Glen Witmer takes down 2008 North American Poker Championship

[Emma]

Glen Witmer, a 67 year old Canadian amateur player, took down the NAPC title and $1,090,589 yesterday after defeating Gavin Smith in heads-up play.

This year's North American Poker Championship was hosted by the Fairview Casino in Ontario, right next to the Niagara Falls. 454 professional gamblers attended the event just to take down the title and the $4,000,000 CAD prize pool.

The final table was settled like this:

Seat 1 - Kathy Liebert - 1,620,000
Seat 2 - Gavin Smith - 2,815,000
Seat 3 - Marc Karam - 1,850,000
Seat 4 - Glen Witmer - 3,710,000
Seat 5 - James Trenholm - 1,365,000
Seat 6 - Ryan Fisler - 2,285,000

By the time of heads-up play it was only Gavin Smith vs Glen Witmer. Witmer was in the lead with 9,830,000 while Smith faced an uphill battle with 3,815,000 in chips. But still everyone believed tha battle was leaning on Smith's side.

It was not until the 49th hand of heads-up play that the NAPC met a winner for 2008. Witmer raised to 500,000 pre flop and Gavin, after a hesitant moment, went All-in. Witmer showed a suited As Ks and Smith showed pocket 5's (5h 5d) .

The flop came up Qd Jd 2h, leaving Smith on the lead. Then the turn was a Jc, Smith was still safe. Then the river sealed the player's destiny with an Ac giving the victory to Glen Witmer.

Despite the fact that almost everyone was certain that this one was for Smith, the room was filled with many "Can he really make it?" referring to Witmer and he certainly did. This was a Cinderella story for amateur player Glen Witmer. He took the title for Canada and is going home a millionaire. He had never won a tournament before but he was a regular at the Fallsview Casino.

The final results were this:

1st – Glen Witmer - $1,254,152 CAD / US $1,090,589
2nd – Gavin Smith - $612,427 CAD / US $532,545
3rd – Kathy Liebert - $319,337 CAD / US $277,684
4th – Ryan Fisler - $ 262,469 CAD / US $228,234
5th – Marc Karam - $196,851 CAD / US $171,175
6th – James Trenholm - $153,107 CAD / US $133,137

Congratulations to Glen Witmer on his victory.