Another year has come and gone!
We are still waiting to see who will take down the TOC, which includes a $500 first place prize, a gorgeous Silver Poker Bling bracelet and soon to be a permanent spot on our PSP Plaque on the wall. The TOC is scheduled for Saturday, January 11 at 5pm.
There will be a cash game prior to the TOC, starting at NOON. $40-$60 buy-in, No-Limit Hold-Em only. Everyone is welcome.
TOC Players - if you play a minimum of 2 hours OR 2 buy-ins, you will receive an extra 5K in bonus chips for the TOC.
Stay tuned for the cash game Evite.
Very much looking forward to the throw down! Here is who is playing...
Nick B. was a holy terror in 2018 taking down multiple tournaments and the Tournament of Champions - securing his seat for the 2019 event. Unfortunately, for him, but fortunately for the other players wallets - he was mostly absent in 2019 so he will be starting with the standard 30K stack on Jan 11.
And then there's this guy. At some point a less ferocious player will make it into the TOC, but so far not yet. Despite his moving far away to beautiful Bell Flower, Mikey P. has returned again and again to crush souls and narrowly missed out on a second (or is it third) Player of the Year title. Regardless, he will be a force to be reckoned with, sporting a 40K stack and relentless 3 betting to go with it.
Finally, a softer player who will be easy to defeat in the TOC. Okay, not really, actually the complete opposite. Plus he's a raging asshole. Also gunning for the bracelet with 40K in chips, Jason H. will be kicking names and taking ass no doubt.
Every year it seems we have a player who breaks out and takes their game to a whole new level. This year it was this guy. Colin H. has applied himself and studied the game and his results speak for themselves. Sorry to out you brother, but it's obvious to anyone who is paying attention! He will be bringing his mad poker skillz and 40K in chips to the big dance, where everyone at this point will not be underestimating him.
Last year Nick B. was king of the mix games - this year it was this guy. Although thankfully he only played in a few tournaments, Frank C. will still be getting a bonus chip or two for taking down multiple titles - giving him 35K in starting chips to go to war with.
When Tony G. told me this was his first monthly win at PSP I could hardly believe it. He's been playing in my garage as long as I have - so mathematically he should have won several tournaments by now. In fact he has, quite a few SNG events and also more than one satellite - but 2019 was his first monthly. So that, along with his stellar attendance, gives him a seat and 40K in starting chips. Long overdue my friend!
Every year we always get a new player who swaggers in and says "hey this shit is easy" and proceeds to lay waste to the crusty and crabby vets. This year it was this guy. Eric P. took down two back to back events, his first two events! Yes, he ran hotter than the sun, but he also played very well and very much deserved both wins. Still, because he came on board late in the year, he's only getting 35K to start, the 5K bonus is for multiple wins. Still, if he plays and runs as good as he has in his short tenure here, he will be one to watch out for that's for sure.
Speaking of crusty and crabby (okay he's neither) vets - this guy rocked it in 2019 and culminated his outstanding results with an MTT takedown in October. He's also been killing it at the cash game. Allen R.'s near perfect attendance will net him 40K in starting chips.
We've seen a lot less of this fella, that would be the Dog, than we would've liked in 2019, but he did take the time to come in and dominate the November Dia de los Muertos event. So that takedown plus his Legacy status will give him 40K to start and rock on come the 11th.
Dan L. is a loyal player who reads the blog and had already secured his TOC seat via chip points - but then decided why not just saunter in late in the year and also make it official with an MTT takedown. Nice! He will get 40K in starting chips and yet another unpredictable and rather formidable opponent who could easily go all the way in this thing.
Here is our last MTT winner of the year - and I was just as surprised as I was with Tony's first monthly win that this was indeed Tommy O's very first monthly takedown at PSP. Tommy hasn't been around much in 2019, something about falling in love or some bullshit, so he only gets 30K to start, but it's actually more than he needs if he runs and plays as well as he did in December.
So that's it for seat winners in the TOC. This year I am forgoing a mega-satellite, so the only ones left to join these champions are the ones who paid attention and did their due diligence in the blog, racking up chip points and securing their spots. There's also a few who got in by other means.
First, there would be ME. I'm playing with y'all bitches and starting with 40K for my perfect attendance and dashing good looks or something.
Ken S. is joining us not because he was paying attention to anything, but because he won POY last year. He's getting 35K because he did attend 5 MTT's in 2019.
Randall S. likewise didn't pay any attention, but he is the highest scoring POY points player who did not win a tournament or POY itself. He gets 40K for excellent attendance.
Then there is Stuver who many of you may not know. He attended all 10 cash games that were played in 2019 and therefore he gets to play in the TOC. He will only start with 30K, but because he is a cash game player he is better than most of us and so it seems more than fair.
Ian T. doesn't miss a thing and he didn't miss the chance to get into the TOC via chip points. He gets 40K for rocking the points and the attendance.
Eric L. is another dangerous player in the mold of Mike P. and he also lives far away and he also pays very close attention to this blog. He will be joining us with 40K to start.
Barbara N. somewhat payed attention, but I did gently remind her that she had 11 chip points (you only need 8 to get into the TOC) because she is the heart and soul of our game and she's another Legacy player who has been playing in the garage as long as it has existed. She gets 40K to start.
And finally last but certainly not least - the indomitable Jerry C. for the first time in PSP history took down the Player of the Year race and did NOT win an MTT. I knew this was mathematically possible, but I had no idea I would live to see it! Congrats my man!
Jerry will be starting with a whopping 45K because he gets the attendance bonus PLUS an extra 5K for winning POY. Be thankful he didn't bink an MTT because if he had he would be starting with 50K.
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Okay so that's it for the upcoming TOC - but what about for 2020?
I'm making some biggish changes - and almost all of them follow one core principle - less work for me! Don't get me wrong, I love hosting and running my game - but I'm looking hard at reducing the work burden this time around.
TOC ENTRY - SUPER SIMPLIFIED
I'm jettisoning the whole collectable chip thing - I enjoyed it, it was fun, players appreciated it - it was a ton of work and I think the game will be fine without it. (More below on that).
This also includes getting rid of the Chip Points for TOC entry. Also no more Mega Satellite.
From 2020 on you get into the TOC one of two ways.
1 - You win a Saturday MTT, of which there are 12-15 a year.
2 - You finish in the top 10 of POY points of all players who do not win a Saturday MTT.
So there are 22-25 seats available in the TOC. 12-15 for MTT winners, 10 for non-seat winners.
TOC Starting Stack is 30K. You can get extra chips one of 3 ways.
1 - If you are a Legacy player or if you play in 5 or more MTTs during the year you get an extra 5K.
2 - If you win more than one Saturday Monthly MTT, you get an extra 5K.
3 - If you are POY you get an extra 5K.
LEGACY INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT -
In December I will be hosting a Legacy player only tournament! Click here for the deets, scroll down to read all about it.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR -
Keeping Dr. Neau's Point Formula and spreadsheet. For your convenience, I've added a widget at the top of this blog so you can punch in your finish and buy-ins and see how many points you (and others) get per tournament! This also helps check me for mistakes on the spreadsheet if I make any entry errors. Thanks to Eric L. for finally getting it to work!
With the Player of the Year now the big difference is that the top 10 players who do not win an MTT will be eligible for the TOC.
VERY IMPORTANT - All tournaments will now have a SIGN-OUT SHEET. You must sign out to get your points. If you forget, you must come back and sign yourself out or text someone and have them do it. Once someone else has signed out, it's too late. DO NOT CONTACT OR BOTHER ME ABOUT IT.
Points are rounded up if someone forgets to sign out. (example: a tournament with 24 players and a player forgets to sign out - points still reflect a 24 person tournament even though there are only 23 names. The person who forgets to sign out gets ZERO points.)
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More CASH GAMES, Less Tournaments
The Friday Night Short List Tournament will rarely, if ever, occur in 2020. Instead, if I have an open Friday night (or Saturday night for that matter), it will be a cash game. Tournaments are a LOT more work for me and cash games (despite the lower attendance numbers) are a LOT more fun for everyone involved.
When half or more of everyone who leaves my garage has either profit, break even, or even some money back in their pocket - it just makes for a more fun experience. One day, some of you tournament only people will figure this out and join us. I look forward to that.
All Cash Games at Pepper Street in 2020 will be Dealers Choice after 3 hours of play. I'm willing to take a hit on attendance numbers, but No Limit Hold-Em all night long is BORING.
Here is also what's new for Cash games in 2020 -
$40-$60 buy-in instead of just $50. Same top off and reload rules apply. Max buy-in if felted is $120.
Bomb Pots, a High Hand Bonus and Kill Pots are all new for 2020! Of course cash game regulars know that Bomb Pots have been going on for awhile, but now it's official! Click HERE to read all the deets on what's new in Cash Games at Pepper Street.
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NEW Tournaments - The plan for the Saturday Multi-Table Tournaments in 2020 is to add some new stuff, specifically two new events! Rain or shine, life busy or not - it will be mostly No Limit Hold-Em. If there is time in my life, I will also add 5 more NON-NLHE events.
10 No-Limit Hold-Em Events (HAPPENING FOR SURE)
(HAPPENING IF LIFE ISN'T TOO CRAZY, TWO OF THESE WILL HAPPEN FOR SURE)
2 H.O.R.S.E. (Hold-Em, Omaha/8, Razz, Seven Stud, Eight or Better Seven Stud)
1 Omaha/8 (Omaha 8 or better)
1 PLO (Pot Limit Omaha High Only)
1 Short-Deck. (2s-5s removed, then NLHE but a flush beats a full house)
As always, non-NLHE events are worth double POY points.
Also - I would love to have a "High Roller" tournament this year - but don't let the name scare you away. It would be so we could play with higher denom chips, the price point would be the same or maybe only a little more. I recently acquired another chip set (crazy I know) and they have bigger values - check it out! And check out all my other insanely exciting chip videos too lol...
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Wheel O' Fun is DONE.
Putting the Wheel out to pasture. I've enjoyed it, but it's more work and one more thing for me to remember and keep up on. It may come back some day if players incessantly hound me about it.
$200 remains in the jackpot fund and $120 of it will be awarded to a lucky player who get's their Tens Full or better Full House cracked by a better hand in a monthly tournament. The remaining $80 will be divided evenly as a table share, any odd amount left over will go to the hand winner.
Both players in the hand must use both of their hole cards. Players at the table and at the tournament but not seated are still eligible for a table share, players who have not shown up for the tournament yet are NOT eligible. This will be a one time thing - once the jackpot money is gone, it's gone!
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Collectable Chips are HISTORY.
Yes, it's sad - and it was fun - but I'm done purchasing monthly collectable chips for you all.
The good news is - if you collected all of 2018 and 2019, your collection is complete!
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River Jackpot - Over before it started.
Yeah, that whole thing was kind of a bust. I think players actually enjoyed it - but it was a silly amount of work for a payoff that was kind of whatever.
Still it was fun flipping for that $148 that was left over! Stephen B. was the lucky winner - be sure to read last month's blog to learn about that.
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NEW RULES
1 - Mandatory ICM Check when it gets late!
For every tournament when 5 players remain or at 10pm* (whichever happens first) there will be a mandatory stop down break to check ICM values of all remaining stacks.
Players are then free to decide by anonymous vote, if they want to take the ICM payouts. They absolutely have the option to refuse and play on.
If the ICM deal is taken, the chip leader will be declared the winner. Of course players are free to negotiate with the title as well if they prefer in making a deal.
For short list $60 tournaments, if the ICM deal is taken, the chip leader will be declared the winner will be awarded a 1st Place chip.
* At the designated stop time a card will be drawn from a shuffled deck to determine the remaining number of hands before the stop down actually begins.
2 - Surrendering stack at break is now separate from previous re-entry.
Still only one re-entry allowed pre-break. But if you bust and re-enter and then find yourself short at the break, you have the option to surrender and re-enter again.
If you bust out twice before the break - you are OUT. But, if you bust for the second time on the last hand before the break, you then have an option to re-enter at the break.
ALSO - for the Main Event in July and the final Monthly tournament of the year in December, you may now bust twice before the break and re-enter up to two times. Same rule then applies for the break, you may surrender your stack if you are short and re-enter regardless of previous bust-outs. The last hand bust-out before the break exception also applies.
REMEMBER - If you surrender your stack at the break this counts against you HEAVILY in Player of the Year points.
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Anyways - I think that's it for now as for what's going to be new in 2020.
Our first monthly tournament is mostly likely going to be Saturday Jan 25 at 5pm - it will be No-Limit Hold-Em, hope to see you there and I can't wait to get going!
Peace we out!
