After Kris Homerding of Anchorage was laid off from his civil engineering job in September, he decided to return to his previous profession — playing poker.
That's working out for him.
Homerding, 30, earned $63,457 for his eighth-place finish Saturday night in a No-Limit Hold 'em event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Homerding made it to the final table of nine players in an event that drew 1,349 hopefuls, required a $3,000 buy-in, or entry fee, and lasted three days.
"Unbelievable moment,'' Homerding said by cellphone Sunday. "My phone is just blowing up — so much support.''
Homerding said he has heard from family, friends and his softball buddies. His wife, Patty, was on hand to watch him pocket the biggest prize of his career — on the eve of their second anniversary, no less.
Saturday's haul, combined with the $9,304 Homerding won for a 52nd-place finish in an earlier WSOP event, gives him $72,761 in winnings at the 48th annual tournament, the largest and most lucrative in the game. That $9,304 came in the first WSOP event of Homderding's career and furnished him confidence.
Homerding's cash Saturday is the second-biggest by an Alaskan in this WSOP. Adam Hendrix of Anchorage last month banked $137,992 for his runner-up finish in a Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo or Better event. Homerding said he met Hendrix earlier in the WSOP and Hendrix watched him play Saturday.
[Anchorage's Adam Hendrix crushed it — nearly $138K — last month at World Series of Poker]
Homerding said he previously played poker professionally for three years and made a "decent living.'' Originally from Chicago, he moved to Alaska — his grandfather lives here and his brother once worked here — and worked on the North Slope for a year before returning to school and finishing his civil engineering degree at UAA in 2011.
When Homerding lost his job in construction, he said he felt the time was right to get out of engineering.
"It didn't really feel like my passion anymore, and I wanted to go back to playing poker,'' he said.
Homerding also opened a custom woodworking business and splits his time between that gig and poker. He's an avid baseball fan — he and Patty designed a baseball-theme wine rack as part of the woodworking business — and said he occasionally takes a mental break while playing poker by checking in on his fantasy baseball team. (Homerding said he recently traded Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner for Yankees rookie slugger Aaron Judge, the former Anchorage Glacier Pilot).
Through 72 of 74 events in the WSOP, which runs for seven weeks, 25 Alaskans have won money.
Carol Harmon of Seward recently won $4,516 for her 17th-place finish in the Ladies No-Limit Hold 'em Championship that drew 718 players, and Marcelina Iaquinto of Anchorage won $2,301 for her 50th-place finish. Harmon also won $2,801 in an earlier WSOP event.
Eric Schilling of Anchorage collected $4,235 for his 375th-place finish in a No-Limit event that lured 6,716 players. Luther Miller of Anchorage won $3,164 for finishing 363rd in a No-Limit event that featured more than 8,000 players.
Hendrix, meanwhile, won another $2,263 for finishing 95th in a No-Limit event that featured 1,750 players.
And in a No-Limit event that attracted 10,000 entrants, three Alaskans cashed — Hendrix (422nd, $677), Wayne McGregor of Wasilla (685th, $433) and Michael Colbert of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (876th, $365).
McGregor leads Alaskans in cashes in this WSOP with four and Hendrix owns three.
Homerding said he plans to begin play Monday in the WSOP's Main Event, which requires a $10,000 buy-in and is the most lucrative game in poker. The Main Event winner last year pocketed $8 million.