It was a dark and foggy Holiday night as 20 festive poker players squeezed into the garage around back.
Before...
After...
When players sat down, they were delighted to find a little stocking stuffer.
A couple of people even won cash with these, including Allen R. who binked $5. Bounty freeroll! Nice.
Everyone was in a festive mood, but also surprisingly everyone played pretty snug with no bust outs before the break. Michael K. finally took the plunge, hitting the rail a little while after everyone had indulged in Holiday sweets, including Barb's delicious home made cookies.
But Michael did not go home empty handed. As is tradition at Pepper Street in December, first out gets a prize, and this year it was a $10 gift card from Amazon.
As always, bust outs started with a trickle and then quickly built to a flood. By 10:45 we had our final table.
Everyone who busted at the FT and didn't cash took home a gift card. The first couple of busters got the Amazon card and the next couple got this.
The first to make the "money" was yours truly. I actually only made my buy in back, finishing in 6th place. But considering I had cracked Allen R.'s aces All In Pre Flop earlier in a spectacularly nasty fashion (my KQ turning a four outer on the turn for a broadway straight) I shouldn't have even been there and was more than happy to finish the night unstuck.
Next out in 5th place was Josh F. who made double his buy in. The same amount was awarded to Dog D. who busted next in 4th.
Third place paid $100 and it was one time chip leader Eric T. who scooped it up.
Heads up looked like it could be a long battle, as both Tony G. and Mike P. had upwards of 40 big blinds, but Tony G. hitting a made hand and Mike P. smashing a monster draw a few hands in insured that it was over quickly. Mike couldn't hit one of his 12 or so outs so he had to settle for second place and $200. Mike has had an incredible year, and takes down the most decisive Player of the Year title in the history of the event. Well done dude!
Tony G. though, took home top place monies ($300) and the trophy! Very well done Tony!
A very big thanks to the super helpful Dog D. who graciously stayed and helped shuffle for the always shuffle intensive three handed and heads up play.
Our next tournament is Saturday, January 12 at 7pm. Until then I wish you all the very happiest and safest of Holiday seasons. Once again I cannot thank you all enough for making our little game the most fun you can have playing poker. Can't wait to do it all again in 2013!
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Yes, another great year has come and gone at PSP. A hearty handshake and congratulations (not to mention a spiffy bracelet, to be awarded in January) to our resident poker superstar Mike P. on his second Player of the Year award in the 4 years that PSP has kept track of such things. His point total was also the largest margin of victory in the history of POY. My brother and I were a distant third and second respectively. Nicely done Mikey!
But 2013 is now here and the slate is clean for everyone once again.
You may have noticed in the picture above that my chips (last year's Christmas/Birthday present to myself) now have a new home - that would be this year's Christmas/Birthday present to myself, a super sexy presentation case. Ahhhhh....
Here's what's on tap for the next 12 months.
The biggest change is that after 5 years as a $20 tournament with a single $20 rebuy or add-on: we will now play tournaments with a single buy in of $40. There will still be an optional $5 bounty game.
This entry fee gives you 20K in starting chips.
All tournaments will be freeze-outs. A 400 big blind starting stack should be plenty big enough to find a fold in almost all situations. Only if it is an ABSOLUTE cooler AND super early in the tournament will the host even begin to consider allowing a re-entry. In other words, there effectively is no re-entry unless these two factors are super strong.
The primary reason for this new freeze-out format is quite simply, less work for me. I like the system I developed with the re-buy chip, but the "get your add-on now or later" isn't really fooling anyone or
getting more or less players to come to the game, and as I said - it just means a lot more work for me with not enough reward for the effort.
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In other news for 2013...
As you've probably noticed, I finally ponied up the $10 a year to blogger and we are now www.pepperstreetpoker.com. A lot easier to remember and for people to find!
Also, I still don't want to forget cash game play. As God as my witness, I WILL have a Friday night cash game once a month, usually the last Friday of the month. In all honesty, this has less to do with my good results in cash games in 2012 (though they were better than my tournament results that's for sure) and more to do with simple logistics - that is, setting up a cash game is simple and logically I have plenty of open Friday nights because I'm old and a homebody.
But fear not, tournament fans. There will still be a donkament once a month, and this year I'm making a real effort to always have them on the second Saturday of each month. This will help me in scheduling, and will also make it easier for y'all to remember. I'm not saying it's set in stone for every month (summer time is likely to be different) but I'm really going to try and make a commitment on this. As of now I have no plans for a summer BBQ tourney, but that could easily change.
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More minor changes...
At the conclusion of the 2013 season, for the first time ever, we will have a PSP Main Event Championship!
This very special tournament will be open to any and all players who played in at least 1 regular tournament during 2013. There is a $60 entry fee, which gets you 30K in chips and instead of a trophy we will feature a Pokerbling.com bracelet (similar to the one awarded to Mike P. this year) for the winner. It is also worth double POY points for 2013. Should be a great time!
The date for the 2013 Main Event Championship is Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 7pm. Mark your calendars!
And speaking of marking your calendars...
I've got two $150 satellites scheduled. The first is at 12 noon on Saturday, March 30. The second is also at 12 noon on a Saturday, April 27.
As always, the winner of each satellite wins a seat in the World Series of Poker.
For each satellite if we have - 5 or fewer players, I cancel the satellite. 5-9 players, we play for a single 1K seat. 10-13 players, we play for a single $1500 seat. 14 or more players, we play for two 1K seats.
If a seat winner cashes in the WSOP - he/she gets 60% of the payout, the rest is shared evenly with satellite participants.
This year also, something new. I'm scheduling a third $50 satellite at 12 noon on Saturday, May 25.
This satellite is different - it is a Go With God satellite. Meaning - the winner of the satellite gets any seat of his/her choosing OR a big discount on a seat and gets to play in the WSOP and keep almost all of the monies if they cash. The only amount they share is $100, back to each satellite participant, so everyone gets double their money back. If I have less than 10 players this satellite won't go.
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Other changes or adjustments -
By now you are all familiar with our new "ante-free" structure and 20K starting stack (after a re-buy or add-on). For 2013 this will stay the same, except you get all 20K at once and I've tweaked it just a bit more. The blind schedule here has been updated and will likely and hopefully not change for a long time.
This structure has been carefully crafted to give us 6 hours of playing time with 20 players. This means, with 20 players, you will probably be in the money after midnight and finished up at about 1am. It also means that if we do have a 30+ player tournament, as we have once in a blue moon in the past, you could be playing poker until 2am. It is not a goal of mine to keep people up late, but I also was not super happy with the utter lack of play in the later rounds last year.
I really feel strongly that those who have accumulated big stacks should have room to maneuver and not be so much at the whim of a coin flip when the upper end of the prize pool is at stake. I am increasingly more and more committed to the idea that more skill and less luck should be involved in the latter stages in pursuit of first place.
NEW SIDE GAMES
The "show-em" chips that were used in the 2012 August BBQ seemed to work well and so this year will be a permanent fixture.
To recap: If you have a "show-em" chip, whether you are in the hand or not, you can use it to see any winning hand that is about to be mucked. This chip must be used before the first break. This year two "show-em" chips will be randomly drawn for each table.
I also will be introducing a single "rabbit hunt" chip to each table, also randomly drawn.
If you have a "rabbit hunt" chip you may play it at the conclusion of a hand to see the entire board as it would have played out. As with the "show-em" chip, the "rabbit hunt" chip must be played before the first break.
All chips are drawn for during the high card for the button - the high card gets the button, the two lowest cards each get a show-em chip and the third lowest card gets a rabbit hunt chip. You may not sell or trade either chip.
If you are busted with either chip in hand, you forfeit that chip to the player who busted you.
And as always, we will have our optional $5 bounty game.
Also new for 2013, something that has been long overdue - I will be taking a photo of each tournament winner with the winning hand, trophy, monies and chips and posting it on this blog. Every winner will have a choice though - a dorky and traditional full monty pic with face exposed...
Or a more modest shot of just the spoils and hardware...
Either way - imma takin' pitchers!
Speaking of pitchers - we will again be broadcast to the masses of the interwebs this year. I still don't have an RFID system for hole cards, but I am toying with the idea of hole cameras of some sort.... stay tuned.
Our first tournament of the year is Saturday, January 12 at 7pm. Our first cash game is Friday, January 25th also at 7pm. (Remember that seating is limited for cash games and long time PSP regulars get invited first.)
All in all it promises to be another great year in the Garage Around Back. Can't wait for it to start!
