The first night of raucous racing saw a veteran player win his first game, a previous champion make the Final, and a comeback in the last race move another veteran into the Final. At the first table, Joe Romano, with $93,000, won his first Heat ever, and against a past champion. At table 2, John Emery, 2023 Champion, won his Heat by a solid $67,000 with a total of $109,000. At table 3, Craig Fox got his seat at the Final by riding Captain Ahab to a win in the 6th race with the high score of the night of $123,000. The first night saw four new players on three tracks.
The Second Heat had three tables running. On the first table, Bruce Reiff hit the daily double and steamrolled to $173,000 and a win by $120,000. Captain Ahab received four bonuses on Bruce’s table and won the 6th race even though Bruce tried to doink him the whole race. On table 2, Jack Stalica beat William Kennington by $3,000 at $131,000. On table 3, Mike Polcen won handily with $174,500.
Heat 4 saw 4 boards played by 14 entrants. Bert Schoose made it back to the Big Board with $110,000. Stephen Peeples ($100,500), Lisa Pate ($96,000), and Sonny Walker ($83,000) won their Heats. So far, 10 entrants going to the Big Board!
The fourth and final Heat had two tables with nine players. Stuart Tucker returned to the Final with $152,500 and a $40,000 lead over WPS newcomer Leon Sorge. The closest game of the con was on the second board where Ken Gutermuth and Lisa Page tied with $80,000, only $1,500 more than Russ Bielefeldt. WOW! All-in-all, WPS welcomed 7 new players amongst the 29 total entrants.
Twelve players made it to the Final at Rivoll Downs. Ken Gutermuth and Stephen Peeples were not able to make it, so the first race went off with 10 entrants, including two new players, last year’s champion, 3 more past champions, and a first-time finalist.
The first two races were fast enough to push Mustard Seed and Indian Giver to wins and a 5 – 6 daily double. The third race was won by Egg Yolk, the 15-1 Apprentice. The fourth race was extremely slow, and another Apprentice from the 4-position won with three bonuses.
As expected, bidding on Cockroach was extremely spirited in the fifth race, with Bert Schoose winning the bid. With a bonus in the second to last round, the ‘Roach made it across the line. Both Bert and Craig Fox bet the ‘Roach across-the-board for the max and enjoyed the $82,500 winnings going into race 6.
Once again, the bidding was extremely spirited, with Stuart Tucker driving Mona Lisa. Lisa Pate drove a clean race with the 10-1 longshot, Captain Ahab, and came in second, but Jack Stalica jockeyed Leyte Gulf, with four requested bonuses answered to a first place finish and the $25,000 purse.
When the dust cleared, with an across-the-board max bet on the longshots Cockroach and Captain Ahab in the last two races, Craig Fox is the 2024 Champion.
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