Seat 6: Mark Owens (270,000)
Mark Owens is from right here in the Chicago area, a graduate of the University of Illinois. He's a 38-year-old options trader who is finding some success chasing poker as a hobby. Owens finished in 60th place at the 2008 WSOP Main Event, notching his first six-figure score and his only one to date. That might be about to change today, however.
Owens has only played one previous Circuit event, cashing in one of the preliminaries here last week. He took some of that payday to enter a $200 Mega Satellite for this Regional Championship, and he's parlayed the seat he won there into a final table run today, and potentially, a coveted gold ring when it's all said and done.
It'll be a long climb for Owens, though; he begins play as one of the short stacks with 270,000 chips.