$2.3 Mil Aruba Poker Classic Main Event Winner

There must be something in the water in the Keystone State. For the second year in a row, a resident of Pennsylvania has won the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic Main Event. Brandon Hall of Littlestown, PA, conquered the island poker tournament late Saturday evening, securing the first place prize of $753,330. Hall's win comes one year after Matt Brady of Havertown, Pennsylvania won UltimateBet's 2008 Aruba tournament for a $1 million payday.

The Aruba Poker Classic returned to the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino for the 8^th year in a row. Online poker players were invited to win their way to Aruba for the Texas Hold'em tournament through low-cost satellites at UltimateBet.com from as low as $0.10. The weeklong celebration of poker included a series of parties, nonstop poker tournaments, cash tables and unrivaled VIP treatment for top members of UltimateBet's RAI$E program.

The island poker tournament also attracted a star-studded list of respected poker professionals including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Joe Sebok, Adam Levy, Billy Kopp, Bryan Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Debo34, Hollywood Dave, Liv Boeree, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, P0ker H0, Scott Ian, Shawn Rice, Tiffany Michelle, Matt Vengrin and Lacey Jones.

A total of 475 players took their seats in the $5,550 Main Event to fight for a piece of a prize pool that reached $2,303,750. The results of the final table, which played out on Saturday, October 10^th, are as follows:
1. Brandon Hall                 $753,330
2. Robert Mizrachi           $414,680
3. Chase Steely                 $218,860
4. Eric Baldwin                  $126,710
5. Jose Santos                   $  92,150
6. Brock Parker                $  66,810
7. Matt Ross                      $  41,470

In celebration of its 10^th anniversary dealing cards online, UltimateBet also included a number of other land-based poker tournaments in Aruba with noteworthy top prizes.

On October 9^th, a 10-player final table for a Mercedes ML-350 played out in the lobby of the Radisson. The seats were awarded to players at UltimateBet through a series of qualifiers at the online poker site. Elliot Smith left the table with the keys to the Mercedes.

Also held in the tournament room of the Radisson were nightly $500+40 tournaments, two separate $2,000+100 No Limit Hold'em tournaments and a $1,000+60 event, providing poker players with ample opportunity to profit from poker while in paradise.

An inside peek at the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic can be found on UltimateBet's blog, accessible on the UltimateBet.com website.