Tournament Details

In the Biggest Little City in the World, the World Poker Tour stage was set to make dreams come true. Sitting around the final table were five men who never won a WPT event. There was a man who spent most of his poker life dealing the cards. Another who was a former hockey pro in Europe. A would-be stand-up comedian, a $6 satellite winner and a baker from Minnesota looking to roll up the dough. .The final player, seated calmly in the one-seat, had tons of WPT experience and two WPT wins under his belt, the Robin Hood of Poker, Barry Greenstein. All were vying for the largest chunk of the $2.8 million prize pool. When final table play began, the difference in the size of the chip stacks was not that substantial.

Seat 1: Barry Greenstein – 1,085,000
Seat 2: Greg Mueller - 835,000
Seat 3: Tom Schneider - 1,020,000
Seat 4: Michael Simon – 1,195,000
Seat 5: Jason Stern - 880,000
Seat 6: Jonas Norrman - 905,000

Jason Stern once dabbled in horseracing as a pastime and no doubt knew it was the sport of kings. However, as final table play began in Reno, Stern found a way to channel the royalty into his poker game.

With the blinds at 12,000/24,000 and a 3,000 ante, Stern found himself facing a raise from retired hockey pro Greg "FBT" Mueller and a re-raise from amateur poker player Mike Simon. Stern had no way of knowing Mueller held AQ or that Simon held KQ. All Stern knew was that he was holding pocket kings. With a simple all-in move, Stern forced his opponents to fold. It earned Stern enough chips to move into the chip lead.

Stern barely had time to stack his chips before finding pocket kings again. This time, he put in the first raise. When Tom Schneider re-raised to nearly 200,000 from the big blind with AQ, Stern, once again, moved all in. Schneider, the aspiring stand-up comedian, found nothing funny about the re-raise and mucked his hand.

If any dreams were to come true in Reno, the man who stood the greatest chance at making those dreams happen was pro poker player and philanthropist Barry Greenstein. Early in final table play, Greenstein decided to mix it up a little bit and came in for a raise with K8. Simon, looking down at A8, made the call from the big blind. The flop couldn't have been better for Simon or worse for Greenstein. Like a seasoned pro, Simon check-raised Greenstein on the flop of T88. Greenstein, who had a legitimate reason to believe he was way ahead in the hand, just called the check-raise. When a queen came on the turn, Simon moved all in. Greenstein made what he thought was the right call. It turned out to be the call that crippled him. The river was no help to the philanthropist.

It wouldn't be too many minutes before Greenstein moved in his short stack while holding K5. Called by both blinds, Greenstein's hand eventually lost to a queen-high flush. He left the event in sixth place, earning another $85,370 for charity.

As the blinds moved to 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante, the royalty would again shine. Unable to get traction in the first level, Mueller found pocket eights and came in for a raise to 130,000. Once again, Stern picked up pocket kings. Instead of coming over the top all in, Stern simply called from the small blind, and then led out on a AK5 flop. Mueller, perhaps wrongly sensing something was amiss, called the bet. When the turn came, Stern checked and let Mueller bet, but then Stern came over the top with an all-in move. Once again, in frustration, Mueller mucked his hand.

As the level moved up to 30,000/60,000 and a 10,000 ante, Mueller reached the height of frustration. Card dead for most of the day, he found himself with an ever-shortening stack. Finally, he began to gain traction with a series of pre-flop all-in raises. After successfully stealing the blinds on two consecutive hands, Mueller once again pushed in with A6 suited in hearts. Schneider, facing his own card dead frustration, decided to call with pocket sevens. Though Mueller briefly flirted with a flush draw, his hand never improved enough to beat Schneider's pair. Schneider doubled up and Mueller once again found himself on the short stack.

It seemed pocket kings were away from the table for too long, but when they surfaced, once again, they showed up in Stern's hands. Making it 180,000 to go, Stern found himself facing Jonas Norrman's all-in re-raise. Stern called instantly and saw he was up against AJ. And when an ace fell on the flop that was all Norrman needed to double up.

Frustration found a way to make its way around the table. Now, it rested firmly on Stern's head. When everyone folded to Stern in the small blind, he raised with AQ suited in hearts. Norrman, holding pocket eights, decided to raise. However, his live poker experience caused him to make a betting mistake and, for a moment, the decision of how much the raise was left to the tournament director. Finally, when it was decided, Stern had reached the peak of frustration.

With the frustration clearly showing on his face, Stern said, "Are we done now? I'm all in."

Jonas Norrman called in half a second. This time, though, Norrman would not be as lucky. The board came out AAJ2A to give Stern quad aces and double up.

Norrman seemed ready to put his chips in the middle of the table. When he found K8 in his hand, he moved all in. Mueller, sure his KJ were good, moved all in to isolate himself with Norrman. Seeing Norrman's cards, Mueller pleaded with the dealer, "Nothing goofy! Please! One time! Nothing silly."

Mueller would not get his wish. Though the flop came 997, an 8 fell on the turn. Mueller couldn't find a jack on the river and Norrman doubled through.

Buoyed by his success, Norrman found AQ and once again moved all in. Stern, sitting in the big blind, realized he didn't have to call too much more with his J9.

"I guess you gotta gamble sometime," he said. "I call."

At first it seemed Norrman would double up again. The flop came out K7Q. But then, a jack came out on the turn and a nine came on the river to give Stern two pair. Norrman's luck ran out. After winning a $6 satellite to get into the event, Norrman left in fifth place and earned $113, 830.

With four players remaining, the action was about to get hot. Simon came in for a raise that was six times the big blind, Mueller decided the bet was too big for Simon to have a monster hand. Holding A8, Mueller called for nearly his entire stack, and then announced he was betting the rest of his money in the dark. He was right to call, as Simon held KQ. The flop, however, made Mueller wrong. Simon paired his king on the flop and Mueller never improved. He exited in fourth place, earning $142,285.

Once again, the players seemed determined to help Reno live up to its nickname as the Biggest Little City in the World. Stern, after playing exceptionally well all day, doubled up Schneider with A3 versus AK.

Schneider wouldn't hold onto the chips for long. When Stern moved all in with pocket deuces, Schneider called with AQ. Though he had picked up a ton of outs by the turn, Schneider couldn't improve and Stern doubled up.

The chips refused to stay in one player's hands, however. When Stern moved all in with A6, Simon found TT in the big blind. Stern never improved and Simon became the next player to double up.

Finally, the poker fates decided the three-handed game had gone on too long. When Schneider moved in with K3 suited in diamonds. Stern called with A2. Schneider's hand never got better and he left in third place. For his efforts he earned $256,115.

With only two players remaining, Stern went on the offensive, pushing all in with 72 and AK, losing both times. Ultimately, Stern got all his chips in the middle with J8 against Simon's K4. Though the turn gave Stern his jack, the river was a king and Simon, the man who had been working in a bakery for nearly 30 years, took home the title.

Stern, who was just beginning his second year as a poker pro, earned $529,300. The baker, Simon, finished in first place and finally had some real dough, earning $1,052,890 for his finish.