Of all the eye-catching numbers coming out of Qui Nguyens victory in the World Series of Poker Main Event early Wednesday morning -- the $8 million first prize, the nine-hour heads-up duel, or even the 6,737-player field he outlasted -- perhaps none is more surprising than this:He is 39.The former Alaska nail salon owner and failed professional baccarat player is the oldest winner of the $10,000 No Limit Hold `Em tournament since 2007, snapping a string of eight straight 20-somethings to grind through the biggest and most prestigious tournament in the annual gambling festival.To see somebody like him win, its going to give more people hope, said Ryan Riess, who won the 2013 Main Event at the age of 23. Theres going to be a lot of guys that may be in their 40s or 50s who may have been discouraged seeing all the younger players win.A Vietnam native who lives in Las Vegas, Nguyen eliminated San Francisco poker pro Gordon Vayo on the 364th hand of the final table at around 3:20 a.m. Wednesday to end an 11-hour session that followed an 11-day run in July to winnow the field down to a November Nine. Over three straight nights this week, Nguyen played more than 18 hours, including 200 hands from shuffle up and deal on Tuesday afternoon to the confetti cannons that celebrated his winning hand.Its absolutely a grueling grind, said Jason Somerville, who won a $1,000 No Limit Hold `Em bracelet in 2011, at 24, and has finished in the money at the Main Event twice. Remember that youre not just playing long sessions: Youre on the biggest stage in poker; youre under the bright lights. That whole thing is a pressure cooker like none other in poker. Its really unique in life.From its origins in barrooms and basements, poker has emerged as a billion-dollar business -- the World Series of Poker alone includes 69 events over 51 days in which 107,844 entrants played for $221,211,336 in payouts. As the game grew, it attracted not just older Texans in cowboy hats but young chess, math and computer prodigies who played thousands of hands online in the time it would take traditional gamblers to play one-tenth as much.Thats enabled younger players to compete with -- and even surpass -- their more experienced competition. Young player say their age gives them the stamina necessary to outlast fields that now run in the thousands.Phil Hellmuth was 24 when he won the Main Event for the first time in 1989 (in a field of just 178), but five of the eight winners since 2007 have been younger than that, including 2009 winner Joe Cada, who was about a week shy of his 22nd birthday.Somerville noted that Nguyen was only 39.Its not like hes 65, which would really be surprising, he said.Nguyen didnt take the traditional route to the final table. Nor did he make his name playing online like the younger generation of players.Instead, he used his earnings at the nail salon to finance a baccarat habit that busted him before he turned to poker. With only one WSOP finish in the money and less than $53,000 in career tournament earnings heading into the Main Event, he was one of the least accomplished players at the final table.But Nguyen used an aggressive style that forced Vayo to fold a better hand dozens of times down the stretch until his stack had dwindled and his choices were limited.He kind of played like a 20-something. He was very aggressive, very courageous, said Somerville, who has more than $6 million in earnings -- about one-third online and the rest in live tournaments. Theres a lot of ways you can be successful in poker. Theres not just one way to do it. But theres no shortcut to putting the hard work in: studying, practicing training. You really have to put in the hours.Nguyen and Vayo did that -- all in one night.More than 10 1/2 hours into the final session, Nguyen held a 5-to-1 chip advantage when he was dealt a king and 10 of clubs. Vayo got a jack and 10 of spades and pushed in his last 53 million chips.Nguyen quickly called.The two players stood together at the rail to watch the five shared cards come out.The flop -- the first three community cards -- was a king-nine-seven, giving Nguyen a pair and Vayo the possibility of a straight.Then came an inconsequential two, followed by an equally harmless three.Nguyen was the winner.The two players hugged, and Nguyens supporters bounced over the rail to celebrate with him.In addition to one of the biggest prizes in poker, Nguyen receives a $50,000 bracelet made from 427 grams of white and yellow gold and more than 2,000 diamonds and rubies totaling more than 44 carats. The centerpiece opens like a locket to house the hole cards from the winning hand.Im so excited. I dont know what to say, Nguyen, wearing his trademark raccoon baseball cap, said on the TV broadcast. I just tried to remind myself to never give up, to never give up. It was tiring, it was tough, but I wanted to stay aggressive and never give up and thankfully for me it worked out.Vayo earned $4,661,228 for finishing second. Hes 27 -- the youngest player at the final table.Cliff Josephy, a 50-year-old former stock broker who was the oldest of the November Nine, was eliminated in third place and collected $3.45 million.Daniel Negreanu, a six-time bracelet winner who is 42 but known as Kid Poker, said older winners could become more common because of laws against online poker in the United States.Without the ability to play poker online, younger players have a more difficult time amassing the experience necessary to be competitive at the highest levels, he said. The barrier for entry for younger players is more significant today as a result. Until that changes, you can expect the average age of the winners to increase along with it.But Riess said he didnt think the presence of two older players among the final three was an indication that the trend toward younger winners is going to reverse any time soon.Its definitely wide open, Riess said. There are a lot of great players that are older and a lot that are younger. But as a whole, I think the younger players are still ahead of the game.If the over-under was 30, for next years Main Event, he said, I would bet the under.---This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Ryan Riess. Wholesale Adidas Nmd . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Discount Adidas Nmd r1 . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/ . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Cheap Mens Nmd Shoes . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Yeezy Boost 350 Cheap Authentic . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- When Big Ben doesnt have his `A Game, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they have a more than capable Plan B in continuing their late-season playoff push.Thats `B as in Bell.With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger struggling once again with his accuracy on the road, the Steelers resorted to handing the ball off to LeVeon Bell in sparking a 27-20 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.Despite a slick, snow-covered field, Bell had no trouble with his footing to score three times and set a franchise record with 236 yards rushing.The Steelers (8-5) won their fourth in a row to keep pace in the AFC playoff hunt.How much can I appreciate it? About as much as any Steeler fan. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome, Roethlisberger said of Bells performance. When youre running the ball as well as you do, might as well stick to it.After Roethlisberger threw two of his three interceptions in the first half, the Steelers opened the third quarter fully committed to feed Bell.He delivered by rushing nine times for 72 yards and cap an 82-yard drive by waltzing into the end zone untouched from 5 yards out to put the Steelers ahead 21-7 . Add in 62 yards receiving, Bell accounted for 298 of Pittsburghs 460 yards, and he single-handedly outgained Buffalos 275 yards.The loss left Buffalo (6-7) on the fringes of contention and placed the team in jeopardy of extending the NFLs longest playoff drought to 17 seasons.The Bills faltered on both sides of the ball, raising questions about the futures of both coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Tyrod Taylor beyond this season.Ryan was noncommittal in saying, well see, when asked whether Taylor will remain his starter.Ryan was defiant when asked about whether he deserved a shot to continue on the job beyond his second season.What do you think Im going to say? Youre dang right I do, Ryan said. It hasnt gone exactly the way I wanted it to go, thats obvious. But we have three games left and well try to win every one of them.BAD BENThough Roethlisberger improved to 4-3 on the road this season, he continues to struggle away from the friendly confines of Heinz Field.Roethlisberger went 17 for 31 for 220 yards against Buffalo, and is 147 of 247 for 1,618 yarrds with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions on the road.dddddddddddd Hes 4-1 at home, where he is 136 of 193 for 1,636 with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions.HITTING 100Steelers coach Mike Tomlins regular-season record improved to 100-57, making him the 40th NFL coach and third with Pittsburgh to reach 100 wins.I congratulated him. I gave him the game ball, Roethlisberger said. Theres a lot of coaches that have coached this game and probably wish they had 100 wins, for him to get it, its awesome.The no-nonsense Tomlin didnt think much of the milestone, saying: It means Ive been here awhile.NO OFFENSEThe Bills had minus-1 yard through two series in the first quarter, becoming the NFLs first team this season to have negative yards through the first 15 minutes.Buffalo didnt get into positive yardage until its first snap of the second quarter, when LeSean McCoy had a 9-yard run.Buffalo combined for seven first downs and 87 yards net offense on its first nine possessions. That included Sammy Watkins 8-yard touchdown catch set up by Stephon Gilmore returning Roethlisbergers second interception to the Pittsburgh 7 midway through the second quarter.Taylor finished 15 of 25 for 228 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.Definitely didnt play my best, Taylor said. I let the team down a couple of plays, but gotta move forward.NO DEFENSEThough the Bills had three interceptions, not much else went right on defense.Bells 236 yards rushing were the most allowed by Buffalo in team history. That eclipsed the 224 yards set by Miamis Ricky Williams on Dec. 1, 2002. The Bills also allowed 200 yards rushing twice this season, after Miamis Jay Ajayi had 214 in the Dolphins 28-25 win in October.Its very hard to swallow, cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman said. I dont know how to take this right now. But its going to take some time.SACK ATTACKLinebacker Bud Dupree had two of Pittsburghs five sacks. The Steelers have 31 sacks this season, with 18 coming in their past four games.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '