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Poker Player goes All-in with Death on Flight and Loses
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Author: Anton Johan
June 11 - For obese poker player, Paul 'Smalls' Kitsos, what should have been a routine flight this week from his native New York to gambling Mecca, Las Vegas, turned out to be his last hand, which he lost to the Grim Reaper.
The 55-year-old poker and food lover, and owner of a successful women's clothing company, was en route to Las Vegas to play in the prestigious World Series of Poker, and even had $11,000 on him, presumably to cover the buy-in.
According to reports, about 20 minutes after United flight 863 took off from JFK to San Francisco en route to Las Vegas, Kitsos complained to flight attendant Ken Pace about feeling ill, and was both breathing and sweating heavily.
Shortly afterwards Kitsos appeared to pass out and when Pace checked for a pulse, he could not find one. A doctor on board the flight confirmed that Kitsos was in fact dead and, given his symptoms, likely died of a heart attack.
A few days after being told of his death, Kitsos' wife, Stella Spanakos, told a New York daily newspaper that her husband - who at 5-foot-11 and over 350 pounds - had a huge zest for life and a enormous love for the game of poker.
She said he started playing poker professionally 5 years ago and had won $387,764 on the World Poker Tour. His biggest pay day came in June 2009 when he finished fifth in the Borgota Summer Open to win himself a cool $103,500.
'He fell in love with Texas hold'em when it became popular after 9/11. He was always a very, very sharp card player and he became addicted to it,' said Spanakos. 'He was a real character. He lived large and that's the way he went out.'
RIP Smalls.
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