The MANSIONPoker.net Poker Dome Challenge was a 43-week series of
speed pokerSpeed poker is a live variant of Texas hold 'em inspired by online poker. A relatively new variant, it is the format of two major televised tournaments, the World Speed Poker Open and the Poker Dome Challenge, as well as the Asia-Pacific Speed Poker Championship. Card Player Magazine credits...
tournaments offering a grand prize of $1,000,000 USD. The tournament aired in the United States on Fox Sports Network from May 2006 to March 2007. The tournament featured a number of technological gimmicks in an effort to increase viewer interest and excitement. Commentating duties were shared by rotating hosts including
Barry TompkinsBarry Tompkins is a well known American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and another number of sports as well.-San Francisco, New York City and NBC Sports:...
,
Jon KelleyJon Kelley is an award winning American sports journalist, author, producer, and television personality. Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, Kelley played four seasons as a running back for the University of Nebraska before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism...
,
Michael KonikMichael Konik is an American author, television personality, jazz singer, improvisational comedian, blackjack player and poker player. Konik has a degree in Drama from New York University.Konik currently resides in Hollywood, California.-Writing:...
,
Michael GraczMaciek Gracz is a Polish professional poker player, based in Raleigh, North Carolina....
,
Joel MeyersJoel Meyers is an American sportscaster and current play-by-play announcer of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.-Career:...
and
Chris RoseChristopher Rose is an American sportscaster. Rose attended University School in Shaker Heights during high school. Rose is known as one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period, on Fox Sports Net...
with
Leeann TweedenLeeann Velez Tweeden is an American model.Tweeden was born in Manassas, Virginia. She graduated from Osbourn Park High School in 1991. Tweeden eschewed college altogether and instead pursued a career in modeling...
serving as co-host/exit interviewer (occasionally covered by
Nafeesa DeFloriasNafeesa Leilani De Florias is a beauty pageant contestant and television personality from Phoenix, Arizona who has competed in the Miss USA pageant....
).
The MANSIONPoker.net Poker Dome Challenge was a 43-week series of
speed pokerSpeed poker is a live variant of Texas hold 'em inspired by online poker. A relatively new variant, it is the format of two major televised tournaments, the World Speed Poker Open and the Poker Dome Challenge, as well as the Asia-Pacific Speed Poker Championship. Card Player Magazine credits...
tournaments offering a grand prize of $1,000,000 USD. The tournament aired in the United States on Fox Sports Network from May 2006 to March 2007. The tournament featured a number of technological gimmicks in an effort to increase viewer interest and excitement. Commentating duties were shared by rotating hosts including
Barry TompkinsBarry Tompkins is a well known American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and another number of sports as well.-San Francisco, New York City and NBC Sports:...
,
Jon KelleyJon Kelley is an award winning American sports journalist, author, producer, and television personality. Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, Kelley played four seasons as a running back for the University of Nebraska before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism...
,
Michael KonikMichael Konik is an American author, television personality, jazz singer, improvisational comedian, blackjack player and poker player. Konik has a degree in Drama from New York University.Konik currently resides in Hollywood, California.-Writing:...
,
Michael GraczMaciek Gracz is a Polish professional poker player, based in Raleigh, North Carolina....
,
Joel MeyersJoel Meyers is an American sportscaster and current play-by-play announcer of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.-Career:...
and
Chris RoseChristopher Rose is an American sportscaster. Rose attended University School in Shaker Heights during high school. Rose is known as one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period, on Fox Sports Net...
with
Leeann TweedenLeeann Velez Tweeden is an American model.Tweeden was born in Manassas, Virginia. She graduated from Osbourn Park High School in 1991. Tweeden eschewed college altogether and instead pursued a career in modeling...
serving as co-host/exit interviewer (occasionally covered by
Nafeesa DeFloriasNafeesa Leilani De Florias is a beauty pageant contestant and television personality from Phoenix, Arizona who has competed in the Miss USA pageant....
).
Matt SavageMatt Savage is an American poker tournament director. He has officiated at a number of televised poker and gambling events, including the World Series of Poker , Bay 101's Shooting Star stop on the World Poker Tour, Poker Dome Challenge and King of Vegas.In 2001, along with Linda Johnson, Jan...
was the
tournament directorIn the game of poker, the tournament director is the individual charged with running the poker tournament. The job encompasses many roles, the most public of which is typically announcing the phrase "shuffle up and deal!" at the beginning of the day...
.
The series consisted of single table tournaments of six players each. Five of the six competitors qualified through daily
freerollIn poker, a freeroll has two distinct meanings. One applies to the play of a single hand, and the other describes an entire poker tournament.-Freeroll hand:...
tournaments held at mansionpoker.net. Another competitor came from the National Pub Poker League, an amateur poker league that partnered with MansionPoker.net and qualified its nightly bar tournament winners into a private weekly freeroll
http://www.nationalpubpokerleague.com/index.aspx.
http://www.mansion.com/content/poker/poker.aspx?pg=pd&page=2&cp=poker/tournaments/PokerDome&cn=. Winners of the online qualifiers were flown all expenses paid to
Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
and received $500 in casino credit and other amenities.
Professional poker players
Tony GAntanas Guoga , more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and professional poker player. As a child, he was the Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 11...
,
Dennis WatermanDennis Waterman is a professional poker player and writer. He has over 30 years of poker experience with reported career winnings that exceed $1,000,000....
and
Perry FriedmanPerry Friedman is an American professional poker player who won the 2002 World Series of Poker $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event, a founding member of the Tiltboys and is a Full Tilt Professional.- World Series of Poker :...
and
reality televisionReality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors...
personality-turned poker pro
Rob MarianoRobert Carlo "Boston Rob" Mariano is an American television personality, best known for appearing in several reality shows, including The Amazing Race and Survivor: All Stars, with his wife, Amber Brkich....
have appeared in the Dome.
Players started with 50,000 in tournament chips and play continued until one player had all 300,000. The tournament was single-elimination and only the winner of each table received prize money. Players had just 15 seconds to act on a hand before it was ruled dead. Each player was given one 30-second time extension that could be used at any time. When the table got to heads-up, each player received another 30-second time extension (although if a player hadn't previously used the extension he or she did not then have two). Betting was pot-limit pre-flop and no-limit post-flop until heads-up play, when it became all no-limit.
Each preliminary winner pocketed $25,000 in cash and advanced to the semi-finals. After each set of six preliminary tournaments, a semi-final single table tournament was played among the six winners, with the winner of that table taking $50,000 and advancing to the final table. After the six semi-final matches were played, the finalists played one more single table tournament for the $1,000,000 winner-take-all grand prize. Each of the other finalists won a prize package from Mansion Poker worth $13,000.
The Poker Dome
Tournaments were played in front of a live audience in a structure called The Poker Dome. The audience couldn't be seen or heard by the players and players were screened before entering the Dome to ensure they were unable to communicate with anyone outside the Dome. The high tech table featured an
LEDLEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
display for the dealer button, hole card cameras, automatic card reading technology (described on-screen as "computer chips," possibly passive RFID tags) and built in LED hand timers. Two dealers worked the tournaments to maintain the fast pace, and players were attached to heart monitors. Players' hole cards and heart rates were displayed for the live audience and in particularly stressful situations like all in bets, heart rates were displayed to the home audience.
The
Tropicana Resort & CasinoThe Tropicana Resort & Casino Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, in the township of Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. and operated by Alex Yemenidjian's Armenco Holdings. It offers 1,871 rooms and is attached to a casino...
hosted the first several events prior to the completion of construction at the
NeonopolisNeonopolis, a shopping mall, is a $100 million entertainment complex in Las Vegas, Nevada located on top of a $15 million city parking garage. It is located on the Fremont Street Experience, at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard...
.
Tournament Results
| Round | Winner | Hometown | Round | Winner | Hometown |
|---|
| Preliminary 1 |
Rhowena Colclough |
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
|
Preliminary 7 |
Reg Brittain |
Northampton, MANorthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,978 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hampshire County...
|
| Preliminary 2 |
Andrew Rogers |
Montgomery, MNMontgomery is a city in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, in the United States, 45 miles south of Minneapolis. It was named after Richard Montgomery, an Irish-American soldier who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The population was 2,794 at the 2000...
|
Preliminary 8 |
Neil Jones |
Mankato, MN |
| Preliminary 3 |
John Bowman |
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
, UK |
Preliminary 9 |
Rodel Tuazon |
Des Moines, IADes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
|
| Preliminary 4 |
Marissa Chien |
Las Vegas, NV |
Preliminary 10 |
Stan Poczatek |
Woodbridge, VA Woodbridge is a census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 40,561 at the July 2007 census. It is the home of the Northern Virginia Royals soccer club and the Potomac Nationals baseball club....
|
| Preliminary 5 |
John Woods |
Abbey Abbey is a village in the English county of Devon. It is located in the Blackdown Hills....
, UK |
Preliminary 11 |
Ed Betzel |
Fraser, MI Fraser is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,297 at the 2000 census. The city is part of the Metro Detroit region....
|
| Preliminary 6 |
Robert Brown |
Shawassee, MI |
Preliminary 12 |
Rick Berger |
Melbourne, FL Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2008, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 77,351. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area....
|
| Semi-final 1 |
Andrew Rogers |
|
Semi-final 2 |
Rodel Tuazon |
|
| Preliminary 13 |
Gagan Virk |
Sylmar, CA Sylmar is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. It is located east of Interstate 5 and north of the city of San Fernando...
|
Preliminary 19 |
D.K. Thomas |
San Pedro, CASan Pedro is a port neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area. The town has grown from being dominated by the fishing industry to become primarily a working class town within the City of Los Angeles...
|
| Preliminary 14 |
Jason Martyn |
Ipswich Ipswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex...
, UK |
Preliminary 20 |
Victoria Wale |
Princes RisboroughPrinces Risborough is a town and civil parish within the Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills on the historic trade route between Winchester and Cambridge. Adjacent to the...
, UK |
| Preliminary 15 |
Jerry Schrader |
Woodbridge, VA Woodbridge is a census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 40,561 at the July 2007 census. It is the home of the Northern Virginia Royals soccer club and the Potomac Nationals baseball club....
|
Preliminary 21 |
Bruce Spencer |
Pensacola, FLPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2007, the estimated population was 54,283....
|
| Preliminary 16 |
Bill Sheldon |
Cape May, NJ Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean....
|
Preliminary 22 |
Walter Graden |
Statham, GA Statham is a city in Barrow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,040 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Statham is located at ....
|
| Preliminary 17 |
Jon Davies |
Albrighton Albrighton could refer to either one of two places in Shropshire, England*Albrighton, north-west of Wolverhampton*Albrighton, north of Shrewsbury...
, UK |
Preliminary 23 |
Ben Ludwig |
Collegeville, PA Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia on the Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1895. It is the seat of Ursinus College, opened in 1869. Population in 1910, 621...
|
| Preliminary 18 |
Marlon Delinois |
Spring Valley, NYSpring Valley, incorporated on July 9, 1902 is a village in the Town of Ramapo Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Nanuet; east of Airmont and Monsey; south of Hillcrest and west of West Nyack...
|
Preliminary 24 |
Steve Goodemote |
Canandaigua, NY Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census. The name Canandaigua is derived from the Iroquois word "Kanandarque" which means "chosen spot."The City of Canandaigua, the Ontario County seat, is located next to...
|
| Semi-final 3 |
Jerry Schrader |
|
Semi-final 4 |
Ben Ludwig |
|
| Preliminary 25 |
Kristian Gilleland |
Conway, SC Conway is a city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 11,788 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Horry County. It is the home of Coastal Carolina University. Numerous buildings and structures are on the National Register of Historic Place. Among these is the...
|
Preliminary 31 |
Carl Olson |
Seattle, WASeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
|
| Preliminary 26 |
Rob Sherwood |
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
, UK |
Preliminary 32 |
Zack Williamson |
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
, CAN |
| Preliminary 27 |
Dale Rodda |
Frankston, AUSFrankston is the largest city on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Due to its geographical location at the northern-most point of the peninsula, it is often referred to as the "Gateway to the Mornington Peninsula"....
|
Preliminary 33 |
Ryan Hall |
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
, UK |
| Preliminary 28 |
John Ritchie |
Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea....
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
|
Preliminary 34 |
Dennis Waterman |
Sedona, AZSedona is a city and community that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 11,220....
|
| Preliminary 29 |
Keith Hubbard |
Brampton Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
, OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
|
Preliminary 35 |
Jason Phipps |
Omaha, NEOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
|
| Preliminary 30 |
Toly Braylovsky |
Hamden, CTHamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
|
Preliminary 36 |
Clayton Mozdzen |
Stonewall, ManitobaStonewall is a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba with a population of 4,376 as of the 2006 census. The town is situated approximately 25 kilometres north of Winnipeg on Provincial Trunk Highway 67. It is known for its limestone quarries...
|
| Semi-final 5 |
Rob Sherwood |
|
Semi-final 6 |
Dennis Waterman |
|
Final table
| Finish | Player | Total cash winnings |
|---|
| 1 |
Rodel Tuazon |
$1,075,000 |
| 2 |
Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman is a professional poker player and writer. He has over 30 years of poker experience with reported career winnings that exceed $1,000,000....
|
$75,000 |
| 3 |
Rob Sherwood |
$75,000 |
| 4 |
Ben Ludwig |
$75,000 |
| 5 |
Andrew Rogers |
$75,000 |
| 6 |
Jerry Schrader |
$75,000 |
World Pro-Am Challenge
On July 12, 2006, The Poker Dome played host to the World Pro-Am Challenge, with a $1,000,000 USD prize pool. Three professional players were pitted against three amateur
onlineOnline poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
qualifiers, who had access to three other pros for coaching. The top three spots paid, and if an amateur cashed the prize money would be split with the coach. Each amateur started with $20,000 more in chips than the pros and each amateur/coach team was allowed two time outs, one called by the player and one by the coach.
| Position | Player | Hometown | Coach | Payout |
|---|
| 1 |
Gavin SmithGavin Smith is a Canadian professional poker player who won the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown Championship event in 2005....
|
Guelph Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
, OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
|
|
$500,000 |
| 2 |
Scott Gardner |
Spalding Spalding is a market town with a population of 30,000 on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England.Spalding is well-known for its annual Flower Parade which attracts many regular visitors from all over the world, although the attendance has been declining from year to...
, UK |
Michael GraczMaciek Gracz is a Polish professional poker player, based in Raleigh, North Carolina....
|
$270,000 ($30,000 to Gracz) |
| 3 |
John Gale John Gale is an English professional poker based in Bushey, Hertfordshire.Gale is a relative newcomer to poker, having only begun playing Texas hold 'em in mid-2004. He first made a name for himself by qualifying for the World Poker Tour 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure tournament in The...
|
BusheyBushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, UK |
|
$200,000 |
| 4 |
Todd BrunsonTodd Alan Brunson is an American professional poker player and the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.Although Brunson's father Doyle was a poker player, Brunson did not learn the game when he was young. It was not until he was studying law at Texas Tech University that he learned on his own how to...
|
Las Vegas, NV |
|
$0 |
| 5 |
Joe Isaacson |
Eau Claire, WIEau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 61,704 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County, although a small portion of the city lies in neighboring Chippewa County...
|
Kenna James"Cowboy" Kenna James is an American professional poker player who currently resides in Los Angeles, California.James has finished in the money at twelve World Series of Poker events as of 2006...
|
$0 |
| 6 |
Andy Stoll |
Cincinnati, OHCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,336 in 2008, making it the state's third largest city...
|
Tony G Antanas Guoga , more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and professional poker player. As a child, he was the Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 11...
|
$0 |
External links