Finishing the thought on the World Series of Poker Main Event, we wanted to recognize local players who cashed at the tournament. If we've missed anyone here, please let us know.  Cashing at the WSOP Main Event -- the $10,000 Texas Hold 'em Championship -- is a pretty substantial poker accomplishment.  In the case of this year, there were 6,844 entrants (the second-largest field ever) and players had to finish in the top 666 (less than top 10 percent) to cash. 

We've already mentioned Andrew Brokos, the Catonsville man currently living in Boston, who placed 35th winning $193,000.  According to the WSOP hand recaps, on Sunday, Brokos went all-in for 1.14 million chips with ace-queen off-suit against an opponent's pair of jacks.  Brokos never improved. This is the account from the WSOP play-by-play.

(Brokos) made an extremely gracious exit, shaking the hand of each player at his table.

Other Marylanders:

No. 243 Melvin Lowe, Rockville, $35,383

No. 422 Dale Andrews, Frederick, $27,020

No. 536 Farzad Rouhani, $25,090

No. 646 Kenneth McKusick, $21,230

I chatted with Andrews, an IT manager from Frederick, on the phone after he was eliminated.  He got to Day 4 and needed to make a move to stay in contention.  His pocket twos improved to three-of-a-kind on the flop but his opponent, who had a much larger stack of chips, was on a flush draw.  The flush filled out on the turn and that ended Andrews' ride.  Andrews and Lowe, who finished No. 243, play in the same card group in Mount Airy.

I've met Ken McKusick, who's actually from Towson, at previous WSOPs.  McKusick wears Ravens jersey while he plays (this year, it was Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata).  This was his first cash-in at the Main Event.  McKusick said he took notes on every hand and that even though it sounds like it would have been a distraction, the note-taking helped him focus.  ESPN cameras captured some of it but it remains to be seen whether it gets on TV.

For Rouhani, the Main Event performance was simply icing on the cake.  He had previously won the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-card stud high-low tournament at this year's WSOP in June, collecting nearly $233,000.  Rouhani also finished second in a WSOP event two years ago, according to cardplayer.com.

Congratulations to all the locals who cashed in the Main Event, and if there are more, give a shout.