WINNER: Blair Rodman

He finally got the UBT Medallion he's been hungering for.
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PLAYERS:

The players are Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Anthony Curtis, John Schultz, David Crawford, Christian Guitron, Blair Rodman, and Kevin Zarnick.

This open event was held at the Palms, and compared to the opens at the Venetian and Barona, the name players were much more successful this time. This final has three big names in Antonio Esfandiari, Anthony Curtis, and Blair Rodman. David Crawford, Christian Guitron, and Kevin Zarnick also made their way through the open field, and John Schultz was the Internet qualifier.

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ELIMINATION:

Hand 7: Antonio Esfandiari pushes two and wins none of his first seven hands, including the last one with $66,000 on the line. Not even "The Magician" can fade that result.

Hand 8: Anthony Curtis and John Schultz tie and go to a two-hand playoff. Anthony's experience shows and John is eliminated (see "Strategy Notes").

Hand 14: Kevin Zarnick loses contact with the field and makes a good two-bet parlay to get back in it. Good idea, bad result—he loses both and is eliminated.

Hand 16: An inexperienced Christian Guitron yields to the natural urge to make a max bet in an elimination situation. Only this time it correlates him perfectly with Anthony Curtis, who is $500 ahead of him. When the dealer turns a natural and beats both players, Christian is eliminated by virtue of the $500 difference.

Hand 25: Sandwiched between the two pros, David Crawford gets into a tough spot in which he needs a swing to survive. His prospects soar when he's dealt an 11, but the dealer turns her second consecutive Elimination-Hand natural to take him out.

Last Hand
The last five hands are a classic heads-up confrontation between Anthony Curtis and Blair Rodman, each making bets in turn to capture the lead. On hand 30, Anthony is in second and betting first, but he has his Secret Bet. Anthony's bet is dangerous, in that a standard bet for Blair in this situation will match him. And that's what happens. But Anthony's Secret Bet and subsequent Secret Action cause Blair to surrender to a guaranteed low, which opens it up for Anthony to win if he converts a hard double down. When the dealer draws to a 20, Anthony has only one card that gives him the win. It doesn't come and Blair takes the gold medallion (to which he'll add a World Series of Poker gold bracelet four months later).
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SEASON ONE RECAP:
Episode 1: The final table is a powerhouse, featuring great play, a classic good-versus-evil scenario...
Episode 2: This is an emotion-packed contest, with tempers flaring (between Matthews and Pine) in later rounds...
Episode 3: If anything, this episode demonstrates that you're not out till you're out. Tyrone Jackson is down to just $15,000 on hand 9...
Episode 4: This is a strategy-packed match that provides plenty of fodder, as you'll see, for Strategy Notes...
Episode 5: The match is a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, featuring a couple of excellent strategic plays and the first playoff of the UBT series...
Episode 6: It's a shootout. At hand 25, the three remaining players—Monica, Jennifer, and Angie—have nearly $1 million among them...
Episode 7: As has been the case earlier in this season, the repeat players, Gary Debernardi and John Cernuto, fair much better the second time around...
Episode 8: Dave gets battered mid-match and has to climb back from a significant deficit to get to heads-up play with Erica Schoenberg...
Episode 9: All of the players obviously have tournament chops. Ken Smith is the consensus favorite, but David Matthews, Adriana Jade, and Hollywood Dave are all considered prominent...
Episode 10: With huge bragging rights on the line (not to mention the prize money), the players are dialed in for this one and there are loads of high-end...

SEASON TWO RECAP:
Episode 1: This wasn't a timid table, but the eliminations came slowly and there were three players all the way to the 30th hand...
Episode 2: As it often does, it came down to cards in the end—but rather than it being about who got them, it was more about who didn't...
Episode 3: With two seasoned blackjack-tournament pros (Anthony and Blair) and one poker-tournament superstar...
Episode 4: This match will go down as one of the strangest and best in UBT history...
Episode 5: The blackjack players excelled on this day, with Ken Einiger and Adriana Jade steadily pulling away from the field..
Episode 6: Chips flew early in this match and three players, including Ken Smith, were already gone by the end of hand 8...
Episode 7: The final table of the UBT's first Poker vs. Blackjack Superstar Showdown features an interesting mix of poker and blackjack luminaries...
Episode 8: The three "favorites" mentioned above go out before the third Elimination Hand and the All-Stars contest comes down to the unlikely trio...