Jarrod Washburn Waiver Claim Classic

For the first time since April 2, there was a two-table tournament for the Jarrod Washburn Waiver Claim Classic at 52 Irving as 10 players decided they had nothing better to do on a beautiful Wednesday night in the summer time.

There were some early storylines. Dave Bearman was back, surprisingly without the Cockney/British/Scottish/Irish accent everyone thought he would have being out of the country for over a month. Newest researcher Greg Dohmann made his first trip to the 52 Irving Poker League, registering a quick 10 AB in his quest to get to the needed 50 for the year-end tournament. Vince Masi was back after taking a few tournaments off. He has to show up considering he won the previous 2-table tournament in April. And last but not least, the other storyline can be summed up in two words, Chris ... Lees.

The cards were drawn and it would be Masi, Bearman, Chris Fallica, J-Mac and Matt Willis heading upstairs while Dohmann, Lees, Clutch Renno, Yinz Conlon and Brett Edgerton were left to battle it out in the basement.

Unfortunately for Dohmann, his fate would be set much like the previous newcomers before him. With 10-8 suited, he would go all in against Renno, who had pocket threes. On the flop, Renno would trip his threes, but Dohmann received a spade and then another on the turn, leaving him one card away from the flush. However, a harmless club (written on the box score) would send Dohmann home. The good news for Dohmann -- he becomes the 22nd member in the 52 Irving Poker League, but his 1-for-10 score puts him in last place.

The upstairs table would claim the next victim. From the small blind, J-Mac went all in with pocket 10s. He was called by Masi, in the big blind, with pocket queens. The flop would eliminate J-Mac as a Queen came, sending J-Mac out with two points.

The tables would then be merged after the next player was eliminated and that came from the basement. Edgerton goes all in with K-3 and he was called by Conlon, who had a strong A-9 hole card set. The flop added to Conlon's lead as a nine came with two other meaningless cards. The turn would give Conlon the check as an Ace came, sending Edgerton out with three points.

Seven players would join the air-conditioned basement final table. And it wouldn't be long before the next player would be eliminated. Conlon raises with a strong pocket 6 pair. Lees came over the top with an all-in play, which Conlon called. The flop came K-K-10 -- no real help for Lees. However, an 8 on the turn gave Lees a flush draw, but a third King eliminated Lees, giving him four points, leaving him to nothing but watching the Red Sox game and analyzing the "cup of coffee" Edgar Renteria had with the Red Sox.

Some mixing and meddling would go on until Willis saw a chance to gain some chips with A-Q of hearts, prompting him to go all-in after a flop 52J with two hearts. Clutch called with a pocket-5 set. A five on the flop gave Renno trips, but two hearts gave Willis some hope. But the hope would be short-lived as an Ace and 6 of clubs would eliminate Willis with five points.

Conlon, involved in some interesting all-in scenarios earlier in the night, went all-in with pocket 8s (one of them diamonds. Masi, sensing some revenge from being eliminated by Conlon the last time he played, called with K-J. Much like the last time these two faced off with elimination on the line for one, the flop helped both players. K-J gave Masi two pair but the flop were all diamonds, giving Conlon a flush draw. Masi would finish off Conlon with two cards which were not diamonds, giving Conlon six points and keeping in seventh in the overall standings.

That would leave four players, one elimination away from cashing. Bearman and Fallica would battle it out with Bearman taking down Fallica, guaranteeing him a fourth straight cash in his first tournament since July 2.

The remaining three players would be guaranteed an extra point, but Bearman, Renno and Masi aren't going to just settle for that. Bearman tried to take advantage when a flop came A-K-6, so he went all in, even though he had J-8. Renno would call and would flip over A-K. A 2 on the turn was no help and a K on the river clinched another heads-up battle for Renno while giving Bearman nine big points.

Masi and Renno would be almost in a virtual tie for the lead when we had the hand that sealed our winner. Renno was holding a 220-chip lead when he went all-in with A-K. Masi called with K-9 suited diamonds. The flop turned a diamond. Masi's hand improved when another diamond came on the turn. Then a 10 of diamonds gave Masi a commanding lead with a flush.
After a few wins by Renno, he would go all-in with 8-5 and was called by Masi with his A-3. The flop came 6-3-K, all hearts. Another King would come on the turn, but a harmless Queen would give Masi his fourth win of the season and made him 2-for-2 in two-table tournaments.

Standings analysis:
-Clutch still owns the overall lead, but J-Mac's hold on second is slipping a little as he fell under .800 Wednesday.
-We have four players who have joined "The 700 Club". No they aren't best friends with Pat Robertson and they won't be appearing on the show anytime soon. Clutch, J-Mac, Masi and Bearman all have percentages of .700-or-better.
-The top 3 in wins represent the top-3 in percentages. The top 4 in cashes represent the top-4 in percentages.
-Paul Carr and Kenton Wong dropped one spot in the standings without playing. Ryan McCrystal was the only player to improve without playing.

10th place - Dohmann (1 point)
9th place - J-Mac (2 points)
8th place - Edge (3 points)
7th place - Lees (4 points)
6th place - Willis (5 points)
5th place - Yinz (6 points)
4th place - Fallica (7 points)
3rd place - Bearman (9 points - 8 for 3rd, +1 for cash)
2nd place - Clutch (10 points - 9 for 2nd, +1 for cash)
1st place - Masi (12 points - 10 for 1st, +1 for win, +1 for cash)

Pct H/AB Wins Cashes Movement
1) Clutch: .856 160/187 10 15 --
2) J-Mac: .763 142/186 6 11 --
3) Masi: .726 82/113 4 7 +3
4) Bearman: .702 73/104 1 6 +1
5) Paul Carr: .683 41/60 2 3 -2
6) Kenton: .682 45/66 2 3 -2
7) Conlon: .669 81/121 2 4 --
8) Vida: .652 15/23 1 1 --
9) Willis: .613 98/160 2 4 --
10) McCrystal: .611 22/36 0 1 +1
11) Edge: .592 90/152 1 4 -1
12) Randall: .579 55/95 0 3 --
13) Ketaineck: .571 64/112 1 5 --
14) D-Rose: .567 38/67 2 2 --
15) ELIAS: .541 20/37 0 2 --
16) Fallica: .424 28/66 1 1 +1
17) Lundblad: .417 5/12 0 0 -1
18) C-Lees: .354 17/48 0 0 --
19) McKean: .333 5/15 0 0 --
20) Loucks: .326 14/43 0 0 --
21) Stu: .150 3/20 0 0 --
22) Dohmann: .100 1/10 0 0 --