The chips of choice this time around? Gemaco Paulsons, gorgeous!
There were also some fun table accoutrements... including this month’s collectible chip.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you, it was going to be another five table night, this time with a record 40 players!
And this tournament was also a special occasion! It was 10 years to the day of the first ever tournament report on this blog, and also we were inducting the inagural class of the Pepper Street Pepper Legacy Hall of Fame. Read this post here to find out the impetus and reasons for the Hall.
There are quite a few players who have been playing here since the very beginning, but last night I honored 4 who I played poker with in another home game in Hancock Park way back in the day, before the garage was built! There's also a fifth player, who wasn't in attendance last night, he will be inducted at the next Saturday tournament that he attends.
Here are the honored players...
I have to say, I was truly humbled and grateful that so many people, especially the inductees, appreciated the gesture so much. There are lots more players to get into the Hall, if you've been playing for more than a couple of years - have no fear, there is a spot for you!
And then it was time to throw down!
Action was fast and furious from the beginning. Players were absolutely not shy about getting all of their chips in the middle. Believe it or not we set another record, with 7 busts before the 1st break.
But all was not lost for these cast-off degenerate gamblers, a cash game started up in the garage - and it would go on past midnight, with everyone who busted getting a chance to keep the gamble going.
The fifth table finally broke as the 2nd break approached. By the time the third break rolled around we were down to three tables, and shortly there after down to two tables of 8.
As 11pm came and went, it was finally final table time.
Our FT bubble, Kat, received a lotto scratcher for her efforts, as did the next two players who busted. Our unfortunate money bubble was long time PSP cash game resident Stuve, who detests tournaments but came to play in honor of the anniversary. By busting on the bubble he had his feelings towards tournaments reinforced no doubt, even with two $5 scratchers to ease the pain - I believe neither one was a winner.
And then it was money time. First to cash, getting his buy-in back, was Legacy player Tony. Tony also picked up his Main Event cash share from my little foray in June.
Next out in sixth place for $100 was one time massive chip leader Nick who took a massive bad beat earlier on to see himself crippled before being out shortly thereafter.
Next to cash was yours truly. I was super happy to go so deep in such a big event after having to organize and host.
And then there were four...
Finishing in 4th place for $160 and the glory of once again lasting longer than the host, was Palmdale resident and Legacy player Allen Q.
It was at this point, just before 1230am, that the host humbly suggested looking at the ICM numbers, as the blinds were high enough to put the average stack at around 10 big blinds.
Mike P. had a little bit more in chips, so he got $400. Colin and Ian each collected $380. And then the battle for the TOC seat was on!
Colin was first to bust, but stuck around to watch the conclusion.
In the end, it was the cards more than anything that dictated the outcome - and for the second time this year, this man took it down...
Nicely done Ian! Now you also get 10K in bonus chips in the TOC in January.
As usual, I want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who came out, and this time made an extra special tournament absolutely fantastic. I'm very honored and humbled to have such a great group of friends who always make the often stressful activity of poker tournaments WAY more fun than they should be.
Special thanks to Bryan for bringing in new players Mike Y. and Ryan. Hope you guys had fun and will email me to get on the Evite list.
Speaking of the Evite list, you all may have noticed that it's grown quite a bit bigger this year. This is unfortunately a bit of a concern because I simply can't host a 40+ player tournament every month. It really is a massive amount of effort and work, and ends up taking the bulk of the weekend. I do love it, I just can't do it every month.
So with this simple truth, I am going to have to do a couple of things.
For right now, I'm going to have to insist on a moratorium on new players. We've been so fortunate this year to have such an influx of a ton of super nice folks join our game, but I want to make sure that everyone already on the list has a better chance to get into a game from here on out - because I will be capping entries at 27.
So no more new players please. I will reevaluate for next year, but for now, if they've never played at Pepper Street before, I'm afraid we are plum out of room. The one exception to this would be if a spouse or significant other, brother/sister/father/mother/18+ year old kid wants to play who hasn't before. That I would allow. Otherwise - NO NEW PLAYERS PLEASE. That will likely change sometime down the road, but for now, that's the way it is.
(Another exception - Charlie wanted to bring a new player last time, I said no, and then one of Bryan's new players just showed up basically unannounced. So Charlie, your friend is the last new player I will allow, for awhile!)
The other thing I'm going to have to do, and this kind of sucks for people who just got in under the wire, is send out two waves of Evites - with the first wave going out to long time regulars and regulars of the past couple of years. The second wave then going out to everyone else. The first wave will be sent until 10 seats are filled, leaving 17 spots open for the second wave that includes everyone else, first come first served.
I don't think this will be too bad for non Hold-Em tournaments, these events always draw considerably less players. For example next month it's Crazy Pineapple (same as Hold-Em but 3 hole cards and discard one after the flop).
Our next event is Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7pm - and as just mentioned - it's Crazy Pineapple! This means some fun tropical surprises, including our famous Tiki Kings Poker Chips and Plaques.
Hope you can come out and play a slightly different game that's a heck of a lot of fun!
Until then, peace and we out!
 |
| Like a thick layer cake. |
No, your eyes are not deceiving you, it was going to be another five table night, this time with a record 40 players!
And this tournament was also a special occasion! It was 10 years to the day of the first ever tournament report on this blog, and also we were inducting the inagural class of the Pepper Street Pepper Legacy Hall of Fame. Read this post here to find out the impetus and reasons for the Hall.
There are quite a few players who have been playing here since the very beginning, but last night I honored 4 who I played poker with in another home game in Hancock Park way back in the day, before the garage was built! There's also a fifth player, who wasn't in attendance last night, he will be inducted at the next Saturday tournament that he attends.
Here are the honored players...
 |
| Photo courtesy of Jeff G. |
 |
| Photos courtesy Jeff R. |
I have to say, I was truly humbled and grateful that so many people, especially the inductees, appreciated the gesture so much. There are lots more players to get into the Hall, if you've been playing for more than a couple of years - have no fear, there is a spot for you!
And then it was time to throw down!
 |
| Charlie's Crazy Call - Photo Courtesy Michael K. |
Action was fast and furious from the beginning. Players were absolutely not shy about getting all of their chips in the middle. Believe it or not we set another record, with 7 busts before the 1st break.
But all was not lost for these cast-off degenerate gamblers, a cash game started up in the garage - and it would go on past midnight, with everyone who busted getting a chance to keep the gamble going.
The fifth table finally broke as the 2nd break approached. By the time the third break rolled around we were down to three tables, and shortly there after down to two tables of 8.
 |
| Nick's big ass mountain of chips. |
 |
| But first, lemme take a selfie! |
And then it was money time. First to cash, getting his buy-in back, was Legacy player Tony. Tony also picked up his Main Event cash share from my little foray in June.
Next out in sixth place for $100 was one time massive chip leader Nick who took a massive bad beat earlier on to see himself crippled before being out shortly thereafter.
Next to cash was yours truly. I was super happy to go so deep in such a big event after having to organize and host.
And then there were four...
Finishing in 4th place for $160 and the glory of once again lasting longer than the host, was Palmdale resident and Legacy player Allen Q.
It was at this point, just before 1230am, that the host humbly suggested looking at the ICM numbers, as the blinds were high enough to put the average stack at around 10 big blinds.
Mike P. had a little bit more in chips, so he got $400. Colin and Ian each collected $380. And then the battle for the TOC seat was on!
Colin was first to bust, but stuck around to watch the conclusion.
In the end, it was the cards more than anything that dictated the outcome - and for the second time this year, this man took it down...
Nicely done Ian! Now you also get 10K in bonus chips in the TOC in January.
As usual, I want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who came out, and this time made an extra special tournament absolutely fantastic. I'm very honored and humbled to have such a great group of friends who always make the often stressful activity of poker tournaments WAY more fun than they should be.
Special thanks to Bryan for bringing in new players Mike Y. and Ryan. Hope you guys had fun and will email me to get on the Evite list.
Speaking of the Evite list, you all may have noticed that it's grown quite a bit bigger this year. This is unfortunately a bit of a concern because I simply can't host a 40+ player tournament every month. It really is a massive amount of effort and work, and ends up taking the bulk of the weekend. I do love it, I just can't do it every month.
So with this simple truth, I am going to have to do a couple of things.
For right now, I'm going to have to insist on a moratorium on new players. We've been so fortunate this year to have such an influx of a ton of super nice folks join our game, but I want to make sure that everyone already on the list has a better chance to get into a game from here on out - because I will be capping entries at 27.
So no more new players please. I will reevaluate for next year, but for now, if they've never played at Pepper Street before, I'm afraid we are plum out of room. The one exception to this would be if a spouse or significant other, brother/sister/father/mother/18+ year old kid wants to play who hasn't before. That I would allow. Otherwise - NO NEW PLAYERS PLEASE. That will likely change sometime down the road, but for now, that's the way it is.
(Another exception - Charlie wanted to bring a new player last time, I said no, and then one of Bryan's new players just showed up basically unannounced. So Charlie, your friend is the last new player I will allow, for awhile!)
The other thing I'm going to have to do, and this kind of sucks for people who just got in under the wire, is send out two waves of Evites - with the first wave going out to long time regulars and regulars of the past couple of years. The second wave then going out to everyone else. The first wave will be sent until 10 seats are filled, leaving 17 spots open for the second wave that includes everyone else, first come first served.
I don't think this will be too bad for non Hold-Em tournaments, these events always draw considerably less players. For example next month it's Crazy Pineapple (same as Hold-Em but 3 hole cards and discard one after the flop).
Our next event is Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7pm - and as just mentioned - it's Crazy Pineapple! This means some fun tropical surprises, including our famous Tiki Kings Poker Chips and Plaques.
Hope you can come out and play a slightly different game that's a heck of a lot of fun!
Until then, peace and we out!
