Poker isn’t just a game for young internet grinders. This much was proven when 4,407 players turned out for the 2013 WSOP Event #26 $1,000 Senior’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship. This turnout set the following two records:
1) Largest field in Senior’s NL Hold’em Championship history; the previous record was last year’s field of 4,128 players.
2) The biggest non-re-entry single starting day tournament in WSOP history.
With such a large field in the 2013 Senior’s Hold’em Championship, there was a good chance that a total unknown would win. And this is exactly what happened when Ken Lind won the Senior’s Championship. Lind, who’d never even cashed in a WSOP event before, stormed through the massive 4,407-player field to win the tourney and $634,809.
What’s interesting is that Lind almost didn’t even play in this tournament. But his friend Burrell talked him into playing and this definitely turned out to be good advice, considering that Lind is now almost $635k richer.
The Layton, Utah resident is a father of seven, a grandfather of seven, and a great-grandfather of two. Over the years, he’s basically taught himself to play poker via home games. Whatever Lind taught himself definitely worked as he outlasted a number of other skilled players in this tournament.
Some of the notable grinders who fared well in Event #26 include T.J. Cloutier (428th), John Esposito (333rd), Jay Heimowitz (311th), Marsha Wolak (158th), Donnacha O’Dea (114th), Robert Varkonyi (73rd), Chris Bjorin (45th), Dan Heimiller (39th), Hoyt Corkins (23rd), and rock musician/producer Steven Albini (12th). Third place finisher John Holley, who recently won the WSOP Circuit Championship in New Orleans, was trying to capture his first WSOP gold bracelet, but fell just short.
2013 WSOP $1,000 Senior’s NL Hold’em Championship
1st: Ken Lind – $634,809
2nd: Dana Ott – $390,601
3rd: John Holley – $283,312
4th: Baryr Bashist – $209,856
5th: Randolph Spain – $156,629
6th: Michel Bouskila – $117,799
7th: James Miller – $89,281
8th: Jack Ernest Ward – $68,180
9th: Fernando Halac – $52,474