Seat 5: Alex Masek (246,000)
A 26-year-old law school student, Alex Masek attends the University of San Diego. He also collects World Series of Poker Circuit gold rings, as evidence by the three that he's previously won. Those three wins came from two in Rincon and one in Atlantic City.
In May 2009, Masek won his first ring in the $200 No-Limit Hold'em event at Harrah's Rincon and $9,654. Fast forward one year later in the same month, Masek scored his second ring and $39,372 in Atlantic City for winning the $300 No-Limit Hold'em event. His third ring was won right here at this series in the $345 No-Limit Hold'em event. That win earned him another $22,794.
Not only did Masek's most recent win net him some nice pocket change and a third piece of jewelry, but he earned him some important leader board points in the race for becoming Casino Champion. Right now, Mstr Lynch sits on top of that leader board with 100 points while Masek holds 50. If Masek can land himself in fifth place at this final table, he'll tie Lynch. The tiebreaker is most money won at a specific stop. Lynch won two rings at this stop for a total of $46,133. Masek won one ring for $22,794 and fifth place is worth $17,226, which would put him at $40,020. That's not enough to overtake Lynch.
That means Masek needs to earn fourth or better to win the Casino Champion race and earn himself a seat in the $1,000,000 National Championship Freeroll. Lynch will be rooting for Masek to bust out prior to fourth place, but if he makes it that far, he'll be looking for Masek to win as he'll win a seat to the National Championship that way and Lynch will still earn Casino Champion honors. This creates an interesting dynamic and one that will surely heat up if there are five or six players left and Masek is put to some big decisions for all of his chips.
In total, Masek has over $228,000 in live career tournament earnings. If he can come out on top of this final table, one where he starts fifth in chips with 246,000, he'll become tied with a couple others players for the most WSOP Circuit gold rings at four.