Vegas player Nguyen wins World Series of Poker, $8M

Qui Nguyen, a professional poker player from Las Vegas, emerged from a starting field of 6,737 to become the new World Series of Poker Main Event champion and take down a first prize of $8 million. Nguyen outlasted Gordon Vayo in an eight-hour-plus heads-up battle that was the longest in WSOP Main Event history.

On the final hand, Nguyen had K-10 suited to Vayo’s J-T suited. A king flopped, and Nguyen’s pair held up for the win. Vayo got $4.6 million for second, and all nine players at the final table cashed more than $1 million. In beating the 27-year-old Vayo, Nguyen snapped a run of eight straight years of winners in their 20s. He also becomes the second winner named Nguyen, joining Scotty Nguyen, who won it in 1998.

Car-nado: The dreaded “Car-nado” portion of the $1 billion Project Neon road widening is underway, causing several normal routes through downtown’s Spaghetti Bowl to be closed. Detours are clearly marked, but the work will cause traffic disruptions through February.

Cool experience: A promotion called “Kids Are Cool” is available daily until 9 p.m. in the Minus5 Ice Bar at Mandalay Bay. For $10, kids ages 5-12 get a parka and gloves and access into the frosty bar for a kid-friendly “ice bar experience.”

Redwood reopens: The former Redwood Bar & Grille that was temporarily moved to Main Street Station while the restaurant was renovated is back at the California. It’s now called the Redwood Steakhouse, and the long-running off-the-menu steak special is no longer available.

Question: Was the Trump-Clinton debate as big a publicity winner for Las Vegas as reports indicate?

Answer: Yes. The third presidential debate attracted 71.6 million viewers and thousands of journalists. It was the third-largest audience ever for a presidential debate, trailing only Reagan-Carter (80.6 million viewers) and the first Clinton-Trump meeting (84 million). The price tag for hosting was about $8 million, but the publicity value for the city is estimated at more than $100 million.

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