Tanner Nelson from Liquid Assets in Dickinson was the overall champion of the 16-week Gold Rush contest.  He became the 2nd player from Dickinson in Dakota Poker League history to capture a main event seat.  He and four other ND players won trips to San Jose, California to play in the World Poker Tour-Bay 101 event.  Nelson's package is worth $12,000, which includes a seat in the $10,000 buy-in main event.  Last year, professional poker player Ted Forrest won the event for over 1 million dollars. 

The remaining 9 players on the final table each earned a $3,000 package to play in a preliminary $2,000 buy-in tournament on Sunday, March 9th at the Bay 101 in San Jose, CA.  4 out of the remaining 9 were from North Dakota:

Manny Hernandez, Down Under Pub, Grand Forks

Brent Kragness, Dempsey's, Fargo

Scott Krein, Old Broadway, Fargo (pictured right)

Dwayne Hanson, Silver Dollar, Mandan 

Gail Brookings from Hagge's Bar in Mapleton was the bubble-person.  For her accomplishment she won $500 cash plus 6 bonus bounties totalling $128.

Other notable Dakota Poker League results:

12th place - Ron Olson, The Hub, Fargo ($100 cash)

13th place - Kim Chandler, Pit Stop, Clifford ($100 cash)

14th place - Randy Landsverk, Moose Lodge, Crosby ($100 cash)

16th place - Vince Biesot, Liquid Assets, Dickinson

There were 351 players that qualified from 5 different states.  A total of 92 players from North Dakota had qualified, which represented only 26% of the field.  North Dakota players accounted for 50% of the grand prizes!