Final Tournament Wrap Up

The tournament kicked off shortly after noon on Saturday.  Playmakers Sports Bar in Fargo provided a very nice venue for the inaugural Minnesota Poker League championship tournament.  League champions and regional qualifiers came together from across the state to battle it out.  There were a total of 89 qualifiers with only 2 no-shows.  Each player started with 10,000 in chips and the blinds went up every 1/2 hour. 

The best of the best were at this tournament, with the Moorhead VFW fielding the most players with a total of 9.  South 40 Pub had the most representation for their league size, sending 5.

The chips were flying right off the bat!  The pace was fairly quick to start and several players were knocked out within the first hour of play.  Shawn Boit, Shorewood Pub (pictured left) took the early chip lead.  Shawn went on to have quite a roller-coaster of a day but eventually busted out in the top 20 but did not make the final table.

Dawn Kundert went on a rush when the field was trimmed to 2 tables and came into the final table as the chip leader.

The final table play was steady and deliberate.  Dawn Kundert was involved in several large pots and big decisions early and eventually lost her lead to Greg Anderson.  Greg's aggressive play put the remaining players on the defensive and when the blinds hit 10,000/20,000 there were few stacks that could challenge him.  Mike Roesch (pictured right) lost nearly all of his chips early and then made a roaring comeback!  At one point he was all in "in the dark" for his last 8,000 with 2-4 offsuit and hit 2 pair!  After that hand it seemed there was no stopping him.  Mike continued to move all in and suddenly found himself heads-up with Greg Anderson for the title. 

It was a great heads-up battle which lasted an hour and a half.  Greg had a slight lead to start but the lead changed with nearly every hand.  Both players appeared to tire after nearly 12 hours of play, but refused to take a break.  The competition was fierce.

It looked as if Mike was going to come out on top when he got Greg on the ropes and all the chips in preflop with A-Q vs. K-6.  However, Greg spiked a King and stayed alive in this crucial hand.  Later, with a 3-1 chip lead, Greg held Q-8 and called Mike's all-in after a flop of 10-J-10.  Mike had the lead holding a J-3, but the river was a 9 and gave Greg a Queen-high straight and an amazing knockout victory!