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The north american poker tour’s los angeles Main event

Fans of US poker sites, like Ultimate Bet, are always keen to here what’s happening in the US world of poker and casino games. The Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles, hosted this year’s North American Poker Tour Main Event. The $5,000 Texas Hold’em poker tournament attracted 701 players, generating a prize pool of $3.2 million.

Joe Tehan was crowned the winner at the end of play after a remarkable display at the final table. Twenty seven year old Chris DeMaci, from Newport Beach, California, began the final table with a big chip lead but after Tehan eliminated Jacob Toole in eight place he never looked back. That elimination gave Tehan the momentum and, on his amazing run to glory, he then took out every other player at the table to claim victory. It is almost unheard of for a poker player to remove every opponent at a final table and something you will have to consult the history books on.

Tehan overcame DeMaci in heads-up action to receive the winner’s cheque for $725,000 with DeMaci getting $440,000 for the runner-up spot. That win brought Tehan’s career earnings to over $3 million and it was the second highest pay-day in his poker career.

In an interview after his win the Las Vegas based poker player said, “This was a great experience. The turnouts at NAPT events have been getting bigger and bigger. I mean, this is a $5,000 tournament with over 700 players. I don’t play much outside of Vegas or L.A., so to get a turnout like this in LA was good. I was excited to come down and play and I’m glad I did.”

Here are the final standings for the Main Event:

• 1.  Joe Tehan – $750,000
• 2.  Chris DeMaci – $440,000
• 3.  Al Grimes – $250,000
• 4.  Anh Nguyen -  $195,000
• 5.  Ray Henson – $145,000
• 6.  Michael Binger – $114,000
• 7.  Jason Mercier – $84,857
• 8.  Jake Toole – $60,000
• 9.  Alan Myerson – $47,000

The final table of this tournament was moved from the Bicycle Casino, in Bell Gardens, to the Crystal Casino in Compton, with play getting underway at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. The reason for this switch in location seems to be TV related with the Crystal Casino providing the stage for the North American Poker Tour Los Angeles, filming both the Main Event final table and the Shootout. This change in location had no adverse effect in Tehan’s performance however as he went on to annihilate his competitors.

Joe Tehan was born in Utica, New York, but the 30 year old poker Pro is currently playing out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a respectable record in the World Series with an impressive seventeen money finishes. At the age of just 25 he became a millionaire from playing poker and, with this recent outstanding display, his lifetime earnings are sure to escalate even further.
For poker players who can’t get to these casino games, US poker sites like Pokerstars, offer a great alternative.