Season 1 Grand Final recap.

[Garth Kay]

WOW! What a weekend! As I sit here writing this I have so much to mention and discuss. We have spent months in the planning of this weekend and everything exceeded my greatest expectations. From the field sizes in our prelim events, the work ethic of the great 888PL staff to the friendliness, compassion, enjoyment and excitement shared by all players!

The weekend kicked off on Friday night with the Last Chance Rebuy Satellite. There were an unprecedented 166 runners in this event that generated 15 more entries into the Grand Final. Most of the operations team were unable to fully enjoy the welcome party as we were busy setting up for almost double the amount of runners than were expected.

At 8.30pm the welcome party kicked off with plenty of the amber fluid and fine finger food being consumed by many of the qualifiers. The Dream Team was presented and welcomed by Shane Warne who has invited all of the Dream Team members to be his guests at the 888 VIP player party at the Aussie Millions. All Dream Team Members will enjoy two nights accommodation at Crown Casino for themselves and a guest and entries into the highly sought after 888 VIP Aussie Millions Party. As responsible Tournament Hosts we cut off the bar tab at 10.30pm to ensure at least the majority of players wouldn't be so fuzzy headed for the start of the big event on Saturday morning.

Saturday saw our second side event played for the weekend with the $30 buy in Bounty event.
107 Runners paid up to play against some of Full House Groups finest and 888pl's spectacular Tournament Captains. This event also had an inclusion to rival Warney in the Grand Final; Mr Darren "Boof" Lehmann, one of South Australia's most beloved cricket representatives and John Tanner, who has been receiving some TV time for being the 888pl's representative in the 888 Poker Ashes.

The last Bounty standing, and claiming Bragging rights in the office, was Mr Garry Nicholson; CEO of Full House Group. Our runner up in the last Bounty standing was Mr Andrew Armstong, a newly acquired Victorian Tournament Vice Captain, who had travelled to SA simply to spectate and be involved in the festivities.

In the end though Abbi Peters prevailed against Adam Rich; taking down the Bounty Event bragging rights for SA as well as claiming 2 bounties. Adam, whilst finishing second, took out Darren Lehmann along the way and getting the much prized autograph on his bounty hat. It must also be noted that Abbi is running extremely hot; she unfortunately bubbled the Friday Night Rebuy Event and missed out on a seat into the 888pl Grand Final so hopefully this win is some consolation.

The Results:
1st $600 Abbi Peters - 2 Bounties
2nd $420 Adam Rich - 2 Bounties
3rd $320 Mark Skoljarev
4th $250 Amy Growden - 3 Bounties
5th $200 Tim Higgins - 2 Bounties
6th $150 Cris Orlando - 3 Bounties
7th $100 Heather Jones - 1 Bounty

On Sunday the Aussie Millions Rebuy Satellite was conducted, we guaranteed a $12,000 Aussie Millions Main Event package to be won at this event. Another large field of 123 players saw almost $15,000 in rebuys generated meaning that 2nd and 3rd would pick up some small consolation dollars. After almost eight hours of play a winner was declared with Craig Ivey, A PL's player of the year and recent WSOP ME casher taking down the 888PL Aussie Million's package.

Don't forget that there is another Aussie Millions Seat to be won this weekend in the 888PL Online Champs Main Event; $22 Buy in tournament with $14,000 in prizes guaranteed!

Now on to the Grand Final!

Saturday morning came around eventually for those players who had anxiously been waiting for this day like children on Christmas eve! 256 players took their seats and were notified that they would be playing for $128,000, $33,000 for 1st and $20,000 for 2nd with the remaining monies being paid out over the top 27 spots. Shane Warne opened the tournament with the magical words, "Shuffle up and Deal" at slightly after 11am.

Our first player eliminated, Stan Anemouri, would be 2 hands into play on Table 25 when his set was outrun by Nicole Dilaveris' turned gutshot broadway straight. Even though our feature table was laden with some big names in the 888PL it would be table 25 that would become our table of death with over 6 eliminations coming from this table in the first two levels of play.

Shane Warne would provide some fireworks early on when he was all in on a board of Ks, Js, 9d in the first hour of play. Shane's Kc, Qd was clearly dominated by Ali Kublay's Ad, Kd. The turn bricked for Shane with the 6d and he was left chasing 7 outs in the form of any Queen or Ten. The river produced Shane's miracle card in the form of the Th.

Shane would be eliminated later in the day at around 6pm. On a board of Tx, Tx, 6x he would move all in over the top of Tom "Nitro" Jenkin's bet. Tom snap called holding 6x, 6x and Shane rolled over Qx, Tx. The turn and river bricked eliminating Shane but not before he had become a big fan of Tom's playing style.

Tom Jenkins went on to finish Day 1 as chipleader and played some of the finest aggressive big stack poker I have ever been witness to. He wielded his big stack on the feature table with determination and aggression and went into Day 2 as my personal favourite to take the title down.

After a gruelling ten hours of play we saw the end of Day 1 arrive with 58 players remaining. These players would return tomorrow with on 31 more eliminations required before they hit the money.

Phillip Ellsworth would prove to be an obstacle for many players as he continued his run of eliminations on the feature table, he would eliminate James Scott and Scott Murrin in quick succession. Scott's is a much beloved member and contributor to the forum and his beat was one of the worst when all of the chips went in the middle with Scott holding AA and Phil holding 88. The turn bought the 8 giving Scott one of the worst beat's of his life. After several deep runs and two final table finishes in SA's Semi/State Finals it was one of SA's favourites to depart the Grand Final.

Our Bubble would burst after the lunch break and like all Bubble stories it was in a sickening manner; in a two way all in confrontation pre flop. Phillip Ellsworth called the all in of Matt Costalos who was holding KK. Whilst Phillip is dominated holding QQ.
However it was meant to be for the chip leader, as the flop fell 9,2,Q. The turn and river bricked and Matt Costalos exited the tournament with nothing but a horrendous bad beat tale to tell.

At 6.15pm the final table of ten players would be formed. This was a table full of tales; we had our day 1 Chip Leader, Tom Jenkins, who had experienced a roller coaster of a ride for Day2, we had the Bailey brothers from the Yorke Peninsula, we had Nicole Dilaveris who had been the catalyst for our first elimination from the Grand Final and some of the strongest players from many of the regions represented.

Thus our Final Table of the first ever 888PL Grand Final will be formed:

Seat
1 Nicole Dilaveris - 410 000
2 Paul Wright - 255 000
3 Phillip Ellsworth - 788 000
4 Tim Bredl - 976 000
5 Steven Bailey - 389 000
6 Tom Jenkins - 337 000
7 Graham Powell - 181 000
8 Matt Ralph - 700 000
9 Peter Solm - 486 000
10 Gary Bailey - 572 000

The members of this final table would see the majority of the cash paid out from the prize pool. These ten players would share in almost $107,000.

Graham Powell would be our first player eliminated when he moved all in for his remaining chips from the dealer button. Matt Ralph couldn't get his chips in quick enough on the big blind.
Graham rolls over Qs, 5d
Matt flips over As, Ad.
The board offers no help at all to Powell as it comes down 8d, Jd, 8h, 8c, 4c.
Graham Powell is eliminated in 10th spot and picks up $1950.

Tom Jenkins would be the next player to fall when he opened shove with A,6 and run's into Matt Ralph, who once again has woken up with AA. Unfortunately no miracle cards for Nitro and he exits the tournament in 9th place and pocketing $3,200 for his efforts. Along the way during Day 2 Shane Warne contacted me and asked for Nitro's number. Shane was inspired and clearly admires the play of Tom, so along with the play Nitro has also added Shane Warne as one of his fans.

During this stage of the final table Nicole turned up the heat on the remaining players and started pushing her stack around in a clearly aggressive manner. In one of the most pivotal hands of the tournament the following occurred:

[i]Phil Ellsworth pushes all in for 760k, and Nicole asks for a count.
Nicole makes the call and only has 710k, leaving Phil with 50k.
Nicole reveals [7d 7s] and Phil rolls over the [ah qs]
The board runs out [4d 10s 6c]
The turn reveals the [3h]
and after an agonizing moment the [2d][/i]

At this stage Nicole becomes our first Millionaire Chip holder taking down a pot worth 1.635 Million.

Very shortly after this hand Nicole is once again in the the thick of things when Steven Bailey Pushes all in for 355k Action moves around to Nicole in the small blind who calls.

Steven reveals [Ks qh] whilst Nicole reveals the [as kd]
The board runs out [5d 2s 2d 9d 10c]
Nicole moves her stack over the 2million mark Whilst steven is our 8th place finished and takes home $4500


The very next hand; after being crippled a few hands previously, Phillip is all in on the big blind for 35k.
Peter Solm Raises all in for over 700k. And goes heads up with Phillip.
Phillip rolls over the [qd 7s] and Peter rolls the [9s 9c].
The board comes out [10s 5c 7c 4h 3c] To knock out Phillip and move up the cash as well as closer to the champion being crowned.

Phillip Ellsworth takes home a cheque for $5800 and is our 7th place finisher.

In another astounding hand we see Nicole eliminate the final Bailey Brother on the table:

Gary Bailey put it all in on the line. Nicole deliberated for some time and made the call. She asks Gary, "do you have nines?"
Gary reveals the[9s 9c] and Nicole smiles as she shows [10h 10c]

The board runs out [4s 2s 6c kh jd]
Gary Bailey is the last brother knocked out and takes home a healthy check of $7000.

At this stage of the tournament Nicole has taken a major chip lead with almost 60% of the chips in play in her possesion.

After a quick break and in quick succession;Tim Bredl moves all in for 155k, and once again Nicole calls out of the BB.
Tim shows the [kd td] and Nicole rolls her hand over to show the [as jd]
The board comes out [3d 9c 4s 6h 4h] And with that Tim is out in 5th spot and picks up $8500.

Nicole would once again prove to be the player to avoid at the final table when Matt Ralph moves all in, and the action is on Nicole in the BB, Matts all in is 330k, Nicole called for the extra 230k.
Nicole Reveals the [10d ks] and Matt Rolls over the [7d 7h]
The flop is revealed [5s 4d 9d]
The turn puts Nicole in the lead [10s]
and the river sends another one to the rail [3h]
Matt Ralph finishes in 4th place taking home $10000.

In one of the more devastating hands of the tournament Paul Wright exited in an anguished manner when that dreaded river peeled the one card he didn't want to see.
Peter Solm raises to 400k, Nicole in the SB folds out of the way. Paul Wright then pushes all in over the top for an extra 175k. Which Peter Calls.
Peter holds [Ad 2s]
Paul is ahead slighly with [as 6h]
The board comes out [4s ks 7c 7h] With the majority of the cards splitting the pot, the [2s] hits on the river to give Peter the pot and knocks out Paul Wright in 3rd pickin up the dream team membership and the $14000 payday.

After several minutes of push, pull heads up action we would declare a winner in exciting fashion when:

After the usual calling out of the blinds and seeing the flop, [qs 7c 9c] . Peter Solm checked to Nicole who bet out 400k. After a few moments of deliberation Peter pushes all in for a total of 2.33million.

Nicole Calls and after counting up the stacks, she says, " i think you have nothing but i could be wrong" Peter Solm then says "i set the trap"

With the Board showing [qs 7c 9c] Pete Reveals two Pair with the hole cards being [7h 9h]
Nicole rolls over the [8d 10s] for the open ended straight draw. Needing running cards or a 6 or a J to take down the pot.

The poker gods smiled as the [6c] rolls down onto the table. Needing a 7 or a 9 to fall on the river. The [ac] puts it beyond doubt.

Peter Solm is our runner up and takes home a check of $20000.

Nicole will take home $33,000 for her determined, solid and exciting poker play. Nicole travelled to South Australia to support her partner David Ross. David had won his seat through the Monthly Qualifying Final.
After arriving on Friday night, Nicole won her Entry through the Friday Frenzy rebuy tournament, after David had a good feeling and didn't want her to be bored for the Saturday part of the tournament; waiting around for ten hours.

Congratulations to Nicole on what was one of the best final table wins I have ever witnessed, congratulations to all of our final tablists and those who cashed in our first ever 888PL Grand Final.

[Garth Kay]

I would like to take this time and understand that you have read what is already half a novel to thank a lot of people for the most successful event I have ever been a part of.

I came to this company as a passionate poker play and although my passion for poker has not dwindled it has evolved into a passion for developing the best poker league for players, our venues and of course our team of management and Tournament Captains. Over the last year I have played four live tournaments and have focused all of my attention and passion in building and launching the 888Poker League. The culmination of all of the effort for me was the 888PL Grand Final and my desire to run the most professional non casino land based tournament ever. I saw this achieved on the weekend past and have many people to thank for the opportunity and the accomplishment of this life goal of mine.

First of all, to the players I deal with on a daily basis via the forum. It is often the most enjoyable aspect of my position that I get to interact with our players on a daily basis and to see the passion for the 888PL instilled in these players and their dedication in assisting me in providing the best poker league via their feedback and constructive criticisms.

So a big thank you goes out to Scott, David and Andrew Murrin; three finer gentleman you will never find and they are the brains behind the forum.

To Ben MacDonald, Matt MacDonald, Aaron Kleemann, Pete Atkinson-Crawford, Des Beaty, Marc Lissner, Bob Bermingham, Matthew Rochford, Darryl Westley, Trishan Naidoo, Caroline Smith, Mark Kroehn and Mike Raines; thank you for your input and hand discussion and discussion on the 888PL competition and often taking me to task on several issues and making me reevaluate the 888PL on a daily basis.

The weekend would not have been such a huge success without the backing of our great operational team. To Tim Harry and Michael Ratnik, my two right hand men, thank you for your continued assistance and management of the leagues in your states on a daily basis. Without your continued efforts and sufferance of my continued search for perfection the 888PL would not be what it is today.

To Alex Kidd, Matt Porter, Nathan Butler and Adam Hancock; your continued efforts, passion for the league and the development of the league are second to none and without the entertaining banter and jokes that are expressed by you all I am sure I would have gone insane by now.

A big thanks to Matty Norwood, one of the most expceptional and hardest working Regional Managers in the 888PL. Without his big heart, dedication and work ethic our jobs over the weekend would have been so much harder. He managed the side events like a seasoned pro and probably handled more stresses over the weekend that I ever have over any finals weekend.

A special mention to Ron Desira, a regional manager who travelled to Victoria to support his players; thanks Ron for jumping in and helping us out. Your continued loyalty, support and assistance are a credit to us and to yourself! You deserve a hearty thanks and I hope your players in the North Victorian region fully appreciate what you do for them and the man you are.

To all of our contractors that worked over the weekend, your passion, professionalism and dedication to your role is second to none, and that is what makes you the best in your industry at what you do. All of you would put many casino TD's and staff to shame with your understanding of the game and your professional and yet passionate manner.

And finally to the three people who I owe so much to. Firstly my brother, Brett Kay, my lackey, sounding board and the person who introduced me to poker. There is so much to say here but I think I said most of it all Sunday night. I wouldn't be where I am today without your influence on my life. Thank You.

To Brayden Haynes, general manager for FHG, a thank you for giving me the opportunity to prove myself and for always supporting me with your passion, optimism and attention to detail. Your continued support and trust in my decisions make it all the more worthwhile, your respect and empathy for others is something I try to achieve in my life. I thank you for mentoring and teaching me as much about my worklife as you have about real life.

And finally to Sarah Franklyn, this weekend would not have been anywhere near the success it was without your continued super hero like efforts and attention to detail. Your intellect, imagination, understanding and focus are unmatchable. And to repeat you quote to me on Sunday night; I have never met anyone that works harder than me, until now. Your dedication to this league and building it's profile is a dedication of the highest caliber and the professionalism you have bought to this organisation, and to this individual, will never be undervalued or forgotten.

To all players, thank you all for reading this and taking the time to acknowledge the work and events over the weekend. To all those who congratulated me personally on the weekend for the great events, I am sorry if I didn't mention you but there were too many to remember.

I look forward to the next Grand Final and providing a bigger and better experience than this one!