Illinois man crowned poker world champion

John Cynn, a 33-year-old professional poker player from Illinois, emerged from a starting field of 7,874 to become the new World Series of Poker Main Event champion, taking down a prize of $8.8 million.

Cynn outlasted Tony Miles last week in a 10-hour, 199-hand marathon heads-up session with 11 lead changes.

On the final hand, Cynn had K-J suited to Miles’ Q-8 suited. The K-K-5 flop gave Cynn three kings, which held up against Miles’ eventual two pair. Miles pocketed $5 million as runner-up.

Sahara returning?: It’s being reported that permits have been filed to change the name of SLS Las Vegas to Grand Sahara Resort. SLS says it’s only a “working name” for now, but given that SLS was previously the Sahara and the new owners have a casino in Reno called Grand Sierra Resort, the prospective new name makes sense.

New feast: Palace Station has opened its new Feast Buffet, moved from the second floor to the main floor. The buffet has several new serving stations that make it competitive with the best in town, and introductory pricing makes it the top buffet value. Breakfast is $10.99, lunch is $12.99 and dinner or brunch is $17.99. But sign up for the free Players Club and show your card — the price drops to $8.99, $10.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Question: How many multiple winners have there been in the World Series of Poker’s Main Event?

Answer: Four players have won multiple times: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Stu Unger each won twice, and Johnny Moss won three times. But all of those titles were won when the fields comprised fewer than 315 players — in Brunson and Moss’ wins, fewer than 35.

This year Joe Cada finished fifth after winning in 2009, when just under 6,500 players competed, which makes his combined first- and fifth-place wins far more impressive than those of any of the multiple winners.

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