NPL Champs Wrap Up - Congratulations SARAH DIXON!

[Tim Harry]

Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th April saw NPL host its inaugural NPL Championship Weekend. Congratulations to all our players who qualified for the Melbourne Champs, Regional teams and the $25K Main Event. It was a fantastic 3 days of that saw some great poker played.

FRIDAY 3rd APRIL – The Port Club

$15 Re-buy Event

Friday night saw The Port Club host the first ever NPL SA $10 Re-buy event. 128 Players turned up and paid their buy-in and at 7.30 a roar went up and the cards were in the air.

During the first hour and after the break was a frenzy of re-buys and add-ons until we could finally announce a prize pool in excess of $4800 paying the top 17.

When we hit the final table we had 9 players ready to play for the $1266 1st prize. When it got to heads up Shaun Power and Dylan Pretty ground away until Shaun finally shipped the last pot and the 1st prize! Congratulations to Shaun and the other players who made it into the cash.

1st Shaun Power
2nd Dylan Pretty
3rd Peter Koroneos
4th Elena Di Fiore
5th Natalie Basic
6th Dave Borg
7th Fab Marro
8th Stacee Davies
9th Rebecca Catterwell
10th Erin Michelowski
11th Chris McCann
12th Pete Atkinson-Crawford
13th Stephen Baulderstone
14th Tim O’Reilly
15th Chris Gapper
16th Shaun Graham
17th Robert Britivic

SATURDAY 4th APRIL – Settlers Tavern

FTT - Melbourne Champs Satellite

Almost 300 players fought it out for 2 seats into the Melbourne Champs to be held at Crown Casino in May. It was a fierce battle until we got down to our final 9 at the final table.

Dave Larcombe
Marek Pokorny
Henry Polec
Andrew Baines
Jamie Dolan
Jamie Deans
Sharon Staines
Guy Agostinelli
Dino Sigismondi

We went to heads up in the evening between Jamie Deans and Guy Agostinelli. Jamie finally took the win but Congratulations to both players who earned themselves a seat plus flights and accommodation into the Melbourne Champs

Regional Teams Event

Our first Regional Teams final proved to be a fierce battle of the regions as everyone was out to prove that they were better than the rest. The atmosphere was electric as 12 teams battled it out for the prestigious Regional Plaque and of course a share of the $2000 in Prize Money.

The top 10 individuals played off on a bonus Sit ‘n Go, to try and add the last points to their team total.

In the end it was the Fleurieu Peninsula / Hills Team that prevailed, beating out the Metro East Team by 10 points. Congratulations also to Daniel Gilmour from the Fleurieu Peninsula / Hills Team that placed first with the best individual points total and Angie Lang from the Yorke Peninsula region who was the runner up. The winning team consisted of

Fleurieu Peninsula / Hills Team - WINNERS

Dean Lord
Harley (Chip Bucket) Hansen
Phillip (Filthy) Watkins
Peter (Pistol) Daley
Paul (Mr Big) Watkins
Jeff Gilbert
Amanda Trestrail
Terry (Savalas) Johnson
Hans-Jurgen Klipp
Daniel (Happy) Gilmour

Partners $2000 Free Roll

Over 100 Partners teams registered to see who the best 2 player team was on the day. Partners swapped in and out at every blind level change until we got down to our final 9 teams and the final table showdown. After some fierce competition and just a little bit of screaming and yelling, Jospeh Cagney and Stephen Wragg won out on the night. Congratulations to the final 9 partners that cashed on the final table.

1st - Joseph Cagney / Stephen Wragg
2nd - Sandra Budd / Noel Budd
3rd - Tom Jenkins / Luke Pickford
4th - Chris Willoughby / Matthew Wenske
5th - John Spykstra / Andrew Sneath
6th - Ben Furniss / James Healey
7th - Michael Wilkinson / Guy Agostinelli
8th - Carmel Edwards / Erik Bjornhage
9th - Scott Murrin / David Murrin

SUNDAY 6th APRIL – The Port Club

$25,000 Main Event

The Main Event is the pinnacle of poker success when it comes to the NPL regular season and this was no exception. A field of 485 sat down to see who was going to be the NPL Main Event Champion for Season 1 2009.

The tournament kicked off at 11.30am and within a few hours half the field were sitting on the side lines wondering where it all went wrong. Especially the player that had their straight flush crushed by the Royal Flush. The rest of the field ground away until at 10.00pm we had decided the final 9 that were going to the final table.

Gordon (Gordi) Foden – 738,000
Sarah Dixon – 358,000
Fab Marro – 343,000
Anthony Cassar – 342,000
David Kerin – 207,000
Timothy Brendl – 128,000
John McKenna – 57,000
Barry Smith – 15,000
Matthew Mead – 13,000

At 10.12pm Nathan Butler called the start of play and Caleb tossed the first card in the air.

Hand #4 - Blind 15K/30K Ante 3K

Gordon Raises from under the gun to 135k total, Barry pushes all-in for his remaining 3k and Timothy in the SB shoves his remaining 86k into the pot. Barry rolls Kc, 7d, Timothy rolls pocket kings Ks,Kd, Gordon turns over Ad,4c. The flop comes 9c,As,2s. This gives Gordon the lead with the pair of aces, Timothy is now drawing to the case king or two running spades, Barry is virtually dead and needs to catch two running sevens. The turn drops the 3c, no help to the at risk players, Barry is now drawing dead and Timothy is drawing to the case king. The Qc on the river is no help to either player and Gordon takes down a 240k pot and eliminates Barry in 9th position and Timothy in 8th.

Hand #5 - Blind 15K/30K Ante 3K

Matthew is forced all-in with his last 1k chip in the ante. Action is folded around to David who pushes his entire stack of 160k into the pot. All other players fold. Matthew, the player at risk shows 2c,6h David rolls over pocket sixes to have a huge lead.
There’s no help for Matthew as the flop comes downQs,10c,10d. He is now looking for running two’s or the board to over pair again to force a chop, The turn 8c and river 5h is not going to help and Matthew is eliminated in 7th position.

Hand #8 - Blind 20K/40K Ante 5K

John is UTG and declares all-in for 76k, next to act is David who also grabs his entire stack of 216k and shoves it into the middle. Gordon folds, Sarah on the button then goes all-in over the top, Fab and Anthony lay down their hands and surrender their blinds to the pot. John shows pocket sevens (7d,7h,), David rolls pocket jacks (Jc,Js) and Sarah who has a large portion of her stack at risk shows AcKh. An absolute monster flop of Qd,10c,Jh hits the board. David hits top set with his Jacks but Sarah has flopped Broadway. John is all but drawing dead. The turn and the river are no help for David or John as Sarah’s Straight holds and she eliminates two players, John in 6th and David in 5th. Sarah ships a pot worth 598k.

Hand #9 - Blind 20K/40K Ante 5K

Action is folded around to Anthony in the small blind who limps up, Gordon in the big blind checks.
Flop, 3h,4h,10d. Anthony leads out with a bet of 70k, Gordon then announces that he is all-in, he has Anthony out chipped. Anthony contemplates for a bit and calls. Anthony turns his cards 10c,9d for top pair. Gordon rolls 2h,6s for gutshot straight draw and backdoor flush draw.
The 5h turns and Gordon hits his gutshot. Anthony is drawing dead and the Ace on the river is no help as he is eliminated in 4th place and Gordon takes down a pot worth 672k.

Hand #13 - Blind 20K/40K Ante 5K

Fab folds on the button, Gordon raises to 100k, Sarah sense’s that Gordon isn’t as strong he is making out to be and moves all-in over the top. Gordon goes into the tank for around 3 minutes, he finally decides that he may hold the best cards and calls Sarah’s all-in of 644k total. Sarah turns over Kd,10d. Gordon’s instincts were correct he turns over Ad,4s. to be in front when he committed his chips. A huge flop of 4d 6d Ks hits for Sarah. She’s hit top pair with the kings and is also four flushed. Gordon catches a piece of it with bottom pair but is now well behind. The turn and river of 6c 7c blank for Gordon and he is smashed down to 200k.

Hand 22 - Blind 30K/60K Ante 5K

Gordon in the small blind pushes all-in for 158k and Sarah in the big blind calls. Gordon turns Jd,7s and Sarah shows Ah,4h. The flop comes down Kh,Ac,9d. Sarah has a commanding lead on the flop as she pairs the ace, meaning that Gordon has to hit on both the turn and river or his tournament will be over. Turn 7d. Gordon has paired his seven giving him outs. River 3d. No help for Gordon and he is eliminated in 3rd place. Sarah takes down a 371,000k pot.

The chip counts for heads up.
Sarah 1,620,000
Fab 585,000

Going into heads up action Sarah has a 3:1 chip lead over Fab. Play goes on for an hour or so with chips changing from one player to the other via a lot of big blind stealing from both players. Fab has clawed his way to almost equal with Sarah when on hand 44 there is some action.

Hand 42 - Blind 40K/80K Ante 10K

Sarah calls up to Fab’s big blind, fab then pops it up 200k and Sarah flat calls.
The flop shows 4h,9s,Qh. Fab jams in his entire stack and before he has his stack in the middle Sarah has called. Fab rolls pocket fives(5h,5c) and Sarah shows Qs,6s to have taken a strong lead pairing the queens. The turn brings the Qc and Fab is drawing to one on the two remaining fives.
Jd on the river is no help and Sarah Dixon is our NPL Championships $25,000 Main Event Champion for Season 1 2009 and claims the Trophy and cheque for $10,000!. Sarah was also a venue winner and added the venue winners cheque for $1000 to her haul. Well Done Sarah! Fab also added the 2nd place venue winners cheque to his 2nd place finish as well as final tabled in the Friday night event. Well Done Fab!

$500 Secondary Tournament

For those players that found themselves railing the Main Event we offered a special $500 Secondary Tournament. This was a shootout format where the top player from each table in round 1 went through to play round 2. 18 Players qualified from round 1 and were condensed into 3 tables. The Top 3 from each table then went onto the final table to play off for the $250 first prize.

The super turbo format made quick work of most of the players leaving just 9 to compete for the prize money. In the end Thi Mai was just too strong and took the win and the $250 1st prize. Congratulations also to our runner up Deano Kessner who took home $150 and 3rd place finisher Paul James who scooped $100.

[David]

WELL DONE TIM. Great write up mate.

Go Team Murrin

[Tim Harry]

As an addition I would like to send out a big thanks to all the NPL staff that turned their lovely manicured feet into blistered & bloodied pulps all in the name of poker! Next time you see them do me a favour & give them a pat on the back. They don't do this for the money but for the unconditional love of the game. Their motivation is to produce tournaments for you guys that will blow your socks off! Their passion & pride in what they do is unsurpassed in this industry and I feel privileged to work with them all. WELL DONE GUYS!!

A quick mention for a few of the guys that really shone out over the weekend.

To Suzie K who didn't just work the whole weekend but all the week before in preparing everything we needed for both venues over the 3 days. Suzie is one of the most organised people I've ever met & there's not much that gets by her when it comes to these events. Someone like Suzie to help prep & organise is one of the reasons why these events run so smoothly. Her work behind the scenes is mostly unnoticed but the reason you don't notice it is because it is performed flawlessly!

A big thanks to Andre who always steps up to get the job done. Andre is the one that lugs the tables & supplies from the warehouse to the venues & back again time and time again each event. He works until the small hours of the morning to get the job done and make sure that it's set and ready to go every time. Another integral part of the team!

To Mr B&G - Matty Norwood. You won't find someone with more passion for the NPL than this guy. He gives 100% all the time & is always looking for ways to make the game bigger & better for the players. I'm sure you'll all agree he did an awesome job on the mic & floor managing some of the events over the weekend. He slugged it out all weekend & didn't stop for breath.

And then of course there's MR CBD himself, Nathan Butler. What can you say about someone who's run almost every major event in the state and can still, to this day, talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles. Another exceptional job from the Sandweiner over the weekend. Nathan also put in a truck load of hours but was always on the ball. There's nothing to worry about when Nathan is on the floor & I think a testimony to that is how smoothly the big games go time & time again. Definately one of the top performers time & time again. Well done mate, top job!

For those who don't know Caleb Rybalka, he works down South way y'all Caleb had the intimidating task of working with Jen on the 888 booth all weekend. This was pretty much dumped in his lap & he had to learn on the fly. What an awsome job he did! He manned the booth all weekend with out stopping & without him there we could have had some serious issues. Caleb is a fantastic TD that you should see around more & more and is a very impotant member of the NPL team.

Glynn Parsons is another NPL team member that always gives it his all. Whether we were ringing him with no notice at midnight to come and help set up or jump onto something that needed to be done he was always there and willing to get right into it. Glynn also helped out on the 888 booth during the busy tyimes & did an outstanding job there as well. Thanks for the effort over the weekend mate, great job!

Another guy that put in way too many hours but never once stopped or complained was Martin "Moose" Eckert. If he's not lugging tables and setting up he's on the floor or behind the scenes. If he's off the clock he's somewhere in the room keeping the rest of our spirits up. This weekend was yet another exceptional display and is greatly appreciated.

Then there's all the other FM's & TD's that helped ensure the weekend ran as smoothly as we'd hoped it would.

Thanks to Alex Kidd for smashing it at the Rego tables & ensure that everything was as it should be and for Floor Managing the Regional Teams Event which was a huge success.

Thanks to Matt Porter for running the $500 Secondary tournament and dealing the final table for what seemed like an eternity. Thanks also for the less than politically correct jokes that ensured I split my sides at least a few times every day. And thanks for putting out the ashtray fire!

Thanks also to Mark Parkin, Grant Pepper, Dakota Tran, Ashley Higgins & Tom Calderwood who were the TD's on the floor at various times over the weekend. Table breaks were smooth, communication was exceptional and all up these guys did a fantastic job to ensure the tournaments ran smoothly. All of them put in 100% while they were doing their shifts and all deserve to be commended for the wonderful job they did. Next time you see them offer them a bit of unrestrained love to show your appreciation.

Now I can't forget Lincoln Fletcher. Other than doing a great job on the floor Lincoln had the unenviable task of becoming Suzie K for a time. If you know Suzie then that is a hard act to live up to! For Lincoln though he handled it like a seasoned pro & let Suzie have a well deserved rest. Top job mate!

Also a special mention to a couple of our regional TD's who made came down for the weekend. Thanks to Shane Kent for coming down from Lincoln & giving us some moral support on the Friday & Sunday & to Jess Nies from the Yorke Peninsula who was also down & keeping us focussed. Thanks for making the effort guys!

And of course to all the other NPL staff who ran the games that were on during the Champs weekend. Thank you for your tireless effort & dedication without which we could not achieve what we did.

To sum up...YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

[Garth Kay]

As an addition I would like to send out a big thanks to all the NPL staff that turned their lovely manicured feet into blistered & bloodied pulps all in the name of poker! Next time you see them do me a favour & give them a pat on the back. They don't do this for the money but for the unconditional love of the game. Their motivation is to produce tournaments for you guys that will blow your socks off! Their passion & pride in what they do is unsurpassed in this industry and I feel privileged to work with them all. WELL DONE GUYS!!

A quick mention for a few of the guys that really shone out over the weekend.

To Suzie K who didn't just work the whole weekend but all the week before in preparing everything we needed for both venues over the 3 days. Suzie is one of the most organised people I've ever met & there's not much that gets by her when it comes to these events. Someone like Suzie to help prep & organise is one of the reasons why these events run so smoothly. Her work behind the scenes is mostly unnoticed but the reason you don't notice it is because it is performed flawlessly!

A big thanks to Andre who always steps up to get the job done. Andre is the one that lugs the tables & supplies from the warehouse to the venues & back again time and time again each event. He works until the small hours of the morning to get the job done and make sure that it's set and ready to go every time. Another integral part of the team!

To Mr B&G - Matty Norwood. You won't find someone with more passion for the NPL than this guy. He gives 100% all the time & is always looking for ways to make the game bigger & better for the players. I'm sure you'll all agree he did an awesome job on the mic & floor managing some of the events over the weekend. He slugged it out all weekend & didn't stop for breath.

And then of course there's MR CBD himself, Nathan Butler. What can you say about someone who's run almost every major event in the state and can still, to this day, talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles. Another exceptional job from the Sandweiner over the weekend. Nathan also put in a truck load of hours but was always on the ball. There's nothing to worry about when Nathan is on the floor & I think a testimony to that is how smoothly the big games go time & time again. Definately one of the top performers time & time again. Well done mate, top job!

For those who don't know Caleb Rybalka, he works down South way y'all Caleb had the intimidating task of working with Jen on the 888 booth all weekend. This was pretty much dumped in his lap & he had to learn on the fly. What an awsome job he did! He manned the booth all weekend with out stopping & without him there we could have had some serious issues. Caleb is a fantastic TD that you should see around more & more and is a very impotant member of the NPL team.

Glynn Parsons is another NPL team member that always gives it his all. Whether we were ringing him with no notice at midnight to come and help set up or jump onto something that needed to be done he was always there and willing to get right into it. Glynn also helped out on the 888 booth during the busy tyimes & did an outstanding job there as well. Thanks for the effort over the weekend mate, great job!

Another guy that put in way too many hours but never once stopped or complained was Martin "Moose" Eckert. If he's not lugging tables and setting up he's on the floor or behind the scenes. If he's off the clock he's somewhere in the room keeping the rest of our spirits up. This weekend was yet another exceptional display and is greatly appreciated.

Then there's all the other FM's & TD's that helped ensure the weekend ran as smoothly as we'd hoped it would.

Thanks to Alex Kidd for smashing it at the Rego tables & ensure that everything was as it should be and for Floor Managing the Regional Teams Event which was a huge success.

Thanks to Matt Porter for running the $500 Secondary tournament and dealing the final table for what seemed like an eternity. Thanks also for the less than politically correct jokes that ensured I split my sides at least a few times every day. And thanks for putting out the ashtray fire!

Thanks also to Mark Parkin, Grant Pepper, Dakota Tran, Ashley Higgins & Tom Calderwood who were the TD's on the floor at various times over the weekend. Table breaks were smooth, communication was exceptional and all up these guys did a fantastic job to ensure the tournaments ran smoothly. All of them put in 100% while they were doing their shifts and all deserve to be commended for the wonderful job they did. Next time you see them offer them a bit of unrestrained love to show your appreciation.

Now I can't forget Lincoln Fletcher. Other than doing a great job on the floor Lincoln had the unenviable task of becoming Suzie K for a time. If you know Suzie then that is a hard act to live up to! For Lincoln though he handled it like a seasoned pro & let Suzie have a well deserved rest. Top job mate!

Also a special mention to a couple of our regional TD's who made came down for the weekend. Thanks to Shane Kent for coming down from Lincoln & giving us some moral support on the Friday & Sunday & to Jess Nies from the Yorke Peninsula who was also down & keeping us focussed. Thanks for making the effort guys!

And of course to all the other NPL staff who ran the games that were on during the Champs weekend. Thank you for your tireless effort & dedication without which we could not achieve what we did.

To sum up...YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

I quoted, coz it's funny. But I must add a very whole hearted HERE HERE!

A big congrats to the team in SA, and I raise my stubby to you all. Well done, and I must add: excellent job Tim! Way to go Rookie!

[Suzie Kragujevic]

thanks Tim and Garth it was a pleasure, but Tim Im going to kill you for that last line you will know why lol

[Tim Harry]

thanks Tim and Garth it was a pleasure, but Tim Im going to kill you for that last line you will know why lol

It was just for you

[Caleb]

For those who don't know Caleb Rybalka, he works down South way y'all Caleb had the intimidating task of working with Jen on the 888 booth all weekend. This was pretty much dumped in his lap & he had to learn on the fly. What an awsome job he did! He manned the booth all weekend with out stopping & without him there we could have had some serious issues. Caleb is a fantastic TD that you should see around more & more and is a very impotant member of the NPL team.

Gee thanks Timmy. Just let everyone know!

[muzzington]

Hahahaha, busted.

[Nevah play JJ]

Awesome read Tim, let us not look past your efforts also.

As Garth can attest I have always said that at the State Finals you ALWAYS see the NPL staff shine.

Every event is run so smoothly and seamlessly.

I must admit I am a Mr CBD fan, he always brings energy and life to the mic and let us never forget that all the other TD's in the front of the scenes or the background who always and I mean always still make time for us players to sook about the same bad beat stories they have heard a gazillion times before.

So yet again, a HUGE Thankyou to you all.

Congratulations to Sarah also.. Fantastic effort!!