On Saturday May 2nd, 77 poker players from all over the state settled in for there chance at the Party at the Palms championship in Las Vegas.  The last five players remaining would claim one of the 50 spots at the Kingpin suite at the Palms casino with the top two winning $500 towards travel. 

Congratulations to John Harms (Eastside Cafe & Bar), Cole Zentner (Melodee Lanes & the Max), Charlie Woods (Stu's and the Max), Mike Summers (Legends), and Dave Jensen (Double T) John and Cole each won $500 towards travel.  They are your five Nebraska state champions and will face off against 45 other players from around the U.S. on June 28th.  21 of the 50 players at the Party at the Palms championship will win a WSOP seat the following day on June 29th.

Travis Tunink from Lincoln will be headed to the western Caribbean in April to compete for the $10,000 "Highroller" grand prize  Tunink was the lone survivor of the Nebraska Poker League’s State Championship held over the weekend at Legends Sports Bar. 

“I have a lot of friends right now,” Tunink replied when asked who he would be bringing with him on the cruise. 

Tunink, 26, defeated Wayne Mart, also from Lincoln, when he drew a straight in the final hand of the contest.  Holding pocket deuces, Tunink moved in on Mart following a 3-4-5 flop.  Mart held 3-4 for two-pair and called Tunink’s all-in.  Tunink’s followers went wild when he drew an ace to make a straight and win the tournament.  It was a huge draw that paid off bigtime for Travis.

With the first session of "Ship It!" in the books there are many familiar faces that placed in the top 25 who are qualified for the state championship.  Many of these players have championship experience, final table appearances, as well as being crowned champion.  Congratulations to Jeff Merrill, the overall points champion in session 1, Ron Sjullie, John Harms, Rod Lovig, Bob Drozad, Sue Bernstien, Janet McGrane, Trevor Prai, Brad Hitz, and Bob Timberlake.

We look forward to seeing all of you again at the upcoming championship and all new qualifiers who will be playing in their first championship.

Having already qualified for nationals directly as league champ at Double T's-Sundays, Jeff was already planning his trip to Vegas and a shot at the big prizes at nationals.  He topped off a great summer poker league run by taking 1st place in the regional to earn the extra expense money AND the party pass!  Well done, Jeff, and congrats to all 9 qualifiers from Nebraska.  7 out of the 9 Nebraska qualifiers were from Columbus.