LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Long Island poker veteran has emerged as the chip leader at the final table of nine players in the marquee Main Event at theWorld Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Cliff Josephy of Syosset, New York, ended play just before midnight Monday with more than 74 million chips, said Seth Palansky, spokesman for the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.
Josephy, 51, finished in the top 400 players in the World Series of Poker championship in 2008, and in the top 1,000 last year. He’s a two-time winner of other series events, including a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament in 2013, and a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament in 2005.
Poker pro Qui Nguyen, 39, of Las Vegas, has the second-largest stack of chips, at almost 70 million, followed by Gordon Vayo, 27, of San Francisco, and Kenny Hallaert, 34, from Hansbeke, Belgium.
Vayo finished second in a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event in 2014, winning almost $315,000.
