2016 was yet another great year at Pepper Street - but get ready, there's just as many, if not more, good times on tap for 2017!
I'm making a few changes, for the better I think!
SATURDAY NIGHT MULTI-TABLE TOURNAMENTS
Our beloved Saturday night MTT's are not going anywhere, but we will not have one every month any more. MTTs are a load of fun, but also a load of work - and I'm pretty gosh dern busy these days. There will likely be a Saturday night MTT every other month or so - I'm hoping to host at least 6 and as many as 8 in 2017.
Entry remains at $40. Bounty game is the same, optional and $5. In July we will as usual have our Main Event, an $80 buy in and no bounties, first place gets a bracelet.
Because we are having multi-table tournaments less often -
I will now allow a single re-entry if you are felted before the first break. Same price, same chips.
If you have not re-entered you will then have the option during the first break to surrender your stack and purchase a full stack for $40.
The current policy of allowing a 'cooler' re-entry is simply not objective or consistent. I keep running into very subjective situations where players are either coolered or overplay their hands - depending on how one views the game. I am an experienced recreational player, but I am by no means an expert to the degree where my judgement calls can be considered entirely fair and consistent every time. This way the rule is the same for everyone.
I have not come to this decision lightly - in the end it is driven primarily by the recognition that for many of my regulars, Pepper St. Poker's Saturday night monthly tournament is their entire poker fix for the month. Because I'll be hosting less often in 2017 I owe it to these folks to give them a second chance if they bomb out.
Too many times I've seen these regulars walk out of the garage, shoulders slumped, after less than an hour's play. An event that they've looked forward to for weeks, abruptly and prematurely ended. With a safety valve, everyone who only gets to play once a month or so will have a chance to extend their joy beyond the unfortunate turn of the cards within the first hour and forty minutes.
I have faith that this tournament will still retain the flavor of a freeze-out. The purpose of a one time only re-entry is not necessarily to encourage reckless play, i.e. 're-buy fever', but rather to allow for a second chance if you get cold decked - as recreational players I know we don't play as often as we'd like and it can be very discouraging to have an evening of poker in front of you only to have it prematurely ended by bad luck.
As usual, if you win a Saturday night MTT, you lock up a seat in the year end Tournament of Champions! A free roll with a guaranteed $1000 prize pool!
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
And speaking of the TOC - because we will only have 8 qualifying tournaments maximum, and ten seats available in the TOC, we have to have a way to fill those extra two (maybe more) seats. Here's how we are going to do it:
As the end of the year approaches we will take stock of how many seats remain open in the TOC and we will schedule a corresponding number of Sit-N-Go's where regular attendees from the previous monthly events who have not taken down a tournament will be eligible to play for the remaining seats!
Entry to these Sit-N-Go's will be $100, (a $60+$40 where the $40 goes to the TOC prize pool). first place will pay $300, second $200 and third gets their money back - but first place also gets a seat in the TOC! The remaining money goes into the TOC prize pool, that's up to $400 extra dollars to play for in the TOC, per SNG! If we have trouble filling the SNG, then I will allow people an option to forgo the $40 additional fee and simply play for cash on the day. In this case, only players who put up the $40 are eligible for a TOC seat. This could potentially be a very easy way to get in the TOC!
To qualify to play in one of these SNG's you must be a regular during the rest of the year and must fail to win a regular Saturday night MTT - I will be paying very close attention to who comes to every monthly tournament, and of course taking pictures as well, and those folks who come to every monthly will get first crack at the SNG seats. After that, those who only miss one tournament, and then two and so on until each TOC qualifying SNG is full.
These qualifying SNG's will be deep stacked and have half hour levels - a great way to get more qualifiers and juice the TOC prize pool.
FRIDAY NIGHT SIT-N-GOs
Ah, I love these so much.
The plan is to have one every month or so, but it may not always happen. Entry remains at $60.
I will now also allow a one time re-entry before the break or a stack surrender at the break. Again, I don't expect this will change play too much, but as the SNGs typically attract the more hard-core players, there likely will be more aggression earlier on.
If for some reason I have time to schedule a second SNG in a month, it will be Omaha/8 or H.O.R.S.E. People have been begging me for years for this - I will try to make it happen this year. Entry will be $40.
As space is limited, the invite for these tournaments will be restricted to more senior players and the players that present less of a personality challenge for the host.
CASH GAMES
I will of course try to have them - I do love them, but life is so crazy busy right now, that I can't see more than a handful happening over the course of a year.
That could change of course - but if I am hosting I must insist that the cash games remain mixed games and low stakes. There are lots of living rooms and garages in the valley that run No Limit Hold-em only cash games, most of which rake the shit out of the players. Pepper Street simply won't be one of them; and I recognize that this means that cash games here will never be in high demand anyways, but I'd rather have fun and low drama rather than rake money from my friends and have everyone uptight.
There is another option for cash games that I am a little reluctant to mention, but it could work out great. If any of you who have played at PSP regularly for at least 5 years are interested in taking up the mantle of host for a regular weekly or bi-weekly cash game - I would be willing to talk it over with you. It could basically be whatever game you want - though I would still insist on lower stakes and of course approval of the player roster, but other than those two things it would basically be your game with my garage and supplies. Hit me up if you are itching for regular cash game action!
I am also open to the idea of handing over host duties for single table tournaments during the week - Sunday-Thursday nights. There would be structure restrictions to insure that everyone is out by midnight, but other than that, sky is the limit if someone wants to go for it. Let me know!
THE ROAD TO VEGAS
Last year I tried and failed to have a Step system towards the World Series of Poker. This year I've modified the idea quite a bit, and I think it will fly. I already have six core players committed so there is a much better chance of this actually happening.
For the first half of 2017 we will have a tournament series that will award as many $1500 seats as we can. After the WSOP in July we will start another tournament series that very likely will see the winner take a seat in the Main Event!
If you are at all intrigued I encourage you to click HERE for all the details. An evite will be going out next week to all of the regulars that play at Pepper Street. The financial and time commitments are not that great, but the potential rewards are. I hope you will join us!
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There will be a cash game on Saturday, January 14 at 5pm - a follow up to the TOC and a place where dejected bust outs can gamble it up. No-Limit Hold-em only, $50 buy in.
After that our first Step 1 tournament for the Road to Vegas series will be Friday night, January 27 at 8pm. This means that our first regular monthly Saturday night tournament won't be until February 11! Hope you can hang on until then - if not then you'd better join us on the 14th or the 27th!
So that's it for now. All in all I can't wait for the year to start! Until then, peace and we out!
