One time only! (For the year!)

mul·li·gan

ˈməliɡən/

noun

NORTH AMERICANinformal

1. 1. 

   a stew made from odds and ends of food.
2. 2. 

   (in informal golf) an extra stroke allowed after a poor shot, not counted on the scorecard.

Over the past few years our monthly tournament, as well as the occasional weekday sit-n-go, has been a freeze-out, meaning that there are no re-buys or add-ons and once you are out you are out.

This has been so pretty much in name only, because in the monthly tournaments I have allowed a "cooler" re-entry for players eliminated early by a true bad beat - as determined by me.  

And therein has been the problem.  The criteria has always been subjective, and thus there have been moments where a re-entry wasn't allowed when it probably should have been and vice versa.

I have given strong consideration to making all monthly tournaments a one time only re-entry, meaning if you bust before the break you have a one time option to re-enter (or if your stack is small at the break you can surrender it and re-enter) and this would eliminate all subjectiveness in deciding who gets to come back in and it would have the added bonus of boosting the prize pool.

But I really hesitate to do this as I know for a fact that most players, not necessarily me, despise re-entry tournaments.  Furthermore if I allowed re-entries, even a one time only re-entry, it would change the very nature of play among at least half the players - including me.  

 I would for sure play WAY more aggressively and call off a lot lighter if I knew I could fire another bullet.  I know that there are plenty of more casual players who love this tournament because $40 is all they ever have to spend on an evening.  I feel like I owe a lot more to this group for making the game such a friendly success.

So as a compromise, here's what I've come up with.

Starting in January, all players will have a one time only re-entry for the entire calendar year that they can use whenever they choose before the first break.  In other words, a once a year "mulligan" that will preserve the tournament as a freeze-out, but still give players the chance to come back in should they get unlucky (or even play badly) and bust out super early.

This eliminates any judgement call on my part - you get one re-entry for the year, that you can use at any time before the break when you are felted.   I will also allow a forfeiture of your stack before the break if you are on a micro-stack and you want to reload.  This will count as your one and only re-entry for the year.

Because it's only one re-entry a year - this really emphasizes the freeze-out nature of the freeze-out.  Something that I know the majority of players in the garage prefer.

I would highly encourage players to think long and hard before using their re-entry, as once it is gone for the year it is gone.  If you play for over an hour and then find yourself short stacked and then bust in a coin flip, I would not use the re-entry.  I would save it for when you get eliminated in the first round by a set over set or similar.

Allowing a single re-entry also protects newer players - who, if they bust super early, will likely be surprised and delighted to find they have a one time only chance to come back in.   In the past I have always been a lot more lenient with new players when determining whether or not to allow a re-entry.  There have been a handful of times where I was really glad I was, as these new players who got to stick around longer, have since become regulars in no small part I think because they were allowed to keep playing that first time.

I have faith that this new policy will work out well - I will be sure to announce it at the start of the next tournament.  Myself, I have used my mulligan for the year and will not be eligible for the remainder of 2016.  Teresa was given a legitimate cooler re-entry last month, so she will still be able to use her mulligan this year if she chooses.

Looking forward to the rest of 2016!

2016.01

A cool January afternoon saw yours truly setting up once again for another year of the pokerz.

The battle field is ready.

And so are the snackies. 

On the good/bad spectrum, these were actually somewhere in the middle.

No, I'm not excited.  Why do you ask?

It had been 60 long days since our last regular tournament.  A new year arrived, and with the promise of a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate - the January event in The Garage Around Back once again saw big ass numbers - 23 players crammed in and threw down.

I managed to bust fairly early, horribly misplaying a hand by not letting go of my queens when Marc had flopped a set.  It was so early that most of the table insisted that I re-enter, and I did, though I realized pretty quickly that I probably shouldn't have, because if other players had busted in similar fashion, I likely wouldn't have let them.

So it has me re-thinking this whole 'cooler' re-entry policy.  It is very subjective.  I think I was correct in allowing Teresa to re-enter, who was in a trips over trips situation when her opponent who was dominated filled up on the turn. But I worry that I might not always make the right call (as I didn't when it came to me).

Right now I'm leaning heavily towards a new policy - that everyone who plays in the garage gets one re-entry for the year.  This is 100% objective and will make it much easier on me - I won't have to see or have all the action described to me.   I welcome input on the next evite, I will make a final decision before our next tournament.

Anyway, the two re-entries made for a big prize pool - and everyone in the garage knew it and bore down in pursuit of the cash and the monies.  Two new players joined the fray.  Dan G. brought in Logan, a young whippersnapper who currently goes to Cal.  Ken brought in Brent, a regular at Garners game.  Both seemed to enjoy themselves, with Logan even making the final table.  Hopefully he'll drop out of college so he can come back on a regular basis.

Angry red table ponders the mysteries of life.  And a two outer spiking on the river.

Dog is on to me.

Yes, the good doctor is in the heezy.

With the two re-entry reprieves we didn't have any actual bust outs before the break - but had several in quick succession right after we got back.  It wasn't long before the kiddie table (the red table) broke and we had two table action.

Player in da' hood.

The final table formed just after 11.  The guilt mounted as I was among the survivors.

Yeah, this happened.  All in pre-flop.  Screw you poker.

Lalane was on the receiving end of the above roller coaster hand, spiking a set on the flop only to be smacked on the river with a two outer from Dan G.   First time ever in poker.  Even worse, this double up allowed Dan to hang on just long enough to bubble, barely missing out on the money.

Sheyna hit the rail next, collecting her buy-in back in 5th place.  Jason was next to fall, for a hundred bucks in 4th place money.   Yours truly sheepishly collected $140 in third place.  And then there were two.

The heads up battle lasted a good half hour, but in the end Marc was unable to overcome the chip lead of Brian, who'd had a mountain of chips through most of the tournament.  Marc scooped up $220 plus $15 in bounties.   Brian took $360 in cash plus another $40 in bounties for first!  Well done Brian!  You also get a seat in the 2016 Tournament of Champions and a sweet ass card protector.

This is Brian's first title, but you wouldn't know it by looking at this pimp ass pic.

Like a boss.

A big thanks to everyone who came out and made it a great time as always.  Though Lalane stayed to shuffle because Brian was in it until the end, it is still very much appreciated by this host.

Looks like our next event is a mere month away, the 1st Saturday next month.  Can't wait to get going again!  I will have a firm re-entry policy in place by then.

Until then, peace and we out!