Tue. 2/27 Recap

A healthy 7 people showed up at the Brittany Farms Satellite. After a couple of hours of playing, some pizza eating and no one dropping, the action sped up. Stu Mitchell, the early chip leader lost back to back hands to go from penthouse to outhouse. With A-5 in his hand and two 5's on the board, Stu bet $100. D-Rose went over the top to $200 and Stu called. The river was a 9 and D-Rose flipped over 9-9 for a boat. The next hand, Conlon, who had barely played a hand had 8-8 and was all in vs Stu's K-J. The 8's held and Stu was out. Now with chips to play with, Conlon called Vince's all in on the next hand. Vince showed A-J to Conlon's K-K. Vince hit an Ace to knock Conlon back down. The next hand, Conlon went all in with A-J, Loucks called with A-6 and hit 4 straight diamonds for the A-high flush and Conlon was out. It was an all or nothing night for Conlon.

Nick's new found chips didn't last long as he called D-Rose's all in. Rose had flopped an Ace high straight and Nick had Q-J two pair but did not hit the boat, finishing 5th.

There were four left for a while when Bearman, now the short stack went all in with 400 chips and A-Q suited over the top of Randall's 200 chip raise. D-Rose was not phased and called anyhow with A-K. Randall laid down. Two K's and Two 9's later and it was another boat for Rose and Bearman finishes 4th after seeing his first river of the night, losing to Rose for 2nd straight tourney.

Three way lasted a long time with Masi down to his last few chips twice and doubling up courtesy of D-Rose. Before he doubled up twice, he was dealt a blow as 52 Irving 2nd time player Scott Randall smelled a big-time bluff by Masi and called it, shrinking Vince's chips. 3rd time was not a charm as Vince went all in with A-8 and Rose called with Q-9, hit a 9 on flop and held, Masi finished 3rd.

Randall and Rose not only battling for the cash but also for the 52 Irving Poker Tourney lead. After Randall survived an all in when the board hit all clubs, Dave Rose put the night to bed calling Randall's all in with 4-4. Scott had 7-8 and the 4's held, giving Rose his 2nd straight win. Randall has two 2nds in his 2 tourneys.

Mitchell 1-7

Conlon 2-7

Loucks 3-7

Bearman 4-7

Masi 5-7

Randall 7-7

Rose 9-7

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 2/26

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes

1) David Rose 1.100 22-20 2 2

1) Scott Randall 1.000 14-14 0 2

3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .974 37/38 2 4

4) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1

5) Jason McCallum .710 22/31 2 2

6) Vince Masi .692 18/26 1 1

7) Brett Edgerton .667 16/24 0 1

8) Matt Ketaineck .469 15/32 0 1

9) David Bearman .464 13/28 0 0

10) Kevin Conlon .385 5/13 0 0

11) Matt Willis .368 7/19 0 0

12) Nick Loucks .286 4/14 0 0

13) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $90

Reminder.. Next Tourney at 52 Irving on Wednesday, March 5th at 11AM

ZSZUP

- Bearman

Tue. 2/26 Recap

Hey all -
Before I begin with the recap, I want to send out the next 2 poker events. Bearman will be hosting Wednesday (tomorrow) at 8:00 PM. Next week's tourney will be another morning event as we will play at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, March 5th. There's a number of you who work late, have the day off or have career days who can make it happen!

We had our first 5-person tournament in the 52 Irving Poker League this season. Ketaineck, Willis, Edge, McCallum and Clutch braved the dreary day to play some poker action. This was a ho-hum event as there weren't any big spectacular hands like we on the 18th. JMAC, coming off his impressive victory in the Bristol WSOP, was the first to the rail. As the blinds got higher, JMAC went all-in with his pocket 7's and Willis called with his pocket queens. They both made a flush when the board had 4 diamonds but Willis obviously had the higher flush.

Willis was next to go as he went all with KQ but Clutch had ace 9. An ace hit on the flop and Willis failed to improve and he was sent to the rail in another disappointing finish after a strong 2007. Edge, Ketaineck and Clutch played 3-handed for awhile. Clutch was low stack for much of the time until Ketaineck doubled him up. Ketaineck got very healthy again when Edge went all-in with AK and Ketaineck called with A6. The turn came a 6 and no king hit on the board, sending Edge to a 3rd place finish.

Clutch and Ketaineck played for at least an hour heads up, waiting each other out but Ketaineck held a slight chip lead throughout most of that session. The hand that broke the stalemate was when Clutch went all-in with 99 and Ketaineck called with A8. An eight hit on the flop but no more action came for Ketaineck and that left him cripped. After one double-up, the tourney came to an end on the day's best hand. Both players limped in. The flop came 4c5c8s. Clutch pushed all-in and Ketaineck quickly called. Ketaineck flipped over the straight with 6h7c and Clutch flipped over Kc2c for the flush draw. Ketaineck was a 66.8% favorite but when the turn came the ace of clubs, the tournament was over as Clutch took it down and Ketaineck was able to pick up his first cash of the season.

Here's the listed order from Feb. 26th:
5th place - Jason McCallum - 1 point
4th place - Matt Willis - 2 points
3rd place - Brett Edgerton - 3 points
2nd place - Matt Ketaineck - 5 points (4 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Clutch - 7 points (5 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 2/26
BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.000 13-13 1 1
1) Scott Randall 1.000 7-7 0 1
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .974 37/38 2 4
4) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
5) Jason McCallum .710 22/31 2 2
6) Vince Masi .684 13/19 1 1
7) Brett Edgerton .667 16/24 0 1
8) Kevin Conlon .500 3/6 0 0
9) Matt Ketaineck .469 15/32 0 1
10) David Bearman .429 9/21 0 0
11) Matt Willis .368 7/19 0 0
12) Stu Mitchell .143 1/7 0 0
12) Nick Loucks .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $76

Thanks,
Clutch

Mon. 2/18 Recap

Hey all
-OK, as always, before we get to the recap of the exciting action, I want to announce next week's tournaments. We have decided to have 2 tournaments because the schedule splits up nicely so that we can get just about everybody involved in next week's action. We will have a day tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 11:30am. We will have an evening tournament on Thursday, Feb. 28th at 7:30pm. Please schedule your lives accordingly (hehehe). Let me know if you have any questions!

Let me tell you how impressed I was by poker playing on Monday night. I was telling JMAC this morning that this was the best played tournament I've seen at 52 Irving! One sad note was that I lost my notes from last night's game, I can't find them anywhere so now I'm doing this strictly from memory...

Anyways to start the recap from Feb. 18th....We added one new player to the 52 Irving Poker League, as Scott Randall, fresh off his much-deserved promotion, joined in the fracas along with Clutch, DRose, Bearman, Willis, Ketaineck and McCrystal for a total of 7 players. We went at least an hour before anyone was knocked out however we did have quite an intriguing hand about a half hour in. Everybody but Clutch limped in on the blinds. Flop came 810J, there was a small bet and McCrystal, Randall and Ketaineck stayed in. The turn came a 7 and each player checked. The river inexplicably came a 9 showing a straight on the board. Randall made a bet for 50, then McCrystal came over the top for 100 more and then Randall raised all-in and after some debate McCrystal called and Randall flipped over the nuts with KQ to beat Ryan's Q high straight.

Ketaineck would be first to the rail when he was went all with K5 and Randall called with A9. When Ketaineck failed to improve he was the first one out and continues his 2008 slump after a tremendous 2007. Bearman and DROSE got caught up in the next memorable hand. Bearman raised under the gun and McCrystal and DROSE called. The flop came 778, both callers checked to Bearman who immediately went all in for his remaining 241 chips. McCrystal quickly folded but with 220 already in the pot, DROSE contemplated a call for well over a minute and finally decided the pot odds combined with the fact that he had Bearman easily covered, was too much to ignore and called. Bearman flipped over QQ and DROSE quickly found that he was a major 20.3% underdog (nearly 4-1) to win the hand. The turn came a harmless 4 but when an ace spiked on the river, Bearman was sent to the rail and DROSE may have exercised some serious demons when he finally put on a bad beat on someone.

With 5 players left, DROSE, Randall and McCrystal clearly had more chips that Willis and Clutch. What transpired next was one of the more memorable hands in 52 Irving history. Willis quickly losing chips to the blind went all in for his 143 chips. McCrystal and Randall called. The flop came A37. McCrystal bet 100 and Randall called leaving 200 in the side pot. The turn came an 8 and both players checked. The river came a 9 and Randall checked but McCrystal moved all in for his remaining 579 chips. Randall sat back and counted his chips and found that he had 575 left so a call and a lost would end his tournament. Randall hemmed and hawwed for a but while Willis desperately wanted to see what his fate was but considering all the betting and thinking going on, any casual observer would believe Willis's night was over. Finally Randall called and everybody sat up in their chair to see how this hand would play out. McCrystal flipped over K5 showing a complete bluff on his part, Randall flipped over Aces up (A3) to take the side pot and Willis flipped over a 79 showing two pair but not enough to beat Randall. McCrystal had tried the very impressive bluff which had it been successful, Willis would have tripled up. However Randall made a remarkable call eliminating Willis, who fails for the first time ever to not cash in consecutive tournaments played at 52 Irving.

With Willis out in 5th place and McCrystal quickly followed as he only had 4 chips left. He did last 2 all-ins but lost in his 3rd all-in when his pocket jacks didn't hold up 4-handed. That left Randall with well about half the chips, DROSE with about 1200 and Clutch had been able to crawl back to about 500. It was 3-handed for a little while but when Clutch went all-in with A10 against Randall's pocket sixes and didn't improve, Clutch was sent to the rail in 3rd place.

As Randall and DROSE started heads up, Randall had about a 2.5-1 chip lead. They played back and forth for a a little bit until the one hand defined their heads up action. Both players limped in. The flop came K39 rainbow. Randall bet, DROSE called. The turn came a king of hearts, putting two kings and two hearts on the board. Both players checked. The river came a 2 of hearts. DROSE bet, Randall went all-in and DROSE quickly called. Randall flipped over K8 showing a set of kings but DROSE flipped over 3h7h, showing the flush and Randall gave DROSE a ton of chips, leaving DROSE with a huge chip lead. The final hand came a few short hands later when Randall went all in with k5 againts DROSE's a9. Nobody paired up and DROSE picked up a big victory in the 52 Irving Poker League.

Combined with DROSE's 4-6 finish in his only other appearance this season, he improved to 13-13 on the season. Randall joins him on the top of the leaderboard as he debuts with a 7-7 finish. Clutch falls off the leaderboard for the first time at 30-33 (.909). Idle JMAC dropped to 4th while McCrystal rounds out the Top 5.

Here's the listed order from Feb. 18th:
7th place - Matt Ketaineck - 1 point
6th place - David Bearman - 2 points
5th place - Matt Willis - 3 points
4th place - Ryan McCrystal - 4 points
3rd place - Clutch - 5 points
2nd place - Scott Randall - 7 points (6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - David Rose - 9 points (7 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 2/18

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.000 13-13 1 1
1) Scott Randall 1.000 7-7 0 1
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .909 30/33 1 3
4) Jason McCallum .808 21/26 2 2
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Vince Masi .684 13/19 1 1
6) Brett Edgerton .684 13/19 0 1
8) Kevin Conlon .500 3/6 0 0
9) David Bearman .429 9/21 0 0
10) Matt Ketaineck .370 10/27 0 0
11) Matt Willis .357 5/14 0 0
12) Stu Mitchell .143 1/7 0 0
12) Nick Loucks .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $66

Thanks,
Clutch

One more thing!

Hey all -
I forgot the most important part!!! I always like to schedule the next tourney when I send out the recap. The next 52 Irving League tourney event will be a President's Day special. We have a TON of people off or out early and certainly we have possibilities of a double-header. For those of you who haven't had a chance to get in or only get in once, this might be a great opportunity to get in so you get your feet wet and get some at-bats. Please let me know if you can get in!!

Again that Monday, February 17th with hopes of starting no later than 7:30 so we can get our boy Ketaineck to bed at an early hour!!

Thanks, Clutch

Wed. 2/13 Recap

Hey all -
An ugly, wet day outside made a great day of poker inside. For the 3rd straight time following the initial league event, we had 2 newcomers to the event (which is great by the way, I love people coming out!). However, unlike the last 2 tourneys, the newcomers (Kevin Conlon and David Rose) were not the first two to the rail. Vinny Masil was the first to the rail after Clutch crippled him with a set over two pair and then JMAC finished him off a hand later.

Brett Edgerton was the next to lose after at least an hour of 5-handed. He was short stacked and when his AJ couldn't stand up to Clutch's KK, he was left with his first disappointing finish of the year. Kevin Conlon, whose play was very tough to read, finally succumbed when DROSE and Clutch called his all-in. They checked it down and Clutch caught two pair to send Conlon to .500 finish in his first event.

That left play 3-handed and although Clutch was the chip leader, both JMAC and DROSE had a fair number of chips. Play stayed 3-handed for awhile but DROSE eventually was bled dry and was forced all in with pocket sixes and when JMAC and Clutch both called him, he was doomed when Clutch again inexplicably caught 2 pair again and left the two roommates heads up.

Play was pretty cautious in the first 10-15 hands of heads up and you could tell it would to a crescendo. And sure enough, those loving poker match will enjoy the last hand. From the button JMAC made a minimum raise and Clutch smooth called. The flop came 6c/9c/7s. Clutch went all in and JMAC quickly called. Clutch turned over a Qc5c and JMAC turned over As8c. Clutch had the flush draw and the inside straight, while JMAC had an ace and open ended straight draw. If you do put that card situation into the cardplayer.com Poker Calculator, Clutch was 49.60% favorite to JMAC's 48.59, with 1.81% chance of a tie. The turn came the King of spades and when the river came King of hearts, Clutch was sent to the rail and JMAC became the first 2-time winner this year at 52 Irving.

Here are final results from Feb. 13:
6th place - Vince Masi - 1 point
5th place - Brett Edgerton - 2 points
4th place - Kevin Conlon - 3 points
3rd place - David Rose - 4 points
2nd place - Clutch - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Jason McCallum - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 2/3
BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .962 25/26 1 3
2) Jason McCallum .808 21/26 2 2
3) Ryan McCrystal .846 11/13 0 1
4) Vince Masi .684 13/19 1 1
4) Brett Edgerton .684 13/19 0 1
6) David Rose .667 4/6 0 0
7) Kevin Conlon .500 3/6 0 0
7) David Bearman .500 7/14 0 0
9) Matt Ketaineck .450 9/20 0 0
10) Matt Willis .286 2/7 0 0
11) Stu Mitchell .143 1/7 0 0
11) Nick Loucks .143 1/7 0 0
**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $52

REMINDER - 52 Irving Poker League - THIS WEDNESDAY AT 11:30 AM - POSSIBLY GOING ALL DAY/NIGHT

Hey all -
Just a reminder that we have another poker tourney, this Wednesday at 11:30am. Please, Please come a little early so we can start on time. Fallica has to work at 3pm and Drose and Vinny Masil have a hockey game to catch.

Here's the added fun kicker!! It looks like we will have a good crowd for the 11:30 tourney. However after chatting with JMAC who has the day off, we might be able to continue with a doubleheader, maybe even a triple-header. If you get out at 2pm (like Ketaineck) get over to 52 Irving, we might be able to get another one going. Even more importantly, if you get out at 6pm (Lundblad, Willis, Bearman, McCrystal, etc) get in and maybe we can get you some dinner and get another tourney in. Please call JMAC when you finish your shift to see if we have interest on another game!!!

Any question do not hesitate to ask!!!

GET IN!

February 3rd Results and Updated Standings

Hey all -
Before I begin with a recap and scoring update, I wanted to announce that the next poker tourney will be a midweek, midday tourney. We will play at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, February 13th. Many of you are either off or like me work at 3pm or later. Lunch can be ordered if people would like. In addition for those like Ketaineck and Willis who get out a reasonable time, maybe there will be additional poker played beyond the first tourney. Please let me know if you can make it!

Ok here's a recap of Super Sunday's action. For the 2nd straight tourney, we had 2 new players to the 52 Irving Poker League and we were able to get 7 players. And again for the 2nd straight time, the 2 new players were the first two to the rail Nick Loucks, who showed his devotion to the Poker League by getting off cross-continent, red-eye flight and basically rolled into the tourney, was the first to go. After some unsuccessful bluffing at a few huge pots early, he was forced all-in with ace-6 vs Bearman's K9 and when Bearman's 9 paired on the flop and held up, Nicky Loucks was forced into an early afternoon nap. Matty Willis, who's consistent 2007 play led to many cashes and wins, was next to go as he just was never able to get anything going. Some observes noticed that Willis just didn't play as aggressive as he normally does, and rumors were the league standings may have rattled him.

In one of the more unlucky hands of the night, JMAC was eliminated in 5th place. Down to just 108 chips and the blinds at 20/40, JMAC went all in blind and to his chagrin, he got 3 callers. With the board showing K42AJ, JMAC excitedly showed his K4 (two pair) but Ketaineck sent JMAC to the rail with his Q10 (making an ace-high straight). However, Ketaineck was the next to go as he failed for the 3rd straight time to cash in 2008. When it came down to 3 players, Vince Masi held the chip lead over Bearman and Clutch. Bearman was next to go as he felt Vinny did not have a King the board showing KK84. Bearman went all-in with pocket nines and although he was correct, Vince did not have a King, bu he turned over pocket rockets and when Bearman's nines did not improve on the river, it gave Vince a huge chip lead over Clutch as the two went heads up. Clutch quickly seized a small chip lead when both Clutch and Vince held a full house on a JJA66 board but when Vince went all-in with his K6 vs Clutch's J7, Clutch was able to take the lead. And just 2 hands later, Clutch had victory in his grasp when he was holding KQ and the flop came 910J. He waited out Vince and when Vince went all-in on the turn with Q4, the tourney looked over. But Vince hit a miracle flush on the river to take a commanding 24-1 chip lead. Clutch doubled up once but when Vince had 1010 against Clutch's A4 and no ace hit, Vinny Masil took down the tourney in very well played match.

With the win, Vince Masi jumped to 2nd in the 52 Irving Poker League Standings. Clutch retained his lead with his league-leading 2nd cash. Ryan McCrystal and Brett Edgerton, moved down a slot in their absence.

Here are the final results from February 3rd:

7th place - Nick Loucks - 1 point

6th place - Matt Willis - 2 points

5th place - Jason McCallum - 3 points

4th place - Matt Ketaineck - 4 points

3rd place - David Bearman - 5 points

2nd place - Clutch - 7 points (6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)

1st place - Vince Masi - 9 points (7 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 2/3
BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes

1) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .950 19/20 1 2

2) Vince Masi .923 12/13 1 1

3) Ryan McCrystal .846 11/13 0 1

4) Brett Edgerton .846 11/13 0 1

5) Jason McCallum .650 13/20 1 1

6) David Bearman .500 7/14 0 0

7) Matt Ketaineck .450 9/20 0 0

8) Matt Willis .286 2/7 0 0

9) Stu Mitchell .143 1/7 0 0

9) Nick Loucks .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $40

As mentioned at the beginning of the e-mail - the next poker tournament will happen Wednesday, Feb. 13th at 11:30 AM. Please let me know if you can make it!!
GET IN!

Clutch

January 31st Results and Updated Standings

Hey all -

Before I begin with a recap and scoring update, I wanted to announce that the next poker tourney will be this Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday at 12 NOON. Matt Willis has requested this since the poor guy has missed the first two and what would be a better way to start the grand day with a little poker before we head off to our various parties! Please let me know if you can make it!

Ok here's a recap of Thursday night's action. We returned 5 of the 6 players from last week's action as only Vinny Masil could not make it because he had to make a return to assisting cards. However we added two more players to the league as David Bearman and Stu Mitchell joined the Poker League for the first time to give us 7 players. However the two newcomers were the first 2 to the rail as Stu went out in a blaze of glory and Bearman followed him shortly thereafter. Matt Ketaineck, off to a slow start in 2008 after a torrid 2007 season, was next to go. Clutch failed in his bid to go back to back as he got too loose with his chips and eventually doubled up his roommate JMAC who was the short stack most of the evening before his A10, took down Clutch's Q3. That left JMAC against the two huge stacks of Ryan McCrystal and Brett Edgerton, who both were playing well and getting huge cards. These 3 grinded it out for well over an hour before JMAC became the aggressor and slowly built up his chip lead and he finally took down McCrystal, who by losing made it that we had 2 new cashers in 2008. JMAC had a slight chip lead over Edge in heads up action and that action didn't last long as Edge bluffed at the wrong time as JMAC had a set of 3's vs Edge's rags in the last hand and JMAC made a tremendous come back both in the evening's action and in the 52 Irving Poker League Standings as you will see shortly.

Here's a rundown of Thursday's tournament:
7th place - Stu Mitchell - 1 point

6th place - David Bearman - 2 points

5th place - Matt Ketaineck - 3 points

4th place - Dennis "Clutch" Renno - 4 points

3rd place - Ryan McCrystal - 5 points

2nd place - Brett Edgerton - 7 points (6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)

1st place - Jason McCallum - 9 points (7 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 1/31

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes

1) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .923 12/13 1 1

2) Ryan McCrystal .846 11/13 0 1

3) Brett Edgerton .846 11/13 0 1

4) Jason McCallum .769 10/13 1 1

5) Vince Masi .500 3/6 0 0

6) Matt Ketaineck .385 5/13 0 0

7) David Bearman .286 2/7 0 0

8) Stu Mitchell .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $26

As mentioned at the beginning of the e-mail - the next poker tournament will happen Sunday, Feb. 3rd at 12 NOON. Please let me know if you can make it!!

GET IN!

Clutch