Bill Thomas Pauses Whiskey Hunt to Fire Main Event

Bill ThomasThe $10,000 one needs to pony up to play the World Series of Poker Main Event can buy a lot of things. More than 2,000 Big Macs. About 500 pairs of the latest Lebrons. More than 200 PlayStation 4s. Seven MacBook Pros. The list goes on and on.

For Bill Thomas, it might just be a bottle of whiskey or two.

Thomas, who is playing his fourth Main Event, owns the biggest whiskey selection in the Western Hemisphere at one of his restaurants — Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C.

Poker, he said, is one of his favorite escapes from the grind of his day-to-day job.

"I just love playing poker," Thomas said, adding that he doesn't get to play very often. "It's the only thing that stops me…