Joe Kuether Wins Arizona State Poker Championship For $246,161

Joe Kuether has won the 9th Annual Arizona State Poker Championship, after besting a field of 1,299 players over five days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the $246,161 first place prize.
Joe Kuether cashed in at his first live tournament back in 2009, with his previous accolades including last year finishing in 3rd at the WSOP $1,000 NL Event for $218,983, as well as taking down the WSOPC $1,620 Rincon for $111,104. Following his latest win at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Kuether now boasts $1,673,552 in winnings and commenting on his latest achievement, the Wisconsin native said :
“Pretty amazing. I played all three starting days so it was actually a pretty long grind for a 1K, so it feels pretty great to end up winning it.”
The $1,080 buy-in event attracted a huge field which included some of the biggest names in the game, including Phil Hellmuth, to create a prize pool worth $1,299,259. Amongst the notables seeing a return on their money was Billy Kopp in 128th ($1,949), Jake Balsiger in 91st ($2,598), Dan Heimiller in 80th ($3,053), David Plastik in 58th ($3,312), and John Cernuto in 34th ($3,572).
Joe Kuether was then able to make it all the way to the final table where he overcame his remaining opponents, including Kelly Minkin heads-up, to capture the 2013 Arizona State Poker Championship title.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1 Joe Kuether       $246,161
2 Kelly Minkin       $151,983
3 Daniel Hirleman  $116,910
4 Justin Riches       $88,982
5 Zachary Kottler  $77,940
6 Jason Bidwell     $64,950
7 Ed Clark       $51,960
8 Nidel Salem       $38,970
9 Dave Kaminsky       $25,980
10 Matthew Kursar  $19,485