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| Dear Lord. |
We had two players cash in the WSOP - one of them for almost $10,000!
I didn't take a monthly tournament down this year, (outside the of 2016 T.O.C. in January of 2017) but that's okay - I knew my hot streak was bound to cool off. Garner says it's because I share too much poker info, but that's okay too - I am genuinely fond of almost everyone who comes to play in The Garage Around Back and I get great enjoyment out of talking poker with people who I consider good friends.
2018 is shaping up to be another fantastic year - and August 25 will mark a full Ten Years of poker at Pepper Street! Technically this game started in 2004, and got really going in 2006, but it wasn't until 2008 that we had regular monthly Saturday night events and the plan was formulated to have a Player of the Year competition with a perpetual plaque on the wall and all that good stuff. August 25 is the day that the very first tournament report appeared on this blog - so it seemed as any good a day to mark the occasion. In 2018 the 25th falls on a Saturday, so we will mark the occasion with a 10 year anniversary tournament - read more on that below.
I feel truly grateful and humbled that the game is still going so strong after all this time. I am also super proud of everyone who goes out of their way to make it a fun and almost entirely drama free experience. (Almost, because there is the occasional nasty bad beat, and no one is immune from grousing a bit when this happens!)
So here's the general game plan for the next year, and the biggest changes -
The biggest change by far will be entry requirements for the T.O.C. We will still keep the current T.O.C. system, where if you win a monthly, you get a seat, but we will also add two components to grow the size of the T.O.C.
Component 1 - A new points system will be implemented to track all players. Since I'm using new software where I record all eliminations and I record who eliminated who - this won't be difficult. I still have to find the best points system to use - the one that's most fair, so I will need to work on that. But with a points system, we will award the top player in points who doesn't take down a tournament, with a seat in the T.O.C.
Additionally, the top player in total points (regardless if they win a tournament or not) will also receive a special 'Best Overall Performance' Trophy or Bracelet (haven't decided which) and get their name on the perpetual plaque right next to the T.O.C. winner. So yes, from here on out we will have co-champions on our plaque. More fun, more incentive for people to come play!
Component 2 - Mega-Satellite - At years end I will host a mega-satellite for the T.O.C. Entry is $50, all of which goes to the T.O.C. prize pool.
EXCEPTION - The top 3 point earners who do not have a T.O.C. seat locked up, will be invited to play in the Mega-Satellite without an entry fee.
For every five players, one player will win a seat. Only players from two groups will be invited. 1 - Those who have achieved legacy status (see below) and 2 - Players who have attended the majority of tournaments in 2018. In other words, if you are a newer player and want an invite to the mega, you have to play at least 7 tournaments in 2018.
I'm hoping we can grow the T.O.C. a bit, 15 players or so would be awesome!
Legacy Status at PSP - includes, All former winners of POY and/or the T.O.C, all players who have been with the game since 2008, even those who play less these days and all players who have played in the majority of tournaments in over the last 2 years, including 2018. Players may be removed from Legacy status if in the host's judgement they are no longer active or if they have exhibited any behavior that detracts from the fun and mellow vibe of the game.
The Legacy Hall of Fame, is a related project that I'm working on, details will be released soon. I'm very excited about this!
Other changes -
1.). Monthly Saturday night tournaments will be back most likely every month. They really are the best time, despite the extra work. I tried to do less in 2017 and I simply missed them too much.
The biggest change for the Saturday MTT, is that for all new players it will now be $45, no more optional bounty game. If you have chosen to forgo the bounty in the past, you still have that option, but if you are a new player or have never opted out before, the bounty is now part of the entry fee.
The other big change - 3 of the tournaments will NOT be No-Limit Texas Hold-em. The Omaha/8 tourney in September and the H.O.R.S.E. event we ran in November had enough players that I think I can get away with mixing things up. Again, we will look to do an Omaha/8 and a H.O.R.S.E., as for the third event - we will see, I will have to come up with something creative.
And finally, every monthly tournament will now have a brand new side game - The River Jackpot! Click here to find out what this game is all about. It should be a blast!
2.). Friday night Sit-N-Go's are also not going anywhere. I will have them as often as I can. As always space is limited, so it's the hosts discretion on who gets first crack at the seats.
We will occasionally have non NLHE SNG's as well - I really loved doing Crazy Pineapple this last year, and I want to have several of these in 2018. I would also like to throw caution to the wind and do an 8 or 10 game mix, but we will see.
3.). Cash games will as always happen sporadically. I really would love to get a monthly game going - but don't know how likely that is. Maybe I can try a during the week game that goes from 7:30-10:30, let me know your thoughts the next time you see me.
4.) The Wheel O' Fun will be getting three new items - a Lego prize (since I have a ton of freebies from my latest obsession, er hobby), two River Jackpot cards and a Pick Your Seat prize, where a player gets to pick their seat upon arriving at the next tournament. Not a huge change, but I think it's cool.
5.) The PSP Main Event - to be honest, I completely forgot about this tournament in 2017, which is weird because you think I would remember as the event has had some of our biggest prize pools and most fun. I won it once and Josh won the other time. Well, it's coming back in 2018! Currently it is scheduled for July 7 at 5pm, but that of course could change. Once again, an $80 entry and 30K in chips to start, with a Saturday afternoon starting time and a spiffy bracelet for the winner. Should be a great time!
6.). PSP 10th Anniversary Tournament! It's a blast from the past as we have a $20 entry fee and unlimited $10 rebuys before the break! Plus a bunch of nostalgic touches and fun surprises, you won't want to miss this one! This tournament will happen on August 25th, mark your calendars now!
7.). Maybe the best and most exciting change - though it doesn't really affect the game at all, it should add interest and intrigue.. For every Saturday night monthly tournament, there will be an exclusive limited edition collector's chip given to the first 29 participants who respond yes to the evite! Here's a sneak peek of the January chip -
Cool right?
I finally found a custom chip maker that has a fantastic design tool, no minimum order and is pretty darn cheap, so I splurged a bit! Fear not, the cost of these (which wasn't too much) won't be taken out of the prize pools, these are on me! Only those in attendance will get to take one home, any left overs will be destroyed! (I will keep one of course.) There will be 12 collectors chips in all, plus a VERY special 13th chip that will celebrate the game's 10 year anniversary - and it will only be awarded to the players who attend all 12 monthly tournaments at PSP in 2018. Now that's dope! (In case you're wondering, yes we did have 3 players in 2017 who didn't miss one tournament, can you guess who they are? One is pretty easy to figure out...)
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And finally for 2018, not really changes - but reminders.
Our WSOP group will likely be sending someone to the Main Event of the WSOP - fear not participants, I plan to update the www.theroadtovegasbaby.blogspot.com soon with everyone's running tally for how much cash they have towards the big dance. If you are interested in jumping on board with this WSOP Cadre, please let me know. Our next open enrollment will be after the 2018 WSOP.
The host will continue to use his discretion on who to invite and who to leave off the list, especially for the smaller one table events. This discretion is both based on seniority and behavior. Thankfully we didn't have any significant drama in 2017, but I do feel a handful of players on occasion did cross the line in etiquette a couple of times.
No one is banned this year, but I do want everyone to be aware of some behaviors I witnessed last year that I want to discourage this year. These behaviors include -
- Taking an excessive amount of time on every decision. This more than any other behavior got on many players nerves. It creates tension and exasperation. If you have a decision for a lot of chips or your tournament life, yes - please take as much time as is reasonable. A minute or even two minutes is fine. But much beyond that, no. I would encourage others to call the clock if any decision goes beyond three minutes. I certainly will be. My new software has a stopwatch feature that we can call up with the touch of a button on my phone.
For MOST decisions, you should take less than 3 seconds to decide. For most of the remaining decisions, it should be 5 to 10 seconds. Only when it's the aforementioned ton of chips moment or a tournament life decision, should you 'go into the tank'. If you get raised and you are bluffing, you can take a brief pause before folding (or be a pimp and re-raise) but there really is no call to give a big sigh and a long think if you don't have shit. I don't need drama and aggravation in the game, and this behavior of taking 30 seconds every time the action is on you, more than any other, is what is causing it right now.
- Talking endlessly about a hand after it is over. I have been guilty of this myself in the past, and occasionally I still slip. But we all need to make a concerted effort to let hands go once they are over. Several times in 2017 things got very testy because someone just couldn't let it go, they couldn't understand how someone else could make such a terrible call. I confess, one of these incidents involved me when I prematurely exposed my hand and my opponent saw that they were dominated, and still called, and of course sucked out. I said far too much after it was over and I regret I may have hurt some feelings. I was way out of line and I did apologize, and I apologize here again. I resolve, and I hope you all resolve with me, that once a hand is done, we need to drop it and move on.
It's okay to ask "Did you have such-and-such?" or a simple quick question - but then let it go.
-Keeping it one player to a hand. I have been pretty lax of late over this one, but it is important, in multi-way hands, no one should be yapping. In heads up situations, only the players in the hand can speak. I will be sure to remind everyone of this at the start of our first MTT in 2018. Let's get back into good habits!
Anyway, don't mean to bring anyone down with those reminders - I just want things to go great the way they always have around these parts. I'm super grateful to have you all along for this adventure, and I know 2018 will be our best year yet. Update: I have moved our first monthly tournament from Jan 20 to the 27th. Hope you can make it!
Can't wait!
-Keeping it one player to a hand. I have been pretty lax of late over this one, but it is important, in multi-way hands, no one should be yapping. In heads up situations, only the players in the hand can speak. I will be sure to remind everyone of this at the start of our first MTT in 2018. Let's get back into good habits!
Anyway, don't mean to bring anyone down with those reminders - I just want things to go great the way they always have around these parts. I'm super grateful to have you all along for this adventure, and I know 2018 will be our best year yet. Update: I have moved our first monthly tournament from Jan 20 to the 27th. Hope you can make it!
