The 2011 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach tournament, taking place at the Palm Beach Kennel Club was won by John Riordan this week. The Florida native was successful on home turf and notched up his biggest win to date with this inspirational victory.
The19 year old player defeated 712 players on his way to taking the WSOPC Palm Beach title in his home state. His prize win totaled up to $210,180. By winning this tournament, Riordan also put his name in the record books by being credited as the youngest ever winner of a WSOPC title.
The $1,600 buy in tournament attracted some famous faces to the Kennel Club including T.J. Cloutier, Robert Mizrachi and Greg Raymer. The final table arrived after three days of furious poker playing that saw Riordan leading the charge from the start. The competitors involved at the final table were the winner himself, Ryan Lenaghan, Jesse Okonczak, Gerald Timmons, Thomas Aprea, Dave MacDonald, Jon Brody, Austin Buchanan and Mike Morton.
It was an intriguing final table with strong hands being contested throughout. After a prolonged period it came down to a heads up between Mike Morton and John Riordan. A brief spell of tit for tat came to a climax when Morton went all in with a 6 and a 4. The cards down on the table were 6, 5, 3 and 3. Little did Morton know that Riordan had played him for a pair of 10s. Riordan accepted Morton’s call and effectively sealed his championship right there. It only took a couple more hands before Riordan killed Morton off to become the new WSOPC Palm Beach Champion. His 8 and 7 hit a pair whilst Morton’s 9 and 3 drew nothing.
The victory was a bittersweet feeling for the young prodigy as he received news he would be unable to participate in the $1 million Las Vegas WSOPC National Championship Freeroll in a couple of months because the age limit is 21 years of age. Even in poker, age can be a restriction. Riordan should not worry too much though. Time is most certainly on this young talent’s side. John Riordan is yet another hot prospect to keep an eye on in the poker world and he should really consider his next two years to be a free ride before he is eligible to enter all the major tournaments across the world. Then his career can really take off and the way things are going that looks certain to be quite a journey.
