Former crack dealer, Joe Reddick, has walked away from the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championships with a side event victory; Chris Leong wins the Main Event.
It’s not often that the Main Event of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship gets shunted to the side so we can headline with a side event victory. But it’s not every day that the winner of that side event is a man once sentenced to 20-years in prison for drug dealing.
Several weeks ago, Joe ‘Black’ Reddick, 47, walked away with the $217,792 first prize in the $450 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) $1 Million Deep Stack Event at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.
Impressive.
Since his stunning victory, the story has reached the New York Post who had a word with the man simply known as ‘Black’ discovering how he learned to play poker during a 15-year stint across 11 federal prisons along the East Coast after being found guilty of leading a conspiracy to transport and distribute crack cocaine.
I knew Shane Schleger was onto something.
Reddick, from the Bronx, told the NY Post how he first learned to play poker using candy bars as currency.
“I lost about $7,000 worth of Snickers bars.” He told the reporter.
Jesus man, he gets put away for dealing crack, and they give him access to an even more powerful poison when he gets inside.
“I would play all day, all night, seven days a week.” Said Reddick.
I can see the lines of young eSports athletes emerging from clink after spending 20-years playing Call of Duty on their video consoles.
Released in 2008, legend has it that Reddick took $500 in cash with him to the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and walked away with $2,500. The interview stated he has won $1.5 million playing both tournaments and cash games. His Hendon Mob resume shows $590,282 in lifetime earnings with the Borgata win standing clear as his most significant haul to date.
What next for Reddick?
He wants to be the first African-American winner of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Man, I am so confused about this new aged black stuff.
Reddick is also a keen writer. While inside he learned how to write without having ever read a book before being incarcerated. He wrote two pieces of work: Squeeze and Street Team. Hampstead Publishing is currently selling. He has a novel Movin’ Violation in the works and two movie scripts in the pipeline.
Move over Narcos.
Here comes Black.
Chris Leong Wins the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open
Chris Leong, who also hails from New York, but as far as we are aware does not sell crack cocaine, nor has he ever tried it, has defeated 1,171 entrants to take the $816,246 first prize in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event.
Several high profile players went deep.
Defending champion Aaron Mermelstein finished 19th, WPT Champions Club member Yevgeniy Timoshenko came fifth, and the WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKheehen finished fourth.
Leong has now won close to $1.2m in live tournament earnings. He also owns a WSOP Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring after winning the a re-entry event in Atlantic City back in 2013.
Final Table Results
1st. Chris Leong – $816,246
2nd. Rafael Yaraliyev – $487,288
3rd. Liam He – $297,995
4th. Joseph McKeehen – $249,267
5th. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – $206,160
6th. Matthew Wantman – $166,803
