Meet Kickoff Day 1b Chip Leader Yaser Al-Keliddar
The second starting flight of the $600 Kickoff Event at the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship sponsored by PokerStars has wrapped up with 16 players remaining, just a fraction of the 125 who entered Day 1b. PokerNews' Tyler Boyer recapped the flight, which you can read about here.
Despite the large field, a notable player ended up bagging the chip lead with a stack of 503,000 as the only player with more than half a million chips. That player is Virginia's Yaser Al-Keliddar, a longtime mid-stakes grinder who has amassed more than $1.1 million in Hendon Mob earnings.
Al-Keliddar's first tournament cash dates back 20 years when he finished 126th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $15,000. A quick glance at his Hendon shows that this isn't his first time grinding at Maryland Live!, and in 2017, he took down a $330 Black Chip Bounty event for $8,022.
Win Your Way to Las Vegas with the PokerStars Path to NAPT!
The next year, Al-Keliddar won a maiden bracelet in the 2019 $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154,338. He picked up a Circuit ring in 2022 at WSOPC Cherokee in a $400 No-Limit Hold'em Event that grossed him $25,013.
When he returns in the money on Day 2, Al-Keliddar will need to fend off fellow bigs stacks Sean Gomez, Gregory Chill and Derek Scott, as well as any big stacks that bag the other five starting flights.