Seat 1: JC Alvarado -- 3,116,000
JC Alvarado got his feet wet in poker after he graduated from high school. Through home games with friends — that actually began outside of the home at a local IHOP — Alvarado accumulated a small bankroll and built confidence in his game. From there, he took to the virtual felt.
As many who make the dive into online poker, Alvarado quickly lost his first deposit and was forced to reload. Soon, he learned the game and progressed through the ranks, but then disaster struck and Alvarado found himself broke. Nevertheless, Alvarado's drive and determination led him to get back into the game. With the support from his Mom, soon enough, his hard work paid off and Alvarado's bankroll was flush.
After building his bankroll and confidence back up online, Alvarado took to the live felt in 2006. He cashed in a few events that year, including one at the World Series of Poker where he took sixth place for just under $30,000. Then in 2007, he has his best year with nearly $650,000 in live tournament earnings. The big score that year was a runner-up finish in the World Poker Tour World Poker Challenge in Reno, Nevada where Alvarado scored $366,798.
In total, Alvarado has nearly $900,000 in live tournament earnings. That also means that this cash here will have Alvarado joining the seven-figure club as he's already locked up €122,960.
Overall, Alvarado has been quiet on the live felt since 2009, having only a few tournament results, but he's making a big splash here. Alvarado has a very solid chip stack coming into the final table, entering third with 3.116 million in chips.
Yesterday, PokerNews hostess Kristy Arnett chatted with Alvarado and you can check out that interview below.