Casino Champion Race Heating Up
At every WSOP Circuit stop this season, the player who earns himself or herself the most points becomes the Casino Champion and automatically qualifies for the National Championship at the end of the season. That National Championship is a $1,000,000 freeroll tournament, so this is nothing to laugh at as that is some serious cash.
As it stands right now, Blake Kelso leads the race for Casino Champion here at the Caesars Palace Las Vegas stop with 85 points, having cashed three times. The winner of the $1,600 Main Event is automatically qualified for the National Championship, but two players left in this field can still overtake Kelso to claim Casino Champion without winning the event. Those two players are Adam Hui (45 points) and John Kulish (10 points).
Hui needs 40 points to tie Kelso, which means a finish of seventh or higher will get him in. If he comes in seventh, he'll be tied with Kelso, but the tiebreaker is most money won at a specific tour stop. Kelso has won $19,379 total at this stop and seventh place alone is worth $22,820, which would give Hui the nod. For Kulish, he needs to finish in second or better. If he comes in second, he'll be tied with Kelso, but with second place being worth nearly $95,000, he'll also win the tiebreaker.
Of course, if either of these two reach the mark they need to, Kelso will be rooting for them to go onto win so he can still win Casino Champion honors. There is also the scenario that either Hui or Kulish could win the event and the other player earn enough points to pass or tie Kelso and become Casino Champion. What does that mean?
Well, Kelso if you're out there following along, get a few towels ready because the sweat is on!