Danny Kass Wins Inaugural "PartyPoker.net Big Throwdown" Championship

GIBRALTAR -- Following six electrifying qualifying rounds featuring top action sports stars from six sports, snowboarder Danny Kass has won the inaugural PartyPoker.net Big Throwdown Championship. Kass defeated surfer Pat O'Connell, BMX legend Dennis McCoy, skateboarder Sergie Ventura, wakeboarder Josh Sanders and FMXer Jeff Tilton to win the $30,000 purse held on Monday, August 7 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Former world surfing tour veteran O'Connell was the first player knocked out of the winner-take-all competition. After 75 minutes of play working with a short chip stack, O'Connell's evening was over and Kass looked to be picking up right where he left off following his victory in Mt. Hood.

BMX icon McCoy, battled a short stack early-on in the game. Virtually all in after the blinds, he pushed his final couple of chips in the pot looking to double up after skater Ventura's all in was called by Kass. The rest of the hand brought no luck to either Ventura or McCoy and they were sent packing in fifth and fourth place.

Down to three players, it was wakeboarder Sanders' boisterous play that kept Kass and FMX star Tilton completely off balance. Not sure when he was bluffing, Tilton called Sanders' all in with just a seven ten suited and sent Sanders out of the game in third place.

After taking all of Sander's chips, Tilton had a slight chip lead entering heads-up play with Kass. Tilton's poker experience gave him the edge, but Danny's calm demeanor kept him under control throughout thirty minutes of heads-up play. Danny and Jeff traded chips back and forth until the two and four thousand dollar blinds forced the action.

Tilton pushed all in with an inside straight draw, Kass called Tilton with just a king high. The turn and river brought no miracles and Kass' king high made him the PartyPoker.net Big Throwdown Champion. Josh Sanders celebrated the win by pouring his drink on Danny's head right before the presentation of the Championship Belt and the oversized $30,000 check.

Each of the six qualifying events will be featured in 12-minute vignettes on "FUSION TV" airing in Q3 (July - September) and Q4 (October - December) 2006 on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). Each show will focus on one qualifying event and will include highlights of that event along with footage/interviews of each of the six competitors. PartyPoker.net Big ThrowDown Championship will be made into a one-hour special to air preceding the airing of the six features during the 4th quarter of 2006 on FUSION TV.

The one-hour telecast of the Tournament of Champions poker tournament will air Saturday, October 21 at 2:00 pm EST/11:00 am PST on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).