A beautiful and brisk Burbank afternoon unfolded on a Saturday in the Garage Around Back, and 14 eager degenerate gamblers gathered 'round for some good old fashioned cash game action.
The chips were flying, both at the mix games table and at the No-Limit Hold-Em only table. And before we knew it, 5 hours had come and gone, and it was time to break out a different set of chips for the Tournament of Champions.
But what a set of chips though! Staring back at the players, was other players! Legacy Players who have now found a permanent home on the faces of some of the chips in Pepper Streets newest tournament set!
Don't worry, if you don't see your face, there's a good chance it will show up down the road in the furture.
So all of these chips had to be bagged and tagged. Turns out every tournament at Pepper Street is actually a two day event for the winners... with day 2 being the TOC!
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| Plus some hardware for the winner! |
And so we were underway!
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| Photo Credit: Dog |
Several hours passed, the sun went down - and it wasn't too late before we had lost 11 players and it was final table time!
I was having a great tournament and playing well as the bubble approached, but my QQ ran into KK and then I flopped a straight and nut flush draw along with an over that was good - all the chips went in and I bricked out and shortly thereafter was out.
With four players left they agreed on a bubble safety and the remaining players were in the money!
Barbara was next out and got $50 for her trouble, not bad for a free roll! And then there were three...
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| A hand from earlier, Dan L had Mike P on the ropes, flopping 2 pair - but the Q hit on the river. |
Stuver was out next - he had attended every cash game so he got the TOC invite and managed to spin up a 30K starting stack (when the avg starting stack was 40K) to a third place finish and a $200 pay day.
And then we were heads-up!
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| Bracelet on the line! |
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| This time Mike had Jason on the ropes, but the river gave Jason broadway! |
The battle was a good half hour - but when the dust settled, this guy was left standing.
Mike had a tremendous year, consistently going deep, as well as taking down a tournament and narrowly missing out on Player of the Year, and this was the culmination of those great results - Congratulations my man, well deserved!
Jason was pleased enough to finish second for $300. Mike got the bracelet and a $450 payout.
A huge thanks to everyone who came out for a fantastic poker marathon - from the cash game players to the TOC runners - it was a truly great day and I'm super grateful to have such a great bunch of poker enthusiasts who win or lose, always make it fun!
And now it's time to get going with a brand new year of the pokers! Our first monthly of the year will be Saturday, January 25th, stay tuned for the evite!
Until then, peace and we out!
