Three ND State Champs Cash in 2010 WSOP
Three of the five North Dakota State Champions in our Destination Las Vegas: 2010 WSOP promotion walked away big winners during our national championship event this July. Richardton resident Thomas Fandrich, who plays at the Brick City Bar in Hebron, placed 85 out of 3,844 entrants in WSOP Event #54, cashing out for $4,359. Fargo resident Brandon Dosch, who plays at the Bowler in Fargo, placed 195 in the same event, cashing out for $2,733. And Mandan resident Art Ziemann, who plays at the Westside Bar and Grill in Mandan and the Bismarck VFW, placed 291st, cashing out for $2,110. That means these gentlement took home a combined total of more than $10,000 in winnings back to their home-state of North Dakota!
Fandrich, Dosch and Zieman each earned their seat and the $1,000 buy-in for the WSOP Event #54, held at the Rio in Las Vegas starting Friday, July 2nd, by playing FREE weekly games organized by the Dakota Poker League at sponsoring bars throughout the state. They then qualified at the regional level to make it to the state tournament held at the Vegas Motel in Minot this past May where they were one of five lucky players to earn a guaranteed seat in Event #54 as well as a free three-night stay on the Las Vegas Strip and airfare allowance.
Each of these fine poker players had a one in 24 chance to turn his $1,000 Event #54 buy-in into a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat during the Free Poker Network’s (FPN) Destination Las Vegas: WSOP 2010 National Championship on Thursday, July 1st at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t in the cards for them that day. However, they did manage to make the most of their FREE $1,000 buy-in to Event #54 by placing in the money.
Pete Bushey, FPN’s administrator who attended the event, said he was very impressed with how North Dakota represented at the tournament. ”It was pretty awesome to see three of our five North Dakota winners walk away from Event #54 with cold hard cash in their pockets. They really represented for the state, for the bars they play at and for the league. We're very proud."
Pictured: Thomas Fandrich (top left), Brandon Dosch (middle right) and Art Zieman (bottom left) during Event #54 at the 2010 World Series of Poker.