The Empire State Hold'em Championships
The Empire State Hold'em Championships (ESHC) is a local tournament series, hosted each year at TurningStone Casino in Verona, New York. The ESHC is one of the biggest local tournament series in the Northeast, as this year's main event had a $1,500 buy-in with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.
TurningStone Casino hosted the 7th annual Empire State Hold'em Championships in August of 2009, with a total of eleven major events as well as several "Second Chance" events. The main event this year was reduced from a $5,200 buy-in to a $1,500 buy-in, largely due to the recession in the United States.
ESHC 7th Annual (2009) Series Schedule
*Here is the schedule for the 2009 ESHC:
- Event #1 - August 14, 2009 11:00 AM - Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold'em - $240 buy-in
- Event #2 - August 15, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em - $350 buy-in
- Event #3 - August 16, 2009 11:00 AM - Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold'em - $240 buy-in
- Event #4 - August 17, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em - $240 buy-in
- Event #5 - August 18, 2009 11:00 AM - Deep Stack NL Hold'em - $295 buy-in
- Event #6 - August 19, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em with Bounty - $375 buy-in
- Event #7 - August 20, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em Day 1 - $750 buy-in
- Event #7 - August 21, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em Day 2 - $750 buy-in
- Event #8 - August 21, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em - $450 buy-in
- Event #9 - August 22, 2009 5:00 PM - High Heels Ladies' Event - $190 buy-in
- Event #10 - August 22, 2009 11:00 AM - NL Hold'em $100,000 Guaranteed Day 1 - $1,500 buy-in
- Event #10 - August 23, 2009 1:00 PM - NL Hold'em $100,000 Guaranteed Day 2 - $1,500 buy-in
- Event #11 - August 23, 2009 11:00 AM - Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold'em - $240 buy-in
*This tournament series has already been completed, but we were unable to find results for the event.
Past Winners at the Empire State Hold'em Championships
Some of the past main event winners include 2003 champion David Martin who took home $20,000, 2004 champion Gary Oakley who won $44,710, 2005 champion Kal Raichura who won a massive $88,897, and 2006 winner Luke Stauenmaier, who took home a tremendous prize of $187,841. The 2007 main event proved to be the largest yet as 123 players entered and Matt Marafioti outlasted them all as he won nearly $200,000 for the first place prize.