The name of the first WSOP gold bracelet winner of summer 2016 is now clear. Christopher Sand, originally from Chicago but now residing in Las Vegas, has just topped the field of the 2016 WSOP Event #1: $565 Casino Employees Championship for poker’s most coveted non-monetary prize and a nice payout of $75,157. Sand is working as a cashier and sportsbook writer at Caesars Palace.
The Casino Employees Championship has been the opening event for the annual editions of the WSOP since the tournament was included in the festival’s schedule in 2000. This year, the two-day event kicked off on June 1 and attracted an unexpectedly large number of casino workers from around the world. The event saw a total of 731 entries paying the $565 buy-in fee in order to be able to compete for the gold bracelet and the lion’s share of the prize pool. Speaking of the prize pool itself, it amounted to $365,500 and the top 110 finishers received a payout.
Sand started the official final table as the chip leader. However, he lost momentum quite quickly and at some point even had only seven big blinds left. Although the player was bound for an early exit from the tournament’s finale, he did not lose composure and gradually started building his stack until he held a massive chip lead at the time there were only three players left at the table. Eventually, Sand needed no more than twenty minutes to finish off his last remaining opponent – British poker manager Kerryjane Craigie.
On the very last hand of play, Craigie shoved for her last 550,000 and Sand snap-called to show [Kx][Kx] against his opponent’s [7x][7x]. The two players congratulated each other for the great performance throughout the tournament while awaiting for the board. In the end, the dealer dealt [9h][6c][2c][Jc][Kd] securing Sand with the pot, the gold bracelet, and the biggest share of the prize pool. As for Craigie, she collected $46,420 for her run.
Sand did not hide his excitement and shortly after winning his first-ever gold bracelet and second-ever WSOP-related cash, the player talked to interviewers, saying that it was his late mother who taught him how to play poker. Sand started out with Seven-Card Stud and noted that this is still his favorite poker variant. Yet, after winning the No-Limit Hold’em Casino Employees Championship, the player said that he may reconsider his preferences.
Michael Coombs from Bremerton, Washington took 3rd place in the event to collect the amount of $32,249. Spencer Bennett from Sacramento, California finished 4th for $22,753. Brian Mikesh from Little Canada, Minnesota took home $16,308 for finishing 5th.
Tom Ratanakul from Las Vegas, Nevada received $11,877 for his 6th place in the tournament. Nicholas Sliwinski from Las Vegas took 7th place for $8,792. Tiankang Xing from San Gabriel, California finished 8th for $6,616. Rounding out the official final table, Robert Ostler from San Diego, California scooped a $5,063 share of the prize pool.
