Deep Stack Madness!

The most recent poker tournament to have declared its winners and give-aways was the popular Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza. See what happened at the tables, the prizes and winners, here.

The most recent poker tournament to have come to a close was the highly popular Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza. Kicking off on February 2nd, the events of the poker tournament continued for more than 3 weeks amidst fierce competition between players and some truly extravagant numbers and figures.

There were over 22 events jam-packed into this poker tournament, among them a $300 + $30 No Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot Limit Omaha and even some H.O.R.S.E games. The satellite for the Main Event buy in took place the night before (February 22nd), and cost a mere $275 for a win at the $2500. A total of 263 players took part in the Main Event, and the grand total of the prize pool stacked at $586,200. First place in the poker tournament was worth no less than $186,856.

The lucky player to have taken home this prize was Michael Skomac (otherwise known as “Ryan”). Skomac has played 11 live cash games over the past 24 months, yet this was his first win for 2009. his total earnings until this poker tournament equated to $322,880, and since his largest individual win was $72,571 (from the Deep Stack Poker Challenge of March 2008), this prize was also his biggest ever.

Second place was awarded to amateur poker tournament player, Nick Howard (Manlius, New York), who experienced this February his first ever live cash win. In third place sat Roberto Mercer from Vegas, who was awarded $60, 276 for his game. Mercer has to date 11 live cash wins valuing at over $200,000, yet it seems as though Howard was the stronger player that day.

More than 204 other poker tournament players showed up to a $300 + $30 H.O.R.S.E. event worth a whopping $59,058. the relatively low buy in was what initially attracted the players, and it was poker tournament veteran, Jean “Prince” Gaspard who left with the biggest cheque. The main attraction of deep stack poker tournaments, though, is the longer blinds and of course, deeper stacks, which allow the players to stay in the game longer. The longer the games, the more a player must rely on his/her skill, and this is why so many poker tournament experts are likely to show. Next year’s Extravaganza will sure have difficulty topping 2009!