Ponzio Takes Down Almost $600k in Poker Win at WSOP 2007

LAS VEGAS -- Ben Ponzio, who works for a major Chicago area radio station as the advertising sales manager, pulled off a significant victory at the 2007 World Series of Poker. With nearly $3,000,000
Shannon Elizabeth came in 150th in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Tournament at the WSOP 2007.  in total prize pool, Ponzio won the $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship and took home a  whopping $599,109 for his efforts. 

Ponzio works for WBBM-FM, a hits and hip hop station.  He was scheduled to work the morning after the tournament, but his WSOP victory will cause him to miss a day at the office. “I didn’t want to take an extra vacation day until I knew I would get this far,” Ponzio explained later.

“Sure, I’m going back to work,” Ponzio said in a post-tournament interview. “Six-hundred thousand (dollars) is a lot of money. But it’s not enough to live on the rest of my life.”

This is the third time Ponzio has attended the WSOP. He cashed one time previously – with a 122nd place finish two years ago. His combined tournament winnings coming into this event totaled just $9,000. First place in this tournament paid a whopping $599,109.

Ponzio developed and was credited with a math theorem in high school. It is a formula designed to measure the size of circles.

Adam Ross, from Dallas, TX finished in 7th place. The Stanford University graduate who also received his law degree from the University of Texas Law School was once the Texas State Wrestling Champion.

Ken Einiger a native New Yorker who now resides in Las Vegas, finished in 8th place. He won the World Blackjack Championship last year.

Rolf Slotboom, Dutch writer and poker theorist, took 51st.

Card Player magazine editor-in-chief Jeff Shulman finished 69th.

Actress Shannon Elizabeth, best-known from her role in the “American Pie” series of hit movies, finished 150th.