A poker dealer from Las Vegas has won the casino employees tournament at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

WSOP Event #54 was a $500 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that was open to casino employees only.

It drew 930 participants, mostly from the USA, and had 93 payouts and a total prize pool of about $400,000.

The tourney was won by Jonathan Kotula, a poker dealer who works at O’Shea’s, a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

For the victory, Kotula earns $87,929.

He does not, however, receive a WSOP championship gold bracelet for the win because, according to the WSOP, the tournament is a closed event, not open to the general public.

That explanation is somewhat shallow, however, because one of the WSOP events is a ladies only tournament–no men allowed–yet that winner receives a bracelet, even though it is not open to the general public.

Event #54 was the only WSOP event not to award a bracelet.

Runnerup in the tourney Kevin O’Harra of Tunica, Mississippi, USA, who earned $56,748.

Third was Glenda Harrell of Seattle, Washington, USA, who earned $34,107.

Fourth was Dan Kohnen of Springboro, Ohio, USA, who earned $28,667.

Fifth was Andy Brock of Las Vegas, who earned $23,435.

Sixth was Mike Anderson of Gilbert, Arizona, USA, who earned $18,414.

Seventh was Elaine Graham of Las Vegas, who earned $14,229.

Eighth was Dave Dietrich of Las Vegas, who earned $11,090.

Ninth was Monica Conrad of Cathedral City, California, USA, who earned $7,951.

Tenth was Bob Threadgill of Lodi, California, USA, who earned $5,022.

(E-mail Tom Somach at [email protected])