Scott Clements Wins the North American Poker Championship

One of the best final tables in the history of the World Poker Tour was assembled Friday at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario. A packed crowd watched one of poker's old guard, one amateur, and a sampling of the best young players in the game to see who would take down the first-place prize of $1,387,224 CAD. There were two 19-year-old Internet pros in the field, Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza and Kofi Farkye, as well as two former WPT champions, Jonathan Little and Barry Greenstein.

Here is a list of the final table players and their chip counts as they entered the day:

Seat No. 1: Kofi Farkye – 1,504,000
Seat No. 2: Jonathan Little – 2,616,000
Seat No. 3: Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza – 1,320,000
Seat No. 4: David Cloutier – 1,614,000
Seat No. 5: Barry Greenstein – 447,000
Seat No. 6: Scott "BigRiskky" Clements – 2,483,000

There were some interesting storylines going into the final table, perhaps the most important of which was the implications in the Card Player Player of the Year (POY) race. Little entered the day ranked fifth in the POY standings, and a victory would put him in the top spot. Any finish of third or better would bump him into second place. Clements began the day ranked ninth in the POY standings, and a victory here would have moved him into second (or third, depending on Little's finish).

Cloutier, the lone Canadian, emerged as the fan-favorite early on, receiving rowdy applause whenever he took down a pot. However, the first 45 minutes of play were slow, with each player feeling out their way beneath the hot lights of the WPT set. It looked as if play would break the one-hour mark without an elimination until Garza tangled with Clements.

Clements raised from the cutoff to 70,000, and Garza called. The flop came 8 7 2, Garza checked, Clements bet 150,000, and Garza thought for almost a minute before he moved all in. Clements immediately called with A 9 for the nut flush draw, and Garza tabled 10 9 for an open-end straight draw. Any hope Garza had was eliminated when the turn brought the 3, leaving him drawing dead. Jeff Garza was eliminated in sixth place, good for a $170,216 CAD payday.

The next to go was 19-year-old Farkye, and he too fell at the hands of Clements. In Farkye's final hand, Clements raised from the small blind to 80,000, and Farkye called from the big blind. The flop came 10 8 7, Clements quickly checked, Farkye moved all in, and Clements immediately called with 10 8 for top two pair. Farkye showed down 6 5 for an open-end straight draw and needed to improve to stay alive. The turn card brought the K, putting four spades on the board, which gave Farkye additional outs to a chop. The river card brought the 7, and Clements' hand held. This gave him the pot, and eliminated Farkye. Farkye's fifth-place finish was good for $218,849 CAD. This was an impressive performance for Farkye, who clams this was his first $10,000 tournament. It's clear he is a serious poker talent and has a bright future ahead of him. On Farkye's way out, Greenstein couldn't help himself from firing out a good-natured joke, "They're going out in order of age," he said, referencing the two youngest players being the first eliminations.

Unfortunately for Greenstein, his observation would not hold true, as a bad beat from Cloutier would send him to the rail next. Cloutier raised to 140,000 from the small blind and Greenstein moved all in from the big blind. Cloutier thought for a few moments before electing to call with K 9. Greenstein tabled A 9 and was in a dominant position to double up. The flop fell Q 10 7, giving Cloutier additional outs to the gutshot. The turn card was the K, giving Cloutier the lead and leaving Greenstein drawing to an ace on the river (which is, ironically, the title of his book) to double up, or a jack to chop. The river card was the 5 and Cloutier won the pot. Greenstein was eliminated in fourth place, which was good for $291,798 CAD. Always the class act, Greenstein took a moment to sign a copy of his book for Cloutier, and as he left the table, the ever amicable Canadian crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Greenstein's elimination brought play down to threehanded, and that's where each player dug in for a long battle. At this point, Cloutier stepped up his aggressiveness and took the chip lead. Clements started as the short stack, but doubled through Little on this hand: Little raised from the button to 125,000, and Clements called from the big blind. The flop came J 6 6, Clements bet 100,000, and Little called. The turn was the 5, Clements bet 200,000, and Little moved all in. Clements quickly called for his last 1,195,000 with J 8. Little showed down A 8 and needed an ace to bust Clements. The river card was the 4, and Clements took down the pot, doubling up to about 2.86 million. This may have crippled a lesser player, but Little remained strong, and he was able to win a big coin flip against Cloutier to stay alive. Almost an hour and twenty minutes later, Clements doubled up again through Little, and knocked him down to one million in chips.

Once again, all three players dug in and it turned into a waiting game as Clements and Little waited for the amateur Cloutier to make a mistake. That hand came when Clements played a huge hand against Cloutier, and won not only the pot, but the chip lead as well. Clements limped from the button, Cloutier raised from the big blind to 245,000, and Clements made the call. The flop came 10 10 9, Cloutier checked, and Clements bet 325,000. Cloutier raised to 750,000, and Clements called. The turn card was the 8, and both players checked. The river card was the 5, Cloutier checked, Clements bet 500,000, and Cloutier called. Clements showed J-10 for trip tens, and Cloutier waited about 10 seconds before he mucked. Clements took down the pot, worth 3 million, and became the chip leader.

Finally, after 137 hands of threehanded play, which spanned almost exactly five hours, Cloutier was eliminated. On his last hand, Little raised from the small blind to 180,000, Cloutier moved all in for his last 1.68 million, and Little tanked for about 20 seconds before calling with A 10. Cloutier showed J 9, and he needed to improve to stay alive. The board came 8 6 3 J 3, which gave Little the nut flush, and sent him the pot. Cloutier was eliminated in third place and he earned $355,021 CAD for his efforts.

This finally brought play down to heads up, and the chip counts were as follows:

Seat No. 2: Jonathan Little – 3,685,000
Seat No. 6: Scott "BigRiskky" Clements – 6,400,000

After the lengthy threehanded battle, the players were just eight hands away from setting a new WPT record for the most hands at a final table. The old record was 263, and when Scott Clements folded on the button on the 264th hand, a new record was set. The heads-up battle lasted only 14 hands, and Little was eliminated on the 271st hand of play (the new WPT record). Little raised on the button to 180,000, and Clements made the call. The flop came 7 5 5 and both players checked. The turn card was the 4, Clements checked, and Little bet 250,000. Clements raised to 550,000, Little thought for a moment before moving all in, and Clements immediately called with Q 5 for trip fives. Little showed K 4 and he was drawing dead. Little was eliminated in second place, earning $680,862 CAD.

Clements took down the WPT North American Poker Championship title and he earned $1,387,224 CAD. He also won a $25,500 seat into the WPT World Championship in April, 2008. Clements' finish puts him in third place in the Card Player Player of the Year standings, while Little's second-place finish moves him into second.

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