Most Thrilling Final Table Yet!

United States - The fourth NNA online Nertz tournament this year attracted a wide array of Nertz talent to the tables. The final table was particularly talented having withstood the better part of the tournament field of players thus far. It was said going into tonight's final table that the players were pretty evenly matched, but we didn't realize how tight of a match it was going to be.

Final Table Box Score>>>
Tournament Bracket and Stat Tracker>>>

Christmas Wishart, Aaron Whitcomb, Meg Holko, and the Summer Classic Champion Jill Younker-Sny were all primed and ready just before the start of the match. Nertz is a crazy game. And sometimes you can't explain everything that leads up to one's victory. But I will attempt to give you the best details I can to describe this incredible game.

The first hand was quick and Meg called Nertz and received 16 points. She then led the others by at least 10 points. The champ, Jill, called Nertz in hand #2 but did not end up winning the hand as Meg scored 1 point more than her. Christmas also tied Jill's hand score receiving 18 points for that hand. Aaron had drifted quietly to the bottom of the leader board but quickly pulled himself out with a quick 17-point Nertz in the 3rd. Everyone was back within at least 11 points of one another as Meg still had the lead. Jill then made a quick 14-point Nertz to take the lead in the 4th hand. Aaron also had moved up into second as both Meg and Christmas were set.

Christmas made a charge in the 5th calling Nertz and moving up a spot to 3rd place. She also had set the leader, which was still Jill at the moment. Christmas went right back down to last place despite receiving 19 points in hand #6. Aaron had moved into first place but it was Meg that called Nertz and won that hand moving her into second place. The scores at the end of 6 hands were as follows: Aaron with 56, Meg with 54, Jill with 50, and Christmas with 48. It appeared that we were going to have to get a camera out for a photo finish if this game got any tighter.

In hand #7 Aaron went from first place to last place while Christmas went from last to first. Christmas had called a 20-point Nertz and set Aaron back 10 points. Aaron returned the favor in the 8th setting Christmas 11 points. Meg had indirectly taken the lead when Aaron called Nertz. Christmas took the lead right back in the 9th with a 19-point Nertz. Aaron gained some ground and moved into second place with a Nertz call in the 10th. He was the only 6 points from the leader, Christmas who had 88 points.

Christmas was 12 points away from a championship. But at 76 points, Meg wasn't going to let Christmas walk away with it. Meg made a huge 23 point Nertz ending up at 99 points at the end of 11 hands. But neither Christmas or Aaron scored enough to close it out either. Meg had 99, Aaron had 97, and Christmas had 95. Jill had slipped too far from the pack to catch up. However, it would be Jill that would decide who would win the championship in the 12th hand.

Jill was furiously trying to make a full table set, to possibly put her back in this game but when she Nerted, only one other player had a positive hand score. It was the player that needed only one point for the victory. Meg had scored 4 which was just enough due to the fact that Jill had set both Christmas and Aaron to end the game.


It was a fantastic game to watch. Every player had the lead at one point during the match. Meg had the least amount of Nertz calls (which was 2) of any player in this match but still ended up winning. Christmas had the most Nertz calls with 4 and finished in 2nd place. There were no full table sets, further indicating that the level of competition was extremely even.

The NNA would like to congratulate Meg Holko on her well-deserved victory. Everyone is looking forward to seeing all of these Nertz players in The Mega-Nertz Open starting in the near future. So far the tradition of beating a champion in the finals to become a champion has yet to be broken. Thus, if you are looking to become a champion, you should be looking for Meg in the finals of the next tournament.

Meg receives the title of "Online Nertz Champion", a "Nertz Champion" Hoodie, a copy of Nerts High Speed Card Game compliments of Ronnander Games, and an invitation to the Tournament of Champions at the year's end. Do you want what she has? Just register for the next online Nertz tournament and follow this blog to stay updated.