WSOP NEWS FLASH: BEN ALCOBER IS FIRST PLAYER TO A MILLION
Ben Alcober Becomes First Player in WSOP Main Event Championship to Cross the 1,000,000-Chip Mark
 
(Photo by Jay WhoJedi Newnum)
 
If Ben Alcober could cash out now, he’d have a million dollars.
 
The 28-year-old professional poker player from Chino Hills, CA became the first of the 880 or so remaining player in the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship to cross the million-chip threshold.
 
Shortly before the dinner break on Day Three, Alcober rocketed up to 960,000 in chips.  Once pay resumed, he chipped up even higher to about 1,020,000.  That places him as king of the poker mountain – at least for the moment.  Indeed, there is still a lot of poker to be played, with one more two-hour level to go tonight before Day 3 is in the books.
 
Last year, Patrick Poirier earned the honor of being the first player to 1 million chips.  He did so during Level 13 action, finished the day with a chip-leading 1,328,000, and went on to take 200th place in the event.  The year prior, no player ended Day 3 with more than 1 million chips.  
 
Alcober has spent a lot of time in Las Vegas, not just playing poker, but in other activities as well.  Prior to playing poker full-time, he was a talent manager for several top nightclubs on the Las Vegas Strip. Now, he’s the star of his own show.  For Alcober, the 2012 WSOP may turn out to be the party of a lifetime.
 
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-- By Nolan Dalla