Vanessa Selbst has won NAPT Mohegan Sun. Vanessa Selbst has won NAPT Mohegan Sun. You read it twice as it has happened twice. Really, she has done it again.
This time last year, the Team PokerStars Pro from Brooklyn, New York, bested a field of 716 to win $750,000 and her first NAPT Mohegan Sun title. A year later, here we're again.
This time the sector was 387 players and the primary prize is $450,000. That suggests 1,101 players have tried and did not knock Selbst out of a poker tournament on this room and $1.2 million is the combined reward for this Uncasville immortality. (Let's not forget, within the intervening year she also won just about $1,650,000 in France.)
But let's assume it again as it becomes no less remarkable through repetition: Vanessa Selbst is the back-to-back NAPT Mohegan Sun champion. Nobody can beat her.
"I don't know, I'm speechless," she said when asked if there could be a three-peat next year. Her supporters appear to think so. Certainly one of them carried an indication today that read: "YEARLY the similar damn thing."
Tonight Selbst overturned a near three-to-one heads up chip deficit against Dan Shak to win. It was the primary time she had ever gone to a heads-up duel without the lead, nevertheless it didn't appear to matter one jot. She had had the breaks when necessary, but was extraordinarily focused too.
"I DID NOT win this in my typical fashion," Selbst said. "I didn't steamroll the table. I had some luck on my side and that i played a superior heads up game against a powerful opponent."
We started on Saturday with those 387 players, and commenced today with eight. Steve O'Dwyer and Aaron Overton were two of the shorter stacks entering the final, and so they were the primary to fall.
O'Dwyer never really recovered from a major skirmish with Selbst at the third hand of the day, while Overton, who had led on the end of day two, couldn't outdraw Selbst's A♥2♥ together with his K♥Q♦. Those two were out in eighth and seventh respectively.
One intriguing sub-plot on this story of Selbst was the story of Joe Tehan, the NAPT La champion. Tehan had also made the last eight of this week's tournament, just a matter of 4 months since he was within the winner's enclosure himself.
According to many commentators, if anyone was going to prevent Selbst, it might be Tehan. But he couldn't bring the Californian fortune to the east coast. A FEW missteps, then an unfortunate chop of a pot that are supposed to has been his, put Tehan at the short stack. When he got it in with K♦6♠ he couldn't outdraw Thomas Hoglund's 8♣8♦. Tehan went to the rail in sixth.
It was around this time that Shak really came to prominence. He won a tremendous pot from Selbst when he managed to spike an ace together with his A♦6♥ to overcome 7♦7♠ and he was then in a position to kick back and watch as his table-mates devoured one another.
Selbst took an enormous chunk from Vincent Rubianes, another player who had once soared to the chip lead on this tournament, only to be pegged back. Rubianes was then blasted to the rail in fifth by Tyler Kenney, who were chip leader sooner than the overall. Rubianes had ace-high pre-flop, Kenney only had a king. But if two more kings turned and rivered, Rubianes was rubbed out.
Thomas Hoglund Jr. had played a largely quiet final table, picking his spots to manoeuvre his short stack into the center and slowly climb the leaderboard. But then he got it in with queen high and bumped into Kenney's aces. Hoglund was the primary player to earn a six figure score. Fourth bagged him $120,000.
The next major confrontation might easily has been Selbst's last. She shoved her A♣5♥ into Kenney's A♥K♦ sending her loyal followers--seven friends and one dog--to gather anxiously across the monitors. But you do not win poker tournaments without the occasional stroke of fine fortune. And also you certainly don't go back-to-back with out a larger slice than most.
The dealer duly delivered a five at the flop, sending Poker Dog into howls of delight.
Kenney, whose entire family (but no dogs) had come to Uncasville to look at him at his first major final, was not quite so delighted. He soon found an ace and moved in with A♠7♠, but Shak was lying in wait with A♥Q♠. It held.
That brought us to heads up and a battle that amply represented everything that may be terrific about this game. Selbst started because the short stack, but chip, chip, chipped away until she had Shak at the ropes.
But then Shak showed his fighting spirit, doubling up once or twice at crucial moments to maintain the yo-yo exchange going for on the subject of two hours. Within the end, Selbst flopped two pair together with her K♣7♣ and stayed good against Shak's single pair of sevens.
"This is seriously probably the most special thing in my career," Selbst said. "Maybe last year wasn't a fluke."
So, after Selbst's remarkable display today, we'd to boot just give her the NAPT Mohegan Sun trophy for good. She certainly seems in no hurry at hand it over.
You can look back at the play-by-play of today with the next links. And you may see some moving pictures at PokerStars.tv.
Final table player profilesLevels 24-26 updatesLevels 27-30 updates
We're not yet done in Uncasville. Tomorrow we can return for the general of the $10,000 Bounty Shootout, where the Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier can be attempting a back-to-back of his own. Play is because of start there at noon, so you'll want to join us at the very stroke of 12.38pm to listen to the reasons for the delay.
In the meantime, goodnight from us all, including Poker Dog.
All photography © Joe Giron/www.joegironphotography.com
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