After a massive head start at the Highliner, Joshua Herring took an early lead in the Weekly Points race. His 1st and 3rd that night set him apart from the crowd... but not too far. Fred Bowen had a respectable finish and some Bounty Points, and Dan Gestaut also had a decent finish that night. Jillian's Tuesday night saw the start of a battle that would continue to the final table of the next night as Dan Gestaut was the top points earner for the night, with Joshua just behind him by 25 points. The Pike Pub Wednesday night was where the battle would be fought. With a commanding lead, Joshua only needed to perform solidly to retain the weekly lead. But with a 500 point Bad Beat Jackpot, it was far from secured. The Bad Beat hit, not just once, but twice. And not just twice on the same table, but twice IN TWO HANDS....WITH THE SAME PLAYERS! With Dan Gestaut involved in both of these, Joshua needed to make 6th place to secure himself a free buy-in at Tulalip on Saturday. When he was knocked out in 9th, with Dan still remaining, it looked iffy. Dan fought hard through the blinds, grabbing pots when he could, but couldn't stave off the loss in 4th place. Joshua wins the Weekly Points Leader race... by 2 points! Congrats Josh!

Weekly Points Leader

Sandy Gould is our Featured Player of the Week. You can read his poker bio on our front page. Knock him out of a tournament this week and you win 20 Bounty Points instantly!

This coming week will be the second, and final, SNEAK PEEK WEEK. Sneak Peek Week is when anyone can come down to an event and see their stats, regardless of VIP status. Remember, only VIPs have viewable stats both online and at the events, and therefore only VIPs will receive invitations to the Championship. If you've been playing most of the season and are not a VIP, this is your chance to see if you are in contention for the Championship. There are only 2 weeks left to the season, if you're close, it could be worth checking out. The only way to find out if you're close is to come see the Sneak Peek stats - this week only!

Well it's been a couple of weeks since an update, so I guess we've got some catching up to do....

First off, a hearty congratulations to Umair Bashir for becoming the 1st Head's-Up Poker Champion! Umair battled the field of 64 players in a NCAA bracketed, single elimintation competition, and arose victorious. A special kudos goes out to Dan Gestaut for making it to the finals, and forcing a 3rd match in the 2 out of 3. Both players commented on the difficulty of playing heads-up for 6 hours, so it was quite a showing for both of them. The event was such fun, and such a huge success, we can't wait until next year! You can see the details, including a completed bracket here:

1st Annual Seattle Heads-Up Championship

After a massive influx of new players, Week 10 turned out to be the biggest week in SPO history. We broke record attendance at all locations, and put a record number of points in play for all Divisions. For only the second time in SPO history, we had a Weekly Points winner garner enough points without actually winning a tournament to take the top spot and win the free buy-in at Tulalip Casino. Steve McCumber, better known as "The Lucky Bastard", started out strong, gaining a huge chip lead at the Highliner on Monday night. He retained that lead through many bad beats at the final table, but finally succumbed in Head's Up, finishing 2nd of 49. Wednesday night he did quite the same thing - gathering chips and being a force to bet against, and working his way to Head's Up, finishing 2nd of 59 (of note is a tremendous performance by Deborah Roscher, the winner of that event). Those coupled with some Sit 'N Go points got him the top spot on the leaderboard....

Weekly Points Leader

Steve is this week's Featured Player. You can read his poker bio on the front page of our site. If you see him at any regular event this week, knock him out and earn 20 bounty points instantly!

It's still not too late to come play and qualify for the Winter Championship. We have 3 weeks of play left to earn points. With Bounty's, and record attendance pushing record points, there is plenty of time to gather enough points. Not to mention a 500 point Bad Beat Jackpot at the Pike Pub!

Dan Gestaut tore up the tables last week. He finished second in the first event at the Highliner on Monday night, then took first in the second event (so close to a Double Header!). He then padded his lead in the Weekly Points Leaderboard by picking up another 105 Sit 'N Go points at Jillian's on Tuesday night. He earned enough points to overcome a 350 point Bad Bad Jackpot that was hit at Jillian's (congrats to Amy Mizuta for not only losing that hand...and winning the jackpot...but surviving to win the table!). Congrats Dan on winning the Weekly Points Leader and the buy-in at t Tulalip Casino's Saturday tournament. Dan will also be the Featured Player of the Week, and therefore a 20 point Bounty in all events he plays in.

Weekly Points Leader

In other news, our little Head's Up Special Event has grown up. With sponsors and some press releases to the local media, the Seattle Poker Open is proud to present the 1st Annual Seattle Heads-Up Poker Championship, this Saturday, March 11th, at Jillian's. We are giving away a tremendous amount of stuff at this event and it's not to be missed! Over $500 in cash, a free VIP membership, League points in the division of your choice, a guaranteed seat in the SPO Winter Championship, and the notoriety of being the first to claim the title in this brand new legacy event.

Seating is limited to 64 players, and with the advertising and press that has been secured, it will most definitely fill up quick. Reserve your seat NOW!

1st Annual Seattle Heads-Up Championship

Also of note, there will be a private VIP only game at Tulalip Casino this Friday night. This is included in the benefits package when you buy the VIP Membership. Low Stakes NL Hold Em with other VIP Members only. If you'd like to join us this Friday night, simply sign up for the VIP Membership....

VIP Membership Info