It was to be a showdown of former WPT champions against a relatively amateur poker player at the
World Poker Final held at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut from November 7, 2007 to November 13, 2007. This 7 day event saw 575 buy-ins at $9,700 + $300 each. There were 50 payouts from the total pool prize of $5,577,500 over the course of the tournament.
Adding to the excitement of the final table was the 2006 defending champion, Nenad Medic, and 2005 champion, Mike Schulman, looking to double their WPT titles. The seating arrangements and chip count at the start of the final table were:
- Seat 1 – Nenad Medic - 555,000
- Seat 2 – Michael Vela - 4,155,000
- Seat 3 – Mark Weitzman - 855,000
- Seat 4 – Mike White - 2,455,000
- Seat 5 – Nick Shulman - 4,395,000
- Seat 6 – Tom “Durr” Dwan - 4,875,000
Dwan, a famous online poker player who had gradually lost his chip lead to Medic and Schulman was eliminated in 4th place. He went home with $324,244, ahead of White who exited with $243,184 and Weitzman who made for the door with $189,142. The showdown was now between the 2006 and 2005 champions with outsider, Vela. In a thrilling game that pitted wits and talent, Medic conceded defeat at the hands of Vela with a cash prize of $486,367.
At the beginning of heads up play, Vela had a more than 3 to 1 chip lead over Schulman, counting 13,015,000 chips against Schulman’s 4,255,000. Schulman had all his chips in the middle of the table in just 7 hands. Heads up play was over quickly as Vela showed his winning hand of A diamonds and Q spades to rake a whopping $1,704,986 in prize money and the 2007 Championship title. Schulman won $864,652, in gracious defeat.
Mike Vela works full time as a Senior Vice President at an investment planning company in Newburgh, New York. He’s been playing poker for 5 years, having been introduced to the game during a fishing trip. Normally, Vela plays poker as a recreational game which he fits into his spare time with friends. A divorced father of two children aged eight and ten, Vela coaches his son’s baseball team. He has stated that he’ll use his prize winnings to build a home and take care of his kids. His total live tournament winnings exceed $1.8 million as at the end of 2008.
-- Reinu C.
