Continental Airlines Awards Miles to Winner of Poker Tournament

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A Houston area resident, Bill Shiver was awarded 21 million frequent flier miles by Continental Airlines. Shiver was the grand prize winner of its OnePass 21st Birthday Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. The tournament was held in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino.

Jim Compton, who is Continental Airlines Executive Vice President of Marketing said that the airline wanted to celebrate the 21st birthday of OnePass in a big way and that they are pleased to be able to award the grand prize of 21 million OnePass miles to Bill Shiver.

Total prizes of over 25 million OnePass miles were given to the top finalists of the tournament, with second place winner David Michaels of San Francisco being awarded 1,000,000 OnePass miles, and prizes ranging from 500,000 to 100,000 miles being awarded to the top 10 finalists. The top 40 finalists were awarded 50,000 OnePass miles each.

The grand prize winner, Bill Shiver had been playing poker for about 4 years, only as a hobby. He said that it was a wonderful experience and that he everyone he talked to at the event said they were also having a great time. He went on to say that he feels very fortunate and really lucky to be the winner. He plans to use some of his winnings toward a cruise to the Mediterranean, a trip to Italy, and then to road football games of Texas A&M University, his alma mater.