The last stop on the World Poker Tour before the championship event would be in Reno at the Hilton’s World Poker Challenge. The $5,000 buy-in started on March 30th, 2004 with 342 players in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Paul “Eskimo” Clark came into the day with a chip stack more intimidating than his thick beard and mirrored sunglasses with T829,000. He was closely followed by Michael Kinney, a retired member of the US navy Harry Knopp, Tony Bloom, Peter Muller and Young Phan.
A short stacked Young Phan was first to be eliminated at the final table by the hand of Harry Knopp. Bloom was next to go, followed by Peter Muller, who had been playing with his golden retriever just a few feet away during the whole tournament. Eskimo then knocked Knopp out in third place when he flopped trips, setting up the heads up match between the old school poker player, and the newcomer Michael Kinney. Eskimo went into heads up play with the lead, but Kinney soon doubled up with pocket kings. He was able to take that momentum and run with it, taking several small pots from Eskimo before finally delivering the knock out blow.
Michael Kinney of Sand Point, Idaho took home the last World Poker Tour title of the regular season and $629,469 in prize money.
| Reno Hilton World Poker Challenge | |
| Casino: | Reno Hilton |
| Location: | Reno, NV |
| Buy-in: | $5,000 |
| Entry Fee: | $100 |
| # of Players: | 342 |
| Prize Pool: | $1,633,700 |
| Final Table date: | Apr 1, 2004 |
| Results | ||
| 1 | Michael Kinney |
$629,469.00 |
| 2 | Paul "Eskimo" Clarke |
$310,403.00 |
| 3 | Harry Knopp |
$155,202.00 |
| 4 | Pete Muller |
$98,022.00 |
| 5 | Tony Bloom |
$73,517.00 |
| 6 | Young Phan |
$57,180.00 |
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