Event #9 of the Jacksonville Fall Series is in the books, and what an event it was! The $340 buy-in no limit hold’em brought out 650 players from not only the nearby southeast, but from as far out as California and even Alaska. In the end it would be a local though who would be the last man standing, earning a $25,000 first prize as well as the bragging rights that he outlasted 649 other poker players.
Dana Chamberlin has spent the last 25 years doing marketing development for Coca-Cola, and has been playing around at the tables for close to a decade now. This is his first time participating in the Jacksonville Fall Series, already having one final table under his belt in Event #4, but Event #9 will be the one he’ll write home about. The final day of Event #9 went 11 long hours before getting down to the final table. Dana went in with just over a million in chips, close to a few other players at the table, but it wasn’t long before Dana made his first statement at the final table knocking out Lawrence Highfield and doubling up his stack. A crucial hand against Alliance, OH native and seasoned final table vet Derek Bowers followed shortly thereafter, doubling Dana to almost 4 million in chips. It was from here he’d make easy work of the rest of the table and claim a well-earned victory.
The final hand of the night came against Barry Smith. Dana raised from the button, Barry sitting on the short stack shoved all-in and Dana quickly called, turning over K-10 off suit. Barry rolled over 10-8 and the flop cam 10-7-5. Barry was sitting pretty with the king kicker, but the turn made him sweat a little; a jack fell giving Barry a gut shot straight draw… but the river was a deuce, putting the stamp on Dana’s big win.
It’s his first major victory in a tournament. He thanked his wife of the past 15 years, Kim and said it, “Feels good to finally win one!” And he couldn’t have picked a better place to do it, having played all over the country and along the eastern seaboard Dana says bestbet Jacksonville is the best place he’s ever played.
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