The Mirage Poker Showdown: A Classic Professional Poker Tour Event

Held at the exhilaratingly beautiful Mirage casino hotel in Las Vegas, the Mirage Poker Showdown made some serious noise on the entire poker world after some of the biggest players of the game gathered in this glorious occasion to compete in one of the most highly anticipated freeroll events in 2005. Despite being another zero-buy-in poker tournament, the level of competition remains high as all the entrants try to prove their skills and talents in poker. Because this event was invitational in nature, only the major players from the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, as well as international poker circuit champions were invited to join.

From May 26 to 27, 2005, a total of 174 international poker champions attended the Mirage tournament for the right to be called the best of the best in the game. At least $485,000 was at stake during the event, making this event one of the biggest freeroll invitational poker tournaments of the year. Early on, the participants played their very best for the opportunity to advance to the final table match, which will determine the winner of the title and a guaranteed $225,000.

From all the highly talented and skilled individuals who attended the Mirage Poker Showdown, only six of the greatest and most determined players will have the chance to move on to the final game of the poker tournament. To make matters harder for the players, only one of the six would be crowned champion for this particular competition. Chris Tsiprailidis, Blair Rodman, and Ted Forrest were among the very first to make it to the final table match. Following their paths are the equally talented poker players like Tom Franklin, Randy Jensen, and David Levi, who complete the cast of the final poker showdown.

After each of them scored brilliant and impressive victories during the eliminations, the finalists got themselves prepared to go against the finest players to have graced the competition. While all of them showed a strong resilience to the rising pressure and pulsating poker action, Rodman's skill fell short against his fellow finalists after committing some crucial mistakes in the early parts of the match. Following Rodman's early elimination from the final match, Tsiprailidis made some critical mistakes of his own, which eventually led to a fifth place finish.

With two players down and four more players to contend for the title, the pace of the action at the Mirage Poker Showdown slowly began to pick up. After showing some gutsy moves to survive the early parts of the final match, Franklin and Levi both found themselves out of the contest, leaving Jensen and Forrest for one final push for the title. Because Forrest displayed better skills and used better strategies, he was able to edge out Jensen at the end of the match, earning the title together with a $225,000 grand prize.