Poker contender almost folded on college

It's a good thing Joseph Cheong didn't fall in love with poker until his last year of college. He might not have ever finished school.

Cheong, who earned a degree in psychology and a joint degree in math and economics from the University of California, San Diego, can fall back on his education if this poker fascination doesn't work out.

Right now, there is no need to update the résumé.

Cheong, 24, who lives in La Mirada, Calif., has been near the top of the leader board for the past week at the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. Heading into play Saturday, Cheong was the chip leader with almost 24.5 million.

He took a huge hit in the after­noon, which began the day at 27 players. However, Cheong, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States, when he was 6, battled back.

At 11 p.m., Cheong was in third place with 26 million in tournament chips and the field at 11 players.

Some 7,319 players began play in the Main Event on July 5. Players were vying to become part of the Main Event's final table of nine. They will return to the Rio on Nov. 6 to play for a top prize of more than $8.9 million.

Normally on online player, Cheong spent much of the past week adjusting to the lights and television cameras that come with sitting at the ESPN feature table.

"I can't complain. I've had a pretty good run," Cheong said. "I've had a few deep runs at the World Series and my goal this summer was to even out my play."

Cheong has two World Series of Poker cashes this year and earnings of almost $52,000 at the tournament and on the World Series of Poker Circuit. With the field at 11, Cheong was assured of a minimum payday of $635,011.

"You never see a tournament with this type of caliber of players online," Cheong said. "My strategy is just to keep playing optimal poker and not rush anything. This is a tough table."

Cheong often plays at the Oceans 11 casino in Oceanside, Calif., north of San Diego. In March, Cheong won a circuit event at Harrah's Rincon in San Diego, collecting $17,541.

"My best results have been online," Cheong said. "I started playing at a home game with friends and then I took a summer off and pursued poker full time to see how I could do. It worked out well. I had a good summer and made my bankroll so I could play in the World Series."

He started playing more in 2007 during his senior year at UCSD. He felt obligated to finish his schooling, even though poker became his passion.

"That's probably the only reason I finished my schooling," Cheong said. "Otherwise, if I started earlier, I might have made this a full-time thing even sooner.

Cheong's only bump came when he lost a nearly 25 million pot to Filippo Candio of Italy.

Candio called all-in and pushed more than 12 million in chips into a pot that showed a 5-6-6 on the board. Cheong immediately called and turned over a pair of aces. Candio had a 7 and a 5 off-suit and was a distinct underdog.

He left the ESPN feature table in despair and hid behind press row to await the final two cards. The turn card was a 4 and the river provided the 8 for Candio's much-needed straight.

Cheong was knocked below 10 million and into 11th place.

The day became a seesaw battle as players vied for the chance at a multimillion-dollar payday.

Candio had a commanding lead for about an hour until his chip stack took an 8 million hit.

That left three Canadians -- Pascal LeFrancois of Rosemare, Quebec, Matthew Jarvis of Surrey, British Columbia, and Jonathan Duhamel of Boucherville, Quebec -- at the top of the leader board.

A Canadian has never won the World Series of Poker's Main Event.

Still alive in the Main Event is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, a 29-year-old professional poker player from North Miami Beach, Fla.

Entering the Main Event, Mizrachi had four individual event cashes in the 2010 World Series of Poker, including a victory and two other final table appearances.

By winning the Main Event, Mizrachi would tie Frank Kassela for World Series of Poker Player of the Year title.

Mizrachi entered Saturday's play in 16th place with 6.3 million in chips.

At 11 p.m., he was in 10th place with 7.82 million in chips.

Mizrachi began his 2010 run by winning the Poker Players Championship, a $50,000 buy-in event, and earning almost $1.56 million and his first-ever individual event bracelet.

Later in the tournament, Mizrachi finished sixth in the Seven Card Stud World Championship, eighth in the Limit Hold'em World Championship and 26th in a Mixed Event.

In his World Series of Poker career, Mizrachi has 23 cashes and almost $2.4 million in winnings.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz
at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or
702-477-3871. For the latest on the World Series of Poker, go to lvrj.com/blogs/wsop.