Season 1 Ends - Bearded Mike Takes TOC

The TOC went almost four hours before the first player busted out (Chris with aces-up in five card draw). Side game action started at the same times as the tournament and built a following throughout the day, until it faced competition from beer pong. Tim pulled double duty as both dealer and chef, cooking up a hearty pile of pork ribs. Oh, and some drinking went on now and then.

Sean went out on the bubble, barely missing his fifth cash of the season. Bearded Mike called both Sean and Baklava's all-ins in deuce-to-seven TD and hit the nuts after one draw. GPT Spring 2006 Player of the Year Hank Silf took third, cashing for the 11th time this season.

Heads-up was a back-and-forth battle between Phil McGroin and Bearded Mike. The tournament nearly ended on hold'em when Bearded Mike called Phil's all-in on the flop, but Phil caught a two on the river to beat 7s. Bearded Mike then went AI short-stacked in Omaha and amazingly won when a pair of tens stood up. Finally, both got AI in hold'em - AQ vs. KQ - and ace-high took it for Bearded Mike.

Thanks again to everyone who made the season a great success, and to those who brought stuff and contributed to the party atmosphere at the TOC. See ya next season...

What it's all about, Bitches

Saturday, April 22, 2pm.

Keith and Sean HORSE Around

The third chop in a row brought an anti-climactic end to the season. Brandon had a shot at overtaking Keith, but he couldn't outlast him in HORSE, and the Final 8 was unchanged:

Hank
Bearded Mike
Baklava
Jim
Phil
Sean
Chris
Keith

Hank ran away with the point lead, but the accomplishment of the season may be Chris qualifying while playing in half the tournaments. In a 21-tourney season, Chris played 10 tournaments and cashed in half. Always the bride's maid and never the bride, he scored three runner-up spots. Keith played the next fewest among qualifiers with 13.

Number 10 on Greenstein's list of how to make money in tournaments - play a lot of tournaments...

Down to the Wire

Brandon has the best shot at catching Keith for the number 8 spot - he's three points behind. With about half as many tournaments (seven vs. 13), Tim isn't quite in range for a weeknight game at 13 points behind.

T-Bone and Bearded Mike Chop A to 5

The send tourney in a row ended in a chop. Thanks to Table 2, the amount of chips in play relative to the blinds was pretty ridiculous, T-Bone had more exciting places to be, and Bearded Mike wanted to get into the drunken side game. With 500/1000 blinds T-Bone had about 67,000 chips to Bearded Mike's 27,000. At this stage in the season, the points were inconsenquential. The pic at the bottom shows how Bearded Mike managed to outlast Phil's huge chip lead - a six against the nuts 3-way usually is trouble.

But they weren't for Keith, who finished dead balls last. He's now catchable for those who can attend HORSE.

Baklava and Bearded Mike are Stud 4s

Baklava and Bearded Mike chopped Stud-8 after a half hour of heads-up play because they're so evenly matched that they could 1) play all night at Hank's and keep his poor girlfriend away, or 2) raise the blinds to the point that it would be a luck-fest. Given the relative rankings, it didn't affect anyone's standings. The website will say Bearded Mike was first, but that's only because he uploads the computer standings. The tournament was Baklava's third title and Bearded Mike's fourth.

The current Top 8 are:
Hank-----------------233 points
Bearded Mike---------186 points
Baklava--------------160 points
Jim------------------141 points
Phil-----------------133 points
Sean-----------------120 points
Chris----------------113 points
Keith----------------99 points

Brandon, Gracie, Pablo, Dan, and Tim are all within seven points of each other, and between 14 to 21 points behind Keith.

This Sunday's Ace-to-Five title likely will be worth around 20 points.

Note: I found the problem with the points from Tournament 18 - this is what happens when people show up late. The points above and on the site reflect the revisions.

Dougie Fresh Takes Deep Stack

Doug doubled up on the second hand of the tournament and didn't look back. In fact, I think he won that hand and the tournament with the same two cards - five/deuce. Defending Hold'Em champ Baklava came up just short of a repeat with a second-place finish. Jim represented the A3 crowd with a third place finish.

Hank's eighth-place finish was good enough to essentially lock up the points title for the season, but there's still plenty of room to change the final eight in the last couple of weeks.

I Want You - For Deep Stack Hold'em, Sucka

12 Noon Sharp - Saturday April 8

Hank Wins KCL Like It's His Job

After stumbling around early, Hank came back to take the KCL title, after finishing 2nd in the first KCL tourney. After pondering calling a re-raise early with KQ8XX, Brandon finished second. Keith squandered a huge chip lead to finish third. Baklava played solid throughout and finished fourth.




Hank On Board

5-Card Draw-Out

Bearded Mike won another game that he hates. Lee busted his cherry with a second-place finish. Tim scored his third cash with a third-place finish. Hank padded his lead on the season by cashing - barely.

Note: Travis is a Dreamboat

I mean, just look at that face: