{"id":2415,"date":"2026-06-20T14:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:03:22","slug":"phoenix-candy-crush-player-wins-50k-at-london-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A Phoenix gamer turned a pandemic pastime into a $50,000 prize after placing fourth at the Candy Crush All-Star Finals in London.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Unimaginable\u2019: Girl, 8, dies after ATV she was driving overturns and lands on top of her<\/a><\/p>\n

Cole Herbst said he qualified for the international mobile gaming tournament after rediscovering the game while recovering from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came back from vacation with a friend and it was around COVID time,\u201d Herbst said. \u201cI contracted COVID, so I was out for the count, just killing time on my couch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbst said he downloaded Candy Crush and started working his way through levels, which consist of matching candies, earning power-ups and racking up points. <\/p>\n

Before he knew it, he found himself competing in the game\u2019s All-Star tournament, where players compete through six qualifying rounds before the top 10 advance to the live finals.<\/p>\n

Herbst\u2019s first finals appearance took him to London, where he earned $50,000 for finishing fourth.<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-Mesa employee sentenced to prison for stealing $655K from bank<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just one of those games that kind of clicks with you and then just investing the time,\u201d Herbst said. \u201cI enjoy the strategy aspect of the game too, so it just kind of came naturally to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbst said competing at that level takes more than casual play. During tournament season, he spends hours each day practicing to stay sharp.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround tournament time, it\u2019s an everyday thing. I\u2019m playing hours a day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes a level of commitment. You have to really love the game to make it to the final.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbst said he plans to compete again next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t won yet, so I\u2019m going to keep coming until I win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Person hit while running in Oro Valley<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Phoenix gamer turned a COVID couch pastime into a $50,000 win at the Candy Crush All-Star Finals in London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPhoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Phoenix gamer turned a COVID couch pastime into a $50,000 win at the Candy Crush All-Star Finals in London.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415\"},\"wordCount\":350,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415\",\"name\":\"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2415#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"A Phoenix gamer turned a COVID couch pastime into a $50,000 win at the Candy Crush All-Star Finals in London.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals","datePublished":"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415"},"wordCount":350,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415","name":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-20T14:03:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/21ab4590230f65986690d98797a5ea58.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2415#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Phoenix Candy Crush player wins $50K at London finals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}