With Team PokerRoom.com officially disbanded and all safely back home in their respective countries, it's time to put a wrap on the WPT North American Poker Championship in Niagara Falls.

We couldn't have asked for a finer group of players to represent Team PokerRoom.com at the event. gbpoker, whassup x, wheelerleo, dj_stiff, joker400, cheech65, and xx Black1 were class acts and exactly the type of players PokerRoom.com loves to call its own: fiercely competitive but at the same time gentlemanly and sportsmanlike, both at and away from the tables.

The tournament ride may have ended too early for everyone but dj_stiff (who, in case you somehow haven't heard yet, won $48,633 for his 24th place finish), but that just meant that the tournament poker portion of the trip was over, and that it was time to throw themselves head-first into the having a hell of a good time part of the trip, which they did with great success.

In the end, it's really the players that make these trips a great success, and this trip was no exception. Yeah, it helps to have the crack PokerRoom.com staff on hand to take care of all the details (including buying many buckets of tokens and fabulous steak dinners), but I'd challenge anyone to go on a trip like this with such fun, friendly people and somehow not have a great time, as it's next to impossible.

So, one last time, thanks to all the readers who followed along and rooted for the players, and thanks to the players, their supporters, and PokerRoom.com for putting together yet another fantastic poker trip.

The Fallsview Casino where the tournament was held.

The Canadian side of the falls.

5/7ths of the team surveying the falls on the first day.

"Screw just looking at the falls, let's go behind them!"

Farewell, brave Team PokerRoom.com warriors...

Everywhere you look, more falling water.

"Oh crap, that's right, we're here to play in a poker tournament."

Just a few of many excellent steak dinners that were consumed.

"I just won $48,633. Can you top that?"

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It took a WPT record 271 hands to decide it, but Scott Clements finally outlasted Jonathan Little to claim the top prize at the WPT North American Poker Championship.

Clements, Little, and third-place finisher David Cloutier battled late into the night, with the chip lead swapped back and forth multiple times. Once the amateur Cloutier finally bowed out (collecting $355,021 for his efforts), it didn't take long for Clements and Little to settle matters, as heads-up play lasted just 14 hands. Little moved all-in on the turn of the final hand with K4 and a board of 7 5 5 4, but Clements insta-called with Q5 for trips, and Little was drawing dead.

Little took home $680,862 for second place and Clements claimed $1,387,224 and his first WPT title.

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We'd hoped to bring you the triumphant news of a new North American Poker Championship winner tonight, but the action is still three-handed, with Jonathan Little, David Cloutier, and Scott Clements still battling it out, now into the wee hours.

Both Little and Clements seem to be biding their time when tangling with Cloutier, unwilling to risk all of their chips making a move against the amateur that has proven his willingness to call with all sorts of hands. While that might be smart poker strategy, it's leading to a long, drawn-out affair.

Clements has battled back to lead with about 5 million chips, with David Cloutier sitting on 3,500,00 chips, and Jonathan Little with 1,500,000.

We're probably going to knock off soon for the evening, and we're scheduled to fly back home early tomorrow morning, so it'll likely be tomorrow night before we're back with recaps of both the final table finish and the Team PokerRoom.com trip as a whole.

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We're down to the final three at the North American Poker Championship, with amateur David Cloutier (playing in his first major live tournament) holding nearly 5 million on the 10 million chips in play, with Scott Clements and Jonathan Little trying to run him down.

Cloutier is the only Canadian at the final table, and he's very much the crowd favorite, with his very vocal supporters cheering nearly every pot he takes down, no matter how small. He's picked up a lot of chips by simply calling bets and raises from Little and Clements, who seem to be getting a bit frustrated and responding by bluffing more (perhaps not the best tactic against someone willing to call all sorts of bets, over and over and over).

The pace was rapid at first, with Jeff Garza and Kofe Farkye exiting in 6th and 5th respectively in the early going. But hopes of a quick final table were dashed when the pace slowed dramatically after Farkye's elimination.

Barry Greenstein hung on for more than a few hours with a short stack but couldn't ever really get anything going. He finally was knocked out in 4th by David Cloutier's K9, which came from behind to overtake Greenstein's A9, with all the chips going in preflop.

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While having yet another fine meal at The Keg steakhouse last night for a final dinner with most of the team, we heard tales of yet more shopping in Buffalo, New York, as a contingent from the team braved a border crossing, terrible traffic, and impatient taxi drivers to get one last crack at shopping in malls on the US side of the border.

We were threatened with bodily harm for blogging about it, but apparently one member of Team PokerRoom.com not only got a manicure on the excursion but also had his eyebrows waxed. Again, sadly, we can't name names, but here are a few clues: he really hates to lose at air hockey, has taken great care of the players throughout the trip here at Niagara Falls, and his last name rhymes with "Whensson".

joker400 has impressed us throughout the trip with not only his ability to eat an entire pizza in about 0.43 seconds, but also the fact that he can take a nap while pacing around. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that he managed to catch a quick nap while shopping at the mall.

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While some of Team PokerRoom.com is staying until tomorrow, today is the departure day for much of the team, with members flying back to their respective homes in Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. The only real downside to trips with Team PokerRoom.com is the part when it's time to say goodbyes, as you spend a week and a half with new-found friends, having a great time, and just when you feel that you really get to know people, it's time to depart.

Happily, though, in this modern age of emails and laptops and what-not, friends are just a few mouse clicks away, even when they're oceans apart. Many team members continue to keep in touch long after the tournaments are over, and they often meet regularly at the virtual tables at PokerRoom.com.

And as gbpoker and whassup x demonstrated on this trip, there's also the possibility of representing Team PokerRoom.com again at a future event, so the goodbyes may not last that long if players find themselves once again at another event representing Team PokerRoom.com. So instead of leaving it at "goodbye" to xx Black1 and joker400, we'll instead leave it at "See you next time!"

joker400 preparing to sling chips at the tables on Day 1.

xx Black1 enjoying the sights from below Niagara Falls.

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Here's a number for you: 455,046.

No, it's not the number of times we've heard someone say "eh" while on this trip (although it's getting close to that) or the number of times we found ourselves staring at Niagara Falls, thinking "Gee, that's a lot of water."

With dj_stiff's excellent 24th place finish here and big payday of $48,633, that number is the amount of money members of Team PokerRoom.com have won since the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

$455,046.

Not only is that a ton of money, but team members have consistently performed well over the last year and a half, proving that the Team PokerRoom.com formula is a pretty successful one. Offer affordable qualifiers for players of all bankrolls, whisk them away on a poker trip of a lifetime where every single detail is taken care of for them, provide teammates and support staff to root them on, and watch as at least one of them cashes in for a huge payday.

Pretty simple really, when you break it down like that.

We're hoping to finish out 2007 strong with another great showing at the WPT Five Diamonds Poker Classic at the Bellagio in December, and it's still not too late to grab a spot on the Team PokerRoom.com, as the last online finals for that event is running tomorrow. Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to final table the event and potentially push Team PokerRoom.com winnings over the $1 million mark!

Team PokerRoom.com winnings by event:

River Ricki -- 2006 WSOP Main Event: $329,865
moo- -- 2007 WSOP Main Event: $51,398
monze1 -- 2007 WPT Legends: $25,150
dj_stiff -- 2007 WPT North American Poker Championship: $48,633

Total: $455,046

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While we'd all like to be playing at the final table of the event here, that unfortunately wasn't in the cards (this time), so the tentative plan is for the remaining members of Team PokerRoom.com here at Niagara Falls to watch the final table action tonight. We'd originally planned on seeing a hockey game in Buffalo as a final last hurrah before the team scatters to the winds, but dj_stiff wanted to see the WPT taping and final table action, and as the big winnner here this week, what dj_stiff wants, dj_stiff gets.

If you're in the area and thinking about attending, the action starts at 4 PM but it's recommended that you get here early. Seating is a bit limited and after tickets for seating are distributed to final table players and other folks, the remaining seats are offered up on a first-come, first-served basis.

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The final table is set for the 2007 North American Poker Championship at Niagara Falls:

Seat 1 - Kofi Farkye - 1,504,000
Seat 2 - Jonathan Little - 2,616,000
Seat 3 - Jeff Garza - 1,320,000
Seat 4 - David Cloutier - 1,614,000
Seat 5 - Barry Greenstein - 447,000
Seat 6 - Scott Clements - 2,483,000

Cheryl Deleon just missed the tv final table, finishing in 7th place ($121,583) when she was forced to push the rest of her short stack in with 10 5 and ran into the pocket jacks of Jeff Garza.

Barry Greenstein has by far the best poker pedigree of any of the final six players, but he's also the short stack, and likely to be looking to make a move early on. Little has plenty of final table experience and the chip lead, so he's likely got to be the odds on favorite to take down the title when final table action begins tomorrow at 4 PM Eastern.

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They're stuck on 7 players left, as no one wants to exit just short of the buble for the television table. Here's the current lineup, with players on an hour break for dinner:

Seat 1 - Kofi Farkye - 568,000
Seat 2 - Jonathan Little - 1,966,000
Seat 3 - Cheryl Lynn Deleon - 1,180,000
Seat 4 - Jeff Garza - 1,604,000
Seat 6 - David Cloutier - 1,468,000
Seat 7 - Barry Greenstein - 854,000
Seat 9 - Scott Clements - 2,293,000

Kofi Farkye has been moving backwards of late, with Scott Clements continuing to chip up, grabbing the chip lead away from Little. Clements won a bg pot from Cheryl Deleon with a big bluff, and has been picking up lots of small pots as some players tighten up noticeably now that they're close to the final six.

Lots of folks are rooting for Barry Greenstein to make it through to the final table, and it'd be hard to root against that happening despite the fact that Greenstein is one of the shorter stacks. Aside from his philanthopic nature and donation of many thousands of his tournament poker winnings to charity, Greenstein is in general one of the more likeable pros on the tour, and has devoted effort of late in meeting with politicians in the US in hopes to get the UIGEA gambling restrictions repealed or modified.

Cheryl Deleon has been attracting lots of interest this week herself, much of it due to her, erm, more-than-ample physical assets, and has more than her fair share of supporters as well. She'd be the first woman to make a WPT final table (exclusing the ladies only events) since Mimi Tran and Kathy Liebert both final-tabled the 2006 World Poker Finals at Foxwoods.

Cheryl Deleon

Dale Pinchot exited in 8th (worth $97,266) when his pocket eights were no match for Deleon's AQ, and Adam Levy finished 9th ($77,813 ) when his shove with J 1o ran into Cloutier's A 10.

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