Speaking of Tinian...

Just saw this post over at the Poker Gazette.

Shinichi is new champion in TDHC's poker tourney

For Yoshimi Shinichi, it was third time's the charm after he bested 52 other players to bring home a solid $7,080 in the Texas Hold 'Em "Island Style" Poker Tournament at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino Sunday night.

The youthful-looking Japanese national emerged as the grand champion after a grueling two-day competition that saw players from Japan, Tinian, Saipan and Guam falling by the wayside one by one, eliminated by their counterparts in a ruthless game of poker one-upmanship.

It was no walk in the park either for Shinichi. Second-place winner Chang du Young of Tinian and third-place winner Yuki Tagawa, the only female finalist, made Shinichi earn his win, giving him no inch in the climb toward Texas Hold 'Em glory.

...

The other players who also made it to the top rankings were Gen Watanabe, who placed fourth, and Terry Fan, who rounded up the final five. Watanabe got $1,770 for his efforts, while Fan recouped and made a tidy profit on his $300 entrance fee (plus $50 commission) by taking home $885.

...

Kiri Jackson, TDHC's casino marketing and promotions assistant, said that, at 53 entrants, this was the biggest Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament they've hosted since they introduced the game in February 2005. She said it was Casino Pit Manager and Poker Tournament Director Tony Jackson who introduced the game at the Dynasty Casino.

"This was our first tournament in 2006 and we will be holding two more like it in the months to come," she said.

This is pretty cool. I guess I can safely assume they have a poker room in Tinian and they have regular players there if they're holding poker tournaments.

I think I must know some of these winners, too - the problem is that I know most players at JPPA by their handle, not their real names. (And I'm pretty poor just remembering the handles!) But I definitely know Gen-san, from fourth place, who also goes by "Poker Samurai". Yuki Tagawa in third place I suspect might be "Celica", since she is a strong player and has mentioned Tinian before. But the "youthful-looking" Yoshimi Shinichi... man, that could be any of a lot of guys there! Otonn, maybe? I'll have to check the JPPA web page when I get home and see if they've posted updates, and congratulate them the next time I seen them.