Continental Airlines Awards 21 Million Frequent Flyer Miles in Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament
August 15 2008 - 11:27AM
PR Newswire (US)
Houston player wins grand prize at four day event in Las Vegas
HOUSTON, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines
today announced that Bill Shiver, a Houston area resident and
Continental frequent flier, took home 21 million frequent flier
miles as the grand prize winner of its OnePass 21st Birthday Texas
Hold'em Poker Tournament at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in
Las Vegas. Shiver, who has been playing poker for four years as a
hobby, plans to use some of his winnings toward a Mediterranean
cruise, a trip to Italy with friends, and to road football games of
his alma mater, Texas A&M University. "It was a wonderful
experience," said Shiver, "I didn't talk to anyone -- win or lose
-- who didn't have a great time. I feel very fortunate and really
lucky to be the winner." "Continental's award-winning OnePass
frequent flyer program has recognized our customers with
outstanding benefits for more than two decades and we look forward
to continuing this service for many years to come," said Jim
Compton, Continental's executive vice president marketing. "We
wanted to celebrate the 21st birthday of OnePass in a big way and
are pleased to award 21 million OnePass miles to Bill Shiver."
Prizes totaling more than 25 million OnePass miles were awarded to
the top finalists in the tournament that drew 243 players. Second
place winner, David Michaels of San Francisco received one million
OnePass miles. Other top ten finalists received prizes ranging from
500,000 to 100,000 OnePass miles, and the top 40 finalists received
50,000 OnePass miles each. OnePass 21st Birthday Texas Hold'em
Tournament Top 10 finishers: 1st Place 21 million bonus miles Bill
Shiver Spring, Texas 2nd Place 1 million bonus miles David Michaels
San Francisco, Calif. 3rd Place 500,000 bonus miles Rajappa
Chidambaram Sugarland, Texas 4th Place 400,000 bonus miles Bob
Shega Parma, Ohio 5th Place 350,000 bonus miles Diego Samaniego
Scottsdale, Ariz. 6th Place 300,000 bonus miles Steve Harris
Pompano, Fla. 7th Place 250,000 bonus miles Don Bowdoin Avondale,
Pa. 8th Place 200,000 bonus miles David Granik Brooklyn, N.Y. 9th
Place 150,000 bonus miles Adam Smith Morristown, N.J. 10th Place
100,000 bonus miles Michael Black Riverton, Utah Cris Farrell of
Houston was the winner of 70,000 OnePass miles in a slot tournament
held during the event for players and their guests. The contest's
grand prize could be redeemed for up to 200 roundtrip BusinessFirst
tickets from Houston to Rome, up to 400 roundtrip economy tickets
within the United States, or be used to bid on exclusive OnePass
Online Auction items including premier sporting events, VIP
performing arts experiences and vacation packages. In addition to
the poker tournament, Continental Airlines is offering 21,000
OnePass bonus miles for new members who acquire the Continental
Airlines World MasterCard(R) during the 21st birthday celebration.
The offer is valid until October 31, 2008. Additionally, as part of
the commemoration, OnePass members will receive 2,100 bonus miles
when they use a MasterCard(R) card to purchase a First Class or
BusinessFirst(R) ticket on continental.com. For complete details,
visit continental.com. ABOUT CONTINENTAL Continental Airlines is
the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with
Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 3,000
daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving
140 domestic and 139 international destinations. More than 550
additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With
more than 46,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York,
Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express,
carries approximately 69 million passengers per year. Continental
consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its
operation and its corporate culture. For the fifth consecutive
year, FORTUNE magazine named Continental the No. 1 World's Most
Admired Airline on its 2008 list of World's Most Admired Companies.
For more company information, visit continental.com. ABOUT GOLDEN
NUGGET LAS VEGAS Winner of the AAA Four Diamond Award since 1977,
the Golden Nugget Las Vegas is the most luxurious resort on the
Fremont Street Experience, and consistently receives critical
acclaim for exceeding customer expectations. The Golden Nugget
offers more than 1,900 deluxe guest rooms and suites; a high-energy
casino featuring the most popular slot and video poker machines,
table games, race and sports book and poker room; nightly
entertainment; world-class restaurants; luxury spa and salon and
The Tank, a year-round outdoor swimming pool complete with a live
shark aquarium. In September 2005, Landry's Restaurants, Inc.
purchased the Golden Nugget hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and
Laughlin, Nev., and embarked on a 14-month, $100 million renovation
project, which was completed November 2006. In December 2007, the
Golden Nugget completed its $60 million Phase II project, which
expanded the resort west onto First Street and introduced
additional entertainment, event and dining venues. Hotel
reservations and additional information are available by calling
800-634-3454, or by booking online at http://www.goldennugget.com/.
ABOUT MASTERCARD WORLDWIDE MasterCard Worldwide advances global
commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial
institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a
franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets
payment solutions, processes over 18 billion transactions each
year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting
services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through
its family of brands, including MasterCard(R), Maestro(R) and
Cirrus(R), MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than
210 countries and territories. For more information go to
http://www.mastercard.com/. DATASOURCE: Continental Airlines
CONTACT: Corporate Communications of Continental Airlines,
+1-713-324-5080, Web site: http://www.continental.com/
http://www.goldennugget.com/ http://www.mastercard.com/
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