Yary Hing wins Ante Up Sweetwater Series Main Event

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Yari Hing

The Ante Up Sweetwater Series was a series of firsts:

  • It was the first tournament series for Jamul Casino, which held a lavish, star-studded grand opening in February to let the San Diego market know it was open for business.
  • It was the first Ante Up Poker Tour series in Southern California.
  • And for champion Yary Hing, it was his first major title.

“I feel good. This is my first big win,” said Hing, a former poker dealer from San Diego. “I’ve been playing a lot of tournaments and doing well, but not winning. So this was my first first place. I’m still humbled by it … until I see the magazine.”

Hing worked his way to the top spot through two deals, and he was ready to deal even sooner but couldn’t get the final table to bite on negotiating. 

“I was just trying to end it so we can go home,” he said with a laugh.

When play got to four handed, Hing finally got his opponents to agree to a deal, with him taking home the most money – $17,000 – and the four playing it out for the title, the cover of Ante Up, a seat in the 2020 Ante Up World Championship and a little extra cash. Hing stood firm on his desire to make more than everyone else.

“I was chipleader and I knew they were feeling the momentum I was getting,” he said. “I was picking up hands. I actually gave them a pretty good deal.”

With the worry of money removed, the final four were whittled down to just Hing and Christopher Smith, who traded chips back and forth heads-up for a bit before the two reached another deal – giving Hing the title, the cover and the extra cash, with Smith booking his ticket to Thunder Valley Casino Resort next summer for the Ante Up Worlds. 

“(The magazine cover) is the real deal. I wanted the title,” Hing said. “I wanted to prove something to myself. I’ve been working hard at this and it’s finally paying off for me.” 

Hing, who prefers tournaments to cash games, satellited into the $550 event that drew 171 entries, making for a long first day.

“I played the satellite on Friday at 10 a.m. and then played the 4 p.m. (flight) and went right through midnight,” he said. 

Hing was down to 60,000 at one point on Day 2, but picked up his biggest hand with about four tables left when he held pocket aces and his opponent shoved into him with ace-king.

Now he’s looking for his next big score.

“I go wherever the big event is,” he said. “I’m looking for that big pay day.”

The eight-event series kicked off with a multi-flight $300 event, and featured a variety of different formats, including an 8-max, a deepstack, two bounty events, a limit Omaha/8 event and a finale that awarded chipleaders extra prizes throughout the event. Hold’em Radio and Poker News were on hand doing live reporting, and John Quattrocchi Jr. from Thunder Valley Casino Resort serving as tournament director of the Main Event.

“To partner with the Ante Up Poker Tour and hold our first tournament series, I thought it went extremely well,” said John Rochfort, Jamul Casino’s poker room manager. “The Ante Up Sweetwater Series attracted many players who had never visited Jamul Casino previously. It was our goal to hold a quality event that would appeal to a wide variety of poker players in the San Diego region.”

Ronald Segni won the Player of the Series competition. Segni needed a third-place finish or better in the final event, and hold off Tavish Margers as well, and went on to win the final event for the title, which includes a $550 Sweetwater Showdown Tournament entry.

Margers finished second for a $250 Prime Cut dining voucher, and Christopher Smith won a tiebreaker over David Para for third place by virtue of most money won and earned $100 in Jamul tournament vouchers.

 Players who visited Jamul Casino for the first time for the series got a first-hand look at the aggressive promotions Rochfort and his staff offer. On Saturdays and Sundays, every half hour a player is chosen gets to pick a mystery chip from a bag worth up to $500 and has the option of flipping it to go double or nothing. On Tuesdays and Fridays, every half hour a player is chosen to spin a wheel to win up to $1,000. During the Omaha event, the $1,000 hit three times in one night. On Mondays and Thursdays, a drawing is held every hour with a top prize of a 65-inch TV or $500, and on Wednesdays, drawings are held every half hour for up to $500, with a quarterly prizes that include motorcycles and personal watercraft.

“When developing these promotions, I like to offer ones that are fun and engaging for our players,” Rochfort said. “There is nothing more exciting than when the entire poker room erupts in cheers for a player who has just won a $1,000 cash prize, a 65-inch big screen TV or a Ducati motorcycle.”

Jamul Casino, owned by the Jamul Indian Village of California, is just 20 minutes from downtown San Diego and features seven restaurants, more than 1,700 slot machines, 40 tables games and a 10-table poker room with full bar service and tableside dining, and incredible views of the nearby countryside.

“The series was received tremendously well by those who attended and we hope to continue to expand as we head into next year,” Rochfort said.

 

9/25/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up Series
Event 6 $550 Main Event $100k GTD
171 Entries
$100,000 Prize Pool
22 Places Paid
PLACE NAME CITY PAYOUT
1 Yary Hing San Diego, CA $17,856
2 Christopher Smith La Mesa, CA $14,000
3 Scott Lewis San Diego, CA $14,000
4 Young Hilliard Spring Vly, CA $13,000
5 Najib Kero n/a $4,736
6 Ralph Mittman n/a $3,924
7 David Lebhar Santee, CA $3,393
8 Deven Ware San Diego, CA $2,969
9 Afzal Atta n/a $2,553
10 Timothy Costello El Cajon, CA $2,553
11 Soren Asadov Las Vegas, NV $2,203
12 Tailong Qiao San Diego, CA $2,203
13 Keith Langill El Cajon, CA $1,864
14 Vladimir Medvinsky Oceanside, CA $1,864
15 Cameron Brinsfield San Diego, CA $1,864
16 Richard Furfaro Chula Vista, CA $1,549
17 Alaa Botros Rancho SD, CA $1,549
18 Grant Foster San Diego, CA $1,549
19 David Batzer San Diego, CA $1,254
20 Aaron Knapp Escondido, CA $1,254
21 Noe Zamudio n/a $1,254
22 George Kalfayan Chula VIsta, CA $959

 

 

9/20-22/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego Series
Event 1 $300 NLH $40,000 GTD
158 Entries
$41,080 Prize Pool
20 Places Paid
PLACE NAME PAYOUT POINTS
1 Christopher Smith $7,977 55
2 Larry Serebrany $6,663 55
3 John Wellnitz $5,600 55
4 Aaron Knapp $4,754 55
5 Mike Harkins $1,982 45
6 Yary Hing $1,643 35
7 Eric Bradford $1,428 30
8 Pedro Rocha $1,282 25
9 David Para $1,104 20
10 Charles Fisher $965 17
11 Spencer Tep $965 17
12 Daniel Lujano $965 17
13 Gregory Tate $832 14
14 Robert Fortuno $832 14
15 Mark Feinberg $832 14
16 Tailong Qiao $702 12
17 John Barrientez $702 12
18 Neil Rodvold $702 12
19 Imad Kero $575 10
20 Joung Kim $575 10

 

 

9/20-22/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego Series
Event 2 $150 NLH $50 Bounties
34 Entries
$2,550 Prize Pool
$1,700 in Bounties
5 Places Paid
PLACE PAYOUT POINTS
1 David Para $1,040 60
2 Ronald Segni $638 40
3 Juan Boner $383 30
4 Sandor Molnar $281 25
5 Neil Rodvold $204 20

 

 

9/23/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego
Event 3 $100 8 Max
101 Entries
$8,080 Prize Pool
13 Places Paid
PLACE PAYOUT POINTS
1 Timothy Bresien $1,510 30
2 David Lebhar $876 30
3 John Wellnitz $876 30
4 Tailong Qiao $876 30
5 Edward Spaulding $876 30
6 Niel Rodvold $876 30
7 Thien Phung $876 30
8 Ronald Segni $260 25
9 Sandor Molnar $225 20
10 Tavish Margers $225 20
11 Aaron Knapp $205 17
12 Andrew Mittman $205 17
13 Joshua Neil 14 14

 

 

9/24/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego
Event 4 $100 Omaha8 $2,500 GTD
57 Entries
$4,560 Prize Pool
8 Places Paid
PLACE NAME PAYOUT POINTS
1 Eric Bradford $1,029 40
2 Tavish Margers $980 40
3 Emmanuel Sigarroa $893 40
4 Payam Adhami $619 40
5 Richard Kuck $319 35
6 Michael Tigson $251 30
7 Michael Obrien $205 25
8 Conrado Parker $164 20
9 Derrick Herron $100 0

 

 

9/25/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego
Event 5 $160 Deepstack $10,000 GTD
103 Entries
$13,905 Prize Pool
15 Places Paid
PLACE PAYOUT POINTS
1 Tavish Margers $3,942 100
2 Rip Fritzer $2,407 80
3 Ronald Segni $1,599 65
4 Felipe Pinpin $1,043 55
5 Paul Miller $813 45
6 Mark Feinberg $650 35
7 Lawrence Fairchild $553 30
8 Steve Sharp $480 25
9 Sandor Molnar $424 20
10 Christopher Buckel $382 17
11 Thanh Doan $382 17
12 Gabriel Marrujo $382 17
13 Harry Lee $348 14
14 Joshua Neil $300 0
15 Montana Werle $200 0

 

 

 

9/29/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego
Event 7 $240 NLH $100 Bounty
30 Entries
$3,000 Prize Pool
$3,000 in Bounties
4 Places Paid
PLACE PAYOUT POINTS
1 Michael Souza $1,160 40
2 Matthew Polera $1,000 40
3 David Para $510 30
4 Richard Lanes $330 25

 

 

9/29/19 Jamul Poker Ante Up San Diego
Event 8 $100 Series Finale
24 Entries
$1,920 Prize Pool
4 Places Paid
PLACE NAME PAYOUT POINTS
1 Ronald Segni $860 60
2 Derrick Helton $576 40
3 Jason Tang $384 30
4 Daniel Lugano $100 0

 

Scott Long

Scott Long