The United State Poker Championship televised on ESPN reached its exciting conclusion on Saturday...

... no those crickets shouldn't be chipping louder

The USPC used to be about the only poker tourney you could find on ESPN that wasn't labeled prominently by Milwaukee Best Light and the World Series of Poker. Now, its been reduced to second-tier importance as only 164 runners took their marks on Tuesday last week for the $600K + first prize. Or maybe The Donald didn't want ESPN sniffing around his boardroom any longer.

Gavin Smith, Full Tilt pro, excellent karaoke singer after his sixth shot, held the chip lead for the first few days and managed to hit the final table, but had to settle for a ninth place finish.

Louis Lee, as reported from Pokerati, hailing from Texas (of course) managed to sail into heads up play against Adam Gerber but a boat over boat confrontation sealed the deal for Gerber as he was crowded the USPC champ. Sadly, Norman Chad wasn't there to dish out a third marriage joke during the exit interview.

Hat tip to Wicked Chopsfor the story as well.