The finale of the Bluff Online Poker Challenge saw Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hawkins dominate the competition. He turned a $200 bankroll into $25,0000 in just one month, $20,000 more than the next closest finisher on the leader board. Poker News Daily sat down with Bluff Magazine Editor in Chief Matt Parvis to get his reaction.
The concept of the Online Poker Challenge was simple: A total of 25 of the world’s top internet players each received a $200 bankroll on Lock Poker, which makes its home on the U.S.-friendly Cake Poker Network. Only tournaments and sit and gos were allowed, potentially determining the world’s top player in this genre. At the end of the day, Hawkins turned his seed money into over $25,000. The second place finisher on the leader board at the end of the one month-long competition was Garrett “GBecks” Beckman, who won the $150 rebuy on Full Tilt Poker last October for $57,000. Beckman finished with $4,800 in the till, capping an amazing performance by Hawkins. His reward is a cover story in Bluff Magazine.
Only nine players on the leader board finished with a bankroll of over $100. The 20th ranked player at the end of the month, Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb, had just $6.75 to his name. On Hawkins’ showing, Parvis told Poker News Daily, “I was surprised that only one player dominated. I thought there would be three to four horses in a very similar spot with their bankrolls, but for Hawkins to be the only one to crush the field goes to show just how impressive his win was. I had fully expected more than half of the field to be eliminated within a week and that seemed to be the trend.”
Players took to the virtual felts of Lock Poker with varying strategies. Some headed to the $3 and $5 multi-table tournaments, while others looked for a big score right away in the Cake Poker Network’s weekend majors. Hawkins, by contrast, built his bankroll by taking down inferior opponents in heads-up sit and gos. Each contestant blogged about their experience on Bluff’s website. In his final video testimonial, the victorious Hawkins explained, “I’m really excited to be able to be featured in a magazine like Bluff. I’m pretty happy with how the competition went and I can’t wait for the magazine to come out.” Hawkins and Beckman also received entries into an upcoming Dream Team Poker event. The most recent one was held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in March, although no date for Dream Team Poker’s next event has been set.
Avid readers of Bluff and fans in the online poker community kept close tabs on the action as it unfolded on Lock Poker. They watched in amazement as fourth place finisher David “The Maven” Chicotsky played 389 tournaments in a single day. They watched as Hawkins recorded the most profitable day during the contest, amassing $5,200 in winnings, as well as the worst day on record, dropping $3,700. Parvis explained what feedback Bluff has received: “The players seemed to really enjoy the Challenge, as did our supporters. We actually had a group of forum members run the Challenge among themselves. They followed all of the same rules because they liked the idea so much. We also got a lot of great feedback on the video blogs and live scoreboard we had running, so I think it’s safe to say that it was a big success.”
The final ten in the standings were as follows:
1. Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hawkins – $25,066.74
2. Garrett “GBecks” Beckman – $4,811.96
3. Brett “Gank” Jungblut – $2,419.13
4. David “The Maven” Chicotsky – $491.76
5. Eric “Rizen” Lynch – $421.65
6. Maria “MariaHo” Ho – $286.21
7. Tom “SBRounder” West – $273.96
8. Brett “YourCreepy” Hanks – $270.33
9. Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – $114.15
10. Phil “USCphildo” Collins – $86.10
On the prospects of running a second installment of the Bluff Online Poker Challenge, Parvis forecasted, “There have been talks about bringing the Challenge back with some variations. Nothing is set in stone right now, but it’s a good possibility.” Parvis explained that the Challenge may ultimately occur over a shorter time period, such as one week or ten days. In addition, it may also expand to include cash games. However, he cautioned, “There is always the concern of protecting the integrity of the Challenge, so we’d have to have a strong system in place to prevent any shenanigans.”
