Scotty Nguyen Poker Tournament at Cherokee Casino

The recently concluded Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge from May 17-30, 2007 has become a big national poker event in terms of media coverage and the prizes for the 1st place winner.

The events at the tournament attracted a total of 5,000 players and a cash pool of $1.5 million, making it the biggest poker tournament in the Mid-West and Gulf Area in the United States.

The cash prize winners represented a total of 19 states including 6 states among the final 9 players at the Championship table. Some of the major poker stars who have attended the event are Men Nguyen, Mike Matusow, Todd Brunson, Tony Cousineau, Clonie Gowan, Nam Le and the winner of the $5,000 Championship Kido Pham.

Among the event winners were Chuck Thompson, the Host of the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California. Thompson collected a total of $34,449 for 1st place in the $300 No-Limit Poker event that attracted a total of 390 players.

Thompson later suffered a bad hand at the Champion's Challenge Event. Columnist Jan Fisher won the Ladies' No-limit Event for $5,787. A total of 195 female players participated in the event.

One of the promising poker players in the tournament was Dena Leath. She won the $1,000 + $70 poker event against 185 players to win $58,918. The winner of the 2007 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge was David "Kido" Pham of Dallas, Texas.

The runner-up of the event was Nam Le, last year's winner. Kido commended the Cherokee Casino for being a great host.

Director of Poker and Table Games, Rick O'Connell, said that they have achieved a new attendance and prize money record with this year's event.

Cherokee Casino Poker Manager, Jimmie Simms, said that with their facilities, like the 36 table poker room, they can easily host different poker tournaments.

June 20, 2007
Jeremy Evans