Legacy

In November, 2002 my wife and I bought a house in Burbank, almost immediately after settling in - that very year, I hosted my first poker game.  It was in the living room on an old beat up octagon poker table that I'd had for the better part of a decade.  The game consisted of my wife, myself and a handful of good friends from grade school that now lived in LA.  It was a low stakes, fixed limit only cash game, and so were all the other poker games I hosted through 2005 and into 2006.

My hosting was infrequent, and it was always tough to get a game going, but it was always a good time.  Around Christmas in 2005 we started construction a detached garage in our backyard.  We were having it built so we could get our house up to code so we could have free soundproofing installed by the Burbank Airport folks.



At some point pretty early on in the construction process it dawned on me what the new garage would be perfect for - poker!

Shortly thereafter in the first half of 2006 I hosted a game in the garage around back.  I'm sure it was a cash game and I'm sure the table and chips were these.

The kid's all-in.

Dig those super diamond chips!

Things get a bit murky after this period in time - all I have to remember how things evolved at that point are photos (there are very few), this blog and my personal poker blog.  If you look back at the very beginning, you'll see that the first entry here was at the end of 2007 - I have to assume I was hosting tournaments at that point, because the entry specifically states 'monthly tournaments'.  I vaguely remember them, but based on the sole piece of photographic evidence below they mostly had to look like this...


My first actual tournament report on this blog is listed as August 25, 2008.  And so it is on that day in 2018 we will officially mark having reached ten years of hosting poker in the garage around back!

Dig those 1500 starting stacks!

In my humble opinion it really is a remarkable achievement.  The internet is littered with old and long neglected home game blogs.  This is one of the very few I know of that is still going very strong, and is updated every month without fail.

It makes me very proud, and to be honest, a little bit emotional, to think of all the good times we have had and all the great memories we have made.  I'm super super grateful to have had such a great group of players, most of whom I consider very good friends, to come and splash chips around on a regular basis.  I'm also grateful I have this blog to chronicle all of those good times.

Still, I do understand that at some point, this game will come to an end.  Hopefully not for a very long time, but one never knows.  People grow and people change.  It's my intention to keep going until I'm six feet under, but I don't kid myself that everything on this earth - even an awesome poker game like ours, is temporary.

With that in mind, I've been really pondering how to best commemorate a full decade in the garage around back - to set in stone, so to speak, our legacy.  I think I've come up with a fun way to remember and mark the passage of time.

Introducing the Pepper Street Poker Legacy Hall of Fame!

Starting with our 10th Anniversary Tournament,  August 25, 2018, I will be inducting long time regulars into a prestigious grouping of players who have been most instrumental in fostering this game's success.

This includes the most senior players who are still playing, some who have left us behind (either in day to day life or in the great beyond) and even some more recent players who have shown incredible loyalty to PSP in only a relatively short period of time.

My idea is to not bring all of these folks in all at once, I think it will be fun to slowly reveal who is in the PSP Legacy Hall of Fame.

I want all long time players to know, that yes, eventually everyone who has been here a long time will get in - and by a long time I mean if you've been a regular for several years, you're in!  I'm so so happy that there really isn't one single person in all of my regular players who I don't truly like, so that makes selecting players easy!

I very likely will start with the most senior players first, but if I skip around a little bit, rest assured it has nothing to do with anyone's worthiness.  First of all, I will only be inducting people who are in attendance, so for example if your name is Tony and you don't get in right away, it's probably because you weren't there or someone else was who doesn't show up very often these days, like say for example Tom L.   What I'm trying to say, is that the order you get in has very little to do with anything other than practical reasons.

The first induction ceremony will take place just before our Anniversary tournament in August 2018 starts, Saturday night at 6:55pm.  On that evening I will induct 2 or perhaps 3 players as the inaugural members of the Legacy HOF.

They will be presented with a very special, custom made poker chip, with their picture, date of joining PSP and a saying that they are known for - on the chip.   Here's what that looks like - this one is mine!

                                

   

Once again, chiplab.com is a great resource.

The player gets to keep the chip, and then I will also display a copy on the wall in a chip frame similar to the one that hangs in the bathroom.   This way we will have a permanent photographic and personal reference to the great players who have made PSP the special place that it is.

It will also give me a chance to express in front of other people what you all mean to me.  Don't worry, I'm not going to get too mushy!  Well, I'll try not to anyway!

2018.07 Main Event

Earlier in the week it’d been in the 100s, thankfully by the weekend it was merely in the low 90s. So by the time 5 o’clock rolled around it was actually almost pleasant under the patio cover near the garage around back.

Yes it was that time of year again, time for poker alfresco! This year has been pretty special because the game has just taken off like a rocket.  I decided to try the game un-capped and at one point I had 43 players signed up. When the cards were actually in the air I only had 35, just one player shy of the record 36 players I had around 2011 or 2012 I believe.

In addition to our usual amaze-balls collectable chip...

Players also may have noticed that once again - there was an entire new SET of chips!

Yes, I know, I have a problem.

Made very affordably by the same company that makes the collectable chips - I love so much about this set!  I love that the colors are incredibly bright and I love the snarky Pepper Street Poker expressions.  I also love that because these chips were so cheap that I now have a set large enough for up to 50 players!

Unfortunately the one bad thing about this set, and it is a bit of a doozy, is that they are slippery.  VERY slippery.  So much so that when you get more than 10 chips or so in a stack they tend to slide and fall over in every direction.  By the end of the evening most players (especially the chip leaders) were playing out of racks.  Very understandable.

Still, this is my largest set, and we will definitely use it any time we go over 3 tables, which is potentially several times a year.

In addition to groovy chips, we also had bizarre Oreos.



Action got underway right after 5.  Nestor brought new player Bryan and Frank brought new players Joshua and David.  It was great having all of them - hope they had fun.  Nestor I have Bryan's email, Frank send me Joshua and David's info if they are interested in coming back!



Ian also contributed to the photo fun!  Thanks so much Ian!  Remember, the rest of you can do this too!  :)

The structure seemed to be just perfect - we had zero bust outs (though 2 re-entries) before the break.

Pizza was on hand and people chowed down - I hope there was enough!

During break I took a moment to take a selfie in front of an incredibly cool and thoughtful gift - a Pepper Street Poker Step-&-Repeat!  This amazing addition to PSP came courtesy of my Main Event satellite companions who went a little crazy in getting the poker dude who has everything, something very cool that he didn't have!  Thank you guys all so so much, especially Jeff G. who I understand was the instigator in this incredibly generous gifty!

I plan to have this amazing bit of Hollywood style pimp-ness up at the next tournament, so y'all don't be shy about snapping and sharing pics of your bad ass degenerate gambling selves!

After pizza and paparazzi the sun quickly set and shit got real.



Bryan JC was the first to bust, but many more quickly followed, including yours truly.  I'm always sad to bust, but for a tournament this size there is definitely an upside when it comes to keeping things running smoothly.

We played the whole tournament 8-Max until final table time which happened about a quarter after 10, perfect structure I must say.



I did notice that a bunch of folks hung out to rail - even some folks who weren't stuck there because they came with a partner.  A request for a side cash game was floated, if I had been thinking I would've set up some chips!  Next time around I will be better prepared for you all!

We were paying 8 spots, but per Main Event tradition (in that other Main in Nevada at least) we awarded a seat to next years Main Event to the bubble - and that bubbler was Sheyna!  She also has the option of cashing in her seat at the next two tournaments she plays so she doesn't have to wait a year.

Busting in 8th place for his buy in back in cash was the always friendly Jacob.  He and his better half Julie have a little one on the way in just a few months - glad to see you guys are getting in that poker in while you can!

Finishing in 7th for double his buy-in, or rather, just his money back because he re-entered, was the always shy and unassuming Jeff S.  Attaboy Jeffy!

Busting in 6th for $200 was cashing machine Colin, who yet again pocketed some cheddar at Pepper Street.

Running into a nasty cooler, turning 2 pair which also gave his opponent a gut-shot straight, Art had to settle for 5th place and $260.

Making a $100 pay jump to $360 because of Art's misfortune was Jason who scooped up the 4th place prize that is typically more in line with Pepper Street 1st place monies.

Finishing in third was another cashing machine - the almighty Randall pocketed $480.  A $400 profit, not to shabby for third place!

And then there were two...



George and Ken battled for a bit, but by 11:30 the dust had settled and we had our champ!



George took down 2nd for $620 and Ken with his pocket Kings took home the bracelet and an $800 payday.  Well done and well deserved Ken!

I'd like to say a huge thanks to each and every one of you who came out and made it such a fun afternoon and evening.  I am truly truly blessed to have such a great group of guys and gals who always keep perspective and the priority focused squarely on fun.

I was also especially happy to be playing alongside my wife's favorite cousin's husband Allen - it was great splashing around chips with you my man!

Also also a shout out to my grade school homie and life long friend Daniel SR for popping in unexpectedly during the final table, it was great seeing you and glad we had a chance to connect and so great you got to catch up with Bev and the cousins and it's a crazy small world right?

Our next tournament is another marquee event - on Saturday August 25 at 7pm we will be having our 10 Year Anniversary tournament!  Originally my plan was to do it old school style, $20 for 1500 in chips with unlimited $10 rebuys.  But then I came to my senses - it will be a regular $40 tournament, but there will be some fun surprises relating to the anniversary as well.  Stay tuned for the Evite, hope to see you there!

Until then, peace and we out!