CHALLIS PIPS WAGNER FOR TASMANIAN FULLTILTPOKER.ORG STATE FINAL GLORY

After months of anticipation, Tasmania's best poker players went head to head at APL's FullTiltPoker.org State Finals last weekend.

Held at the Glenorchy RSL on the 11th of October, the event featured the best players from all around the state. 185 card sharks were eager to be a part of the history making tournament, and the involvement of our new sponsors Full Tilt made gave the event a new level of professionalism.

Even before the venue doors were opened, plenty of players were there early and excited about the oncoming tournament. By 11.00 there was over 150 players registered and piling into the RSL, with many enjoying a Wild Turkey before their big game. By the time we were to start we had amassed 185 runners and the resounding response from the players was how great the new format was and how great the Full Tilt support was.

It was time to hit play on the CD player, and with the theme song belting out the players moved into the fantastically decorated auditorium to find their seats. The Full Tilt colours of black and red adorned the walls and the images of the poker legends of Full Tilt looked upon the competitors.

After a huge applause for the new sponsors Full Tilt, the tournament began with Kenny Rogers 'The Gambler' played in the background.

A great thing to see and hear was the friendly atmosphere that overtook the players. It was truly a credit to the APL and its players as all regions and players gelled together from the get go. Constant chatter and fun was evident on all tables from the moment we pressed go.

It was not long, I think I was at the bar running a drink, until I heard Amon cry "ALL IN" over the microphone. The poker continued thick and fast throughout the day, in a savage first session that saw 48 players eliminated.

At the first break we were down to 137 runners. Our chip leader at this time was Dale Watkinson who had built his stack up to 32,200 by this time, almost 10,000 above the closest player.

The day continued to fly with the constant cry of all in and the commentators "and the river is" , only for a player go out in despair. Of the favourites, several had found themselves out early - Guy Reynolds, Statten Jenkins and Eric from Hobart had all even been taken out or taken heavy losses by the end of the first session.

When blinds hit 1500 – 3000 the Full Tilt State Final had been reduced to only 55 players, with a top stack of 49,000 held by Jared Maloney from Deloraine, closely followed by a few others on 47,000 including Grant Selby from Launceston

It was not long before we got down to the top thirty and the players that had made it celebrated their performances - every one from here on was to win a prize. The top 30 still contained some of the best players in the APL and it was now anyone's game.

30 – 17 included Darryn Smith, Lois Vanek, Hayley monsoon, John Febey Simon Bresnehan, Shane Martin from the North Coast

Glenn Selby, Dean Taylor, Shane Brown, David Casteller, Craig Edmunds and Christina Thomson from Launceston

Jesse Crapper and John Snooks from Hobart.


It was not until 5pm that we hit the final 16. We celebrated with a Wild Turkey draw and Janet from Hobart took home the prize. Janet grabbed the mic and said some great words about all the players and Full tilt.

It was a nervous road to the final table as the following players ran out of chips

16th Katrina Sonnebeld
15th Dale Eastley
14th Grant Selby
13th Charlie Cook
12th Matty Phillips
11th Matt Legge

We decided to go to the Full Tilt final table with 9, with myself as the dealer. The bubble hand was an exciting part of the day. Fflur Higgs went all in with her pocket 5's and was to be called by David Luckman with J 8 off. The cards ran out J 9 10, the turn a 3, and the river was a 9. Fflur played a great game and congratulations to her. With her elimination we were now up to the Full Tilt final table.

CHIP Stacks

1 David Luckman 250,000
2 Mark Challis 145,500
3 Gary Wertiechowsky 141,000
4 Simon Fitzgerald 110,000
5 Jason Wagner 109,000
6 David Clark 101,500
7 Eric Crosswell 96,000
8 David Crosswell 45,500
9 Nathaniel Craig 41,000

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to deal on the final table. I loved the experience and I really enjoyed the whole APL community staying around and supporting these final 9 players. I have never been able to get such a close hands on experience of the final table after running state finals for the past three years and was truly humbled by the high standard of poker the people in Tas APL play.

The first to fall from the final table was David Crosswel, followed by Eric Crosswell, with both having a great day. It was David Clark from Launcestons' first ever state final and he continued to mention he was stoked just to make it to the final table. Unfortunately, his run ended when he ran out of chips and was eliminated at 7th.

We were now down to six and were just two spots away from the WTPC tickets. As the players realized just how close they were to the chance of a lifetime, play seemed to tighten up.

Gary Wertiechowski was the next to fall. We finally made our way down to the bubble after some intense action. David Luckman, feeling the pressure of the blinds, pushed all in on a flop of J 3 6. Jason Wagner was quick to call with his pocket 3's. Dave flipped his J 8 exposing top pair which failed to improve against Wagner's set.

Congratulations to Nathaniel Craig and Simon Fitzgerald who finished 4th and 3rd respectively. These guys are a huge APL asset in Hobart and it was with great pleasure that we were able to present these gentlemen with such a prestigious prize.

We were now heads up with Mark Challis and Jason Wagner. We were only three hands in when Jason pushed all in only to have Mark calls from the big blind position. Mark had and Jason was sitting on offsuit.

On a board of , Mark was crowned the first ever FullTiltPoker.Org State Champion for Tasmania.

Congratulations to Mark and best of luck down at Crown for the WTPC!

• 
• 
• Email to a friend
• Print