May 14th Recap

The 1st order of business as usual is to announce the next game. They say you can't have too much of a good thing, and we at the 52 Irving Poker League agree, therefore for the 3rd week in a row we will have two games next week. In looking at the schedule we have decided to go with the same set we had this week. The very next game will take place Monday, May 19 at 7:45 PM. As always be there on time or risk seeing your stack blinded by those who are punctual. The 2nd game next week will take place Wednesday, May 21 at 11:00 AM SHARP! This night - day doubledip has been a breath of fresh air to the league and we are keeping it going.

Now to the reason you are all reading this… Wednesday's action. On a beautiful and sunny 75-degree day, 8 people gathered in the basement of 52 Irving. There were laughs, tears, and a few chicken sandwiches, but because Chris Fallica was not in attendance, there were no KAMALAKIN MAKINS.

The action began fairly quickly in this one. After just a few hands, 3-time winner Vince Masi decided to push all-in with a K-Q suited. Kevin "All Yinz" Conlon decided to call with his pocket queens. JMAC who had thrown a smaller raise in earlier decided to get out of the way and we had our first heads up. It turned out to be a dud with nothing coming on the table and Masi was left to ponder where and when to make the lunch run.

Play lasted for at least another hour with chips being passed around the table. Both defending champion Matt Willis and "Clutch" Renno were left somewhat shortstacked when both decided it was just about time to get the party going. Willis was the first to move as he went all in with his K-K pair. David Bearman, who at this time was the chip leader, decided that he would call with his A-8. It looked as though Willis would be doubled up after nothing came to help Bearman through the turn. But the vaunted river threw an A to Bearman and he eliminated Willis with the high pair.

"Clutch" didn’t wait much longer before making his all-in move as he was left as the table's short stack. Clutch drew K-10 suited and decided to move in. Kenton "the Asian Sensation" Wong called with his AQ. When nothing came on the table, Clutch was left defeated to the high card. Its like Pidto says, "he's never been clutch when I needed him" and Dennis was the third member out.

The three amigos left to make a lunch run while play continued at the table. Things began to get interesting when Jason Vida, shortstacked at the time, moved all-in with a pair of 3's. Conlon called with an Q-J and JMAC also called with K-Q of clubs. The flop came with three diamonds, both Conlon and JMAC checked. The turn card fell (another diamond) and Conlon had caught the straight 8-Q. Yinz put the rest of his chips in forcing JMAC to fold. Yinz looked to walk away with a huge pot, but the river card through yet another diamond, and Vida and Yinz split the pot with a flush on the table.

Not long after that play we would eliminate our 4th player. Kenton, dealt a pair of 10's, moved all in pre-flop. Yinz immediately calls with his own pocket pair A-A. The flop brought Yinz another Ace and he looked to be in pretty good shape heading to the turn. When the turn brought yet another Ace, the death blow was dealt to the "Asian Sensation" and he was eliminated by Yinz' quad aces.

At this point our boys were back from Wings Over and we enjoyed the pleasantries of buffalo chicken in the mid afternoon. It was a short break, however, and four players returned for the home stretch.

The return to the tables brought the return of Bearman, who was bringing the thunder all day. Bearman had begun to watch his chip lead slip away and decided to push all in with K-9. Vida called him with an A-9 and we went to the flop with Bearman holding a "live one". When Bearman caught a K on the on the turn, he crippled Vida, leaving Jason with the shortstack and Bearman was back in action.

The shortstack did not stop Vida from making a strong comeback as the Philly native went all in and was called by fellow Keystone state native Yinz. It was a classic Western PA vs Eastern PA showdown, but this one went to the East side as Vida's two-pair beat Yinz top pair. Vida had doubled-up and was back in the game.

The PA state war was not finished however, as Yinz would get his revenge just a short time later. Vida slow-played his pocket A's and called Conlon's big blind of Q-7 to get to the flop. When two Q came on the flop, Yinz raised and was called by Vida, still slow playing his huge pocket pair. The turn came with a 7 and Yinz had the full house. Yinz raised two-hundo in hopes of milking more chips from Vida. When Jason came back with an all-in call, Yinz was more than eager to oblige. Vida was surprised to see the house Yinz had and was eliminated. Yinz had now eliminated three players and won the battle of PA.

3 players remained with JMAC the chip leader, Yinz in second and Bearman back to the shortstack. The former Gator drew pocket 3's and went all-in. JMAC debated for several minutes before deciding to call with his pocket 7's. Nothing came on the flop, but you could sense something in the air as the turn came. Kenton Wong, who was dealing and had been handing out bad beats all day, dropped a 3 on the turn, giving Bearman the win.

This left an interesting position as all 3 players remaining were very close in chip count. Yinz held a slight advantage over the newly healthy Bearman, but JMAC was not far behind. The two R-2's would soon lock horns again, this time with JMAC making the first move. With an A-K, JMAC raised pre-flop. Bearman, not messing around, comes back with an all-in showing his pair K-K. When nothing came on the table to help, 52 Irving points leader JMAC was eliminated in third place, just missing an opportunity to become the first player with 10 total cashes.

And then there were two. The final pairing was an interesting one, as Yinz and Bearman went heads up for the fist time. For those of you who worked on Tuesday night, you may remember the following exchange in the research room.

Bearman: "Yinz you playing tomorrow?"
Yinz: "Yes, I am in."
Bearman: "Good that’s $20."
Edge: "Yinz tell him to look at the scoreboard."

Clearly, Kevin "All Yinz" Conlon would be using this as bulletin board material for the final. There was a lot of action between the final two, who played for over an hour before a winner was decided. It was not for a lack of trying, however, as both went all-in on numerous occassions. The final pair actually went heads up with all-in calls on four separate occassions before a winner was crowned. There was no documentation of a few of the hands, so lets just say it went like this.

Bearman entered the final as the chip leader, but doubled up Conlon when Yinz' A-K drew a K on the flop, and Bearman's A-9 was left in a loss. This brought the chip count a bit closer.

Conlon then crippled Bearman with a hand that no one can remember, but it left Bearman with just over 400 in chips and Yinz in a great position.

But, like they always say, you can't keep a good Gator down, as Bearman would double-up as his pocket 4's beat Yinz pocket 9's when a 4 came on the turn.

That left Bearman with about 1,500 chips before Yinz delivered his final knockout blow. Bearman calls all-in with a Q-J, and Yinz debates before calling with A-6. When the flop threw a Q to Bearman, Yinz was deflated as he thought about another potential 2nd-place finish. The turn left him no happier as a 7 came. But as was the trend of the day, Yinz got his A on the river and left a stunned Bearman in 2nd place.

So, for the 2nd consecutive tournament we have a 1st-time winner, as Yinz picks up his 1st ever tournament victory.

8th place - Vince Masi 1 point
7th place - Matt Willis 2 points
6th place - Clutch 3 points
5th place - Kenton Wong 4 points
4th place - Jason Vida 5 points
3rd place - JMAC 6 points
2nd place - Bearman 8 points (7 for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Yinz 10 points (8 for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for win)

52 Irving Poker League Standings BA Hits-AB Wins Cashes +/-
1) Jason McCallum .841 95/113 4 9 -
2) "Clutch" Renno .810 98/121 6 8 -
3) Dave Rose .7443 29/39 2 2 +1
4) Ryan McCrystal .714 20/28 0 1 +1
5) Vince Masi .703 52/74 3 4 -2
6) "All-Yinz" Conlon .687 46/67 1 3 +4
7) "Quads" Edgerton .683 56/82 1 3 -1
8) Matt Ketaineck .679 36/53 1 3 -1
9) Scott Randall .642 43/67 0 3 -1
10) David Bearman .630 51-81 1 3 +2
11) Paul Carr .618 34/55 1 2 -2
12) Matt Willis .554 51/92 1 2 -
13) Kenton Wong .524 11/21 0 0 -
14) ELIAS .433 13/30 0 1 -
15) Chris Fallica .378 17/45 1 1 -
16) Jason Vida .375 6/16 0 0 +4
17) Chris Lees .313 5/16 0 0 -1
18) Nick Loucks .257 9/35 0 0 -1
19) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0 -1
20) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0 -1

Poker Bonanza Pot: $302