Summer
Ended With A Bang
at Hagge’s Bar
& Grill over the weekend of August 26th-27th. Two
championship tournaments ended the “Summer Poker Challenge”
promotion across the Free Poker Network of bars in North Dakota,
Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Mitch Schock, fresh off his 29th
place showing in the World Series of Poker, served as emcee and
tournament director for the weekend events. Mitch made the
tournament very fun and shared a lot of good stories from the WSOP.
Participating bars ran two
separate 4 week contests, sending their overall champions from each
event to the championship events. Prizes awarded included a $10,000
cash freeroll on Saturday and 20 seats to the Heartland Poker Tour
on Sunday. Players with perfect attendance during regular season
play were also entered in a drawing for a 42” Plasma HDTV. It was a
great way to wrap up the summer poker leagues.
Harry Samuelson
from Borrowed Bucks Roadhouse in Grand Forks, ND redefined
the term “lucky” on Saturday during the $10k freeroll…His
overwhelming success during that tournament was capped off with the
stunning announcement that he had also won the drawing for the
Plasma TV. Every jaw in the house dropped and there were moans and
groans of disbelief…The odds of his name being drawn were
approximately 900:1!!! It was truly unbelievable. Oh yea, Harry
also won the “High Hand Award” $100 cash prize with a nine-high
straight flush. Go figure!
Over $1,000 was given away in
mystery prizes during the main tournament, including $200 for a
second-chance side tournament. Some of the mystery prizes included:
First
Bust Out $50 - Rick Passer, Pier 65-McGregor, MN
1st Pocket Aces Cracked $100 - John Reimer, The
Nestor-Fargo, ND
Worst Bad Beat $100 - Gaylon Brown, Wonder Bar-Jamestown, ND
Last Female Standing $100 - Sheri Tomhave, Z103-Fergus Falls, MN
Best Dressed Player $100 - Donna Newkirk (pictured left), Grumpy’s-Grand
Meadow.
There were also prizes for
Random Bust Outs (25th & 50th place) and a
Headhunter prize on Derek Melicher, the lone defending League Champ
at this event.
Here is the list of top
finishers in the $10,000 Freeroll:
|
1st
Place - $3,000 |
Harry
Samuelson |
Bucks-Grand
Forks, ND |
|
2nd
Place - $1,500 |
Jareb Raan |
JT Cigarro-Fargo,
ND |
|
3rd
Place - $1,200 |
Matt Peterson |
Grumpy’s-Albert
Lea, MN |
|
4th
Place - $900 |
Scott Nelson |
Boxer’s-Faribault, MN |
|
5th
Place - $700 |
Jason Overvold |
Lariat
Lounge-Velva, ND |
|
6th
Place - $500 |
Glen Seidler |
Seib’s-Elgin,
ND |
|
7th
Place - $400 |
Sheri Tomhave |
Z103
Bar-Fergus Falls, MN |
|
8th
Place - $300 |
Pat Pederson |
Menagha VFW |
|
9th
Place - $200 |
Tim Holden |
Marie’s-Red
Wing, MN |
|
10th
Place - $200 |
Steve Reim |
Tootsie’s-Annandale, MN |
|
11th
Place – 100 |
Kim Lillehaug |
Tootsie’s-Annandale, MN |
Sunday’s tournament brought
another group of qualifiers for a shot at 20 grand
prizes! The top 20 players would earn a seat to a Heartland Poker
Tour event of their choice.
Players were excited for the
opportunity to win a $500 seat in an HPT event since the prize pools
have been routinely exceeding $100,000.
Heartland Poker Tour Seat
Winners:
|
Roger Cooper |
Ratzo’s Pool
Hall-Barnesville, MN |
|
Dennis Hoff |
Stampede
Saloon-Hewitt, MN |
|
Adam Johnson |
Press Bar-St.
Cloud, MN |
|
Jenny Kriewald |
Sandoon
Saloon-Sanborn, ND |
|
Dale Garwood |
Billy’s Corner
Bar-Vergas, MN |
|
Darick
Demarais |
M&J
Saloon-West Fargo, ND |
|
Todd Egerdahl |
JT Cigarro-Fargo,
ND |
|
Scott Eckert |
Old
Broadway-Fargo, ND |
|
Russ Nehring |
Sports
Den-Williston, ND |
|
Mike Henry |
Boxer’s-Faribault, MN |
|
Andy Anderson |
Sports
Page-Tea, MN |
|
Diana
Cominghay |
VFW-East Grand
Forks, MN |
|
Kyle Shroyer |
South
Gate-Grand Forks, ND |
|
Judy Kraft |
VFW-Menagha,
MN |
|
John Beringer |
Elks
Lodge-Wadena, MN |
|
Richard Allard |
Slammers-Fargo, ND |
|
Derek Grant |
Down Under
Pub-Grand Forks, ND |
|
Wayne Jundt |
Midway
Lanes-Bismarck, ND |
|
Dave Chaput |
Mabel
Murphy’s-Fergus Falls, MN |
|
Kale Brastad |
12 Mile
Tavern-Swanville, MN |
Hopefully we will end up seeing
one of the lucky winners on TV winning big money in the near
future!
Congratulations are in order to
all qualifiers and especially Mike Henry, who has come so close in
several championship events. Way to go, Mike!
The next league opportunity is a
10 week league this fall with an opportunity to win a dream vacation
to Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas to play in the World Poker Tour!
A total of 3 grand prizes will be awarded through sites in
Minnesota, North & South Dakota, and Nebraska. Good luck all
players!
