The partypoker Kings Of Vegas promotion not only made the dreams of 50 poker players come true by giving them the chance to head to Las Vegas to compete in the $2 million guaranteed WPT500 at Aria, it has also created an amazing story.
Milan Harper headed to Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) in May to play in the partypoker Grand Prix Million. While that particular event proved to be fruitless for the popular Leeds resident, he came away with a snippet of knowledge that has now reaped dividends.
You see, Harper chatted at the bar with the partypoker girls, Sophie and Annabel, after he bust and they informed him about the Kings of Vegas promotion that was in full swing at the time. Harper returned home to his adoring family, made a deposit into his partypoker account and was awarded with a Kings of Vegas final ticket as a result. Harper went on to secure a $6,000 Kings Of Vegas package and he and friend Nick Todd jetted out to “Sin City” to take their seats in the massive WPT500 Aria.
While Todd and the majority of the 5,113-strong field has since bust from the tournament, Harper is still going strong and is among the final 18 competitors who are in the hunt for the huge $330,000 first place prize.
Harper, the last surviving partypoker qualifier, returns to his seat on Monday afternoon armed with 5,165,000 chips – average stack is 3,661,111 — enough to see him start in fifth place. Blinds when play resume are 75,000/150,000 with a running ante of 25,000 meaning Harper’s stack contains 34 big blinds, enough to give him some room to manoeuvre.
Leading the final 18 players back into battle is Craig Varnell and his monster-sized stack of 15,025,000. Varnell is in scintillating form right now having cashed six times at the 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) including a third place finish in a $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event worth $73,079.
Also in the hunt for the title are some extremely talented individuals. Hunter Cichy (8,120,000), who finished second in the same event that Varnell came third in, starts the day in second place, while the 2014 WPT Cyprus champion and 2015 WPT World Championship runner-up, Alexander Lakhov (4,985,000) is also returning.
Another former WPT champion in the shape of Keven Stammen (3,095,000) will have a major influence on who wins this spectacular event, as will WSOP bracelet winner Nick Binger (2,845,000).
But all eyes here at partypoker HQ will be fixated on Milan Harper and his attempts to turn a free $6,000 Kings Of Vegas package into $330,000. He’s already locked up $16,000 and when he reaches the final table this amount rises to $33,000. Play resumes at 14:00 Las Vegas time. The very best of luck to you, Milan!
Discover more about Milan Harper
Those of you interested in learning more about Milan Harper can head to his Meet The partypoker People interview here on the partypoker blog.
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