So far, Season VI of the
World Poker Tour has seen some great final table lineups, and the
North American Poker Championship in Niagara Falls, Canada, continues the trend. Youth is represented, with two 19 year olds (that's the legal gambling age here) and a very accomplished 23-year old. Experience is represented, with two former
WPT winners and two players with multiple
World Series of Poker bracelets. Online players are strongly represented, and there's even a player from Bellagio's "Big Game." If that's not enough, there's a just-happy-to-be-here local player that could crash this party with a Cinderella finish.
Before we get to the player bios, let's take a quick look at the official chip counts and the prize pool they'll be playing for (shown in Canadian dollars).
Seat No. 1: Kofi Farkye - 1,504,000
Seat No. 2:
Jonathan Little - 2,716,000
Seat No. 3:
"Action Jeff" Garza - 1,320,000
Seat No. 4: David Cloutier - 1,614,000
Seat No. 5:
Barry Greenstein - 447,000
Seat No. 6:
Scott Clements - 2,483,000
First place: $1,361,724 plus a $25,500 seat in the
WPT Championship
Second place: $680,862
Third place: $355,021
Fourth place: $291,798
Fifth place: $218,849
Sixth place: $170,216
As mentioned before, these figures are in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate as I type this is currently $1 CAD for every $1.07 USD, so first prize is worth about $1.48 million US.
The
WPT final table is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Eastern time, and you can follow all the action in every hand live at
CardPlayer.com.
Seat No. 1
Kofi Farkye
1,504,000 in chips
Kofi Farkye is fortunate that the
North American Poker Championship is held in Canada - at 19 years old, he wouldn't be allowed to play if it were still held in the United States.
An accomplished online player (his biggest tournament cash was $115,000), Farkye has been playing poker for about three years. He doesn't have any stats listed in the various tournament databases, but that's about to change with his first
WPT final table.
Farkye balances his schedule by attending San Diego State University, where he majors in business.
Seat No. 2
Jonathan Little
2,716,000 in chips
Jonathan Little (known online as "FieryJustice" or "Jcardshark") is leading a new wave of young Internet players. A few years ago, most players his age were labeled "young guns" for their constantly aggressive style. But Little leads a new generation of Internet-bred players with a more well-rounded game.
Little may have a small presence, but he makes a big impact. When he sits behind the felt, his emotions are always under control, with minimal highs and lows. Opponents who attempt to put Little off his game might just end up tilting themselves in the process. And don't expect Little to trumpet his own accomplishments or oversell himself - if you ask him about his results, he'll simply say, "I run good."
That's what we call an understatement. He runs really, really good.
Little has had an impressive year, with a victory at the
Mirage Poker Showdown and a seventh-place finish at the
Gulf Coast Poker Championship. As the chip leader at this final table, he's looking to add another
WPT title. He's also ranked fifth in
Card Player's Player of the Year rankings, and a victory today will move him into first on that list, as well. He only needs to finish in third or better to take over second place.
Fifty days away from his 23rd birthday, Little already has nearly $1.8 million in live tournament earnings, and he'll increase that number today, possibly crossing the $3-million mark. That would move him into 67th place on the all-time money list. It may not sound that impressive compared to a legend like Barry Greenstein (see below), but remember, this kid has got less than two years of live tournament experience under his belt.
Seat No. 3
Jeff Garza
1,320,000 in chips
"Action Jeff" Garza is an accomplished online player, but since he is just 19 years old, he doesn't have much of a record in live tournaments. However, earlier this year, this young American traveled north of the border to win the
Johnny Chan Poker Classic here in Canada, rising to the top of a 300-player field.
This is Garza's first televised final table, but he played at a featured table in the
WSOP Europe, so he's had some exposure to the pressure of TV cameras and holecams. He's also no stranger to high stakes - according to his
WPT questionnaire, he has won more than $1 million in online cash games.
Will those experiences prepare him for a
WPT final table, with more than $1.3 million waiting for the winner? Only time will tell.
Seat No. 4
David Cloutier
1,614,000 in chips
David Cloutier is a Toronto native, and as the only Canadian at the table, he'll be representing the home team. As a high-stakes tournament rookie (he's only been playing poker for about a year, and this is his first
WPT event), he also represents the Cinderella story at the table. If you ask him, he's just happy to be here.
Cloutier is the CEO of KelvinTech, a company that specializes in industrial electric heaters and related technology.
Seat No. 5
Barry Greenstein
447,000 in chips
It's impossible to overstate Barry Greenstein's role in the poker world - he is one of the most popular and respected players in the game. He's acquired the nickname "The Robin Hood of Poker" for his generous ways, giving his high-profile tournament winnings to children's charities while making a living in high-stakes cash games, including the "Big Game" at Bellagio. He is also a staple on
GSN's High Stakes Poker.
Greenstein will sit down at the final table as the short stack, with just 22 big blinds in front of him. But when you're Barry Greenstein, you don't need a lot of chips to make an impact. The other players will have conflicted feelings - eager to bust him out but worried about doubling him up.
With two
WPT titles already under his belt (plus two more victories in
WPT single-table specials), Greenstein hopes to join Gus Hansen in the elite club of three-time champions. He also has two
WSOP bracelets and is currently ranked 25th on the all-time money list with more than $5.3 million. If he captures today's $1.3 million first prize, he would catapult into 15th on that list.
A victory would move him into the top 10 of
Card Player's Player of the Year standings, putting him in striking distance of the lead with two months remaining. For the man who has already accomplished so much in the game, a Player of the Year title is the only thing missing from Greenstein's résumé.
Greenstein's poker influence extends away from the table, as he recently traveled to Washington, D.C., with a contingent of other players to lobby for a poker exemption from current anti-gaming legislation. (Greenstein predicts that online poker will be legal and regulated in the U.S. within a year.) Greenstein keeps a copy of his book with him in every tournament, and when he busts, he autographs it with details of his final hand for the player who eliminated him. But sometimes Barry's book can be a bittersweet bounty - if nobody busts him (i.e., Greenstein wins the tournament), it's a consolation prize for the runner-up.
Incidentally, the title of his book ("Ace on the River"), comes from his first
WPT victory in Tunica back in 2004. The river card on the final hand was an ace, clinching Greenstein's first $1 million tournament victory - which he of course donated to charity.
Seat No. 6
Scott Clements
2,483,000 in chips
If you don't recognize the name Scott Clements, you should. His name isn't mentioned very often (online he goes by "BigRiskky"), but in the past two years he's assembled quite a record.
Clements seemingly came out of nowhere to win a
WSOP bracelet in 2006 - and then did it again in 2007, proving he was no fluke. In between those two bracelets, he also won a
WPT title, though most Americans never saw it on TV. The final table of the
WPT Canadian Poker Open was taped after last year's
North American Poker Championship, but it only aired in Canada. Today's
WPT final table will mark Clements' first appearance on the
World Poker Tour in the United States and around the rest of the world.
Clements is currently ranked ninth in
Card Player's Player of the Year race, and a victory here would move him into second (or third, depending on Jonathan Little's finish). Even a disappointing sixth-place finish today would put Clements in the top five. With more than $1.3 million in career earnings, Clements is hoping to double that number today, and cement his rightful place as one of the best young players in the game.
The only thing left to do is play the game and see who wins. For live hand-by-hand coverage of all the action, return to
CardPlayer.com at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
