At a Glance

Jeff Salazar was the big winner of tonight's tournament. He made the first and last outs, eliminating a total of seven players single handedly. Early on he earned a rap for pushing the table around. In the final heads-up battle, he faced Larry Knight, reprising the final pair of the October 8th tournament. However, this time Steve came out on top, claiming his first tournament victory.

"The Two Tables"

The tournament got underway about quarter after 7:00. We had to blind in Stanley and Dan until they arrived shortly thereafter.

Reggie, Jeff, Daniel, Shawn, Jackson, Scott, Nick, and Dan made up the front table. All the women and six previous champions ended up seated at the rear table: Larry, Brian, Wesley, Shelly, Rachel, Lorinda, Marjorie, and Stanley.

The first out was Reggie at 7:26, who was slow played by Jeff. Reggie had - while Jeff had -. The flop had -, Jeff checked, Reggie bet 40, Jeff raised all-in, which Reggie called. The turn and river failed to help Reggie, and he was out just eight minutes in.

Play continued for 45 minutes until the next player was eliminated, several falling in a hurry. At the back table, Stanley was next out at 8:11 having his - beaten by Shelly's - when a came on the flop and neither player improved further. At 8:15, Rachel's suited - lost to Lorinda's - as the flop came ----.

At the front table, Shawn went out at 8:17, eliminated by Daniel. Five minutes later at the back table Shelly eliminated Wesley for her second kill. Shelly's - made two pair when the flop also contained -. Wesley went all in with his - after the turn reveled a , but it was a losing cause.

At 8:30 Jackson was short stacked and "desperately went all in with - suited". Jeff killed him off with -.

Shelly's reign of terror at the back table ended at 8:55. She had against Brian's -. After the flop, she had both straight and flush draws, but neither materialized.

An hour and 45 minutes in, the tables were consolidated after Scott was eliminated. He had raked only two pots, but still out lasted 7 other players.

The Final Table

The final table consisted, in order, of Daniel, Dan, Marjorie, Brian, Jeff, Larry, Lorinda, and Nick. The front and back tables each contributed an equal four players to the final table. There was no need to move players between tables to maintain a balance.

Marjorie was the first out at the final table at 9:02. Short stacked, she was forced to go all in with , but was beaten by Nick's unsuited -.

Seven continued to play for another half hour, until Brian was eliminated by Larry at 9:36. The blinds were at 15/30, and Larry raised 30, which Brian called with -. The flop came --, which prompted Brian to go all in with 113. Larry called, revealing -. The turn yielded a and the turn a , failing to help Brian. Larry's two pair wins the hand.

Ten minutes later, Jeff took out Daniel and Nick on the same hand. Nick raised all-in with -, Daniel re-raised all-in with -, and after deliberation, Jeff called with -. The rail birds gathered round to hoot and holler at the most action packed hand of the night. The flop came --, to the great consternation of Daniel and Nick. The turn and river yielded -, assurring Jeff's victory and prompting angry comment cards from Daniel and Nick.

The Final Four

The final four consisted of Lorinda trying to win back-to-back tournaments, Larry aiming for a 3rd title, and Dan and Jeff looking to improve upon past second place finishes. All four are grizzled veterans of the Friday night tournaments.

Dan was lucky to have made the final four. He called several big bets in an earlier hand trying to make a straight, catching it on the river to suck out on Jeff. Jeff got his revenge at straight-up 10:00 when Dan made more questionable calls, failed to hit and was eliminated.

The remaining three battled on for 20 more minutes, at which point Lorinda was being eaten alive by the 30/60 blinds and had to go all-in with - in her hand and 110 chips in her stack. With the chip lead, Jeff called and turned over a - greatly reducing Lorinda's outs. A came on the flop, but Lorinda's reprieve was short lived when a appeared on the turn.

Jeff and Larry battled for twenty more minutes, trading the chip lead back and forth. After a while, Larry started forcing the action. In a memorable hand he called with . He made a flush on the turn, wresting away the chip lead. However, Jeff took back the chip lead soon after.

The tournament ended when Larry decided to go all in with , and Jeff called with . The flop came giving Jeff a pair of deuces. The turn came and the river was , giving Jeff a wheel and the victory.