2006 FALL CHAMPIONSHIP - TOURNAMENT BLOG
12:45am
FINAL
HAND
Bob Holappa woke up to pocket aces! Bob limped in with them on
the button hoping to trap, and Joel went all-in on the big blind for
more than 200k more. Bob couldn't call quick enough. Joel held A-5
diamonds and was in big trouble. The board confirmed Bob as our big
winner and he is going to the Bahamas!
Several exchanges before the final hand went to Bob and he had a
big chip lead going into the final hand.
Bob mentioned he lives in Eveleth and drove 60 miles each week
with his mother to play in the league in Carlton (Duluth area), a
very small league with an average attendance of 14 people. It was
their night out. His mother is here watching and is ecstatic for
Bob, who can hardly believe he won.
Joel played a great tournament and was a class act in the end.
He was obviously disappointed with taking 2nd. His consolation
prize was a choice of 3 prizes: Expense paid trip to Las Vegas, XBOX
360 package with WSOP game, or a $500 buy in to a Heartland Poker
Tour Event.
More details and pictures from this event will be posted in the
coming days...
Jag bombs?
A spectator just walked up with shots for Bob & Joel, they
accepted them and the very next hand Joel moved in to take down the
pot. Folks, we're talking about bar poker league players and these
remaining players are clearly seasoned pros.
Bob picked up another big pot.
Bob picked up yet another big pot..he clearly has the momentum
now.. Chip lead is 800k vs 400k..
12:30am
Joel picked up the first few pots preflop.
Bob won a huge pot on the turn with an all-in bet and took the
chip lead...
HEADSUP
Joel 814k
Bob 557k
12:15am
BACK-TO-BACK HUGE HAND ALERT: James Klosterbauer just doubled
through Joel Smith, catching Joel on a big bluff. James held A-Q of
hearts and Joel had 7-4 offsuit. James flopped the nut flush and
the crowd went nuts...
The very next hand!!!
Joel called James' all-in (425k) with pocket jacks. James held
9-9. WOW!
Board: 7-2-5-5-8
Joel got his chips back and then some (875k) and is now a big
chip leader, CRUSHING James. Joel pondered the call with jacks for
a couple of minutes...
The next hand James is all-in on the button blind...
Bob raised, Joel folded the big blind...
Bob 4-4, vs. James A-6. and the board came 4-J-A-A-7 and James
was eliminated.
11:50pm
Down to 3 players!
Shaun Steinbach busted when he moved over the top of Joel Smith
with pocket 6's. Shaun called with A-J and outflopped him,
3-4-J-10-Q.
Joel then eliminated Jesse Holacek in 5th place when Jesse was
nearly all-in in the big blind.
Joel has the lead going into 3-way action.
A short break to chip up the remaining 1k chips. Here is the
breakdown:
Joel 661k
Bob 556k
James 154k
One of these lucky players will soon be our next league champ.
11:15pm
We lost Mike Peterson when he ran into a Broadway, Bob H flopped
the nut straight to remain the chip leader. Down to 7.
Jesse Holecek (short stack) just doubled up two hands in a row,
putting him back into contention.
11:00pm
James Klosterbuer (7-10) called Mike Peterson's (Q-9) all
in...The board ran out 8-9-8-K-10, and Mike finished in 9th place.
Jamie Woodward (K-Q) called Dave Larsen's (J-J) all in and jacks
held up. Bob Haloppa (Lost Isle-Cloquet) is our chip leader,
followed by Shaun Steinbach (Z103 Bar & Grill).
10:45pm
KNOCKOUT!
Andy Berrera moved in with A-J spades and got called by Shaun
Steinbach with K-Q spades
The flop came K-J-10-9-9 and knocked out Andy Berrera, the chip
leader all day. A collective groan came over the crowd, and Andy
was stunned. He had one heckuva rollercoaster ride, but finished
10th place...He was very disappointed, he said, "I wanted to go to
the Bahamas and I had the cocktail waitress lined up to go with
me!!" Everyone chuckled. One thing is for sure, Andy is a very fun
player to watch and he certainly made this tournament one to
remember. Great tournament, Andy.
10:41p
Dave Larsen doubled up in the first hand, then Shaun Steinbach
doubled through Dave Larsen.
Shaun Steinbach moved in with K-10 clubs and got called by Andy
Berrera's J-7 hearts. Flop came Q-9-4h-8h-5c and Shaun was back in
the chip average after starting the final table on the low stack...
10:25pm
break time is over...FINAL TABLE READY TO GO!
Mitch announced the final table - we have a nice gallery cheering
them on. When Andy was announced he ran around the table giving
everyone high-fives! Let's play poker!
9:45pm
Lonnie Fischer busted.
Scott Veronen busted 11th, and now we have our final table.
9:35pm
Here are the remaining players:
Joel Smith (Frazee Bar), Bob Holappa (Lost Isle Bar-Cloquet),
Dave Larsen (Morris Legion), James Klosterbuer (Magnolia Steakhouse-Luverne),
Andy Barraba (Hiawatha-Austin), Scott Steinbau (Z103 Bar & Grill),
Jamie Woodward (Moorhead VFW), Mike Peterson (Primetime-Breezy
Point), Lonnie Fischer (RC Silver Spur-Grand Rapids), Jesse Holocek
(4th St Station-Grand Rapids), Gary Schreiber (Big Island Bar &
Grill) , Scott Vernonen (Wadena Elks).
9:21pm
We are now down to 12 players...Brenda Zarn went all in for her
last chips without looking. She turns up 9-5 vs A-10. An ace fell
on the turn and that did it for Brenda..
Gene Young (Frazee Bar) and Ron Wilson (Brothers Bar &
Grill-Rochester) busted.
Bob Holappa knocked out Lewis Rohlich...
9:06
We lost Adam Frank (Club 101-Redwood Falls) and Eric Haken
(Sirloin House-Fairmount).
Mike Hauglid (Billy's Bar-Vergas) busted.
9:00pm
Okay we're down to 2 tables...A short break and the players took
a much need sigh of relief. The tension is beginning to mount.
Brady Stueve (Wheaton Legion) busted.
8:30pm
Mike Marquedant (Stampede Saloon, Hewitt) busted after flopping
"Broadway", an ace-high straight holding AK. Jesse Hiolecek (4th
St. Station-Grand Rapids) flopped a set of jacks and filled up on
the river when a 10 hit the board...
Bob Holappa (Lost Isle) lost a 80k pot to Lewis Rohlik (Seaforth
Tavern).
The action has really heated up with the blinds at 3000/6000. We
are now down to 22 players...
8:05pm
Down to 26 players...There are 3 female players left in the
tournament. Tammy Goede (Met Lounge-Morris), Andrea DeShaw
(Riverside Pub-Aitkin), and Brenda Zarn (Barnesville VFW). Brenda
has the biggest stack (er, pardon the pun).
7:20pm
ANOTHER HUGE HAND ALERT: Andy Berrera (YES - again!) woke up to
pocket Aces vs. Dave Halvorson's pocket Queens for all the money.
The aces held up to bust Dave, who was hovering among the chip
leaders...That gives Andy a huge chip advantage once again...I
estimate he has roughly 200k and we are now down to 34 players...
Note: Josh Leuck (final table appearance in May) busted with A-J
to A-2 when his opponent nailed runner-runner flush...
6:45pm
HUGE
HAND ALERT: Andy Berrera got into a monster pot (100k) with Todd
Fideldy from Madden's Dutch Room and won. He is now the commanding
chip leader again.
Note: Mike Henry busted to Andrea DeShaw from the Riverside Pub.
Mike had AQ to Andrea's A-10. The board ran out 5-6-7-8-9!
Straight on the board, but Andrea's 10 sealed it. Another great
showing for Mike considering he has made 6 out of the 7 championship
events in Minnesota Poker League history, including 2 final table
appearances!
On a lighter note, the freeroll for a Heartland Poker Tour seat
(Jason Drake pictured) is now underway and we have a whopping 99
players who signed up for that. The HPT giveaway is good for any
event in 2007 up to a $500 buy in. Good luck players!
6:30pm
Dinner
time, and the players are taking a well deserved break. Since we
started at 1pm, we're kind of pushing the time limit so the break
will only be 30 minutes. The tournament field has been trimmed to
54 and here are the current chip leaders:
1st Andy Berrera-Hiawatha, Austin 82.5k
2nd Dave Halvorson-Magnolia Steakhouse, Luverne 78k (pictured)
3rd (tie) Mike Peterson-Primetime, Breezy Point 63.5k
Lonnie Fischer-RC's, Grand Rapids 63.5k
5:35pm
56 players left...Blinds are at 800/1600. Andy Berrara lost
momentum. He flopped a set of 5's but lost to a bigger set of Kings
and then lost several hands after that. He is all the way down to
75k. Mike Henry from Boxer's Bar & Grill has made 2 final tables in
the past and is still alive in this one! He's no stranger to this
situation but unfortunately for Mike he has only 10k...The dinner
break is coming up soon and I'll have more updates then...
4:30pm
We are down to 86 players. Andy Berrara's table broke and Andy
ended up on the same table as one of the early chip leaders, TK from
Springsteel Resort. In yet another big hand, Andy busted TK and is
simply running away with the tournament at this point. Wow, a few
moments later and he did it again. He just busted two more players,
he's sitting at 140k. Holy cow.
3:00pm
First break. We started with 136 players and and the end the end
of the first break we are down to 122. Andy Berrara continues to be
the story of the tournament in the early going. Since our last
report, Andy has busted at least 4 more players and at this point is
the overwhelming chip leader early. He has 71,800 in chips! This
is the biggest stack we have ever seen at the first break of a
championship tournament...
Here are the top 4 chip leaders at the break:
1. Andy Berrara - Hiawatha Bar, Austin, MN (71.4k)
2. TK - Springsteel Resort, Warroad, MN (36.9k)
3. Dave Halvorson - Magnolia Steakhouse, Luverne (owner of Sharkee's!)
(36.1k)
4. Jamie Woodward - Moorhead VFW (32.8k)
1:30pm
Well, we just lost our first player...Larry Swenson from Billy's
was the first to bust in one of the craziest hands we have ever
witnessed. It went like this: Bill Karst (Mabel Murphy's) held
pocket Aces and called Andy Barrera's all-in (Hiawatha) after a flop
of J-3-6 (2 spades). Mitch ran over to call the hand and another
player, Nate LaRochelle (Crooks Club) also called...But wait, there
was one more player to act, and that was Larry Swenson holding
pocket Kings on the button. Sure enough, Larry called and we had an
amazing 4-way all-in pot to start the day! Andy was betting the nut
flush draw holding A-Q spades. Nate held Q-J. The board ran out:
J-3s-6s-4s-Q. Andy Barrera's gamble payed off!! He hit the nut
flush, knocking out Larry Swenson and crippling the remaining 3
other players. What a start for Andy Berrara.
12:35pm
Folks,
we're settling in here at Playmakers getting ready for the start of
the tournament. The ambiance here is awesome, with the lighting
setup perfectly on the tables and one of the bigscreens is
highlighting our "feature" table. I am going to do updates as often
as I can here for anyone checking in during the day...
