Ryan Osborne, a 27-year-old computer program manager from Orlando, Florida has won first place in a World Series of Poker event in Atlantic City, taking home $72,500 in prize money.

Osborne paid the $500-buy in the second event of a total of ten events in the schedule and played exceptionally well on the first day.

The initial competition attracted over 500 players, which – with a $500 buy-in – generated a lucrative prize pool of over $250,000.

Osborne’s luck began, however, long before the event. He was not even planning to take part in the tournament, and only after being prompted by friends to make the trip to Atlantic City at the last minute, did he decide to register at Caesar’s and try his luck. Osborne, who has had considerable success on the local poker tournament circuit but who has never grabbed a major victory, was attracted by the excellent investment opportunity at an event that was sure to draw a huge turnout.

After 491 players were eliminated from the competition on the first day, Osborne found himself at the feature table, along with eight other players, to continue the tournament on day two. Ryan Osborne started off with a major disadvantage – he had the lowest chip stack among the nine players (154,000), compared with NYC poker ace, David Zeitlin who arrived with a substantial chip lead of 654,000.

However, Osborne soon showed how his determination and talent could bring him victory, as player after player was eliminated. Finally, the game was down to Osborne against Jake Neff, a second-placed winner in the United States Poker Championships. Neff had a 2-1 chip lead over Osborne at this point in the game, which continued back and forth for an hour in the final stage of the WSOP circuit event. Osborne’s victory was finally determined by a single card, earning him $72,500, while Neff took home $38,250 for his efforts.

The final table at the WSOP circuit event and their prize winnings, in order of elimination was as follows.

Ninth place: Artie Smith, North Carolina, $5000

Eighth place: Victor Johnson, Middletown, NY, $7,500

Seventh place: John Doran, Woolwich Township, NJ, $10,000

Sixth place: Adam Steinbeck, $12,500

Fifth place: Bryce Carroll-Coe, Detroit, MI, $15,000

Fourth place: Sallie Stohler, Washington, DC, $17,000

Third place: David Zeitlin, NYC, $48,000

Second place: Jeff Nash, $38,250

First place: Ryan Osborne, $72,500

Author:  Renee Kingsley