Level: 25
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 3,000
Level: 25
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 3,000
Stan Quinn is the only member of our final table to cash in the WSOP Main Event. He did so this year, coming in 549th for $24,079. He also has two other WSOP Circuit cashes coming at this stop in preliminary events.
Quinn is a professional player that formally worked in IT management. He also won his way into this Main Event via a satellite and will be entering the final table with 377,000 in chips. Quinn hails from Danville, California.
Ned Mantua is a 68-year-old gas station manager from Bodega Bay, California. He has four children (and their spouses) and four grandchildren scattered across the country, and we understand they are avid PokerNews followers this week. When he's not looking for fish at the poker table, Mantua can often be found in the waters north of the Bay Area doing some actual fishing.
Mantua enters the final table with the second-biggest stack of 945,000 chips.
We have no idea what bio-informatics, but Grant Hillman is a bio-informatics manager. Checking out what that is, it means he applies computer science and statistics to the field of molecular biology. His undergraduate degree came from the University of Illinois and his Masters from the University of Colorado.
Hillman won his way into this Main Event via a satellite and is making the most of his small investment. He enters the day fourth in chips with 484,000 and will be looking to climb the ladder to the top in just his second year playing on the WSOP Circuit.
Drew Caseri lives in Merced, California, right in the middle of the big state. He is a 25-year-old college student. Caseri came to town in this midst of this blizzard to ride some powder on his snowboard, but it's turned into a more profitable trip than he intended. A few nights ago, he won his way into this Main Event via a $235 mega-satellite held here at Harvey's. He's now guaranteed close to $8,000, and that'll buy plenty of lift tickets.
Caseri begins play with 164,000 chips.
Our chip leader for the final table is Michael Traylor, coming in with a massive 1.843 million in chips. As we mentioned before, that's nearly 37.5% of the chips in play and double the payer in second place.
Traylor already scored one cash here in Lake Tahoe at a preliminary event. He also cashed in a preliminary event at the Horseshoe Hammond WSOP Circuit stop. He's a professional poker player who previously worked in sales. He also had a stint as an actor.
Joe "13" Mongkol-ua-aree is a local from Gardnerville, about a half hour down the mountain from Lake Tahoe. He's 38 years old, and he owns he is an entrepreneur of his own small business. His wife Yvette has been here supporting him all week, and she's managed to cash in a side event here at this Series as well. Mongkul-ua-aree formerly served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, but he's been grinding the Circuit for about four years now.
"13" begins play with just shy of 300,000 chips and 15 big blinds.
When you're out of work, poker can be a good place to turn if you're looking for some extra cash. That's just the case for John McNeilly from Sonoma, California. He's made his way to this final table and is guaranteed at least $7,942. That's a little bit more than last year when McNeilly final tabled this same WSOP Circuit event. He went on to finish in ninth last year, taking home $6,737 for his finish. The field was a lot smaller last year and only paid nine spots, making this a bit better of a run for McNeilly. Previously, McNeilly worked as a manager at a winery and also a high school basketball coach.
McNeilly would like to acknowledge the support he's received from his wife, his two daughters and his older brother. His older brother, who is diagnosed with ALS, has been following along online with the rest of McNeilly's family and friends. He'd like to give a shoutout to all of them and hopefully he can come home with the title.
Meet your last lady standing.
Donna Jetter is a resident of the Nashville metro area in Tennessee where she renovates homes by day. By night, though, Jetter is beginning to find her stride at the poker table. She's been a regular on the WSOP Circuit for the past three years, and she won herself a piece of Circuit jewelry earlier this year when she took down the Ladies' Event in Tunica.
Jetter is the first lady to make a Main Event final table at this year's Circuit. She'll have her work cut out if she hopes to take the title, though, as she comes into Day 3 with 111,000 chips, less than 6 big blinds.
Dan Black finished out Day 1 of the this WSOP Circuit Main Event as the chip leader. He's been able to ride that big stack all the way to the final table. Black is 61 years of age. He's retired now, but prior to being a retiree, Black worked as a construction specialist and a fireman.
One thing's for sure, Black knows how to do it big. The Day 1 chip leader owns a piece of land that is a massive 5,000 acres in size. He uses that land to escort visitors on hunting trips.
Although Black has made his way to the final table of this tournament, he prefers cash games and bought into this tournament using his winnings from those cash games. He enters the final day of play third in chips with 585,000.