SHAKOPEE, MN — Bradley Berman of Minneapolis didn’t have much to say Friday after capturing the 2006 main event at Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic here. He let his poker playing do the talking at a quick no-limit hold’em final table that lasted just three hours.

The victory was worth $116,977 and moved him one giant step out of the poker shadow of his Hall of Fame father, Lyle Berman, who holds three World Series bracelets and is board chairman for the World Poker Tour.

Berman, 35, needed just 12 minutes to knock out runner-up Greg “Underwear” Sellgren, a poker pro from Las Vegas, once they squared off heads-up for the title. Sellgren, who collected $58,491, said a deal was discussed but never made when they were three-handed.

The tournament attracted 402 players, compared with 363 a year ago. Overall, the 13 Classic events topped 2005 totals by about 20 percent.

Berman started the day in second chip position with $302,000, trailing Sellgren’s $477,000. But with six players left, Berman took charge by knocking out four of his remaining five opponents.

* He eliminated Amit Makhija, Brookfield, MN, in sixth place with A-Q vs. 8-8 and a board of K-Q-A-7-2

* He knocked out George Shabatura, Plymouth, MN, in fourth place with K-8 vs. 10-8 and a board of 4-Q-3-8-8 .

* He busted Nez Coburn, Minneapolis, in third place with A-J vs. A-2 and a board of 3-7-A-9-10. While signing the paperwork, he told a tournament official, “I made a bad call” on the flop.

* Curiously, he held A-J suited again just 12 minutes later to take out Sellgren’s suited K-8. All the chips went in on a flop of K-10-Q, which gave Berman an almost unbeatable straight. A four and queen on the turn and river were of no help to Sellgren.

Berman exited Canterbury Park about a minute after being paid. I caught up with him at the front door, but he said he had to leave “because of a family emergency” and declined to answer any questions other than his age.

This was at least his second big cash at a tournament. He won $470,452 two years ago with a fifth-place finish at the Season 3 WPT event at Foxwoods’ World Poker Finals. Internet listings show he also placed in the money (153rd) in a World Series no-limit hold’em tournament this year against a field of 1,579.

His father Lyle is a well-known high-stakes cash player who transitioned from a successful business career in leather products into the gaming industry. He is CEO of Lakes Enterprises, Inc. Bradley holds a vice-president title with the company, according to Internet reports.

The senior Berman, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002, has made several appearances on televised poker tournaments. His highest finish in a WSOP main event was fifth in 1989, good for $67,950.

A spokesperson at Canterbury said Bradley Berman plays there occasionally, but he’s not a regular. “He prefers no-limit, and we don’t play that here,” the spokesperson said.

Sellgren said he came to Minnesota “just to play in the Classic tournaments.” Today’s second-place finish was his only cash, he said, “but I won $10,000 for the week in the $30-$60 game, so it has been a good trip.”

It was his first visit to Canterbury since about 20 years ago when harness racing first was held at the park, he said.

“If you’re going to write something, you might want to mention how I got my nickname,” Sellgren said. He said the name came from a passage mentioning him in a Tom Dreaper book.

Here’s the passage:

“But I feel the most danger from a player that has excellent “reading skills” and isn’’t afraid to call a large bet with a mediocre hand. He is also the player that will make a large bet into you when he has only a “marginally” better hand than you. After a few bouts with this player, you will be asking yourself “are these cards marked?” The best player that I have ever seen at this is Greg Sellgren. After an hour of play with Greg, you will be scratching your head in disbelief. In my opinion, a player such as this is not a candidate to “string along”. By the time the “river” card is exposed, he can tell you the size of underwear that you are wearing. Beware!”

Seventeen players took it in the shorts in the first 90 minutes of play Friday, whittling the field down to the final nine. Tournament co-director Jan Phillips said the bustouts came fast and furious when play started with 26 left about 1 p.m.

Well-known tournament director Jimmy Sommerfeld, commissioned by Canterbury to help run the Classic, was his usual self announcing the final table.

When play started sluggishly, with a number of raise-and-take-it hands, Sommerfeld said: “What’s wrong with you guys? Y’all were gambling before the break!”

A few minutes later, when Berman dashed from the restroom back to his seat as the cards were being dealt, Sommerfeld, like a baseball umpire, stretched out his arms and declared him “safe” as he plopped into his chair just as his second hole card was delivered. It was a bang-bang play, with the tie going to the runner.

Once, when Sellgren raised pre-flop with pocket 10s to take down a pot, Sommerfeld noted that no one in the smallish crowd applauded or cheered the move. A gleam came to Sommerfeld’s eyes as he thought about what he was going to say, then he announced: “I guess nobody here’s pulling for Greg.” That brought a reaction from the 20-or-so onlookers.

When some finger food was being set up on a table inside the ropes next to the players, Sommerfeld said, “Here come the chicken livers!” Actually, I think they were bacon-wrapped scallops, but Berman was the only player to make several visits to the chow.

After Shabatura busted out fourth, Sommerfeld boasted that, with 18 players left, he predicted the remaining three players would, indeed, finish as the top three. “I hit the trifecta,” said the horse-loving tournament-directing guru who has bet more than a few real trifectas in his life.

A day before the Classic’s main event began, I asked Sommerfeld what he liked to do when he wasn’t playing poker or directing tournaments. “Sleep,” he said. “I like to catch up on my sleep and watch sports on TV.”

Friday, cleaning up after a successful Canterbury event, he noted he won’t have much time for sleep right away. He said he’s catching a plane Saturday morning for Oklahoma where he’ll direct the Cherokee Poker Classic through Nov. 12.

Here are the final-table finishes and payouts:

1st — Bradley Berman, Minneapolis, $116,977.
2nd — Greg Sellgren, Las Vegas, $58,491.
3rd — Nez Coburn, Minneapolis, $31,195.
4th — George Shabatura, Plymouth, MN, $25,346.
5th — Todd Breyfogle, hometown listed as Misina (?), $21,447.
6th — Amit Makhija, Brookfield, WI, $17,547.
7th — Mike DeStefanis, Clinton Township, MI, $13,648.
8th — Ali Akbari, Green Bay, WI, $9,749.
9th — Mike Picket, Roseville, MN, $7,799.

NOTE: This post was corrected on Sunday, Oct. 29, to fix an incorrect reference to how Greg Sellgren got his unusual nickname. LuckyDog regrets the error.

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Bradley Berman of Minneapolis, 35-year-old son of poker Hall of Famer Lyle Berman, carved his own notch in the poker world late this afternoon by capturing the championship event of Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic in Shakopee, MN.

The victory, worth $116,977, came against a field of 402 players. The final table of nine took just three hours to complete.

Finishing second was Las Vegas poker pro Greg “Underwear” Sellgren, 45, who pocketed $58,491.

Their heads-up battle, in keeping with a day of fast bustouts among the 26 last-day competitors, lasted just 12 minutes.

More later…

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Damn! Four hours and out!

My championship event was more frustration than anything else. I lost nearly half of my $4,000 starting chips in Level 1 with A-Q when I flopped an open-ended straight (9-10-J, two diamonds), turned the nut flush, and ragged off at the end. There’d been multiple bets and raises by four players until the river, when I made a $300 crying call into a $5,000 pot. The winner had a queen-high flush.

An hour later, with $1,300 left and desparate for a hand, I picked up A-A in the cutoff position. The player in front of me raised to $250 after two others had limped, and I happily shoved all-in. The raiser called with a suited K-5, but caught only a five on the board. I was back up to $2,850 and feeling better!

Then two solid hours of crap hands, coupled with a few decent hands that I had to muck after the flop or turn, and I was back down to $1,200. I decided to make my stand out of the big blind ($200) with A-x suited after only the button and small blind limped. The button called my $1,000 all-in raise with a suited 10-8. He caught everything on the board — trips and, eventually, a flush.

There were about 240 players left (out of 402) when I busted out.

27 RETURN FRIDAY WITH $116,000-PLUS ON THE LINE FOR 1ST PLACE

About 90 minutes ago, the field of 402 for the main event got down to 36 finalists in the money.

Finishers from 28th to 36th place will receive nearly $2,000 each tonight, then the remaining 27 will return to Canterbury Park Friday about 1 p.m. for the battle to the title and a whopping $116,000 first-place prize.

Justin Sellers of Bismarck, N.D., who rushed to the “best all-around player” points lead in the past five days (see previous posts), was so far ahead of everyone else that not even the main event champ could catch him.

So, when Justin busted out early today, co-director Jimmy Sommerfeld introduced the points champ to the players while tournament action continued. Justin received a nice round of applause, a trophy and a free entry into next year’s main event here.

He’ll be smiling on the trip home to North Dakota, I’m sure!

p.s. — Today was the 21st wedding anniversary for Sommerfeld and his wife Teresa, who ran the satellite events this year at the Classic. Congrats!

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Well, I’m off to play in the championship event here at Canterbury Park. It starts in less than an hour.

My tournament partner Scott tried valiantly to get through on a couple of satellites last night, but ran into a lot of bad hands in one event and good hands that didn’t hold up in the other. He’s sitting out today.

We’ll play down to the final three tables tonight, then those 27 will return Friday to crown a champ. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, when we left the card room about 11 last night, eight players were left in Event 12, a $540 limit hold’em tourney that drew 116 players. One of those eight, remarkably, was Justin Sellers of Bismarck, N.D.

Justin, you’ll recall, cashed in Events 7 and 8, then won Event 10 to jump to the top of the points for best all-around player. Last night’s finish should solidify his top-spot position. Oh BTW, it looked like he was the chip leader when we left! Nice!

UPDATE UPDATE:

Last night’s winner in Event 12, $540 limit hold’em, was Douglas Dicken of Waterloo, IA. He pocketed $19,690 for the victory, unnless there was a deal.

Justin Sellers, already the all-around points leader, placed second. That gave him finishes of first, second, fourth and 13th in a hot six-day stretch leading up to Thursday’s main event. (See post above about Day 1 of main event for a final report on Justin.)

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Results posted elsewhere on the Internet today list our friend and neighbor Shae Drobushevich of Moline, IL, as finishing third in last night’s $540 no-limit hold’em tournament at Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic. (See previous post)

Nice work, Shae! Especially after seeing your pocket aces cracked at the start of the final table in a big pot.

The champion was Brent Wheeler ($40,968) and runner-up was Steven Seidler ($20,486), according to posted results. Third-place money was $11,795, but I don’t know yet if there was a deal at the end, which has happened about four times so far during the Classic.

Event No. 11 last night attracted 256 players, creating a prize pool of $124,160.

BTW, the “Jimmy” I referred to in the previous post was James Norris, an acquaintance of Shae’s who finished ninth (thanks to a knockout punch delivered by Shae).

Today’ event is a $540 limit hold’em tourney. We’re skipping this one — since it started two hours ago at noon and we just woke up! — but we’ll use the time to prepare for the championship event Thursday-Friday.

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My tournament partner and I just returned to the hotel (about 1 a.m. Wednesday), too pooped to hang in the Canterbury Park tournament area any longer to watch a friend of ours battle at the final table in Event 11 of the Fall Poker Classic.

Shae Drobushevich of Moline, IL, was holding his own with eight players left in the $550 no-limit hold’em tournament, which was more than 12 hours long when we left. He was in middle chip position with about $80,000.

A key hand came down about midnight just after Shae and eight others had made the final table. His pocket aces were cracked by a player holding A-Q who flopped a straight and turned a flush. That $70,000 pot would have put Shae in good shape.

Now short-stacked with about $20,000, Shae needed to double-up soon. That chance came when he was in the big blind for $2,000 and held pocket treys. The button player raised enough to put Shae all-in, and Shae went into the tank.

He knew his opponent could just be on a steal, but virtually any hand he held would be overcards to Shae’s pair. He continued to hesitate, trying to decide whether to put his tournament life on the line on a coin flip. And of course, if the opponent held any pair other than dueces (or the other two treys!), Shae’s hand would be dominated. A lot of players might muck pocket threes there, waiting for a better opportunity. After a long time, Shae called all-in.

The button turned up A-K, so the race was on. A jack and ten came on the flop, giving Shae’s opponent a straight draw in addition to the overcards. The turn helped neither player and, although Shae didn’t need it, a three hit on the river.

Shae won two more decent pots soon after, one of which knocked out an acquaintance of his named Jimmy who was short stacked (but looking good in his Hoyt Corkins-like outfit, black hat and all).

Just four days ago, Shae placed 12th in Event 7, a no-limit hold’em tourney with 441 entrants. That was good for $1,568. He’s already guaranteed more than that for tonight’s performance.

Nearly $41,000 was at stake for first-place. Go get ‘em, Shae!

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Three more LuckyDog Poker columns, originally distributed this summer, have been posted.

* The June 27 column tells how a poker novice gets a free lesson on playing limit hold’em at an event hosted by a casino, then turns that knowledge into a winning effort his first time in a card room.

* The July 4 piece is an interview with Mark Seif, double WSOP bracelet winner in 2005, and actor Matt Corboy, his sidekick host for the new Professional Poker Tour just before it launched on television.

* The July 11 article answers a reader’s question about the differences between playing limit and no-limit hold’em cash games.

Hope you enjoy the columns! Just click on the appropriate link down the right side of the home page.

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Monday was “one of those days” at the poker table.

In Canterbury Park’s 10th Classic event, the $340 no-limit hold’em, I looked down from seat 6 on the very first hand to see A-A! This would thrill most players, but I like to go slow early in a tournament and save the heavy action for the middle levels and beyond.

The under-the-gun player in seat 3 called the $25 big blind amount, I raised to $100, and only the limper called with 8-9 of spades. I was happy to get just one caller with my pocket rockets.

A flop of 8-9-10 (two clubs) wasn’t perfect for my hand, but after he checked I tossed a $100 bet out there hoping he had missed. Oops, he raised to $300. I put him on top pair (maybe a K-10 suited) or a draw, so I called.

The turn was a red trey, a total blank. He checked, but I played it safe and checked behind him. A jack on the river put four parts to a straight on the board and he checked again. I suspected a trap and also checked. His two pair easily won, but I was relieved to have lost only $400 of my $2,000 starting stack.

I got even with seat 3 about an hour later when he raised from early position to $275 and I just smooth-called with Q-Q, hoping that no ace or king came. A rainbow flop of all babies was perfect. He fired $275 again and I moved all-in for about $1,300. He fumbled around a bit, then folded.

Other than a few late-position raises to take the blinds, I didn’t really catch anything to play until level 4 when I was down to my last $775. I was looking for a double-up situation, with the $100-$200 blinds fast approaching.

Then came pocket jacks. This is it, I thought. Even though the player in front of me raised to $600, I thought he might have A-K, A-Q or perhaps a pair of tens, so I came over the top for all my chips. When the button also moved in for about $3,000 and the initial raiser called all-in, I figured my chances of surviving dropped to near zero.

The late-position re-raiser showed A-K offsuit, the player on my right had Q-Q, and my jacks were in trouble. A board of 10-8-10/8-Q sent me packing and put a dent in the A-K guy’s stack.

Disappointed, I grabbed a burger before sitting into a $65 one-table satellite. I had chopped the only other one of these I’d played, so I felt confident. Bang! I picked up K-K on the first hand, raised $75 of my $300 stack, got raised to $175 by a late position player, then moved all-in. He called with 4-4 and got no help from the board. I’d doubled up already!

With five players left and a relatively tall stack still, I decided to slowplay A-A and just limp, hoping to trap someone for all of their chips. An A-10 also limped behind me and the blinds came in, too. A 10-8-10 flop made me uneasy, especially when the late-position player called my $150 bet. Long story short, I couldn’t get away from the aces and lost almost my whole stack on the river. I was out a few hands later when my suited A-3 couldn’t catch up with an opponent’s A-K.

What now? I decided to try the super satellite at 7 p.m. for $120. Fifty-two players signed up, so five seats in the championship event Thursday were up for grabs.

I played tight for several levels as the field slowly was whittled down. Finally, with two tables left, I picked up J-J (not my favorite hand of the day) in late position with the blinds at $300-$600 in level 6. An early position player raised to $1,500, got called all-in by a short stack in one spot, and I moved all-in for $2,500. The early player wasted no time in calling and I had a bad feeling (again).

But this time was different. The first raiser grimaced when he saw my jacks, then turned up 10-10. The third player had A-Q. Nobody got help until the river, when a beatutiful jack arrived to seal the deal. I had nearly tripled-up and coasted to the final table!

I avoided trouble for a while (watching two horrific runner-runner flush suckouts knock out players), then won a nice pot with A-Q when a queen came.

When we got down to six-handed, I was one of two tall stacks with about $22,000 of the $78,000 chips in play. Three players had roughly $10,000 each and one was short with about $4,000. I knew my strategy should be to avoid gambling. I didn’t need to finish first; I only needed to NOT be the next one eliminated. Seat 10 suggested the five winners all kick in some cash to the sixth-place finisher. We agreed, and play continued.

Blinds had advanced to $2,000-$4,000 by then, so everyone (including me) was eyeballing the short-stacked player in seat 2, waiting for him to enter a pot with his few remaining chips. He had survived a couple of all-ins but then got blinded back down to his previous level. No doubt he was hoping someone else would make a gambling mistake and he could sneak through to a seat.

Then a hand came that caught me by surprise. I was in the big blind ($4,000) in seat 5 when an older Asian player behind me moved all-in for about $12,000. Everyone folded to the small blind on my right, a solid player who called all-in for his last $6,000 or so. I had them both covered with about $20,000 in front of me.

I took my first look at my hand. You guessed it: J-J! I wasn’t sure of the correct play. I had both opponents covered, but if I played and the small blind won, he would triple-up and my stack would be damaged. If the under-the-gun Asian player behind me won the hand, that would eliminate the small blind and I’d still win a seat in the main event. If the Asian player beat me but not the small blind, my $12,000 chips ($4,000 blind and $8,000 call) would be split between the two of them, no one would get knocked out, and I’d be down to about $8,000 facing the $2,000 small blind the next hand.

Since all the betting action was done except for me, I made the comment (to no one in particular), “I think I’m supposed to play this hand.” I figured I was ahead of both players, but any ace, king or queen on the board likely would be bad news for my hand. I thought for a few more seconds, looked to see that the seat 2 player was down to his last $2,000, and realized his chips were coming into the pot in one of the next three hands.

Right or wrong, I decided to fold. The two remaining players exposed their cards: K-8 offsuit for the Asian player, pocket sixes for the small blind. No king, eight or six came on the board; my jacks would have been a winner. The small blind more than doubled-up counting my $4,000 blind in the pot. No one was eliminated.

The player in seat 10 (the other tall stack besides me) asked what I had, and I told the truth. Without chastising me, he explained that I should have called. As long as either my hand or the Asian player beat the small blind, the satellite was over, he said.

I understood his point, but his comment was offered after-the-fact. Even if he was correct, the reality is that calling would risk up to an additional $8,000 chips and seriously hurt my advantageous chip position if I lost.

Things worked out as I thought, however. Seat 2 committed his last two yellow chips under-the-gun two hands later, three players called the $4,000 big blind amount, then checked down the hand. Seat 10 held a 10-5, which made a winning six-high straight on the river. The seat 2 player was none too happy with the outcome, but at least he recouped enough cash from the five of us to play in a couple more supers.

Now if I can just go deep in the championship event…

So what do you think? Should I have called with the pocket jacks?

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Justin Sellers of Bismarck, N.D., is the hottest tournament player at Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic after Monday night’s trophy-winning performance in the $340 no-limit hold’em event.

After the final four players in the 366-player field cut a deal based on chip counts at about 11 p.m., Justin made short work of his remaining opponents in the battle for the trophy. Monday’s tournament was the 10th of 13 scheduled events at the Shakopee, MN, horse track-card room.

The victory came on the heels of 4th- and 13th-place finishes in the previous two open events, both of them also no-limit hold’em. Heck, with the run he’s on, it’s a good thing for the women players that he had to sit out Sunday’s LIPS Tour ladies-only tourney!

Before Monday’s event, Justin already was 15th in the race for “best all around player” points. The win should put him in the top handful of contenders for the title when the Classic concludes with the main event Thursday-Friday.

He’s been in this position before. Justin won player of the year honors in 2005 on the Dakota Poker Tour for winning the main event in the five-tournament sequence and placing in three others.

Runner-up Monday night was Jeff Ascher of LaCrosse, Wisc., who lamented at the table as a deal was being discussed that he’d been up for 40 straight hours. Still, he said he was gunning for the trophy. A tournament official heard his comment, offered a cold bottle of water to perk him up, and complimented him for being on top of his game despite the lack of sleep.

In the end, he couldn’t outrun Justin’s pocket aces with an A-5 after moving all-in.

The tournament played fast and furious early. By the dinner break, only 40 players remained with 36 scheduled to make the money. That meant 326 players busted out in the first six hours of play, but it took about four hours to get down to the final four.

Just three events remain in this year’s Classic: A $550 no-limit hold’em tourney today (Tuesday), a $550 limit hold’em on Wednesday, and the $1,070 championship on Thursday.

Jimmy Sommerfeld, Classic co-director, said the main event will play down to the final three tables on Thursday night, then continue on Friday at noon or 2 p.m. until a champion is crowned.

Last year’s main event drew 363 entries. A field that large on Thursday — a virtual lock considering most events are seeing larger turnouts than in 2005 — means the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool should easily be eclipsed, and possibly doubled if 400 players enter.

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Here’s an updated list of winners and payouts for the first nine events at this year’s Canterbury Park Fall Poker Classic in Shakopee, MN:

Event 1, $300 limit hold’em, Michael Schneider, Eagan, MN, $26,981.
Event 2, $300 no-limit hold’em, Carlos Gamell, Roseville, MN, $50,979.
Event 3, $200 no-limit hold’em, James Kramer (hometown not listed), $42,376.
Event 4, $200 limit hold’em, Michael Pickett, Roseville, MN, $17,409.
Event 5, $200 Omaha hi-lo, John Meany, Oregon, IL, $16,514.
Event 6, $200 seven-card stud, Quan le, Bloomington, MN, $8,691.
Event 7, $300 no-limit hold’em, Jay Gianera, St. Louis Park, MN, $37,622.
Event 8, $500 no-limit hold’em, Michael McMahon, Burnsville, MN, $43,855.
Event 9, $150 LIPS no-limit hold’em, Pam Bigelow, Duluth, MN, $9,941 ($7,530 chop).

Entries are running 594 ahead of 2005 (3,163 vs. 2,569) for the nine completed tournaments.

Four events remain. The $1,000 championship no-limit hold’em event is Thursday at noon. It features a $200,000 guarantee, which should easily be eclipsed when an anticipated 400 players compete.

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