The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday

4 min read
New Jersey Online Briefing

Craig "YourPetCat" Rubinstein celebrated his birthday in a huge way by taking down the PokerStars NJ Sunday Special for an impressive haul of $13,242, the biggest regulated online poker tournament in New Jersey this past weekend.

In just the second weekend since the PokerStars NJ hard launch, this tournament has proven its popularity with significant week-over-week growth from 309 entrants in the first week to 371 entrants in the second. This translated into a 20-percent increase in the prize pool from $57,434 to $69,006.

Jeremy "FunkyJesus" Danger, who last week impressively shipped both this tournament and the partypoker NJ/BorgataPoker.com $50,000 Guarantee, is off to a hot start on PokerStars NJ by once again appearing on the final table in this tournament for a third-place finish to collect $7,246.

Meanwhile, popular New Jersey poker players Patrick "my2chis" Shelley (4th - $5,520) and Keith "donnysack" Donovan (7th - $2,243) also scored big in the Sunday Special after navigating their ways to the final table.

New Jersey's "McLovin81" claimed the second biggest payday over the weekend by outlasting a 276-player field in the partypoker NJ/BorgataPoker.com $50,000 Guarantee to bank $11,040. Three notable players to also appear on the final table in this tournament included Ted "roystalin" Ely (2nd - $7,270), Josh "jerseyjosh" Baer (4th - $4,416), and Sean "MyBoysCanSwim" Rice (6th - $3,146).

Rice also navigated his way to the final table in the biggest major tournament on the WSOP NJ/888poker NJ poker network by taking ninth in the $30,000 GTD Weekly Sunday, a tournament won by "StackyMcChip" for $8,591. Four other well-known players to wade through the 172 entrants in this tournament to reach the final table included Brian "pure__reason" Wood (3rd - $2,864), Michael "miw210x" Wang (4th - $2,227), Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja (5th - $1,909), and Anna "JewJon" Antimony (7th - $1,209).

Antimony, one of the most popular female poker players in New Jersey, also hauled in another $733 on this network when finishing in fifth in the $10,000 GTD Weekly Sunday. Michael "myGAME" Lavenburg, who last week won The BIG Deal for $12,378, continues to impress by shipping the $10,000 GTD Weekly Sunday for $3,178. Also making their way to the final table in this tournament were Jake "Jakep474" Perry (2nd - $1,922) and Jesse "No_Xcape" Elliot (8th - $300).

Two other players to win tournaments on Sunday with guaranteed prizes pools of at least $10,000 were Anthony "FlawlessBINK" Maio, shipping the PokerStars NJ Sunday Warm-Up for $2,652, and Joseph "megolaman1ac" Liberta, taking down the partypoker NJ/Borgata Poker Daily $10K for $3,576.

Here's a full look at the New Jersey Sunday results on PokerStars NJ, partypoker NJ, BorgataPoker.com, WSOP.com NJ, and 888poker NJ:


The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 101

Sunday Warm-Up, $10,000 Gtd

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$45.50+4.50285$12,968
PlacePlayerPrize
1Anthony "FlawlessBINK" Maio$2,652
2supremetny$1,945
3pullingjugs$1,465
4LookAtMyDabx$1,102
5alwaysliquid$752
6Eaglesstink?$584
73BettingYou$454
8Unclevalue$324
9VR6GLI$246

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 102

Sunday Special, $50,000 Gtd

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$186+14371$69,006
PlacePlayerPrize
1Craig "YourPetCat" Rubinstein$13,242
2BBQBill7$9,833
3Jeremy "FunkyJesus" Danger$7,246
4Patrick "my2chis" Shelley$5,520
5TrumpsDong$3,864
6TheJugernot$2,933
7Keith "donnysack" Donovan$2,243
8SmoogeJeezy$1,553
9smlenaknj$1,145

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 103

Sunday High Roller [6-Max], $15,000 Gtd

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$470+3047$22,090
PlacePlayerPrize
1AvaGray$8,173
2Brian "Nastr0naut" Shelmet$5,523
3loxonbagel$3,314
4mets2602$2,209
5David "supadphat" Cheng$1,657
6Bob "s.l. halper" Taylor$1,215

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 104

Daily $10K [Re-Entry]

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$100+9149$14,900
PlacePlayerPrize
1Joseph "megolaman1ac" Liberta$3,576
2Michael "JohnnyDrama" Haberman Jr$2,421
3irishmurphy$1,602
4Daniel "leinad" Buzgon$1,229
5Fattommy23$916
6Billy_Wheels$745
7beast801$596
8Jamie "JamieKerstetter" Kerstetter$469
9Michael "MistaMenza" Menzer$373

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 105

partypoker NJ/BorgataPoker.com $50,000 Guarantee

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+15276$55,200
PlacePlayerPrize
1McLovin81$11,040
2Ted "roystalin" Ely$7,270
3HygieneMan$5,244
4Josh "jerseyjosh" Baer$4,416
5pmn770$3,698
6Sean "MyBoysCanSwim" Rice$3,146
7Borgatcha$2,594
8TENAFLY_BILL$2,042
9Big_Daddy$1,490

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 106

$30,000 GTD Weekly Sunday

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$185+15172$31,820
PlacePlayerPrize
1StackyMcChip$8,591
2WhereMyBlunt$5,012
3Brian "pure__reason" Wood$2,864
4Michael "miw210x" Wang$2,227
5Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja$1,909
6xicccccccc$1,591
7Anna "JewJon" Antimony$1,209
8dehhhhh$764
9Sean "ricecakes124" Rice$541

The New Jersey Online Poker Briefing: Craig Rubinstein Wins Big On His Birthday 107

$10,000 GTD Weekly Sunday

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$91+9132$12,012
PlacePlayerPrize
1Michael "myGAME" Lavenburg$3,303
2Jake "Jakep474" Perry$1,922
3Njnets092012$1,093
4Miklan3000$853
5Anna "JewJon" Antimony$733
6SWEIKESNYC$613
7opdom2$468
8Jesse "No_Xcape" Elliot$300
9gi0stas$216

If you play regulated online poker tournaments in New Jersey and would like your real name appearing in future articles, please contact this editor at [email protected].

*Special thanks to PocketFives.com for some of the data in this article.

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