Daut wins $1.5 mill Caribbean Adventure

[jetset]

DOUGHTY DAUT TAKES THE CARIBBEAN ONLINE POKER POT

22 year old grad student has a $1.5 million boost for his banking

Starting at a deep chip count disadvantage at the final table of six in the Poker Stars.com Caribbean Adventure this week, a 22 year old math graduate student from New Jersey with plenty of guts and audacity trounced the competition to win the $1.535 million first prize and a World Poker Tour bracelet.

Ryan Daut, and for that matter others at the table started the final game of the tournament well behind another amateur player, Isaac Haxton, who had $9.2 million in chips at his disposal. But the mathematics whizz, who was initially unsure that he could meet the challenge with his own $2.3 million chip count, showed both skill and courage to come out tops.

"I'm really excited and all, but it's going to hit me later tonight," Daut said after taking down the event at Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. "I'm just going to be overjoyed."

In the final table action, Frank Rusnak and Jonathan Little busted out first, earning $317 8873 and $ 247 000 respectively. Then Robert Mizrachi and Robert Ford were sent to the rails for $550 980 and $409 703 leaving Daut and Haxton in the heads up with $4.92 million and $13.9 million respectively in chips.

But it was the doughty Daut who prevailed, capping a great tournament which initially saw 937 entrants post the $7 800 buy-in, generating a total prizepool for the event of $7.3 million. For newcomer Haxton there was a $861 789 second prize as consolation but much disappointment. He had a dominating chip stack for most of the action, but it was not enough to crack the main prize.

[sdaddy]

Jetset,

Are you aware of the incredible postscript to this story? After winning his prize, the second place finisher, Isaac Haxton, transferred his $800K+ winnings to his Neteller account, with the intention of then withdrawing the funds to his bank account. His timing could not have been worse, however, because soon after the funds reached his Neteller account, the arrest of the founders occurred and his money is now stuck.

Here's his interview at the L.A. Poker Classic about this story:
http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...ck-800k-74.htm

I must say he seems remarkably calm about the situation.

[jetset]

Thanks! That's a great (but unfortunately sad) follow-on to the original story and I will certainly look it up.

[jetset]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY FOR ONLINE POKER PLAYER

The stress doesn't end with a heads up at the final table of a major tounament for this player

A young online poker player who thought he had it made with a $800 000 second place finish in a major online poker tournament has been caught up in the Neteller e-wallet showdown with the US Department of Justice, with his funds frozen and poor communications the apparent order of the day.

Readers may recall an earlier InfoPowa report on the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament in the Bahamas which was won by a 22 year old math student from New Jersey called Ryan Daut back in January. In the final heads up confrontation Daut's opponent was a young amateur player called Isaac Haxton who lost the encounter despite a dominating chip count initially, but emerged from the tournament with a cool $861 789 as second place finisher.

This week the YouTube.com site featured a sad sequel to the story. In an interview with a pretty laid-back Haxton, he revealed that he deposited his winnings in his Neteller account whilst he decided how to use the windfall.

In a cruel stroke of fate, within days the Neteller founders were arrested in America and the Department of Justice wrangle with the e-wallet started, resulting in all US player funds - including Haxton's - being frozen indefinitely.

And there it sits today, with only irregular communications from the e-wallet as it struggles to appease the Department of Justice officials despite its status as a fully licensed and regulated Isle of Man financial institution and British public company outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Adding to Haxton's anxiety is the apparent unwillingness of Neteller spokespeople to answer media questions regarding the beneficiaries of any interest that may accrue to the frozen funds, what that interest rate is and who controls the funds whilst they are frozen?

[sdaddy]

Good report. I hope this story gets a lot of exposure because it really demonstrates how cruel this sudden and ongoing cutoff of funds in US-based Neteller accounts has turned out to be.

I'll also be pulling for this guy to go far in the L.A. Poker Classic because he could certainly use some good fortune now.

[tennis_balls]

Here's his interview at the L.A. Poker Classic about this story:
http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...ck-800k-74.htm

great clip......a rather unfortunate choice of words as the reporter says "cheers!" to the guy at the end of the interview.

[sdaddy]

Over the weekend he came out with an appeal for legal advice/assistance on 2+2 Forums concerning his frozen Neteller funds. Here is the thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...0&fpart=1&vc=1