National Deaf Poker Tour Wraps Season at Venetian

Friday, July 25th, marked the final day of the 2007-2008 National Deaf Poker Tour (NDPT) season. The Venetian in Las Vegas played host to the last of four stops on the NDPT's 2007-2008 schedule. The Venetian stop consisted of four events, including the $200 buy-in Main Event.

The Main Event was open to deaf players only, but the other three events welcomed interpreters and people who are learning sign language. The NDPT's goal is not only to give hearing impaired players a place to play, but to create a world where all players can communicate clearly with one another. A total of 136 players showed up for the Main Event, generating a $20,672 prize pool. Jonathan Collins and Matthew Erickson made it to heads-up play and decided to chop the remaining cash, nearly $6,000 a piece.

The NDPT was created in 2006 by six hearing impaired players; James Rydstrom, Joey Seifner, Nathan Montoya, Jarrod Musano, Alok Doshi, and Andy Foster. In 2006, the group put together the inaugural NDPT tournament at Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal.

"We wanted to be able to have a deaf-only tournament to provide us the privilege of playing in a tourney where we can talk to anyone around us," said Rydstrom. "If I was playing in a World Series of Poker event among non-deaf players, I would not be able to pick up on what's being said around the table. This is our event, where there are no barriers of communication."

Many communication difficulties arise between the tournament staff, dealers and players during a NDPT event. For the most part, players do use consistant signs for each action, but this is poker and there are still a couple different ways to sign call, raise, and all-in. But don't let the great cause fool you, these guys are playing for keeps.

"Our tournaments are structured on a point system," said founding member Jarrod Musano. "The goal is to find the best deaf poker player and send him or her to a national poker tournament such as the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour to represent our organization."

The NDPT will send its top three players from the 2007-2008 season to the WSOP or WPT event of their chosing. Prize packages valued at $2,000, $1,000, and $750 will go to first, second, and third-place finishers, respectively. Further information can be found at nationaldeafpokertour.com.

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