“Cowboy” Kenna James won the third Dream Team Poker event, held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas down the hall from the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Tao of Pokerati emerged victorious in the team competition.
Tao of Pokerati was the lone team to boast two members in the final 27 players. Dr. Pauly McGuire recorded a 13th place finish, while Dan Michalski earned 17th. Michalski showed prowess of the Dream Team Poker concept after folding pocket kings face up to assure moving on when his team had a chance to secure the first place prize. In the end, Tao of Pokerati earned $33,000 for the win. In Dream Team Poker, each squad’s two best finishes are recorded and the lowest score wins. For Tao of Pokerati, a score of 30 (the sum of 13th place and 17th place) was good enough to take home the title.
Here’s how the team competition stacked up. The buy-in for the third Dream Team Poker tournament was $560 per player, or $1,680 per team:
1. Tao of Pokerati – $33,017
2. Team Simpletrak – $18,106
3. Diaboloco’s – $10,651
4. Machine Team – $7,988
5. Team Puerto Rico – $7,455
6. 7 Kings – $6,923
7. 2 Kings – $6,390
8. The Maven VT 4 – $5,858
9. The Maven VT 3 – $5,325
10. Min Cash Masters – $4,793
In an interview after the tournament with Dream Team Poker emcee Alex Outhred, James explained, “I have to hand it to the Dream Team Poker team, they really run a class event. From all the information they provide, to having them out there, to having the music in the background, they really know how to generate the feeling that this event is all about. It was really special.” In the end, it was a gender versus gender clash, with James defeating Judy Tejwani of SOCRR heads-up. James, who played as part of Poker Host, banked $16,000 for the win, while Tejwani earned $7,800 for her runner-up showing.
The top individual finishers at the Rio were as follows:
1. Kenna James (Poker Host) – $16,473
2. Judy Tejwani (SOCRR) – $7,810
3. Stephen Nelson (I Love it When a Plan Comes Together) – $5,680
4. Peter Mavro (Min Cash Masters) – $4,260
5. Ricardo Felix Matos (Machine Team) – $3,621
6. Bojan Miljkovic (Juzni Vetar) – $3,160
7. Terresa Gallagher (Wicked Chops Poker II) – $2,485
8. David Hornsby (The Hangover) – $1,775
9. James Page (The Maven VT 3) – $1,598
10. Adam Wege (NLP FREE) – $1,598
The event brought out some of poker’s brightest stars. David Williams, Evelyn Ng, and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo competed as part of Team Bodog. Barry Greenstein and Joe Stapleton joined forces on Team PokerRoad.com. Jerry Yang, Christina Lindley, and Eric Aude formed Team Six Hands, Four Nutz, and a Rack on Tilt. Marsha Waggoner, James Worth, and Young Phan made up Team True Poker and Barbara Enright, Paul Darden, and David Levi brought Team Bookmaker Poker to life. “Captain” Tom Franklin and Poker Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier competed under the Captain Krunch banner, while Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Rick Fuller battled as part of Bike.com.
A total of 122 teams and 366 players entered the Rio event, down sharply from the 148 teams and 444 runners who turned out for Dream Team Poker’s last competition, held at Caesars Palace in March. Among those in attendance was newly-minted Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones, whose team took down the WSOP media event held last week. Jones commented in a press release, “This is my third time playing a Dream Team Poker event and I have had the most fun playing these events than any other poker tournament. I can’t think of any better way to enjoy the game of poker than to play with your friends and have them cheer you on!”
Visit the official website of Dream Team Poker for more information.
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