Four more crowned; Edler leads SNPC main event

Brandinger brings home the bacon.

While the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV has hit the home stretch after the start of the $5,000 Championship Event on Sunday, four other players were able to take preliminary titles before it began.

On Tuesday of last week, Keith Brandinger was able to outlast the 218-player field to take the championship in the $100 No-Limit Hold'em event. While 28 players took a little piece of the $19,620 prize pool, Brandinger captured the lion's share of it, winning $6,278.

He was followed at the final table by these players:

Lamb slaughters SNPC IV event.

On Wednesday, 154 runners came to the line for one of the larger preliminary events of the SNPC, the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament. The players built a prize pool of $144,230, divided up by the top 18 finishers, and those who made a strong final table had to work hard to get there.

The challenges included a previous winner at this year's SNPC, Charlie Sewell, as well as 2006 WSOP bracelet winner Brandon Cantu.

Cantu was able to push his way to the heads-up battle, but came up short in his efforts to the eventual winner, Ben Lamb. On the final hand, Cantu had Lamb just where he wanted him when, after Lamb pushed all-in, Cantu woke up with A-Q.

He called and was sizably ahead against Lamb's K-7 but, as can happen in poker, Lamb administered a bad beat as he caught a king on the turn.

Lamb took the title and the $47,956 top prize and was at the final table with the following players:

Kenneth Blanton books Pot-Limit Omaha win.

Thursday was a busy day as the $500 Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys) tournament was running simultaneously with the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, which would play its final table on Friday. With 64 players coming to the tables for the tournament and 60 re-buys during the first levels of the tournament, the prize pool reached $86,270 for the final 18 players to battle over.

As it was, the tournament came down to a deal as players prepared for the $2k tournament as well as the Championship Event.

Players were eliminated quickly at this final table, including at one point four who were sent to the rail in the course of a mere six hands. As the players strategically shipped blinds around the table and Keith Lehr, who was also in the $2k tournament, bounced between tables to maximize his time, the final three of Kenneth Blanton, Lehr and Michael Martin decided to take a time-out for business discussions.

In the end, they split the top prize money three ways and used the chip counts to determine the champion. Blanton was the leader at the time and was given the championship over the following final table:

* Dollar figures are tournament structure and do not reflect deal made at the final table.

Hunter bags a win over tournament namesake.

The $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament was a hotly contested battle among 115 players. Included in the field were the 2007 World Champion Jerry Yang, former World Champions Berry Johnson and the namesake of the SNPC, Scotty Nguyen, and "Captain" Tom Franklin.

Nguyen actually made the final table along with the runner-up in the $500 PLO event, Keith Lehr, but in the end Jay Hunter was able to outlast the strong field and take the largest portion of the $217,950 prize pool.

He was stunned at his victory, repeatedly mumbling, "I won!" afterward to his friends and family.

He was joined at the final table by these players:

Sunday saw the beginning of the $5,000 Championship Event and, as expected, the professional players were out in force for the event. Entries were accepted until the end of the first level of play and, at the end of that level, there were 124 players in the field, building a prize pool of $601,400.

Some of the pros at the tables included Mike Matusow, T.J. Cloutier, Jordan Morgan, Layne Flack, Berry Johnston, Amnon Filippi, Eugene Todd, Mickey "Mouse" Mills, Brandon Cantu, Allen Kessler, Captain Tom Franklin, Dan Schmeich, Gavin Smith, Bill Edler and, of course, Scotty Nguyen.

Edler takes chip lead after Day 1.

By the end of Day 1, there were only 32 survivors remaining. Bill Edler, who had started the day with Gavin Smith at his table, has jumped out to the early lead but he has a host of strong players following him to try to remove him from the top of the mountain.

The Top 10 looks like this:

• Bill Edler, $143,900
• Wayne Philpot, $124,400
• T.J. Cloutier, $117,300
• Don Dingman, $111,000
• Noah Nodeen, $109,200
• Whitney Blanton, $92,200
• Ray Henson, $88,300
• Daniel Robertson, $87,200
• Adrian Garduno, $85,500
• Ahmad Saleh, $73,600

There are a host of top professionals still surviving to this point. Mickey Mills, Gavin Smith and Gregg Merkow are all just off the Top 10 and a little deeper in the field are Jordan Morgan, Todd Brunson and Scotty Nguyen himself.

The action should be hectic on Monday as the players work down to the final table of the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge, which plays out on Tuesday.

Related Articles:

• Veteran Player Sewell, Two Other Win at SNPC IV
• Four More Champions Crowned in Oklahoma
• SNPC IV Enters Second Week of Action
• Calton, Short Earn Titles at SNPC IV
• SNPC IV Begins in Oklahoma
• Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV Begins Nov. 1