Team Cincinatti wins the U.S. PokerBowl

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Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007

Team Cincinnati wins the U.S. PokerBowl

Steve Dannenmann - one of the U.S. PokerBowl champions.

By Erik Sylven

The inaugural U.S. PokerBowl final was decided at the Palms casino in Las Vegas Tuesday night. Team Cincinnati won the prestigious team tournament and walked away with $600,000.

The following five teams, out of 25 that started, had qualified for the 2007 U.S. PokerBowl final:

Team Cincinnati: Steve Zoine, Vinny Napolitano, Steve Dannenmann, Steve Kingsley, Chris Manzo, Ari Goldstein

Team Detroit: Mark Seif, Nick Brancato, Rick Fuller, Scotty Nguyen, Kenna James, Kathy Liebert

Team St. Louis: Anna Wroblewski, Joe Tehan, John Kimm, Adam Gerber, Hank Sitton, Allen Kessler

Team Hollywood: Chip Jett, Karina Jett, Jean-Robert Bellande, Brandon Adams, Kirk Morrison, Phil Eldman

Team New Jersey: Eric Lynch, Scott Pendergrast, Jon Turner, Jon Friedberg, Shannon Pendergrast, Joe Hill

Cincinnati got off to a rough start, losing two of their top players, Steve Dannenmann and Ari Goldstein, at an early stage, but the other members of the team kept fighting.

Steve Kingsley and Vinny Napolitano were the most successful Cincinnati players, reaching the final table along with Rick Fuller and Scotty Nguyen from Detroit; John Kim and Allen Kessler from St. Louis; Joe Hill and Jon Friedberg from New Jersey; and Brandon Adams from Team Hollywood.

Kingsley, however, was knocked out in eighth place, leaving Napolitano to defend his city's honor all by himself. He managed to double-up right after Kingsley's departure and thus kept Cincinnati's hopes of winning the PokerBowl alive.

Napolitano took command of the tournament with five players left. First, he doubled-up against Scotty Nguyen, and followed that up by busting out John Kim and Nguyen in fourth and third place respectively.

When the heads-up match against Allen Kessler started, Napolitano had a big chip lead, and it only took one hand to seal the deal.

Napolitano moved all-in with A-K and was called by Kessler who had K-J. Two aces came on the flop, and even though Kessler picked up a flush draw on the turn, it wasn't to be for the St. Louis player.

Napolitano won the hand, and Team Cincinnati had taken the 2007 U.S. PokerBowl. The top spot was worth $600,000, while second to fifth places paid out $100,000 each.

Final-table results from the 2007 U.S. PokerBowl:

Place	Name	Team	Prize
1st	Vinny Napolitano	Cincinnati	$600,000
2nd	Allen Kessler	St. Louis	$100,000
3rd	Scotty Nguyen	Detroit	$100,000
4th	John Kim	St. Louis	$100,000
5th	Rick Fuller	Detroit	$100,000
6th	Brandon Adams	Hollywood	$0
7th	Joe Hill	New Jersey	$0
8th	Steve Kingsley	Cincinnati	$0
9th	Jon Friedberg	New Jersey	$0