And then there were two …
It appears both poker players with ties to the Tucson area have made it into the money at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament at the Rio in Las Vegas. Almost 6,600 people started this event last weekend, but only 720 entered Friday still in contention for the $8.5 million first prize.
Of those 720, 666 were to get paid. Yup, 666 on Friday the 13th. Cue the freaky string music.
As of 1:55 p.m. the money bubble had burst, with what appears to be both Benson resident Timothy Kilpatrick and University of Arizona graduate student Ray Chiu among those guaranteed to earn at least $19,000 for their troubles.
Chiu confirmed his cashing via twitter (handle: @scientificray): “We are in the $$$$$$$$$$!”
Prior to today, the last Tucsonan to cash in the Main Event was Garrett Adelstein in 2010. Adelstein was among the chip leaders with 500 people left but finished 222nd for a $48,000+ result. The top local Main Event casher in recent memory was Vail’s Deb Blair, who in 2007 got 176th for $51,000.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2012.
Chiu officially finished 448th for a payout of $28,530. Minus applicable taxes, of course. Still waiting on more info about Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick survived Day 5, guaranteeing him at least $38,000. He’s one of 282 left, though he’s toward the bottom of chip counts.
Kilpatrick ended up in 129th place, earning $52,718. That’s tops for a local in recent memory.