On the 99th hand of final table play, Joyce Whitmore from Hope, ND capped off a surprising upset to become the first ever lady-champion in Dakota Poker League!  Joyce battled back from being shortstacked in the beginning of headsup play and at times  looked to be inevitable that she would take 2nd place...

"I can't believe it!" she said, completely shell-shocked and surprised at herself for going all the way against the record-setting field of players. 

The end of the tournament completed a whirlwind of a day for Joyce and the rest of the players and spectators who gathered around to witness the incredible finish.  The final hand occurred at 12:30am.

Joyce played at the Pit Stop in Clifford, ND, a small bar in a very small town about 40 miles northwest of Fargo that averaged 36 players for the 12-week poker league.  She barely qualified for the playoffs, just making enough points on the final week of play to give her a slim 3 point advantage for the final qualifying spot from the Pit Stop.  She took advantage of that opportunity by placing 5th at the Grand Forks regional to earn her seat in the main event in Fargo.  She said "I never could imagine" winning the whole thing just before the beginning of final table play.

Runner up Ross Ladwig is excited about earning a trip to play in the WSOP but had his heart set on claiming the championship title and top prize.  He came about as close as you possibly can, having a commanding chip lead going into heads-up play.  The seesaw heads-up battle concluded with Joyce having a commanding chip lead on the final hand.

12:30am  JOYCE WHITMORE WINS!

The last three hands, Joyce put the pressure on Ross until he had to call with any 2 cards.  They just happened to be the worst 2 cards you can have in heads-up situation. 

Deuce-Trey offsuit.

Ouch.

Joyce held J-6 and the final board ran out:

K-10-4-Q-9

Joyce made a straight, capping off a heckuva run and a wild heads up match.

12:20am

THE BIG HAND:

Ross limped from the small blind, Joyce moved all-in and Ross proclaimed, "This time I'm calling you" and flipped over K-4 offsuit...He was ahead.  Joyce was pushing J-10 offsuit and we were going to have a bigtime race.  Preflop, Ross is a little more than a slight favorite.  

Board ran out: Q - 8 - 3

Turn: Jack

River: queen.

The turn gave Joyce a commanding lead and ultimately defined the final result.

Joyce 588.5k

Ross 972.5k

Both players were elated that they were going to Las Vegas.  However, one important matter was left unresolved.  Who would get the $10,000 buy in versus the $1,500 buy in???

Ross won the first 4 hands of headsup play, leaving Joyce with only 148k. 

Joyce doubled up with pocket 6's to stay alive.

The very next hand Joyce raised preflop and folded to Ross's all-in, leaving her with only 137k!

She doubled up AGAIN with pocket queens in the VERY NEXT HAND.

She stole the big blind in the next hand to get up to 354k.  The next hand she re-raised all in and got Ross to fold. 

The next two hands Joyce moved all in and captured the blinds. 

The next several hands volleyed between the finalists, with Joyce gaining ground and momentum.

Ross gained a lot of chips with a walk in the big blind, plus taking down a couple pots preflop.  Just like that he had Scott Thompson covered when he woke up to 2-pair and check-called after Scott made a move on the pot with bottom pair.  

850k pot!!!

Scott Thompson busted. 

3 PLAYERS LEFT 

This is where you don't want to bubble. 

Scott 665k

Joyce 678k

Ross 300k

2 out of 3 players left are going to win a significant prize, 3rd place is left wondering what could have been. 

The blinds were already at unprecedented levels for a championship event. When they increased to 40k/80k tournament director Pete Bushey capped it.  With 120k in every single pot with 3 players left, the tournament wasn't going to last much longer...

Ed lost a lot of chips when the blinds passed him.  Then when the blinds went up the next time around he was unable to make a move in time for the big blind to hit him (now 60k).   He ended up losing to Joyce in a battle of the blinds.  In the end he missed a nice draw to the river but Joyce's King-high was good. 

Thomas Eaglestaff, who had car trouble getting out of Bismarck to make the championship, played an amazing tournament.  He made some daring blind raises with position on the final table and had a tough table image. 

In the end, with the blinds getting up there Eaglestaff decided to gamble.  In the big blind (40k) he called Ed Shypkoski all-in preflop.  Eaglestaff had 8-10, 2 live cards, but Ed flopped the broadway straight holding A-J. 

Fred Ewoniuk, the chip leader to begin final table play, ended up getting blinded off, basically.  Every pot he entered he was faced with an all-in or someone was all-in before he could play...The one big hand he got a lot of chips in Eaglestaff hit a straight on the river (gut-shot) to steal the pot.  

Leo Stein busted in 7th on the short stack to a split pot (straight) between Scott Thompson and Thomas Eaglestaff.

Ralph Matthews busted 8th in another big 3-way pot with Thomas Eaglestaff and Ed Shypkoski.  Thomas held the best hand preflop with pocket queens but unfortunately for him Ed flopped a set of tens (again!).  Pocket tens were running good on the final table... 

Tom Dallman busted in 9th in a 3-way pot that went to Scott Thompson who flopped a set with 10-10.  Thomas Eaglestaff was also in the hand but survived.

After some time, the man who drove the furthest to play in the tournament, Levi Haugenoe from Crosby, ND, was the first to bust.  Everyone on the final table earned cash and various merchandise.

Tom Dallman is a very interesting player with a lot of great poker stories, he tells me he has a large poker book collection.  He played in the World Series of Poker in 2003 and on day 2 of the main event he was seated next to eventual winner Chris Moneymaker.  He told me he was never more card-dead for a 7 hour stretch than on that occasion and was very frustrated with that tournament. 

Tom is an old-school player who played with many of the legends of poker in the 70's and 80's, before the poker "explosion" over the last several years.  He recalled one his favorite moments when he was playing Amarillo Slim's Superbowl of Poker in 1988, sitting with legends Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss, John Bonetti and others.  He was the "new kid at the table" at that time and  played well, earning respect.

The poker league has been a convenient way to keep his game sharp when he's not traveling and he enjoys a night out, playing close to home.    

Two of the final table players hale from Champs in Dickinson and are first cousins, Fred Ewoniuk and Ed Shypkoski.  Champs has already produced a DPL champion - Mike Schneider - last fall.  On a side note, Mike happened to take down a Dakota Poker Tour event in Dickinson today, cashing over $2,500! 

FINAL TABLE

The final table is now set after Rae Hoffer (12th) and Scott Mangin (11th) busted. 

A 20 minute break will give our players a chance to take a deep breath before they continue on their quest for a trip to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker...

This will be the 1st final table appearance at a championship event for ALL of the remaining players.  Out of the final 10 players, 4 were league champs at their bar and 3 of those 4 champs just started playing in the league:

Leo Stein-Baby Boomers (1st season playing in the league)

Tom Dallman-Alibi's (2nd championship appearance)

Thomas Eaglestaff-Midway lanes (1st season playing in the league)

Ross Ladwig-Slammers (just turned 21 this season, played at Slammers starting week #3)

THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST BALANCED FINAL TABLE IN TERMS OF CHIP COUNTS WE HAVE EVER SEEN. 

The short-stack is 105k (Tom Dallman) and the chip leader is 234k (Fred Ewoniuk).  With this balanced field we are speculating that it is likely we will have a lengthy final table finish. 

The blinds are at 10k/20k. 

8:15pm

Down to 12.  The following players are now done:

Chris "Fester" Heckenlaible-19th, Jim Holwell-18th (to Tom Dallman), Todd Cunningham-17th, Dennis "Skinny" Carter-16th, Ivy "Sugar" Brown-15th, Josh "Shorty" Johnson-14th, Bill Morgan-13th.  

The big hand during this sequence was when Bill Morgan busted to Thomas Eaglestaff.  Bill held A-K and flopped an ace, but lost to Thomas' flopped ace-high straight (K-J). 

7:45pm

Ok folks, we've restarted after redrawing.  Here are all of the remaining players:

Bill Morgan - Thirsty Duck-Sioux Falls

Ross Ladwig - Slammers-Fargo

Ed Shypkowski - Champs-Dickinson (229k)

Ralph Matthews-Cando Bar

Levi Haugeone - Moose Lodge, Crosby, ND

Dennis Carter - The Final Go Round-Mott, ND

Todd Cunningham - Baby Boomers-Aberdeen, SD

Ivy Brown - Knickerbocker, Hickson, ND

Thomas Eaglestaff - Midway, ND

Rae Hoeffer - Original Bar, Minot, ND

Chris "Fester" Heckelaible - Jackpot Gamblin, Mitchell, SD

Jim Holwell - Lonesome Dove-Mandan, ND

Josh Johnson - Basement Bar-Fargo, ND

Scott Mangin - Island Bar-Lisbon, ND

Joyce Whitmore - Pit Stop-Clifford, ND

Scott Thompson - Hagges, Mapleton, ND

Tom Dallman - Alibi's-Beulah, ND

Leo Stein - Baby Boomers-Aberdeen, SD (193k)

Fred Ewoniuk - Champs-Dickinson, ND

7:25pm DOWN TO 2 TABLES - 19 PLAYERS

Judy Van Dorpe busted 21st shortstacked in a 4-way pot.  Joyce Whittmore quadrupled up in the hand.  Judy and Joyce were all in preflop. 

Monte Evans busted shortly afterward in 20th.  He played a great tournament.

With 19 left the avg stack is up to 79k.   

7:05pm

With a big crowd hovering over the feature table, Tom Dallman (pictured right) A-J outdrew Monte Evans 10-10 in an all-in preflop headlock. 

They were relatively close in chips but Monte had Tom covered.  When a ten spiked on the flop (10-Q-4) things looked pretty good for Monte.  A nine of spades gave Tom some additional outs to hit a straight, and that's exactly what he made when a king landed on the river. 

Tom exclaimed, "Chicken Dinner!"  And breathed a big sigh of relief...Unfortunately for Monte it was a huge blow to his chipstack and faced almost certain elimination after a great day of poker.    

7:00pm

The room is quite lively right now. 

With the HPT freeroll going on we have a nice crowd.  Playmakers is absolutely perfect for this championship event because we have the room to run a simultaneous tournament of this size.  The atmosphere is awesome, free poker at it's finest! 

The heat is on in the main tournament.  Bob Senger lost with KK when Monte spiked a 6 to make a set.  Bob finished 25th.  Leo Stine knocked out Amanda Fry.  We'll redraw at 20 for the final 2 tables... 

We're quickly down to 25 players.  Busted: Dave Halvorson (Playmakers), Gina Bushey (O'Kelly's).  I think Dave was the last remaining hometown bar player left in the tourney. 

6:40pm

Down to 30 players!  The pace has been hard to keep up with...

Ed Shypkoski just took out Gail Brookings (Harwood Legion) and Mark Sherva (The Hut) on the feature table in a 100k pot.

6:00pm

Here are the chip leaders after the dinner break:

Thomas Eaglestaff 140k
Ed Shypkoski 81k
Ross Ladwig 78k
Leo Stein 76.5k
Fred Ewoniuk 68.1k
Scott Thompson 61.3k
Tom Dallman 59.5k

FYI, the Heartland Poker Tour Freeroll is now underway...we're having a very nice turnout.  The side tourney filled quickly with 109 players and Jason Drake is doing his best to get everyone in (there is a healthy line of alternates).  This is a player appreciation tournament - thank you for attending! 

5:50pm

Dinner break over...46 players are left.

HUGE HAND ALERT: right before the break Thomas Eaglestaff and Eric Froemling got into the "pot of the tournament" (so far)..

Thomas Eaglestaff (league champ from Midway Lanes) crippled Eric Froemling (Dempsey's) in a 140k pot!  Eaglestaff is now a big leader in this tournament...

Pictured right: KFGO-AM radio personality Larry Ristvedt-Elks Fargo sitting next to Ivy Brown-Knickerbocker. 

4:35pm

Eric Froemling (Dempsey's-Fargo) is on a roll and feeling good.  He busted Travis Engen (Captain's Pub-Valley City) and Mike Butts (Original Bar-Minot) with pocket tens vs. AQ/AJ.  I'll get chip leaders at the dinner break which is coming up. 

4:15pm

Kory Skoog (Elks Lodge-Fargo), playing in his 5th ever championship, busted.  He had a pretty good day, but fell short of his goal.  Kory plays an amazingly consistent game...   

3:45pm

Monte Evans from Starters in Redfield has around 60k, it looks like he is the current chip leader at this point. 

Derrick Demarais, the overall points leader in the state BUSTED to Eric Froemling.  Derrick had pocket aces and got them all in against Eric's 10-10 preflop.  Ahh...yep, a 10 hit the river.  It's just going to be one of those days for a lot of good players...

Gina Bushey has made a nice comeback.  She was down to 6k for a long time and looked hopeless.  Suddenly she has just under 30k.  This is Gina's 4th championship appearance..

3:15pm

After a short break, we have reached the 600/1200 blind level.  A flurry of bustouts occurred

before the break.  I must say we have had a ridiculous number of big-time suckouts in this tournament.  Pete Bushey is on the floor calling hands and it seems like 70% favorites have little or no chance of holding up today...

Eric Froemling from Dempsey's in Fargo is among the chip leaders. Tom Dallman from Beulah is sitting good with 35k.  The average stack is about 17k with 85 players left.  Scott Thompson-Hagge's (pictured right) is also running well with 35k+. 

At this point the tournament seems to be moving right along fast, I think we are ahead of the usual pace.

2:15pm EARLY CHIP LEADERS

Leo Stein - Baby Boomers (Aberdeen) 48k

Thomas Eaglestaff - Midway Lanes (Mandan) 43k

Tom Boer - Starters Lanes (Redfield) 33k

Good starts for 2 South Dakota players

1:45pm

Well we made it through the first break.  There have been 20 casualties now.  Mo Aln caught a straight on the river to become one of the early chip leaders.

Jason Putney & Brad Erfle, 2 Bismarck area players busted. 

11:55am WE'RE UNDERWAY

Nearing the end of the first level.  The tournament got underway on time.  The first all-in with a call occurred 10 minutes in to the tournament, between Tim Jacobs and Josh Dahlstrom.  Tim was in the lead but the board paired on the river making a split pot.  We ALMOST had a quick first casualty.

Andy Anderson from Sioux Falls is off to a good start, taking a big pot with a king high straight.   

10:00am GOOD MORNING!

We're ready to rock here at Playmakers-The Venue!  Players are already checking in and picking up their league champ medallions...The Venue looks amazing.  The intelligent lighting is perfectly focused on the tables and the mood is set. 

Today's player pool and prize pool will set DPL records.  Everyone on the staff is geeked!