By Dave Lukow
Jonathan Jaffe is a star on the rise. A resident of West Springfield, Mass., Jaffe, 23, outlasted 237 players to win the $2,700 Spotlight Championship at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. For the victory, Jaffe earned $137,651.
No stranger to the money, Jaffe has cashed 30 times at live events, including 16 at the World Series of Poker. The win was his second at the WPF and third of his career.
He captured the top spot in Event 12 of last year’s WPF for $54,372. In 2012, he was fifth in a deepstack event at Foxwoods.
Aaron Smith, 32, of Plymouth, Mass., finished second to Jaffe, taking home $84,841. Spiro Mitrokostas, also of Massachusetts, was third ($54,829). Smith, with 31 cashes and one win, has career earnings of more than $300K. Mitrokostas, 59, has cashed 58 times for more than $540K in winnings.
Another Massachusetts resident, James Campbell of Marlboro, won $45,018 for his fourth-place finish in the championship. The cash was his 30th.
Tom Dobrilovic of West Nyack, N.Y., took fifth ($34,052). Overall, he cashed four times at this year’s WPF to increase his career winnings to more than $1.3 million. Of his 72 cashes, 10 have come in 2014.
The prize pool for Event 18 was $577,150.
Nicholas Palma of the Bronx was first in Event 12, a $1,650 tourney for $41,500. He cashed three times in the series, boosting his total cashes to 32.
Dominic Apostolico of Cranston, R.I., was second in Event 12 ($35,204). Jimmy Nunez earned $20,258 for third, bringing his career cashes to 11.
Jason Calnan of Revere, Mass., earned $22,619 for winning the $1,100 Event 15. Also the winner of Event 4, Calnan cashed three times, increasing his career earnings to more than $61K. New Hampshire’s Michael Farris was second in the event, banking $14K. Tarun Gulati of Connecticut was third.
MEGASTACK CHALLENGE: The popular Foxwoods series runs Dec. 6-15. Please see the ad on the inside back page of our December issue for the full schedule and more details.
— Email Dave at david@anteupmagazine.com
