honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 3:39 p.m., Monday, February 12, 2007

Wahiawa's Leroy Chincio wins slot on World Poker Tour

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Leroy Chincio, a social poker player and Wahiawa father of three young girls, won a $10,000 buy-in Saturday to a World Poker Tour tournament in Los Angeles.

Chincio, 39, won the two-day tournament held in conjunction with the Hawaii Big Boys Expo. The Hawaiian Electric Co. construction manager has only been playing the game since 2004, but he's a huge fan.

"It has always been my dream to play in the World Poker Tour," he said. "I watch it religiously on TV and, of course, I daydream about it. But I would never cough up $10,000 to enter a tournament. I knew this was the only way I could get in."

About 400 people played in the Honolulu tournament, held Friday and Saturday at the Blaisdell Center.

Chincio calls poker a "thinking man's game" and confesses that a little luck never hurt anybody. But it takes more than that to win, he said.

"You have to take risks," he said.

Chincio will play March 3-5 in the WPT Celebrity Invitational.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.