NAPT: Vanessa Selbst Wins Main Event in Mohegan Sun

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NAPT: Vanessa Selbst Wins Main Event in Mohegan Sun

Paul Oresteen | April 11, 2010

Vanessa Selbst is PokerStars NAPT Mohegan Sun Champion.

After a relatively short final table Vanessa Selbst won the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun Main Event. Along the with the trophy, valuable BLUFF Player of the Year points she will also be taking home the $750,00 first place prize.

Selbst spent the last three days of the tournament with the chiplead or in the top three. Her aggressive and active style had her in a lot of pots and making a lot hands.

“I made one big mistake yesterday, but other than that I think I made all the right decisions,” Selbst said. “I attribute that to having fun with the game again. I didn’t think it was my tournament, but I knew if I got the cards no one could stop me.”

Selbst and Mike Beasley made heads-up play a pretty short affair - only seven hands before the deciding pot was shipped to Selbst. To begin, Selbst had 18.8 million to Beasley’s 2.755 million. In the final hand she opened for a raise of 200,000 and Beasley moved all-in. Selbst called immediately and tabled A 8 and was ahead of Beasley’s Q T. The board came 3 6 K 7 8 and Selbst claimed her biggest tournament score of her career.

“It was a good finish, but disappointing. I played well for the last five days,” Beasley said. “Starting today I wanted to win, but things went more Vanessa’s way. She’s a great player. I give her all the credit in the world.”

Michael Woods, an amateur player from Cana, Virginia, saw a flop with Selbst of 8 6 9. Woods bet 500,000 and Selbst raised to 1.8 million and Woods moved all-in. Selbst had him dominated with 8 8 and Woods needed help with T 9. Woods’ draw would not hit with the board finishing A T and his 3rd place finish is the best of his career.

Playing on a short stack the whole day Scott Seiver was desperate to chip up. He had moved all-in preflop four times throughout the day and never got a call. His fifth time would prove to be his last when Woods called him holding A 3 and Seiver would need his 4 4 to hold. The board ran A T 6 Q 7 and Seiver added to his NAPT success with a 4th place finish.

Beasley opened for 225,000 on the button and Alistar Melville moved in over the top from the big blind for 1.025 million. Melville had the best of it with Q Q and was looking to hold against Beasley’s A Q. The flop hit Beasley when it came A 4 3 and Melville was down to the case Queen for his tournament life. The turn and river ran 6 3 and Melville was eliminated in 5th place.

Selbst opened up a resounding chiplead on the table when she and Derek Raymond got involved in a hand. Raymond raised to 395,000 after Selbst limped in, but then she reraised to 3.7 million which sent Raymond deep into the tank. Raymond eventually called showing A T and Selbst was the favorite with 6 6. The board ran Q K 7 8 4 and Raymond finished in 6th place. After that hand Selbst had nearly half the chips in play.

Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy tangled in two key pots that sealed his fate. Josephy first moved in from the big blind after Raymond opened for a raise. The call was made and they were off to the races with Josephy holding A Q and Raymond tabling 6 6. The board ran 5 J T 3 7 and Josephy was left crippled. He committed the rest of his chips with A 5 but Raymond was there with A 9. They each paired their Ace but Raymond’s kicker ended Josephy’s tournament with a 7th place finish.

Jonathan Aguiar was knocked out in 8th place before the tournament really got going. He moved in from the small blind after a raise from Beasley and a reraise from Woods. Woods spent a few moments considering his options and then called holding T T. Aguiar was in a race for his tournament life with A Q. The board ran 8 3 2 4 T and ended his deep tournament win. It’s worth nothing that Aguiar is the only player to cash in all three NAPT Main Events this year.

Final Table Payouts for PokerStars.net NAPT Mohegan Sun: