Two Jewish poker players, including Neil Blumenfield of San Francisco, were among the final three at the World Series of Poker main event this week, but neither won the championship.
The title went to Pennsylvania poker pro Joe McKeehen, who took home $7.68 million Nov. 10 when he beat Joshua Beckley, a Jewish player from New Jersey. McKeehen, 25, won when his ace-10 turned into a pair of 10s on the flop; Beckley, 24, went all-in with a pair of fours.
Blumenfield, 61, went home with $3.4 million in third place. The tournament, which began in July with 6,420 players each paying a $10,000 entry fee, was held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Four Jews were among the top five finishers. Max Steinberg of Las Vegas finished fourth and an Israeli, Ofer Zvi Stern, was fifth. Both were eliminated Nov. 9.
Blumenfield is a former Silicon Valley tech executive who started a company and sold it to Intuit in 2013. He told reporters in Las Vegas he was laid off from a job between early WSOP events during the summer and the main event.
“I’m not happy with how I played today,” he said after bowing out, “but obviously it was a great run. If you had asked me four months ago about finishing third, I would have been very excited about that.” — jta & wire reports