Michael Pons felt generous. The 26-year-old Miami native had a big advantage over the remaining eight players at the final table of the Dan LeBatard 790 The Ticket Hold’em Tournament Sept. 17 at Dania Jai-Alai. After all, he had not only survived the “all-ins” of the other 315 players, but was the chipleader with more than 200,000 units at close to midnight. There had been a total of 316 avid hold’em players enjoying the party atmosphere of this popular tournament, getting to mix with the station personalities, and the lure of more than $12,000 in prize money.
At the final table, players started talking “chop” (splitting up the prize money) and Pons, looking down at his huge stack said, “Let’s do it.” Pons could’ve collected more than $4,500 had he played it out and won. But, because of the decision to carve it up, he and the second-place finisher took a little larger share of the winnings, $1,460 each, while the other six players collected $1,265. “I had a great time, I don’t get to play in many tournaments, but this was really a lot of fun,” said the champion who also received a crystal trophy from LeBatard.
