Chris Agusin, is a former investment-fund manager who recently quit his full time job and decided to take up poker on a much more serious basis. Agusin quit his 13 hour a day job in Orange County, California and moved to Sacramento to try his hand and full time poker. Both these decisions were very important as Agusin is about to become a father in a few weeks and take on added responsibility.
Agusin who had never played before at the Cordova Casino decided to take part in the first Ante Up Poker Tour event of 2014 which was held at the Cordova Casino Ante Up Championship at Cordova Restaurant Casino in Rancho Cordova, Calif. He faced stiff competition and a tough 2nd day where he had to play 11 hours. In the end, Agustin pipped John Eaton heads-up for the title after his A-6 held against Q-3. Agustin went on to win $3,209 in the chop, and also a $1,650 seat in the Ante Up World Championship Main Event which takes place on the 9th of Aug at Thunder Valley Casino Resort. He was also given a customized AUPT champion’s jacket.
Speaking about the pressure he was under to reach a deal, Agusin said
The blinds were killing us. I didn’t start playing aggressively until the chop, and then I started playing a lot more aggressively when there were three of us. Pretty much, the pace went from lax to aggressive. The guys at the final table were strong. They proved to be worthy of the final table. It was a different caliber than Day 1.
In the history of the Ante Up Poker Tour, the Cordova Casino Ante Up Championship was a very different stop because for the first time there was a single, $220 buy-in tournament that was being used to reintroduce the cardroom to the Northern California poker community, as the champion would be featured on the cover of Ante Up. The Cordova Restaurant Casino did extremely well as they sold out both of the event’s starting flights and at the same time was able to fit in over two dozen alternates to form a 136-player field and a $26,800 prize pool.
Rob Ketchum, poker room manager at the Cordova Restaurant Casino was happy with the vent. He has been working on plans that help to re-establish the stylish cardroom as a place where they are guaranteed great action instead of a number of unsustainable promotions. Ketchum said
I think we delivered on what we intended to do: Provide a player-friendly tournament that had great bang for the buck. Players appreciated the price. I think it was a good field for our property to see where we can go from here. We definitely had some good feedback.
