Chop That Pot

Tonight, Randall and Wesley chopped the pot and shared 1st and 2nd place monies, but bragging rights of first place belonged to Randall. Marty took 3rd place, while Reggie took fourth place.

We had our largest field of the history of the game ? 25 players. Two last-minute additions did more than offset a single last-minute cancellation.

Three Table Start

The tournament got underway at 7:20. We had to blind in Dan until he arrived shortly thereafter. This seems to be a re-occurring theme with Dan - check the recaps of both the March and April tournaments.

The main table was comprised of nine players: Reggie, Stanley, Nick, Nicholas, Robyn, Shawn, Arnold, Kevin and Dan.

The back table had eight players: Larry., Rodney, Jesse, Rachel, Scott, Randall, Jackson and Brian.

The "TV" table also had eight players: Daniel., Marty, Ernie, Lorinda, Marjorie, Wesley, Geoff and Jeff.

The main table was the site of the first four eliminations. The sharks were hungry.

Arnold was the one of the last minute additions, but his stay was unfortunately short. At 7:35 he was eliminated by Kevin. Arnold held and the flop came and the turn came giving Arnold a straight. Arnold moved all in which Kevin called, revealing . The river was an giving Kevin the winning full house.

Next out was Stanley who held against Robyn?s . Stanley flopped two pair, but lost when another appeared on the turn giving Robyn a set.

Shawn was eliminated by Nicolas shortly thereafter. Shawn held and made a pair of kings, but was beaten on the river when Nicolas backed into a flush holding .

Ernie was randomly selected to fill the vacancy at the main table at 7:54, but lasted just 15 minutes. Holding he lost to Robyn?s when Robyn made a pair of nines.

Jackson was the first eliminated from the rear table at 8:25. He held while Larry had . Eddie tells it best himself: ?Finding himself short-stacked again, Jackson goes all-in after Larry raises 20 units on 7-8-10 flop. A call by Jackson would be more than half his stack, therefore he stubs his big toe and heads home early again.?

Jeff was the first eliminated from the TV table at 8:35. Jeff found himself short stacked and went all-in with 33 units and holding a . Marjorie called with . Marjorie flopped another , and no help came for Jeff. Jeff proceeded to pass out on the lawn and lose his cell phone. The heat proved too much for him.

Three minutes later it was back to the main table for the next elimination. Kevin, the first to eliminate someone was himself a victim. Kevin had lost three earlier hands to flushes, and was short-stacked. Kevin made a pair of kings on the flop, but Dan also held a king with the addition of having paired his 6. The final blow was two pair, but the flushes were truly the mortal blows.

The next four eliminations came in quick succession. Brian?s full house on the river beat Jesse?s 3-of-a-kind at the rear table at 8:50. About the same time, Nicolas was eliminated at the main table when Reggie made an ace-high flush.

A few minutes later, Dan was eliminated by Robyn at the main table when he paired threes on the flop, bet, and was called by Robyn who had a double-ended straight draw. A seven came on the turn to give Robyn a straight, and to her delight Dan went all in with about 70 chips. Dan had an flush draw to escape, but missed.

Again, a few minutes later, Brian is forced to go all-in with when he hits a pair of fours on the flop, but loses to Larry?s ace-high straight. Brian?s real loss occurred on the previous hand where he had and part of the flop showed . ?All-in!? he cries. Larry calls revealing a set of threes. Neither spades nor a five came on the turn or river to save the day for Brian.

Shuffle Up and Deal

We were down to 14 players. It was time to consolidate down to two tables of seven.

Reggie, Robin, Nick, Wesley, Randal, Rachel, and Marjorie sat at the main table. Lorinda, Daniel, Scott, Larry, Geoff, Marty, and Rodney comprised the back table. A game of no-limit hold?em broke out on the TV table for the dearly departed.

Lorinda was out soon after consolidation, at 9:05. She held against Daniel?s . A variety pack came on the board, and Daniel won with an ace-high.

Nick was next out at 9:10. He held and went all in when another was the top card on the flop. But Robyn called with , out-kicking Nick to the wall. Nick had almost been eliminated by Rachel a few hands earlier. Nick and Rachel were all-in before the flop, Nick with against Rachel?s . Nick backed into a spade flush on the turn or river, severely crippling Rachel.

Five minutes later, Scott was ousted from the back table. He held and Larry held . came on the flop, Larry bet 20, and Scott went all-in with 38 more. Larry called and his aces held up.

At 9:30, Marjorie was lured into going all-in with a draw. Her draw failed to hit and she had the third best hand, admitting it was a ?poor choice.?

A few minutes before 10:00, Rachel was eliminated by Wesley. She had managed to fight back after being crippled earlier by Nick. Short-stacked, Wesley went all in with and she called with . An ace came on the flop, securing Wesley the hand.

The Final Table

We sat nine players at the final table: Reggie, Robyn, Geoff, Larry, Marty, Randall, Wesley, Daniel and Rodney.

Geoff was next out, eliminated by Marty. Geoff held , Marty . A came on the turn and an on the river to seal the hand for Marty.

At 10:19 Rodney and Daniel were eliminated on the same hand by Reggie. Reggie led off the pre-flop betting with a significant raise. Daniel went all-in with a few more chips, and Rodney called with his short stack. All players revealed an . Reggie had the top kicker with a , Daniel with a , and Rodney had a suited . The fourth came on the flop, but no one paired their kicker. Reggie raked all the chips into his formidable stacks.

The six remaining players ground on for another 25 minutes until Robyn was eliminated by Randall. Robyn was short-stacked and went all in with , but the blinds were so big that Randall only had to put in about 45 more chips to call. He revealed a ludicrous , but it proved to be a winner when a came on the turn and a on the river.

Larry lasted another 5 minutes when he was forced to go all-in due to the fact that the big blind ate a large portion of his stack. Marty raised Larry all-in, and Larry ?ruefully? called. Marty revealed and Larry . Larry relates: ?The first two flop cards were hearts, raising my hopes, but no more hearts came. Marty paired fives and they held up.?

The Final Four

The final four consisted of Wesley, Randall, Marty and Reggie.

Reggie was the first out among the final four. He had an and went all-in. The blinds were so big, that it made sense for Wesley to call with suited since it cost only 75 more to call and the big blind was 120. The flop contained two queens, and save runner-runner aces, Reggie was finished. No aces came, and then there were three.

Marty was eliminated next by Wesley when Marty went all-in from the big-blind with , and Wesley called with . The board failed to help either player, and a meaningless came on the river to give Wesley a pair of aces.

Wesley had about a 3-1 chip advantage over Randall to start heads-up play, but Randall fought to even. At this point Wesley offered to chop the combined 1st and 2nd place prize money evenly, but continue to play to crown the titular 1st place winner. Randall agreed, causing the on-lookers to verbalize their disappointment in such an anticlimax.

On the first hand after the agreement, Wesley immediately went all-in with -. Randall immediately called with -. A laugh was shared, and another when Randall won with a pair of twos on the turn. Randall had nearly all the chips, leaving Wesley with about 80% of the big-blind. On the next hand Randall called the big-blind. Wesley had a - and Randall a -. Randall won it all when he paired his .