Tournament Details

Edwards had started the day in third chip position and made several nice reads about when to fold early in the tournament. But unfortunately, when he was dealt a pair of Q's he went all in, only to be called by Magriel, who's K was paired on the flop and stood up through the river. Some days, even when you play well, the cards are against you. Thus Edwards walked away from the table in 5th place with just over $23,000 to comfort him.

Magriel, known in professional poker and backgammon circles by his nickname, "X-22", is not only one of the most brilliant players around, but also possibly the most eccentric. Aggressive and animated, he revels in the fact that other players find him unpredictable and dangerous. On seemingly every other hand, Magriel would make the first move on the pot, with a "quack, quack." In poker and backgammon a "2" is known as a "duck" and the "quack quack" was X-22's way of saying he was raising the bet to $22,000. Through the first half of the final day his strategy seemed to pay off and his maintained his massive chiplead.

It can never be said too many times, though, that in No Limit Hold'Em fortunes can change as quickly as J-Lo's marital status - especially when a player is as aggressive as Magriel. On a pot that marked the beginning of the end for X-22, he was dealt a 2,7 and went all in. Tony Le, however, seemed to have picked up on something in Magriel and made a brilliant call with an A,8. The turn and river gave Le a set of Aces, and now, unbelievably, Magriel was short stacked and on the ropes.

A few hands later, with a pair of 4's, Magriel went all in again, but was called by Rose, with an A,Q which both eventually paired up. Magriel, who had started the day so far in the lead that most had ceded him the title, was now out, in 4th place, with $29,452 in winnings.

Le, a Games Supervisor at the host casino, was a clear crowd favorite and had moved himself from second lowest chip count to second highest. Now three handed, all players were dealt playable hands in one pot. Cal Dykes, with an A,10 was the first to act and raised the bet to $50,000. Le, with a K,Q called. Then Rose, with a pair of J's, went all in. Dykes folded, but Le decided to gamble and called. The flop came 9,Q,A, and Le was now in the lead. The turn was a 10. The crowd and Le were then stunned to see an 8 come on the river to complete Rose's straight. Considering, however, that Le walked away with $50,000 in 3rd place cash, he was not too disappointed.

Dykes started the day in second chip position, and was still in that position, though against a different leader: Rose. The amazing thing about Dykes' day is that to this point no one had seen a single one of his hands! All day, every time he made a big bet (usually all in) everyone else folded. WPT host Mike Sexton commented that it might well have been some kind of world record, to play so many hands without showing a single card.

Maybe Dykes was counting on that trend when, with a 5,4 and a J,4,2 flop he went all in again. But this time he was called by Rose’s K,Q. The turn and river were a Q,3, and Ron Rose, first out at the Foxwoods final table, was crowned World Poker Challenge champion.

Dykes ended where he started, in second place, but with $96,772 in his pocket. Rose, in addition to the title and the coveted $25,000 seat at the upcoming WPT Championship event at Bellagio, walked away with $168,298 in first place prize money.

This tournament is included in the World Poker Tour Season One DVD Collection.