The first-ever Nebraska Poker League Championship was held at the American Legion in Columbus over the weekend...What a tournament!  In the end, a river card would twist the fates of two players from Columbus.  The big winner was Jeff Merrill from Sports Page/American Legion. 

Jeff will join the rest of the Free Poker Network winners in the Bahamas in less than 4 weeks!  Congrats to Jeff and all the Nebraska final tournament participants. 

The tournament began at 2pm with 51 out of 53 qualifiers in attendance.  A giant 100" rear-projection screen was setup to display tournament stats as well as a slide show of pictures the 2006 Caribbean Adventure, giving everyone a good idea of what they were playing for...

10:45pm

MIKE SCHNEIDER is the big winner from Champs in Dickinson!

On the 8th hand of heads-up play, Mike finished off Ernie.  Ernie had lost a few blinds before he made his move and was down to less than 100k in chips going into the final hand.

Mike 5-6

Ernie 4-7

Flop: 7-5-7 turn card 8 river 9 -- giving Mike a straight and the win!

Ernie congratulated Mike and the gallery applauded our new league champion.  Mike will be busy making plans to go to the Bahamas to play in the World Poker Tour!  

More pictures will be posted soon...

Congratulations to Mike and everyone who made the final table. 

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...

It’s been two weeks since I returned from Las Vegas and I’m still not sure if I’ve recovered.  What a trip.  Two plus weeks, two separate trips.  Vegas is like no other place on Earth, if you’re there long enough, you begin to lose track of time, not to mention the date (I’m still not sure, please don’t ask).  I got tired of Las Vegas after 2 weeks, yet I didn’t want to leave… 

Looking back on the trip, I would have to say it was quite a rollercoaster ride.  We arrived feeling upbeat with a nice group of qualifiers and big expectations, followed by a bunch day 1 bust outs and bad beat stories, followed by an amazing run by a good friend in the Main Event.  Overall, it was an incredible ride I’ll never forget...