Las Vegas resident wins WSOP’s Casino Employees event

Christopher Sand of Las Vegas won the first bracelet event of the 47th annual World Series of Poker on Thursday, as he took down the $565 buy-in Casino Employees No-limit Hold ’em tournament at the Rio Convention Center.

Sand, 45, defeated Kerryjane Craigie from Sevenoaks, England, to claim the $75,157 first-place prize.

This is the second career WSOP in-the-money finish for Sand, who works as a sports book writer and cashier at Caesars Palace. He also cashed in last year’s “Colossus” No-limit Hold ‘em event.

The Casino Employees tournament drew 731 entrants for a prize pool of $365,500, with the top 110 finishers getting paid.

Play resumed Thursday afternoon with 23 players, and Sand entered the final table as the chip leader. But he dipped down to only seven big blinds during six-handed play before doubling up on back-to-back hands.

Sand held almost a 3½-to-1 chip advantage entering heads-up play and needed 20 hands to stack Craigie, who earned $46,420. On the final hand, Sand held pocket kings and dodged several outs on the river against Craigie’s pocket sevens.

Sand dedicated the win to his late mother, who taught him to play poker when he was 13.

“That bracelet’s for my mom up in heaven watching over me,” Sand said. “Phil Hellmuth calls it white magic, but I had some magic from somewhere, and I know where it came from.”

‘COLOSSUS II’ UPDATE — A steady stream of players filled the Rio Convention Center for the opening day of the “Colossus II” No-limit Hold ‘em tournament.

More than 5,400 entrants paid the $565 buy-in, with 3,249 participating in Flight A and another 2,153 in Flight B, which finished play at approximately 2:30 a.m. Friday.

Last year’s “Colossus” event was the largest live poker tournament in history with 22,374 entrants, and WSOP officials expect to surpass that number this year.

David Polop of London was the overwhelming chip leader with 513,000 at the conclusion of Flight A, which saw 121 survivors.

Jason James of McMinnville, Oregon, topped the 70 players remaining from Flight B with 407,000 chips.

The “Colossus II” continues Friday and Saturday with four more starting flights.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ