Minnesota Party at the Palms Finals
At our first break two hours into the tournament, Marcus Holm, an eight time championship qualifier was our chip leader with 36,600 in chips. There were a lot of big names in the field with seven past Grand Prize winners gunning to become the first ever two time grand prize winner.
As the blinds steadily went up through the tournament more and more players were getting knocked out. Tammi Anderson from RC's Silver Spur in Grand Rapids could have possibly set a record at a finals event by surviving eight short-stack all ins. Unfortunately for her, the ninth was where the lucky streak ended.
When we got down to 30 players remaining we re-drew for new seating assignments. With 20 of the 30 remaining players moving on, the crowd was watching every table as each person getting knocked out mean one spot closer. The players on other tables were getting updated by their friends and family of any short stacks on a different table.
In the end, an 8 of diamonds changed the future for 21 people. Sheila Gibbons from the Dive Bar in Maplewood made a call for her remaining short stack holding K-8 for top pair on a board of K-J-10. Unfortunately for her, Carrie Olson was holding J-10 for bottom two pair. A harmless 4 came on the turn leaving Sheila needing a king, eight, or four to survive or 20 other players would be making their plans for Vegas. The 8 of diamonds on the river kept Sheila alive and you could hear the air coming out of the room as this now mean that any other player could be the bubble and the celebration had to be put hold.
About five minutes later Kevin Dawson from Mabel Murphy's in Fergus Falls was hanging on by the old adage chip-chair-prayer. He was all in for his 1000 ante which he ended up winning, but a few hands later he was forced all in from the big blind and was not as fortunate as Sheila.
This tournament consisted of ladies making up 17% of the field, the highest of any state championship. They put their poker skills to work on this day as six ladies (30% of the winners) qualified in the top 20 to win their way to the Party at the Palms Championship.
Skip Wood from the Moorhead VFW took a step toward becoming our first ever two-time Grand Prize Champion as Skip was recently one of the winners of the "Ship It" $3500 cruise packages and was running well as he was among the chip leaders all day and was able to turn that into a top 20 finish.
The final 20 qualifiers were (first 10 players listed won $500 in travel)
{sidebar id=8}Austin Monson - Ultimate Sports Bar in Waite Park
Christine Lano - Golden Valley VFW in Golden Valley
Clayton Pratt - Good Ol Days in Tower
Mark Wadekamer - Dawn's Corner Bar in Dundas
Kevin Kaszas - Sherwood Lounge in St. Paul
Jacob Stringfellow - The Ponds Gold Course in St. Francis
Steve Wood - Marie's Casual Dining in Red Wing
Willie Gonzalez - Kandi Bowl in Willmar
David Taddiken - Valentino's in St. Paul
Ryan Stout - Morris American Legion in Morris
Nels Peterson - Ultimate Sports Bar in Waite Park
Carrie Olson - South Side Saloon in Grand Meadow
Skip Wood - Moorhead VFW in Moorhead
Jamie Totman - Pub 500 in Mankato
Ann Bylkas - Mike's Uptown in Hill City
Sheila Gibbons - Dive Bar in Maplewood
Michael Marquedant - Bertha Liquor Store in Bertha
Tom Blazek - Primetime in Breezy Point
Andrea Davis - Kandi Bowl in Willmar
Roy Winkelman - Litchfield VFW in Litchfield