2016.06 - Main Event

All the pieces were in place and the battle field was ready for the second annual ever Pepper Street Poker Main Event - taking place not so coincidentally on the same day as day 1A in another Main Event 269 miles to the east.

Exactly 20 players would fill two tables, and action got underway almost exactly on time at 4pm.

We had one new player, Emanuel, brought in by Sheyna, which was cool and all, but even more exciting than that - we had these...

Instant diabetes, enjoy.

Everyone managed to stay in well past the break, with half hour levels this meant everyone got a lot of quality play.  Jeff S. was first to hit the rail after a half hour pizza break, I was out shortly thereafter.

Play continued on and we reached the final table after 5 hours of play.

It was over an hour before the money bubble burst - Jeff G. finishing in sixth place and getting his buy in back.

In the money y'all!

Ken and Josh were the two chip leaders by quite a bit so for the remaining three it really was about climbing the ladder.  With $100 pay jumps, ICM was very much in play!

First to fall was Sheyna, getting her money in with live cards but falling to Allen Q. and collecting $100 in fifth place.

Next out was the afore mentioned Allen, finishing fourth for $200, an amount usually more in line with a second place finish.

Julie had expertly parlayed her small stack into position where one more double up would put her in contention and severely hurt her opponent if this a had been the case - alas, she couldn't double up one more time and had to settle for third place and $300; the typical first place prize in the $40 tournaments.

And then there were two...

Josh had the chip lead when the battle began just before midnight, but Ken managed to grind up and overtake him after about 20 minutes.  Soon all the chips were in and Ken had Josh in bad shape with bottom two pair against a top pair, but the board paired and Ken was counterfeited, once again we were almost back to even.

So Ken bore down and grinded back up, but didn't quite have the chip lead when once again there was an all in and a call.  Again Ken was initially ahead with top pair over middle pair, but the cards had other things in mind and Josh turned two pair and that was that.

Ken was the perfect gentleman and happily collected $400, Josh got the hardware, the T.O.C. seat and $500 for first!  Well done the both of youse!

It should be mentioned that despite two critical suck outs, Josh had played exceptionally well throughout the tournament, using his chips aggressively over and over to put the pressure on and drag many a pot without showdown.  Josh has been with us for a number of years now and has always been one of the better players in the garage, taking down two tournaments in 2011 and cashing frequently thereafter.  Another first place was overdue and very much well earned.

A special thanks to the Q for sticking around and shuffling, letting our players get in infinitely more hands - you rock Allen and the carpal tunnel no doubt was well worth it.

A big thanks as well to all of you who came out and made this, the biggest tournament of the year along with the T.O.C., a whole lot of fun.  I am very lucky to have such a great group of players that I also consider friends - I so much appreciate that everyone makes an effort to keep things light and fun, even when the competition gets intense.   You guys rock on!

Our next monthly is looking to be August 13, stay tuned for the evite.

Until then, peace and we out!