Seat 4: Jonathan Poche (534,000)
The chip leader at the final table is none other than Jonathan Poche, who qualified for the National Championship by taking down the Main Event at Harrah’s New Orleans, the last Main Event of the 2010/2011 World Series of Poker Circuit. It only took Poche five and a half hours to outlast all his competitors and claim the $121,017 first-place prize.
Poche started that final table sixth in chips with 656,000 and thanks to a few won races and best-hand holds, he rose to the top. With seven players left, Poche doubled with 
against Jacob Bazeley's 
to give Poche a seven-figure stack. Shortly after that, Billie Payne shoved a 13bb stack with 
. Unfortunately for Payne, Poche woke up with 
in the big blind. Another big hand in the big blind worked well for Poche with five players left as his 
held against Scott Zakheim's 
.
The key hand for Poche came with three players remaining when he was the short stack.. His 
defeated Josh Evans' 
when an ace hit the flop. The next hand he eliminated Evans, leaving Bobby Toye as the lone opponent standing in his way. Heads-up play began with both players having nearly identical stacks, but they would only go one direction from there. Poche dominated his opponent with relentless aggression, including two four-bet shoves that really lopsided the chips in his favor. It wasn't long before Toye shoved with and ran into Poche's 
. As was the case for all the dominating favorites at the final table, the best hand held up and the title was clinched for Poche.
Poche has spent the majority of this tournament among the chip leaders and has showed no signs of slowing down. With 26.7% of the chips in play, no one is better positioned than Poche to claim the National Championship.