The Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas hosted the Michael Waltrip Invitational Poker Tournament January 31st, and February 1st. The two day event was in conjunction with the NASCAR Nextel Cup stars in town for testing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Speed Channel was filming for future broadcast. Matt Savage was giving the card by card commentary, was joined by 3 of the worlds top poker players, who were on hand to guide the players in strategy and various approaches to winning hands, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Gordon, and Robert Williamson III had the drivers attention right away, some drivers stating that they watch them play poker on television often and the poker aces replying, "I watch you on television too."
Gallery (Day 1)
Gallery (Day 2)
The 12 drivers, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett, Elliot Sadler, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears, Kyle Petty, and Benny Parsons were divided into two groups of six to play No Limit Texas Hold-em. Each driver was playing for a combined top prize of $100,000.00, $50,000 for the charity of their choice and another $50,000 to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
The competitiveness of the drivers, transferred to the green felt tables. As in racing, and poker, luck plays a huge part of winning. There was some bluffing going on, but that will be fully revealed when the broadcast is shown, because just as in other televised poker tournaments, small "lipstick" cameras picked up the hole cards that the drivers would start out betting on. It was a different kind of drivers meeting, all 12 being reminded to let the camera see the cards, a thorough explanation of the betting process and time limits to each session.
The six drivers left for the second day was Benny Parsons, Ryan Newman, Elliot Sadler, Tony Stewart, Casey Mears, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Parsons and Jr. were quickly dismissed, Elliot Sadler made a few runs at all in and was taken out in a respectable 4th. Casey was next out leaving Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart, the 2 favorites at the beginning of the event. Newman spent a lot of time with the Poker Pros on the 1st night, gleaming all kinds of information from the veterans, but the real player, Stewart had such a chip lead when it came down to the final two it was going to be just a matter of time for Stewart to get the cards needed to force a show down.
Fans were in attendance and were able to see their favorites in a unique situation, off the race track. Watch the Speed Channel listings to see when it will be on.
The Winner of the night was the Ronald McDonald House and Victory Junction Gang Camp. Michael Waltrip took the microphone a few times to check in with the players and do some back seat driving, commentating on play, because he was in front of a monitor showing the hole cards. Tony Stewart was happy to win at a game he stated that spent a great deal of time in the off season participating in around his home town. He was well versed on playing Texas Hold -em.
Be Fast, Be Safe
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