Part 3- The Final Table Journey

In our last edition, the field was narrowed to inside 100 players. 1st place, winner take all: a seat into the 2008 World Series of Poker and to represent Nationwide Poker Tour of Colorado. Of the Poker Across America Team, Kelly W was the chip leader with over 27,500, Manny V had nearly 11,000; Chuck P at 9,500 and Jay M. on the short at 6,500. The crowd was electric as the field had narrowed from 180 to that of 80. Level 7 blinds at 2000-4000, the last level of using multiple value chips. After this level, players will be on a short break to allow for color up of chips to 5,000 (Yellow) denomination chips and now the exciting conclusion of the 2007 Nationwide Poker Tour Colorado Championship- Part 3.

Due to space and time restraints, some parts of the event have been omitted and may be revisited in a future blog. Level 8 is upon and Team PAA members Manny V., Chuck P and Jay have been eliminated. Jay was eliminated in Level 7 pushing all-in from mid position and getting a call. Chuck was eliminated in Level 8; Manny was eliminated just shy of 20th place. Only Kelly remained from PAA with a chip stack of over 45,000. Colorado player Dhana M remained in the hunt with over 25,000 in chips. Nearly 60 players have busted out in the last 2 levels (60 minutes) as the blinds are increasing rapidly and forcing the short stacks into action. We are now inside 20 players at Level 9 with blinds at 10,000-20,000. The average stack in the room is 55,000. Big stack players are putting more and more pressure on short-stack players with pre-flop raises of 4-6xs the big blind. Thus, forcing short-stacks into making decisions of going all-in pre-flop with marginal hands.

The journey to the final table finds 8 Nebraska players remain amongst the final 20. Numbers hold true and from all indications, Nebraska was well represented. Chants of Nebraska fill the air and the Colorado audience is equal to the task and bolster chants of their own to support their fellow players. Along the way, around the 15 minute mark of Level 9, a brief melee ensues as a Colorado player (eliminated already) is pushed by a non-Colorado player in a red shirt (also eliminated) and falls to the ground. Much to the dismay of tournament staff, we have our fist heated encounter of the day. Equal to the task and prepared, NPT Tournament Staff with aide from Frontier Club staff are able to quash the melee and continue the tournament without interruption.

In Part 1 of this blog seres, I mentioned that red shirts with "DPT" were present. These shirts actually read "OPT" and stood for Orphan Poker Tour. these shirts were created because they(Nebraska) felt abandoned, when NPT pulled out of Nebraska, even though NPT-Colorado director John Allen gave Nebraska the opportunity to continue. Combine a heated agenda, electric atmosphere and a WSOP seat, you will get some physical energy, like it or not.
NPT Tournament Staff Steve simply stated that "It was a long day but the event was completed in an orderly manner."

It is nearly 9:30pm and we have reached the Final Table at the 25 min mark of Level 9. The Final Table is set up in the second bar / back part of The Frontier Club and is cordoned off from the crowd. The Final Table was originally set up to be in the middle of the venue but relocated after the melee in Level 9. From tournament playing experience and running nightly tournaments at various venues you want to make sure that the Final Table players have room to breath and concentrate. Of the final 10,, 4 are from Nebraska and 6 from Colorado. The two players eliminated from the Final Table are from Colorado. We are now at 8 players with 4 from Nebraska and 4 from Colorado. Dhana M is now the short stack at 55k with blinds at 20/40k (Level 10). Kelly W remains in contention with over 270k in chips. There are nearly 1,000,000 in chips that are in play. Under the gun, Dhana pushes all-in and wins a small pot and increases her stack to 125k. The next two players eliminated are from Nebraska and we are now at 6 players. Kelly W continues to grow his stack and Dhana M. maintains her stack at around 140k.

The crowd roars and is getting louder and louder as we are approaching the end of Level 10 and it is nearly 10pm. Kelly has a stranglehold on the table and can see 1st place . One more double up and he is locked in. Dhana M checks wth K,Q off suit in the big blind with two callers. The flop is Q,x,x and Dhana bets out 55k into a pot of nearly 160k. Seat 8 & 9 fold. The turn is a 5, it is checked. The river brings another Queen and Dhana pushes all-in for her remaining 30k and is insta-called by Seat 4 with a set of Queens with a 9 kicker and Dhana survives the all-in with a set of Queens, King kicker. Dhana is now at 225k in chips. The next two eliminated are Colorado players and we are now at 4 players: 2 from Colorado and 2 from Nebraska. With blinds at 40,000-80,000, here are the chip counts:
Seat 1 Dhana M.: 250k, Seat 5 Kelly W: 240k; Seat 7: (Nebraska) 300k; Seat 9 (Nebraska) 210k. The final 4 are relatively even in chips. The crowd is electric, the final 4 is set. Will Team Poker Across America Poker player Kelly W cash in on a first place finish worth over 10k? or will it be one of the two remaining OPT players, or could it be Dhana M? Barring any more melees, we will have a new Natonwide Poker Tour Colorado Champion crowned.

Team Poker Across America has now had a final table finish in consecutive events (Manny V- 6th place in Event 6 Omaha Hi-Low- 2008 WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs), Kelly works magic of his own and is already guaranteed a higher finish than Manny in Event 6, now what will the payday be?. Answers to these questions and more in the next blog in Chewey's Corner, the final installment of the 2007 NPT Colorado Championship Series : "2007 NPT Colorado Championship- Part 4".

March Madness of Our Own!
Chewey