Four players returned to the Rio poker tables on Thursday with the $500 Casino Employee tournament title on the line after the event spilled into a third day thanks to the new rule implemented this year that calls a stop to any tournament after 10 levels of play.

Heading into Thursday’s action it was Sacramento poker dealer Sean Drake who held the chip-lead, with his fellow casino employee brethren all looking to overtake him and lay claim to the $82k first-place prize-money. Here are the chip-stacks the final four players brought to the table on Thursday:

1. Sean Drake — 1,058,000

2. Jason Baker — 727,000

3. Claudio Falcaro — 420,000

4. Christopher Perez — 347,000

However, Drake would not go down easily, and managed to maintain his chip-lead virtually throughout the final table before putting away Jason Baker in the heads-up duel. The tournament would hinge upon a single hand –a hand that is one of the worst coolers you’ll ever see in a heads-up match—as both players would turn a Full House on a K-J-6-J board: Baker holding J-6 with Drake sitting on K-K!

Here is a look at the final table payouts for the $500 Casino Employee tournament:

1. Sean Drake — $82,292

2. Jason Baker — $50,807

3. Claudio Falcaro — $32,753

4. Christopher Perez — $23,994

5. Daniel Quach — $17,835

6. Richard Kozlowski — $13,437

7. Adam Falk — $10,247

8. Joseph Zeman — $7,906

9. Edward Marcus — $6,165

Tags: Brethren, Christopher Perez, Claudio, Coolers, Daniel Quach, Drake, Falk, Final Four, Full House, Heading, Jason Baker, Kozlowski, Match, Poker Dealer, Poker Tables, prize money, Rio, stacks, Third Day, Wins

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