transition from working a steady job to playing poker full-time exceeding well. He just won the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit event held at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and collected his first-ever gold ring.Clayton, a 30-year-old poker pro from Glendale, CA lost his job last year. He was previously a news cameraman for FOX-TV in Los Angeles. Clayton played poker in his spare time, and had the perfect opportunity to pursue his recreational interest more seriously after the television network announced numerous layoffs, including a pink slip for Clayton. He has other major developments on the horizon, as well. Clayton is married and already has a son. He and his wife are expecting their second child, in just four weeks. The delivery date coincides with the start of the upcoming WSOP in Las Vegas.
"I just got started (playing poker). I lost my job last year, so I wanted to give (poker) a shot because I had been doing well at it part-time," Clayton said moments after officially winning $14,323 in the Caesars tournament. "For me, playing this upcoming World Series of Poker will be everything, because I have only played in one event ever, so far. The amount of people they have (entering), the amount of money, it's huge."
The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament was played over two consecutive days during April 19th and 20th. There were 203 entries for the mid-week event, which generated a prize pool totaling $59,073. The top 27 finishers collected prize money.
One interesting side note was that for the second day in a row, a husband and wife both cashed in the same event. James Ignatieff, Jr. and Corinn Ignatieff both made the money, finishing in 19th and 27th place, respectively. In the previous tournament, Dan Zogman and wife Mary Jo Zogman both finished in-the-money as well.
Final Table play began on a Tuesday afternoon. There was only one prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winner among the final nine players – Mike Ratcliff, who ended up finishing in second place. The finale also included two female players as well as three Canadian players. In fact, two of the players were from the same area in Saskatchewan.
Sebastian Smitdorff arrived at the Final Table with a slight chip lead. But Geoff Mulligan and Jeff Clayton were very close behind. Smitdorff ended up going out about midway through the finale, whereas Clayton enjoyed a flurry of good fortune from the moment he took his seat. Mulligan surprised everyone by being the first player to bust out.
Jeff Clayton is a 30-year-old poker pro from Glendale, CA. He has been playing full-time for about nine months. Clayton has previously won tournaments in Los Angeles and now has more than $300,000 in career tournament earnings. However, this was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related event. He has bigger goals ahead to play in more WSOP tournaments, while trying to maintain the proper balance between husband and soon-to-be new father and aspiring poker pro.
"I can't wait for the WSOP to date," Clayton said. "I'm drooling over it, already."
An interview with Jeff Clayton at tableside moments after his win can be seen here: http://www.twitvid.com/JRBFR
___________________
by Nolan Dalla
posted by Kurt at 10:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home