Kris Kuykendall (born 1983) is a promising young poker player from Ohio. He shot to fame from complete obscurity at the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure in January of 2008. With his out-of-the-blue achievement, Kris Kuykendall exemplifies the new generation of poker players.
A native of Ohio, Kris Kuykendall has so far followed the all-American path. After graduating from high school he attended Cinncinati University and obtained an undergraduate's degree in Business. He was a member of his high school's wrestling team - if if his somewhat delicate good looks indicate the opposite - and coaches wrestling as a side job. Throw in a fraternal game of poker from time to time, and you get the average life of a young America. Kris Kuykendall, however, ultimately headed for a different destination.
Around 2006, Kris Kuykendall took up internet poker. He soon became a fixture on playing room PokerStars, particularly enjoying multi-playing. With time, he grew to master up to nine tables simultaneously. During one of these sessions Kuykendall decided to check out the portal's satellite for the EPT's Caribbean Poker Adventure - "Just for the heck of it," as he says. His whim soon became an entry into the tournament after he won the satellite. Kris Kuykendall headed now heading for Paradise Island.
The 2008 tournament saw 1,136 players attempting to win the $2,000,000 cash prize - and most of them were far more experienced than Kris Kuykendall. For a person who had only played the occasional $100 rebuys and the even more sporadical big-buy-in tournaments, the Caribbean Adventure was a proved a major challenge. Nothing, however, seemed to deterr Kuykendall. On the first day he built a fairly decent stack; on the second day, he doubled it; and on the third day came close to losing it all, going down to about $20,000 in chips. The roller-coaster did not stop there, as Kuykendall trebled his chip count with pocket nines. His jacks beating an opponent's kings meant a seat in the final table. With rivals like David Pham, Hafiz Kahn and Bertrand Grospellier (aka ElkY) the final stage would be hard for any pro, let alone a fresh-faced online player. Kris Kuykendall, however, showed opponents what he was made of. Remaining faithful to his game plan, he sent five of his eight final table opponents packing, before settling for the honorable third place (Grospellier having won the first) and a staggering $800,000.
January of 2008 will undoubtedly go down in PokerStars history. Here was Kris Kuykendall, a young man who had never played a major live event before, and whose experience was overwhelmingly internet-based, topping an experienced, aggressive player nicknamed The Dragon for a good reason. The Cinncinati kid, who entered the tournament playing solid and learning the rules of the live arena, quickly transformed into a no-nonesense aggressor, who dazzled everyone in attendance with his incredible achievement. In light of the prowess he displayed at the Bahamas, it is safe to assume Kris Kuykendall is in for a tremendous professional career.
