News and events from the South Dakota region.
Curt Swier Wins a WSOP Seat at Nationals
Curt Swier from Sioux Falls, SD was a dominate force in the recent Vegas or Bust National Championship. Altogether there were 99 competitors that came from 19 different states to Las Vegas at the MGM poker room. Curt played solid poker all day and came in fourth place to win himself a $1,000 seat into the World Series of Poker Event #59 the following day. The top eleven players all won a seat into Event #59 with the overall winner also receiving a $10,000 Main Event Seat. Altogether over $22,000 in cash and prizes were awarded and Curt was able to get a piece of that.
South Dakota will send five representatives to the Vegas or Bust National Championship on July 4th. Jon Boer (Starters), Rhyan Rausis (Victory Lanes), Silvia Lindeman (Brandon VFW), Curt Swier (Shenanigan's Pub), and Troy Sattler (Decoy Bar) have all qualified for the National Championship by beating out a tough field recently at Victory Lanes. All five players will have the opportunity to win one of the twelve World Series of Poker seats up for grabs. Jon and Rhyan have also won an airfare allowance and a free hotel stay at Hooters Casino by finishing first and second respectively.
At the SD State Championship Chad Kopplin (far right) from Starters in Redfield had one heck of a swing. The tournament went for over an hour and a half before we even had our first all in and a call. Chad Kopplin was the first player in the tournament at risk. He was down to 2,100 in chips and was holding K-Q against pocket jacks. The window card was a jack putting Chad in a huge hole. The turn brought some help with a ace giving him four outs. Chad had his jacket on and was three steps away from the table when the 10 of spades popped giving him a straight. With the winning hand Chad was not the first player eliminated, but still was in a huge hole doubling up for less then half his starting stack.