Two South Dakotans Take Home State Championship Titles
By dinner break we were down to under 30 players, having lost over half the field. Chip leaders at that point, Robert Casey from Lemmon Recreation with 87k and Pete Larson from Sportsmen’s Rendezvous with 55k, were hoping to go deep after they returned but only Pete would eventually make it to the final table.
It didn’t take long after we resumed play—in fact it was during the first blind level—that chip leaders Robert and Pete got tangled up. It started when Pete lost nearly half his chips in one big hand, but then things got interesting. By the end of the blind level, Pete had doubled up twice thanks (or no thanks) to Robert and then eliminated him later in 13th place. And once two more players had been knocked out, we were left with our final table of 10.
Making the final table were:
- Al Kingsly (Thirsty Duck and Fireside) – 136k
- Pete Larson (Sportsmen’s Rendezvous) – 121k
- Abe Ena Ena (Drink Factory) – 101k
- Brian Kozak (Sportsmen’s Rendezvous) – 59k
- John Wagendorf (Lemmon Recreation) – 53k
- Troy Sattler (Decoy Bar) – 50k
- Tanya Rausis (Alpine Lounge and Bucks) – 45k
- Steve Drew (Stadium) – 42k
- Sue Perleberg (Drink Factory) – 39k
- Larry Hookman (Starters Lanes) – 24k
For many of these 10 players this was not their first championship event. In fact Brian Kozak and Al Kingsly would count this as their 5th appearance, giving them the most experience on the final table. However, for Steve Drew, Troy Sattler and John Wagendorf this was their first championship appearance meaning they were the "rookies" on the table.
Once the cards hit the final table, action came to a screeching halt as players vied to stay in the running. It wasn’t until nearly the end of the first blind level that we had our first out during a battle of the blinds. Big blind Steve Drew went all-in pre-flop with a A-6 against small blind Tanya Rausis’s K-Q. But when the board came with a J-9-10, Steve lost to Tanya’s straight. We were sure to take care of Steve’s unfortunate beat though and sent him off with some sweet FPN merchandise.
As each blind level came and went another player was lost and after more than three hours of final table play we had out last hand of the tournament. Here’s how it went down: Abe Ena Ena, one of our early chip leaders moved all in and was called by both Troy Sattler and Brian Kozak. The hand was checked down and Brian's 8's beat Abe's K-Q, pushing Abe out and leaving us with our two new South Dakota State Champs! Congratulations to both of these fine gentlemen and best of luck in Vegas this summer!
(Pictured on top: South Dakota state qualifers begin the tournament action at the Stadium in Madison.)
(Pictuered in middle: The final table takes a shot to loosen up before the final action begins.)
(Pictured on bottom: South Dakota's newest state champions Brian Kozak and Troy Sattler.)