LAPT SAN JOSE - FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES

Profiles of the final nine players will be posted here shortly.

See also all players

Seat 1:            Jeff Petronack
Hometown:     Hugo, MN (USA)
Chip Count:    122,500

Jeff Petronack is a 37-year-old mortgage banker from the United States.  This is his first time to make it to the final table of a major poker tournament.  He qualified to enter online at PokerStars.  He has a wife named Tiffany, and two children, named Cody and Brooklynn. 

Seat 2:             Andrew Chen
Hometown:     Mississauga, ON (Canada)
Chip Count:    313,000

Andrew Chen is a 20-year-old professional poker player from Canada.  He says he finished just one spot out of the money four times in the big Sunday tournament at PokerStars.  He qualified to play in this event by paying just $215 and winning his LAPT tournament entry.  Chen admits that he had only 20 minutes of sleep after Day One, but he still manages to come into this final table ranked third in chips.  

Seat 3:             Brent Sheirbon
Hometown:     The Dalles, OR (USA)
Chip Count:    186,500

Brent Sheirbon is a 33-year-old poker pro from the United States.  Prior to playing poker, he was an Information Technology Consultant.  Sheirbon finished in the money the last two years in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 134th and 392nd, out of thousands of players.  He is also a world traveler, having lived in Costa Rica, Panama, India, and Spain.

Seat 4:             Ryan Fee (pictured below, chip leader)
Hometown:     Philadelphia, PA (USA)
Chip Count:    481,500

The chip leader is Ryan Fee, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He is a 20-year-old professional poker player, who concentrates mostly on cash games. He is just beginning to focus on live tournaments and appears to have a very bright future ahead.  Should Fee win today’s finale, this would be his first major tournament victory. 

Seat 5:             Claus Rasmussen
Hometown:     Roskilde (Denmark)
Chip Count:    254,000

Claus Rasmussen is a 22-year-old gamesman from Denmark.  He started out playing table tennis professionally, but has shifted his focus to poker.  Rasmussen qualified to play in this tournament by playing in several step tournaments at PokerStars, and now he has a chance to win his biggest prize ever. 

 Seat 6:             Maria Stern
Hometown:     San Jose (Costa Rica)
Chip Count:    151,500

Maria Stern has been playing tournament poker for many years.  She is one of the most famous Costa Rican poker players and is universally loved and admired by everyone, especially by her devoted husband, Max Stern.  In fact, the Sterns are one of only two married couples who have won gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker.  Maria Stern won he gold bracelet in 1997.  Now eleven year’s later she made history again by becoming the first lady ever to make it to an LAPT final table.

Seat 7:             Jesus Bertoli Juarez
Hometown:     Margarita (Venezuela)
Chip Count:    265,500

Jesus Bertoli Juarez is a 25-year-old lawyer from Venezuela.  He has already become one of Latin America’s most successful poker players.  He took 24th place in LAPT Season 1, at the Rio de Janiero championship.  He also finished in the money three other times in tournaments held in South America.  Juarez spent just $17 to qualify for his entry online at PokerStars.

Seat 8:             Joel Micka
Hometown:     Mill Creek, WA (USA)
Chip Count:    336,500

Joel Micka is a 20-year-old professional poker player from the United States.  He prefers playing heads-up online at PokerStars and also plays Sit n’ goes.  He likes high-stakes games.  Yet, this is Micka’s first live major poker tournament.  He arrives at the final table ranked second in chips.  Micka admits that he never held a real job before.  And should he win today, he won’t need one – since first place pays over a quarter of a million dollars.