Congratulations to Gordon Maruya, runaway winner Monday of the $15,782.50 Final Table in the Xpressbet Fun in the Sun handicapping contest for Saratoga and Del Mar. Maruya’s $269.50 bankroll after win bets on the final 5 races at the Spa and first 5 at Del Mar easily outpaced the 34 other entries in the FITS finals. Runner-up Kerry Bassore closed at $223 in Monday’s contest, qualifying for the final table just 48 hours prior in Saturday’s Week 7 round.
Maruya also qualified to last year’s Fun in the Sun Final Table with not one, but two entries. This year he only needed one to get over the top and win. He was also a Final Table qualifier in the 2021 FITS.
Five players each of the 7 qualifying weeks in Fun in the Sun earned spots in the Final Table, a format that was used for the fifth straight summer. Maruya became the fifth different FITS Final Table champion and earned an $8,638.38 payday.
2024 FITS Final Table Standings:
$269.50 Gordon Maruya ($8,680.38 prize)
$223.00 Kerry Bassore ($3,945.63 prize)
$216.00 Thomas Guadagno ($1,578.25 prize)
$191.00 Bob Rea ($789.12 prize)
$179.00 Michael Taran ($789.12 prize)
Top-5 Each Contest Saturday:
Week 1: Lyle Nordby, Barry Hill, Bob Rea, George Smith, John Alders
Week 2: Thomas Guadagno, Michael Taran, Dino Sampo, Lance Kawamura, Steven Daniel
Week 3: Steven Jones, Jeffrey Danner, Terrence Severson, Sean Omalley, Kevin Jones
Week 4: William Tilley, John Wonkovich, Nelson Jaramillo, Gordon Maruya, Joe Rotell
Week 5: Greg Knepper, Steve Echolds, William Tilley (dual qualifier), Jeff Falconio, Christopher Couples
Week 6: John Vanniel, Matthew Mcaleer, Anothony Caruso, Tom Mulligan, Steven Hilbert
Week 7: Paul Jannis, Joe Rotell, Curtis Teegardin, Kerry Bassore, Sean omalley
Fun in the Sun Final Table Winners:
2020 Robert Rosen
2021 Wayne Tam
2022 Kevin Saunders
2023 Joe Tambasco
2024 Gordon Maruya
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