Art Ziemann Snaps the Streak!
This past Saturday afternoon (May 15) turned out to be a beautiful day inside and out at the Vegas Motel in Minot as 112 poker players from across the state of North Dakota gathered to find out who would become the next five Dakota Poker League champions during our Destination Las Vegas North Dakota State Championship.
It seemed almost all of the 112 players were exhibiting some signs of spring fever as it took nearly an hour to lose our first player! With no one willing to lose their spot early on, Harold Tweeten from the Lewis & Clark Saloon in Washburn took the pressure off the rest of the field to become the first casualty of the tournament. But don’t feel too sorry for Harold because he didn’t go home empty handed! In fact for being the first one out, Harold played tournament emcee Mitch Schock in a heads up game for some new apparel. You’ll likely see Harold sporting his new FPN gear during our Gold Rush 2 promotion during his weekly games in Washburn.
After the first break two hours into the tournament, we had only lost a handful of players in what was lining up to be a long day of poker. However after the first break, many players took a stroll outside to enjoy the sunshine and ended up coming back to the tournament in full force. Shortly after we resumed play, 40 players had been knocked out and we were down to seven tables.
At that point of the tournament action, we had some notable players off to a great start, including Art Ziemann (pictured right) who directly qualified three times to this event, twice at the Westside Bar & Grill in Mandan and once at the Bismarck VFW. Also in the lead was Mike Butts who is no stranger to DPL championship events often making deep runs. Mike also had home bar advantage , as he plays out of Seven’s Bar & Restaurant in Minot every week. Dwayne Hanson, a former champion in the Gold Rush promotion from the Westside Bar & Grill in Mandan was also in one of the top spots, as well as Dennis Pfau from the West Fargo VFW. Dennis had the second most points combined in both sessions in the state during this promotion.
During the midpoint of this championship event, like any other, we soon fell in to the “chip mover” levels as players with small stacks moved all-in left and right with some surviving and moving their way to chip leaders and others busting themselves right out of the tournament. Just an hour and a half after the first break, dinner break had started and we were already down to 46 players with more than half of the field eliminated. At dinner break, our chip leaders were Steve Cuperus (pictured left) from the Westside Bar & Grill in Mandan with 61k, Thomas Fandrich from the Brick City Bar & Grill in Hebron with 59k, and Dennis Pfau from the West Fargo VFW with 55k.
After dinner break it only took one level and we were at our final three tables. Another notable going deep in the tournament at this point was Dean Leingang from the Silver Dollar Bar in Mandan. Dean is a former champion who won a World Series package in the first Destination Las Vegas promotion. He had his sights set on joining the exclusive club of two time champions during this event and he was playing well enough to have a shot at it.
At this point of the tournament another notable event occurred. Art Ziemann, a long time solid league player, had made his fourth final table in his seventh championship appearance. Unfortunately, in the past Art has always come up a bit short. In the WSOP promotion back in 2006/2007 when it was just one lucky player taking home a seat, Art took second place to Jim Nelson, making him the bubble boy during his first championship event. The following year in the first Destination Las Vegas promotion, where we sent the top five players to the nationals, again Art ended up being the bubble boy taking sixth place. In the last promotion, Fall Spectacular, where we sent the top six to nationals, Art again made the final table but come up short once again. But Art’s frustration has never stopped him from continuing to play. In fact, Art led the state of North Dakota in combined points during this Destination Las Vegas promotion and the previous Fall Spectacular promotion, something that no one else has ever done. Mitch Schock the emcee who is a friend of Art’s made a joke with two tables left saying, “Art Ziemann on his way to bubbling again.”
Before we knew it, two more tables were eliminated and we were down to the final table, where once again Art found himself with high hopes of leaving with one of those coveted five national championship prize packages. Along with Art, here are the final 10 players that made the grade:
Seat 1: Nick Mosbrucker from Champs in Dickinson with 79k
Seat 2: Brian Wood from the West Fargo VFW with 117k
Seat 3: Brandon Dosch from the Bowler in Fargo with 162k
Seat 4: Steve Cuperus from Westside in Mandan with 55k
Seat 5: Dwayne Hanson from Westside in Mandan with 9.5k
Seat 6: Ross Crawford from Thirsty’s in Devils Lake with 50k
Seat 7: Dean Leingang from the Silver Dollar in Mandan with 98k
Seat 8: Wayne Toller from the Bowler in Fargo with 71.5k
Seat 9: Art Ziemann from Westside in Mandan & Bismarck VFW with 87.5k
Seat 10: Thomas Fandrich (pictured right) from the Brick City Bar in Hebron with 404k
Short stacked previous champ Dwayne Hanson’s 7-7 had doubled up a couple times and was starting to get back to middle ground when he got tangled up in a pot with former champ Dean Leingang’s A-J and Steve Cuperus’ K-10. It was looking good for Dwayne to triple up as Dean and Steve checked to the river, but a King on the river shipped the pot to Steve and we had our first final table elimination.
In a big hand Ross Crawford went all in for 24k. Art Ziemann was on the button and smooth called because in the small blind was huge chip leader Thomas Fandrich. Nick Mosbrucker in the big blind also called for 10k more. The flop brought 8-4-8. Nick went all in after the flop for his remaining 30k. The board, which seemed like a pretty friendly flop, sent Art into the tank for a while trying to analyze Nick, but with the pot odds correct and the chance to knock out two players he ended up making the call holding Q-Q. Ross tabled A-9 and Nick turned over A-8 flopping trips and scooping a huge pot and eliminating Ross in 9th place.
Wayne Toller was next to go out in 8th, and we were two players away from our new five champions. Next out was Brian Wood who played a solid tournament all day long in 7th, leaving us now on the bubble (and Art crossing his fingers).
After about 20 minutes of grinding and hitting the 10-20k blind level it wasn’t looking good for Steve Cuperus as he was all in for short in the small blind. The play folded around leaving it on Dean Leingang to knock Steve out. Steve went on to win the hand and with antes made it up to 24k but he had the all important button. The very next hand was folded around and Steve, on the button, put in his remaining 22k for an all in. Dean made the call for 12k more. Art put in the 2k to make the call as well, but only leaving him with 11.5k, not enough for the small blind next hand. We all held our breath as the flop came out K-8-3. Both Dean and Art checked, and the turn was a 5, causing a check around again. The river came up a blank and play checked through again. Then Dean showed Q-X missing completely. Thinking that he had a good chance, Steve excitedly showed his pocket 10s and was in the lead. But Art quickly showed his K-5 having paired the King to knock out Steve! Finally Art’s bubble streak had been snapped, and we now had our new Destination Las Vegas North Dakota Champs!
Accompanying Art to Las Vegas this July to play in our National Championship and a shot at the $10,000 Main Event seat will also be now two-time champion Dean Leingang, Nick Mosbrucker, Thomas Fandrich, and Brandon Dosch! Congratulations guys and good luck in Las Vegas! We’d also like to thank everyone who made it to state this year, especially considering the beautiful weather and the graduations going on over the weekend. Or course, we’d also like to thank all of our bar sponsors for making this event possible and the lovely employees at the Vegas Motel for being great hosts! Hope to see you all again next time when we crown another set of North Dakota State Champs!