Mike Vela Trumps Defending Champs to Win 2007 WPT World Poker Finals

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Online poker pro Tom "durrrr" Dwan finished fourth at the 2007 WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals. (Bodog Beat Image)

Against a final table that included an online poker cash game specialist and the two most recent champs of this event, no one gave the unknown investment banker from New York much of a chance. Even taking into consideration that he has two top-20 WPT finishes under his belt, the quality of talent arrayed against Mike Vela was so daunting that his eventual elimination seemed like a foregone conclusion.

All of that only serves to make his win at the 2007 WPT World Poker Finals and the $1.7 million payday that much more impressive. The online poker pro at the final table, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, went into the day as the chip leader but several huge beats early on crippled him, and he just barely managed to outlast Mark Weitzman (sixth) and Mike White (fifth) to go out in fourth.

The $324,244 should keep him company while watching the two 73" flat screen TVs that he has mounted next to each other at the house he owns in Ft. Worth, otherwise known as the Ship It Holla Mansion.

Proving why he won last year, Nenad Medic made a run at defending his title, going from the short stack to three-way play against another previous champion and the soon-to-be-victor. His run would end there, though, and he went down in third place for $486,367, leaving Vela and 2005 event champ Nick Schulman to battle it out heads up.

By benefit of eliminating all but one of the final table participants Vela had built up a 3 to 1 chip lead over Schulman and that proved to be too much for even a WPT champion to overcome. Just seven hands into the heads-up match Schulman would find himself all-in with pocket fives and dominated by the top two pair of Vela, sending him home in second place with $864,652 and crowning Vela the newest World Poker Tour millionaire.