"Andy McLEOD" Leads South Australia to State of Origin Crown

After two intense days of shootout format poker, the South Australian team have emerged victorious in the 2010 Victorian Poker Championships State of Origin Event.

Seven teams were represented in the third instalment of the State of Origin after the late withdrawal of The Territories side. However their loss was all soon forgotten as the not-so-friendly banter and occasionally unpleasant egos were unleashed in a titanic State versus State and Mate versus Mate battle.

Following some early mishaps from Western Australia and Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and reigning champions New Zealand soon joined them on the outer watching as South Australia and New South Wales transformed the event into a two-horse race.

As the night wound up, New South Wales and South Australia managed to continue their early dominance by establishing a stranglehold of the final table with three and two members respectively as Tasmania (2) and New Zealand (1) rounded out the final eight.

Arriving for the final table, all the focus was on the Blues of New South Wales and the Reds of South Australia, as one looked to claim their maiden victory, while the other looked to collect their second title while underlining their poker motto of being the home of poker.

Play started slowly, but once Ben Richardson (Tasmania) and Phillip Willcocks (New Zealand) made their way to the rail, things began to loosen up as both South Australia and New South Wales jostled for position to collect the maximum points available. Unfortunately the New South Wales campaign took a big hit when Nick Velcic and Joel Dodds fell next to leave just four players; two of which included South Australians.

South Australia were a near certainty for victory holding the majority of chips, but with eliminations falling their way, New South Wales still stood with a chance. Jarred Graham exited at the hands of Grant Levy, but the New South Welshman would end all chances of victory when he made a call to dispatch of Tasmanian Heath Chick in third.

The near-even heads-up battle would be over quicker than most thought as James Obst quickly ended Levy's run with a well deserved victory after capturing the chip lead early on the final table and never releasing it.

With Obst collecting the $11,000 first prize, it also cemented South Australia's victory in the 2010 State of Origin, capitalising on their victory in the inaugural year of 2008 as the eight team members will share the $28,000 first prize equally.

Final Points Standings
South Australia - 500 points
New South Wales - 435
Tasmania - 270
Victoria - 260
New Zealand - 220
Queensland - 140
Western Australia – 130

Final Table Results
1^st  James “Andy McLEOD” Obst - $11,000
2^nd  Grant Levy - $5,700
3^rd  Heath “TassieDevil” Chick - $3,900
4^th  Jarred “FlopNutsOnYou” Graham - $2,200
5^th Joel “Strong Play” Dodds - $2,200
6^th Nick Velcic - $2,200
7^th Phillip Willcocks - $2,200
8^th Ben Richardson - $2,200

While the Victorian Poker Championships continue, the PokerNetwork Live Reporting Team will take a few days off before returning later in the week for live coverage of the $10,200 High Stakes Holdem and $2,700 Main Event.