This Week in Tournament Poker: Clements and Two November Niners Win Titles

October 20, 2010

It’s that time of week again — time for another installment of This Week in Tournament Poker. In the past week, the poker world has seen events wrap up in Vienna, Austria; San Remo, Italy; Mahnomen, Minn.; and Las Vegas.

The main focus of the poker world this week is in Las Vegas where the Bellagio played host to its Festa al Lago tournament series. There have been 11 preliminary events played so far leading up to the World Poker Tour Championship Event. We’ll be focusing on four of them.

All four of the events we’re looking at had some pretty stacked fields and amazing final tables, but that’s not the story here. Emerging victorious in two of the events were 2010 November Niners Matthew Jarvis and Joseph Cheong. Both showed that they had the skill to maneuver their way to the World Series of Poker Main Event final table and now just a couple of weeks before they play for the greatest poker title in the world, they’ve got their hands on a different title, each coming within one of the most premier tournament series in the world.

Festa al Lago $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The first $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event on Festa al Lago’s schedule brought out 136 players including some of the best in the world. The Bellagio is known for providing some of the most elite fields in poker and this final table wasn’t a disappointment by any means. Reaching the final table were Eric Baldwin and his good friend Justin Young, along with Tom Marchese, bracelet winner Steven Kelly and the November Niner, Jarvis.

Jarvis emerged as the winner, taking home over $71,000 in prize money for his win and helping to show the world that his run to the final nine of the WSOP Main Event wasn’t just a fluke. Rebuys were allowed for this event, which helped to juice the prize pool a bit.

Festa al Lago $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Another $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event that attracted 159 entrants was won by Trevor Pope who made a final table at this year’s WSOP. Vladimir Kochelaevskiy took second place, a spot he also finished in for over $500,000 in a WSOP event this past summer. Also at the final table were ”Miami” John Cernuto, David Levi and Chris Bjorin. Pope won nearly $50,000 for first place, his largest tournament score on record.

Notable Finishes: Men “The Master” Nguyen (13th - $1,851), Eugene Castro (14th - $1,851)

Festa al Lago $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

When an event only grabs 68 players, you can’t expect the prize pool to get that high — unless there are 157 rebuys to create a prize pool worth $218,250. Coming out on top of the pack was none other than Scott Clements. The final table was another one full of talent with David Peters, James Van Alstyne, Jon Turner and Gavin Smith. Ray Qartomy actually took home the most money after a deal was made three handed, but Clements won the event.

Festa al Lago $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The last event we’ll take a look at from the Festa al Lago series saw another November Niner take home a title. Saguhyon “Joseph” Cheong won the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event and took home $142,635. The final table was nothing to bat an eye at, with players like John Brock Parker, Vivek Rajkumar, Mark Dickstein and Cary Katz. Cheong became the second 2010 November Niner to win a title at this series just weeks before going to poker history in early November. Everyone that’s seen this kid play says he’s got one heck of a game

Heartland Poker Tour – Mahnomen

In Minnesota, where another Heartland Poker Tour event wrapped up, Brandon Dosch overcame the hurdle of final table short stack to take the title and over $40,000. When the final table began, Dosch had only 65,000 of the 2.3 million chips in play but was still able to emerge as champion.

Chilipoker Deepstack Open – Vienna

In Vienna, Austria, at the Chilipoker Deepstack Open, the €550 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event attracted a whopping 505 players and created a prize pool worth €252,500. Two Hungarians finished first and second, with Mario Karman taking the title and €50,405.

IPT San Remo 2

The PokerStars.it Italian Poker Tour attacked San Remo again with 344 players sitting down for action. Alessandro Minasi took the event and walked away €172,000 richer.

That wraps up another week in the tournament poker world. Don’t forget to check back next week to find out what went on during the upcoming week and see some of the results from around the world.

If you want to begin playing on the European circuit, you can qualify for the Irish Winter Festival, Marbella Poker Classic, Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, APT Macau and the DeepStack Open Marrakech all at Poker770. Whats more, you can play in custom-made satellites to the €1,000, €2,000 or €6,000 event of your choice. Sign up via PokerNews and you can also play in exclusive twice monthly $2,770 Club PokerNews freerolls.

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