September 8th Recap

Chips flew fast and furiously at 52 Irving on Monday night, as six hopefuls, who all entered the night in the top 11 in the official 52 Irving poker rankings, vied for the tournament's top prize. Despite constant glances over the shoulder to monitor Ryan Grant's rushing yardage or bemoan the sad state of the Raiders defense, the event was not without its share of high-quality play and great hands.

The 1st all-in scenario of the night provided the latter, as a short-stacked Clutch called Willis' pre-flop raise, putting himself all-in. When Willis flipped A9, Clutch (910h) was nearly inconsolable, bemoaning that he had figured he would be behind, but at least have two live cards. The flop came 88J with two hearts, giving Clutch an open-ended straight flush draw. The turn brought the 7 of hearts, and Clutch escaped with a miracle straight flush.

With Clutch's impressive return from the abyss, David Bearman was the next player to see his stack dwindle. From the small-blind, he pushed all-in. On the big blind, Vida looked down to see KK and quickly called. Five blanks ended Bearman's night and streak of 5 straight cashes.

Unfortunately for Willis, another straight, this one not of the flush variety, would end his night prematurely. On the button, Vida called pre-flop and Willis declined the option. The flop came 635, and after a small round of betting we headed to the turn two-handed. The turn brought a 7, and Willis moved all-in. Vida called and flipped over 89, his 9-high straight narrowly edging Willis' (Q4) 7-high straight and sending Willis off in 5th place.

With the blinds capped at 50-100, action was sparse for awhile before the 3 standings leaders became involved in one of the biggest pots of the nights. In early position, Vida doubled the big blind. Clutch called from the small blind, and J-Mac, pot committed, made the call and pushed in his last 102 chips over the top. Vida and Clutch called and the flop brought 944. Vida bet another 200 and Clutch folded, leaving Vida and J-Mac in a showdown. J-Mac flopped A2 and Vida turned over 88. Blanks on the turn and river eliminated J-Mac in 4th place.

Shortly thereafter, a seriously short-stacked Edge found himself all-in pre-flop against Clutch, holding JJ. Edge flipped K9 and was eliminated in 3rd place when the board failed to pair his cowboy.

Vida started heads-up play with more than a 3-to-1 chip advantage and Clutch fought valiantly, but could not overcome such a deficit. A few short hands of heads-up play and Clutch moved all-in. Vida called and flopped AQ. Clutch was behind with KJ but had two live cards. The flop came AJ9, and the turn and river were blanks, giving Vida the win. He has now won 3 straight tourneys.

6th place – Bearman (1 point)
5th place - Willis (2 points)
4th place – J-Mac (3 points)
3rd place - Edge (4 points)
2nd place - Clutch (6 points - 5 for 2nd, +1 for cash)
1st place - Vida (8 points - 6 for 1st, +1 for win, +1 for cash)

Pct H/AB Wins Cashes Movement
1) Vida: .886 31/35 3 3 +1
2) Clutch: .854 170/199 10 16 -1
3) J-Mac: .755 145/192 6 11 --
4) Masi: .726 82/113 4 7 -1
5) Paul Carr: .683 41/60 2 3 +1
6) Kenton: .682 45/66 2 3 +1
7) Bearman: .673 74/110 1 6 -2
8) Conlon: .669 81/121 2 4 --
9) Willis: .616 106/172 2 5 --
10) McCrystal: .611 22/36 0 1 --
11) Edge: .595 94/158 1 4 --
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: .431 31/72 1 1 --
17) Lundblad: .417 5/12 0 0 --
18) C-Lees: .352 19/54 0 0 --
19) McKean: .333 5/15 0 0 --
20) Loucks: .306 15/49 0 0 --
21) Stu: .150 3/20 0 0 --
22) Dohmann: .100 1/10 0 0 --