A gorgeous day, 72° with a gentle breeze and bright blue skies in Burbank meant that it must be December in LA! I broke a sweat putting up Christmas decorations and also setting up the garage for our 11th monthly tournament this year.
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| Oversized Royals FTW |
The evening started out promising for yours truly, with a nasty suck out versus Ian. But after the break things quickly went South, I flopped the stone cold nuts versus Sheyna and she called off with a nut flush draw and hit on the river and that was that.
Elsewhere around the room, action was fast and furious and we actually had two bust outs before the break.
Thank goodness, pizza arrived on time and everything went smoothly this time around. Meanwhile I bided my time and put out the word that a cash game would be happening, and this power of positive thinking lead to… Wait for it… An actual cash game!
As you can see, the action was furious and fun. I stacked off to Mike C when he made the most unlikely full house is versus my rivered flush. No problemo, Reload!
There was also a spectacular three way all in, see the picture above, where it turned out Kyle and Teresa I believe had the exact same hand, the stone cold nuts. Stephen B had a monster draw that didn’t get there.
I was a bit neglectful in my tournament Director duties, but I know all the remaining players have done this many times before, and I really appreciate them balancing tables as it got to the final table time.
Jeff S was our FT bubble, with Jesse busting out in ninth, Jerry busting in 8th and joining the cash game, and Jeff G was our unfortunate bubble, though he did get a lot of points for such a high finish.
Colin was the first to cash, getting his buy in back and a hearty handshake.
Next out was long time no see PSP vet Andrew, who scooped up a hundo for his trouble in fifth place.
Moose brother Phillip busted next in fourth place, pocketing $120 plus a bounty or two. Nicely done Mr. P!
Visitor from up north Mr. Eric exited next in third for $180 plus bounties. Great that he got some monies after traveling so far to play! Interestingly, even though he has a TOC seat confirmed because of his POY victory last year, he also qualifies this year based on points alone. Even though he hasn’t played a ton tournaments, his finishes have been high enough to give him a lot of points.
And then there were two, I did not get a heads up photo because I was knee-deep in the cash game, but it was Joe and Art. I believe, but I’m sure I will be corrected if I am wrong, that once again Joe had all the chips. A giant mountain. But after a few double-ups, Art was right back in it. Art who is well-versed in the art of the deal so to speak, mentioned that it was $100 pay jump between 1st and 2nd, and so Joe took the offer of an even chop and locked up the cheddar. $330 each!
Joe also graciously gave the seat and first place points to Art, a very gracious thing to do. Joe is a really good guy. He has become a fearsome player on the felt this year, but his gesture here tells you everything about his priorities as a person and very much exemplifies the spirit of our little game.
And so, another great night in the books! Thanks to the many gamblers who came out and made the evening a great time as always. I especially appreciate the true degenerates who threw down for cash after they busted the tournament!
As this is our 11th tournament of the year, we still have to play one more and thankfully it looks like the weekend of the 17th is open for me. I realize lots of you won’t be able to make it because of the holidays, but if you are around I hope you will come. Our Christmas tournament is always a blast, with the appropriate music and special surprises abounding. There will also be a very special twist, bomb pots! That’s right, the best thing to ever happen to cash games is coming to tournaments! Be sure to read the Evite carefully for all the details!
Until then, if I don’t see you have the very happiest of holidays and a joyous new year!
Peace and we out!
