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

Tuesday 4/15 Recap

Hey Folks - Before we get to the recap let's let people know when the next game is....

THURSDAY April 24th at 11AM.

I will say this, it was very close between Monday morning and Thursday morning. There were plenty each day, but there was at least one more person who could play on Thursday. I know DROSE and Bearman can only play on Monday so if there's interest we could play 2 next week. We will definitely play on Thursday, but I'll leave it up to Bearman and DROSE if they want to play Monday and can get at least one more person to play (because JMAC and Clutch will play on Monday as well), we could have 2 tourneys next weeks. GOOD STUFF!

After Yinz went around last night getting confirmations we had 7 confirmed but Kenton Wong must have been too tired to make today's tourney after a strong showing Monday. So we had six for today....Randall, Yinz, Fallica, Paul Carr, JMAC and Clutch.

Game played for about a half hour before the first fireworks hit. Fallica raised, Paul went all-in and Fallica called. It was AQ for Fallica and KK for Paul. The flop came with a Q and 2 diamonds and turn followed with A of diamonds to give Fallica 2 pair but Paul could win with a K or a diamond. Unfortunately for Fallica and certainly not the first time this has happened to him, Paul hit a diamond on the river and Fallica lost 4 to a flush again. It was decided that the phenomenon of losing 4 to a flush would now forever be known as "KAMALAKIN MAKIN" in honor of Rob Tracy.

After Fallica was forced to the rail, the table played 5-handed for quite awhile. We did have another AA vs KK preflop all-in situation between Yinz holding the aces and the Paul Carr holding the Cowboys. Luckily Paul Carr was the chip leader and luckily for Yinz there was no "KAMALAKIN MAKIN" situation going on and Yinz was able to take the chip lead. Randall was next to go when he went all-in short stacked after a JMAC call and a Clutch call. JMAC elected to fold and Clutch called with A10 of spades. Randall found he was dominated when he flipped over J10 and nothing hit and Randall was forced to the rail in 5th place.

Shortly thereafter Conlon crippled Paul Carr. Again the two were all-in preflop with Yinz showing AK and Paul Carr had 88. The board flopped an ace and Paul couldn't find the eight. That left Paul Carr with 119 chips, with the blinds at 50/100 and in the small blind in the next hand. The very next hand, Yinz raised to 200, Paul obviously pushed all in but JMAC moved all-in for about 580 total. Yinz hemmed for a minute and called so we had a 3-way all-in action. Yinz flipped over K10, Paul Carr had 910 and JMAC had pocket 7's. Again Yinz hit a King on the flop and neither of the other 2 shortstacks improved and Yinz had knocked both guys out. Because Paul Carr had fewer chips when they went all-in, he finished in 4th place and JMAC finished 3rd.
That left Clutch and Yinz heads-up for the 2nd straight day, however this time around Yinz started heads-up play with almost a 2-1 chip lead. Unfortunately for the gallery it was a brutal fight to the death heads-up play. Neither player was getting too many cards and both players dug their heels in. Eventually Clutch would chip away Yinz stealing many blinds pre-flop as Yinz was getting more than his fair share of 83 or 92 hands. About 35 minutes into heads up play we finally got our first all-in action when Clutch had a 1946-1054 chip lead on Yinz. Yinz raised all-in in the big blind and when Clutch looked down at 1010 he called. Yinz flipped over AK. True to form, Yinz hit yet another King on the flop and the tables were turned again, leaving Clutch with just 892 chips. The gallery growned constantly as the players went back into their shell of stealing blinds back and forth with a few flops sprinkled in. Clutch regained the chip lead but it would sway back and forth. After an hour and 14 minutes of heads up play, Clutch moved all-in with a slight chip lead and Yinz reluctantly called. Clutch had AJ and Yinz showed A8. The flop came AJ7 but when the turn came an 9, Yinz had four outs with a 10 to the straight. Unfortunately for Yinz he hit a two pair with an 8 and with no "KAMALAKIN MAKIN" , Clutch was victorious for the second day in a row.

Here are final results from Apr. 15:
6th place - Fallica - 1 point

5th place - Randall - 2 points

4th place - Paul Carr - 3 points

3rd place - JMAC - 4 points

2nd place - Yinz - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)

1st place - Clutch - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker League

Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 4/15
BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes

1) David Rose 1.000 25/25 2 2

2) Vince Masi .920 46/50 3 4

3) Jason McCallum .843 70/83 3 7

4) Clutch .780 71/91 4 6

5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1

6) Scott Randall .733 33/45 0 3

7) Kenton Wong .714 5/7 0 0

8) Matt Ketaineck .667 30/45 1 3

9) Brett Edgerton .651 43/66 1 2

10) Yinz .608 31/51 0 2

11) David Bearman .569 37/65 1 2

12) Paul Carr .564 22/39 1 1

13) Matt Willis .529 36/68 0 1

14) Chris Fallica .405 15/37 1 1

15) ELIAS .292 7/24 0 0

16) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0

17) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0

18) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $226

NEXT GAME at 52 Irving: 11 AM, Thursday, April 24th (maybe 11AM on Monday, April 21)

Monday 4/14 recap

Before we get to the recap, not that the now-cocky (see below) Kevin Conlon has called for another game TOMORROW. And Yinz gets what Yinz wants.

NEXT GAME at 52 Irving: 11 AM tomorrow, Tuesday the 15th

It didn't take long for the fireworks to start today. Before the blinds had gone around once, J-Mac was the first victim, when his seemingly mighty KK ran into the omnipotent AA of Clutch. Both players were all-in preflop. The board was no help, and J-Mac was out in seventh, left to wonder what might have been.

Not long after, another cooler hand emerged, as three players limped to see a flop of 533. Randall led out from the small blind, and Bearman raised. Randall pushed all in, and Bearman quickly called, confidently flipping over his A3. But Randall then revealed the real monster hand, a pair of fives that gave him the winning full house after Bearman could not hit the case trey or running aces. Bearman, done in sixth.

Five-handed, action slowed a bit, until Paul raised preflop and Clutch called right behind him. The flop came KT8, and Paul check-called a bet from Clutch. The turn blanked, and the two got all in. Paul revealed KQ, but Clutch had flopped two pair with his suited T8. A meaningless river card ended Paul's day in fifth.

The blinds rose as four-handed play progressed, and soon many players were in push-or-fold mode. Randall pushed form the small blind, and Yinz thought for a moment before calling for most of his chips with two nines. The first four cards were small, then the final card brought a frightening face card, but it was merely a queen, and Randall finished fourth despite picking up AQ forty-seven times in the first hour.

Kenton Wong made his first appearance at 52 Irving today. Short-stacked, he survived a few desperate all-in maneuvers, before his 44 in the small blind collided with Clutch's JJ in the big blind. The flop brought a crushing jack, and there was no runner-runner miracle for Kenton, who made a very respectable third-place showing in his first try.

With a dominating chip lead, Clutch soon called Yinz's all-in holding jack-ten. Yinz showed queen-ten, which made him about a 2:1 favorite to double-up. But a jack again fell on the flop, and the other four cards were no help for Yinz, who was elated at his first 52 Irving cash, along with the fact that his InsidePRI is now over the .500 mark.

After a series of unfortunate events at his home table, Clutch finally emerged victorious, earning his first win since February in dominating fashion. He took J-Mac's chips right away (household collusion?) and never looked back.

Here are final results from Apr. 14:
7th place - JMAC - 1 point
6th place - Bearman - 2 point
5th place - Paul Carr - 3 points
4th place - Randall - 4 points
3rd place - Kenton Wong - 5 points
2nd place - Yinz - 7 points (6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Clutch - 9 points (7 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 4/14

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.000 25/25 2 2
2) Vince Masi .920 46/50 3 4
3) Jason McCallum .857 66/77 3 7
4) Scott Randall .795 31/39 0 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Clutch .741 63/85 3 5
7) Kenton Wong .714 5/7 0 0
8) Matt Ketaineck .667 30/45 1 3
9) Brett Edgerton .651 43/66 1 1
10) Paul Carr .576 19/33 1 1
11) David Bearman .569 37/65 1 2
12) Yinz .556 25/45 0 1
13) Matt Willis .529 36/68 0 1
14) Chris Fallica .452 14/31 1 1
15) ELIAS .292 7/24 0 0
16) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
17) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
18) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $214

NEXT GAME at 52 Irving: 11 AM tomorrow, Tuesday the 15th

- Paul Carr

Thursday 4/10 Recap - IMPROMPTU GAME

Hey all -
I know the first thing many of you are saying, is wow, I didn't even realize there was a game Thursday? Well if you asked that aloud, you would be correct. However, Wednesday evening, one of our favorite Elias guys, Randy Robles, asked me about the chance of an impromptu game taking place Thursday morning. I immediately got thumbs up from Willis, JMAC and Paul Carr giving us five. I looked at the schedule and called anyone who could play. We were able to land Edge, who was fresh off his trip to Tampa and we have 6 for a nice Thursday morning game.

Of course before I hop into the recap, let me start by saying that next week's game will be another morning affair. We will play sharply at 11:15am (so Randall can play following his Mike and Mike shift) on Monday, April 14th.

Ok so the early action produced a lot of chips flying. Willis lost a big pot to JMAC early but Willis gathered a big pot a few minutes later when Randy went all-in with 33 on Willis's big blind. Willis called with AQ and when the A hit on the flop, Willis had gotten healthy and Randy lost a lot of chips. Randy ended up going all in the next time he was in the small blind and Willis called him again with AQ and Robles showed 7-10. A ten and ace hit on the flop and when a queen hit on the turn, Randy's day was done in 6th place. Clutch was now the low stack and went all-in with 4-way action on 8-8-2-4 board. Willis quickly called with 44 to show the full boat. However Willis's unlucky river beats continued when an 8 hit on the river giving Clutch a better full house. But Clutch's luck was short lived when he went all-in shortly thereafter. Edge called and flipped over AK which dominated Clutch's A8. The board came all blanks and Clutch was sent to the rail in 5th place.

Willis was next to go when he got his hand caught in the cookie jar. JMAC raised preflop and Willis called. A king high flop came and Willis bet out and JMAC called. The turn came the same sequence. On the river, Willis went all-in and JMAC hemmed and hawwed for awhile before finally calling. JMAC flipped over AK to show a pair of kings and Willis folded and was done in 4th place. That left the table 3-handed with JMAC having a pretty hefty lead. Chips flew back and forth before Edge crippled Paul Carr. Paul Carr went all-in with Q8 and Edge called with A5. The turn hit a 5 and Paul Carr was nearly out of chips. JMAC finished him off with AK vs A6 meaning three players were eliminated with AK (the other with AQ).

Headsup action last awhile between JMAC and Edgerton. It was highlighted by one of the biggest hand over another hand seen at 52 Irving. JMAC held a huge chip lead over Edge and Edge had already doubled up once when this crazy hand occurred. The two players limped before the flop. The flop came A4A and both players checked. The turn came an 8 and again both players checked. The river came a 2. JMAC bet 150 and Edge went all-in. JMAC quickly called and showed 44 for the full house. Edge flipped over 2 aces to show that he had flopped quads. The table was stunned and Edge had taken the chip lead. It was the 2nd time that we had seen pocket fours turn into a full house only to lose. It was also the 2nd time that we had seen a player flop quads as Willis had done that earlier but couldn't draw any action.

The two players continued heads up for a while. JMAC took the chip lead back when he rivered a better straight over Edge. The hand that crippled JMAC was when both players limped in. The flop came 8d-7d-4s. JMAC went all-in and Edge quickly called the all-in as he flopped the straight with 5-6. JMAC flipped over Kd-Qd and had flush draw. The board hit two blanks for JMAC and he was left with under 200 chips. JMAC went in blind a few times before getting called by Edge when he had JJ. JMAC showed Q5 and when the board hit all blanks for JMAC, Edge had his first 52 Irving win this season.

Here are final results from Apr. 10:
6th place - ELIAS (Randy) - 1 point
5th place - Clutch - 2 points
4th place - Willis - 3 points
3rd place - Paul Carr - 4 points
2nd place - JMAC - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Edge - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 4/2

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.000 25/25 2 2
2) Jason McCallum .929 65/70 3 7
3) Vince Masi .920 46/50 3 4
4) Scott Randall .844 27/32 0 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .692 54/78 2 4
7) Matt Ketaineck .667 30/45 1 3
8) Brett Edgerton .651 43/66 1 1
9) Paul Carr .615 16/26 1 1
10) David Bearman .603 35/58 1 2
11) Matt Willis .529 36/68 0 1
12) Kevin Conlon .474 18/38 0 0
13) Chris Fallica .452 14/31 1 1
14) ELIAS .292 7/24 0 0
15) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
16) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
17) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $200

REMINDER: Next Tourney is Monday, April 14th at 11:15 AM

Clutch

Tue. 4/8 Recap

Hey Poker Fans,

Before I get started, the date for the next game is still to be determined, keep an ear and eye open for the next announced tourney, which, remember, can take place anywhere there's a deck of cards and at least 5 players. Just make sure to keep track of the action.

There may be a World Poker Tour event taking place right now in our very own Nutmeg State, but I doubt the action there was any better than it was at 52 Irving Street on Tuesday. Plus, we had pizza.

Eight players gathered for an 11 AM start time Tuesday, the chips were moving and the first player out (and recipient of the lunch run) was Chris Fallica. Fallica admitted that he never felt his vibe at the table Tuesday…but that's why it's a series of tournaments all leading to the BONANZA later this year. Fallica's stack dwindled, and he made his stand with A-3 of clubs. Vince Masi, sitting immediately to his left, made the insta-call with an A-K, with the king of clubs. The board blanked out, and Chris Fallica left a round of applause.

7-handed play continued for as long as I've seen it at 52 Irving. Fallica left and came back with lunch in this time, and the blinds got up to 30-60 before a big hand in the tournament. Willis raised it up with K-J, J-Mac pushed all-in. Masi called, and Willis, eventually decided to fold.

Flashback to Saturday's tournament: A memorable hand that didn't happen during this around saw D-Rose push under the gun for 300 or so. Carr folded quickly on the bottom, but J-Mac agonized, knowing that the all-in represenfted most of his remaining stack, and eventually folded. Willis looked down at his guilty-pleasure hand (K-10 of hearts), and eventually decided that he doubles enough people up anyways, and folded. In unison, J-Mac and Willis asked to run the board, with J-Mac turning over pocket 9's. The flip, naturally, came 9-10-K, which would've given J-Mac a set, and Willis top 2 pair. D-Rose showed an ace-rag, and would've been drawing near dead. The turn and river would've brought little extra excitement, and J-Mac and Willis shared a few tears together at what would've been.

Now, back to Tuesday. J-Mac flipped over K-10, Vince showed pocket 10's, and J-Mac was drawing to two outs. But the flop came K-J-3, which would've given Willis 2 pair, just like several days prior, and J-Mac more than doubled up after the rest of the board was blanks.

Not long after, Paul Carr pushed the rest of his chips into the middle, and was called by Vince's A-Q. Paul felt relieved to show A-K, especially when the flop and turn revealed nothing but blanks. But Vince hit the 3-outer on the river, and last week's champ went home in 7th.

Scott Randall had been quiet most of the tournament, and reluctantly pushed what was left of his chips out with a Q-J. Elias representative Randy Robles was priced in out of the big blind with J-9. For onlookers like me who didn't entirely pay attention to the board, a 9 on the river was an exciting card, but it gave Randall the straight and kept him on life support.

Meanwhile, Willis (once again writing a recap since there's no NASCAR) had an interesting day. Put to the test many times with all-in re-raises over bets, Willis either made great laydowns…or played horrible poker. Among his laydowns was showing Jacks on a 9-high flop when Vince immediately pushed all in following a bet (Masi later revealed he had A-K with 4 to the flush). Making stands late, doubling his stack through blinds stealing, Willis made another stand with A-4, when Masi called him with (what else?) A-K. Three diamonds came on the flop, and there was no 2-outer to be head, Willis was sent home in 6th.

The two short stacks got involved after this, Scott Randall and Kevin Conlon. Conlon was all in with A-J suited, and Randall was left with little behind, showing A-8 of clubs. A jack flopped, and Randall was all but drawing dead with just 64 chips left.

Those 64 chips waited until the big blind (with blinds already at 50-100), with 2 callers. Masi eventually bet Conlon out of the pot and showed pocket 7's. Randall, looking at his cards for the first time, looked down at the Joe Montana (4-9), and found he had…9 high, finishing in 5th place.

With the price of poker being so high, Randy Robles (who had long since passed the record for most hands played and won by an Elias representative), saw an ace and made a stand against J-Mac. Action folded to J-Mac, who had (once again, what else) A-K suited. Randy's A-2 looked to be dominated, but he had J-Mac's stack covered. But it wouldn't be a 52 Irving event without some drama, the deuce hit on the flop. But, we love us some drama, and when the board paired (5-2-3-3), J-Mac was given additional chop cards. He didn't need those, as the king spiked on the river, leaving Randy short-stacked.

Later, with J-5-2 (all clubs) on the board, Randy bet all in, and Vince made the call. Randy showed ace high, but was already drawing dead with Vince's king-high flush. Randy finished 4th and we had the final 3.

Kevin Conlon made some key double-ups, forced some lay-downs and had stuck around all tournament. Conlon and J-Mac got mixed up in the next battle, which seemed innocent enough. Checked down to the river, Conlon bet all-in after catching his queen on the river, but J-Mac had slow-played his ace on the turns, and Kevin "All-Yins" Conlon burst the money bubble, leaving J-Mac and Vinny Masil to duke it out.

I don't know how long after that play lasted…leaving with an undisclosed illness. But with an A-8-X flop on the board, J-Mac went all-in and was called and covered by Vince, who showed a set of 8's. The turn and river did little to help, and Vince tied J-Mac with his 3rd win in the 52 Irving Poker League.

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 4/2
BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes

1) David Rose 1.000 25/25 2 2
2) Jason McCallum .922 59/64 3 6
3) Vince Masi .920 46/50 3 4
4) Scott Randall .844 27/32 0 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .722 52/72 2 4
7) Matt Ketaineck .667 30/45 1 3
8) David Bearman .603 35/58 1 2
9) Paul Carr .600 12/20 1 1
10) Brett Edgerton .583 35/60 0 1
11) Matt Willis .532 33/62 0 1
12) Kevin Conlon .474 18/38 0 0
13) Chris Fallica .452 14/31 1 1
14) ELIAS .333 6/18 0 0
15) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
16) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
17) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $188

- Matt Willis

Wed. 4/2 Recap

WOW - That is all I have to say about today at 52 Irving. It was quite a banner day for a number of reasons….But of course that was a tease before we get to the main course. As always, we need to announce the upcoming tournaments for the league. As JMAC alluded to in his previous e-mail that we should consider playing some poker as a pre-cursor to the Final Four action. In talking with folks, I think we are golden to play a tourney at 1PM on Saturday before tip-off begins. Now (and DROSE I'm looking right at you), Willis has to work at 5PM so we need to start on time (which by the way, very proud of the attendants today in terms on punctuality!). Cards will fly at 1PM Saturday. In addition, I would like to announce next week's tourney as well. We will play another morning affair as it works for the most amount of people. Tuesday, April 8th at 11am. BANG!

All right now back to a monumental day at 52 Irving. The fun started when we shuffled up and dealt with a record 10 players. That's right TEN PLAYERS, including newcomber Rob Tracy. Who's Rob Tracy you ask? He's one of the Elias guys who come down during baseball season and we were very lucky to have him pop over for the tournament. This works out well as we will continue to invite the Elias folks to any poker game that takes place during the day and we will include the Elias person on the standings as "ELIAS".

So speaking of Rob he kept of the tradition of the "new guy on the block" of getting knocked out first. But he didn't just do it in ordinary fashion, he broke a 52 Irving record that can never be broken! On the very first hand, Rob raised under the gun and was called by JMAC. The flop came K108. Rob bets, JMAC raises, Rob re-raises and JMAC went all-in. Rob quickly called. Rob flipped over AK and JMAC flipped over K10 for top two pair. The ace did not hit and the Rob was the first to go and the upstairs table went to 4 players (with so many players, we had to play with 2 tables until we got to 6). After the fireworks of the first hand, nobody was eliminated for over an hour. Bearman, shortstacked went all-in with Q9 with a flop of 9104. JMAC called him with 10J and when Bearman's hand failed to improve he was sent to the rail in 9th place. That left the upstairs table with only 3 players so the downstairs table drew cards and the Clutch was sent upstairs to even the tables.

Clutch was shortstacked after about 10 minutes upstairs and went all-in preflop under the gun and Vince Masi called him. It was a classic situation as Clutch flipped over 1010 and Vince flipped over JQ. A queen hit on the turn and Clutch's day was over in 8th place. The action and attrition continued as the next player out took one of the worst beats in 52 Irving history. Fallica getting short in chips, decided to go all-in with AQ of hearts and was called by Randall who had…AQ with the Ace of spades, Queen of Diamonds. Pre-flop there is a 90.67% chance of chopped pot, Fallica with the suited cards had a 7.16% chance of winning and Randall had a 2.17% chance of winning. Of course the flop comes two spades, followed by a spade on the turn and sure enough Randall felled Fallica by hitting the 9 of spades on the river. This left Fallica very short stacked and he was eliminated by Conlon in the very next hand. the tournament 6-handed and all the remaining players came to the final table.

Conlon and Edge were the shortstacks as the final table began with Masi and Randall being the chip leaders. Conlon was the first to make the desperation move and he went all-in on the button. JMAC called and then Randall decided to give them both action by calling as well. JMAC and Randall checked down the board. JMAC and Conlon both flipped over AQ but Randall took the pot down with KQ as there was a King on the board and Conlon was gone in 6th place. Edge was forced all-in in the big blind shortly thereafter. Vince called with K10 and Edge flipped over 8-2. A ten hit on the flop and Edge's day was over in 5th place.

This left the table 4-handed. With the blinds at 50/100 Randall raised to 200 and Willis came over the top all in for 500 more. Randall hemmed for a little bit and finally called. He flipped over 88 and Willis showed A7. The board never improved Willis's hand and Matty was out in 4th place. As per league rules, any tournament with 9 or more players, 3rd place gets payed which meant Randall, JMAC and Vinny Masil were in the money and would each receive an extra bonus point in the standings.

You know what the say about Karma? Well Randall learned the hard way as déjà vu occurred. Vince was getting elected to go all-in with the blinds at 75-150 and Randall called. Vince flipped over 89 with the 9 of spades and Randall flipped over KJ. The flop came J56 with two spades, which meant Randall was now 76.16% favorite to knock out Vince. However, I think you all know what happened. The turn came a 2 of spades and the crowd perked up and thought they might see history repeat itself. Sure enough when the 5 of spades hit on the river, Randall handed over half of his chips to Vince and Masil had newfound life. Vince would finish Randall off shortly thereafter as Vince raised to 400, Randall raised and Vince went all-in and Randall called. Vince had Randall dominated AQ vs A9 and when a queen hit on the flop Randall was done in 3rd place but not before he had cashed for the 3rd time in 3 tournaments this season.

This left Vinny Masil with about a 2-1 chip lead over JMAC in heads up action. They played tough for a little while and JMAC tried valiantly to take the chip lead which he did do briefly. But after getting crippled by Vince in one hand, he went all in with A7 and Vince called with the slightly better hand A8. The flop came 245 which gave hope to the split pot by straight but the turn and river came blanks and Vinny Masil had become the 4th player this season with at least 2 wins and took down the league's largest prize this season of $130. JMAC won $50 for his efforts.

Here are the official results for Wednesday, April 2:
10th place - ELIAS (Rob Tracy) (1 point)
9th place - Bearman (2 points)
8th place - Clutch (3 points)
7th place - Fallica (4 points)
6th place - Conlon (5 points)
5th place - Edgerton (6 points)
4th place - Willis (7 points)
3rd place - Randall (9 points -- 8 points for 3rd, 1 bonus point for cashing)
2nd place - JMAC (10 points -- 9 points for 2nd, 1 bonus point for cashing)
1st place - Masi (12 points -- 10 points for 1st, 1 bonus point for cashing, 1 bonus point for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 4/2

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22/20 2 2
2) Scott Randall .958 23/24 0 3
3) Vince Masi .857 36/42 2 3
4) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .761 51/67 2 4
5) Jason McCallum .754 46/51 3 4
6) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
7) Matt Ketaineck .667 30-45 1 3
8) David Bearman .603 35/58 1 2
9) Brett Edgerton .583 35/60 0 1
10) Matt Willis .571 28/49 0 1
11) Chris Fallica .565 13/23 1 1
12) Paul Carr .429 3/7 0 0
13) Kevin Conlon .400 12/30 0 0
14) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
15) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
16) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0
17) ELIAS .100 1/10 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $162

Reminder: Next 2 Tourneys: Saturday 4/5 at 1PM, Tuesday 4/8 at 11AM

Clutch

Wed. 3/26 Recap

Another poker event took place at 52 Irving on Wednesday night. But before I hook you up with the recap, a look ahead to the upcoming schedule. There are 2 days that look to work out for us quite well, particularly Wednesday, April 2. The game will begin at 11:00 AM with a preferred arrival time of 10:50ish AM, but blinds WILL go on the table when we start up at 11:00. The potential is there for a big game this day, fellas. Assuming the game takes no more than 4 hours (which would be a LONG game) we can get everybody in and out in time for work. Looking at the schedule, this is who would be eligible to attend that afternoon: Brett, Conlon, Fallica, Loucks, Lundblad, Vince, J-Mac, Clutch, McCrystal, Randall and Willis. That's 11 names. Could be a big one. And remember the recently instituted "morning game rule" -- first player out goes on the lunch run.

The other game we can tentatively schedule would be a marathon day of fun on Saturday April 5 -- the day of the Final Four. Those who are off that day are Matt K., J-Mac, Clutch, Vince, Paul Carr and D-Rose. Randall gets out of work by 4 and others don't have to work until late, so we can configure the start time based on player availability.

Anyway, on to Wednesday's action. The action was pretty slow without much fluctuation until Nick, shortstacked, went all in with J/9 suited and it was folded around until Matt Willis (in the big blind) called for only $42 more. Matty showed pocket deuces and the board did not help Nick, who was sent packing first. Again, not much action going around the table until our next all in situation. J-Mac, in big blind faced a Matt Willis raise when it came around to him. J-Mac, shortstacked due to some pretty sloppy play and crappy cards, went all in for $256 with A/Q off suit. Matty flipped over pocket Kings, and while a queen hit on the flop no further help would come as McCallum continues his run of either winning or going out first or second. You might be wondering, "hey, Paul Carr played on Wednesday, didn't he? If it is your first game at 52 Irving, aren't you supposed to be knocked out first?" The answer is yes, except for this night. But Paul would eventually make his exit when he was low-stacked and decided to gamble. An all in raise without looking at his hand… this kid came to gamble, people! Matt Willis called immediately with pocket aces. Paul flipped over one card to show the 7 of clubs. The board ran out and it came down to what Paul's 2nd card was… he could hit a straight if it was a 5… but it was the 2 of clubs. Pocket aces vs 7/2 suited is a winner 85% of the time, and Matt would take advantage of the massive odds in his favor… this time (that's right, there's FORESHADOWING in this recap, baby).

So Willis, Brett, Ketaineck and Bearman remained at the table. There was a lot of pussy-footing around and no major moves as the blinds got higher. Finally, some fireworks broke out, in one of the more ridiculous hands in 52 Irving history. (Quick Flashback to March 12th 52 Irving Game: The last four participants played for another hour waiting each other out until one of the toughest hands seen at 52 Irving crippled Willis. Willis and Ketaineck got into a pot. The flop came JQK. They both checked. The turn came a harmless 4 and both checked. The river came a 7 and this is when the action fell. Ketaineck bet, Willis raised and Ketaineck went all-in and Willis quickly called. Willis flipped over KK to show a set but Ketaineck flipped over A10 to show the nut straight and left Matty very much chip dead.)

This time around, the two did not slow play anything. Without any pre-flop raises, the flop came down 4/7/5 (no flush draw). Ketaineck bet, Willis immediately goes all in and Ketaineck calls even faster. Matt K. flips over Q/7 for top pair and Matt W. turned over a 3/6, having flopped the straight. At this point in the hand, Willis is 95% to win the pot, 2.2% to chop it and 2.8% to lose it. You can guess where this is going… the turn came 5, giving Ketaineck two pair, and then the crushing 7 hit on the river to give him the full house, sending Willis out in 4th place for the night's action. Sometime, Willis will get his revenge for all this and I only hope I am there to see it…

Almost immediately, Brett had to go all in (shortstacked) and Ketaineck called. Brett showed 8/5 and Matt flipped over 6/5, dominated in the hand. Of course, Ketaineck continued his lucky streak by spiking the 6 on the turn and knocking Brett out one place shy of the money.
Going into heads up, Bearman had about $1,000 to Ketaineck's $2,500. Lots of small bets, walkovers, folds ensued, but Matt had chipped away enough to the point that Bearman had to go all in when he got any kind of hand. A flop came out 2/2/3 and Bearman went all in with J/4 of diamonds. Matt called with 3/4. The turn and river came 6/8 and the night's session was over, with Matt K. getting his first win of the season. Ketaineck knocking out Bearman ensured that everybody eliminated in the night's game was knocked out by someone named Matt. (Willis knocked out Nick, J-Mac and Paul -- Ketaineck knocked out Willis, Brett and Bearman). On the night, J-Mac and Edge reached the minimum 50 AB to qualify for the end of season 52 Irving Poker Bonanza.

So SUCK IT.

Here are the official results for Wednesday, March 26:
7th place - Nick (1 point)
6th place - J-Mac (2 points)
5th place - Paul (3 points)
4th place - Willis (4 points)
3rd place - Brett (5 points)
2nd place - Bearman (7 points -- 6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus point for cashing)
1st place - Ketaineck (9 points -- 7 points for 1st, 1 bonus point for cashing, 1 bonus point for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/26

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22/20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14/14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .842 48/57 2 4
4) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
4) Vince Masi .750 24/32 1 2
6) Jason McCallum .706 36/51 3 3
7) Chris Fallica .692 9/13 1 1
8) David Bearman .688 33/48 1 2
9) Matt Ketaineck .667 30-45 1 3
10) Brett Edgerton .580 29/50 0 1
11) Matt Willis .538 21/39 0 1
12) Paul Carr .429 3/7 0 0
13) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
14) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
15) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
16) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $142

Don't forget next event is Wednesday April 2, 11:00 AM. GET IN!

- J-Mac

Tue. 3/18 Recap

Hey Folks -
As always, before we begin I will announce the next tournament. We will play next Wednesday, March 26th at 7:30 PM. It's the best day that works for the most amount of people, incredibly DROSE has another night shift that will not allow him to play (sorry bud!). We might even see a new addition to the 52 Irving Poker League (yes that's right Paul Carr, I'm looking at you while I say that!)

Speaking of new additions, we added a 15th player to the Poker League this evening as Jeremy Lundblad joined the fray for the first time this season. He was among 6 players who braved the sleet to hop into the tournament joining Bearman, Fallica, Masic, Edge and Clutch. Unfortunately for Lundblad, he suffered a similar fate to many a player who have joined the league for the first time. After about an hour of play, Lundblad was pretty chip dead and went all-in Q8, Fallica was pretty much forced to call him because of the odds and he did with K7. When Fallica caught a straight on the turn, Lundblad was done but hopefully he'll be back soon!

Clutch, who was the chip leader throughout much of the tournament's first 90 minutes, suffered a race loss to a Fallica all-in (Q10 vs 88) that gave Fallica over 300 more chips and the tournament was never the same for Clutch or the rest of the field. As the blinds climbed higher, Clutch tried a few all-ins that kept him afloat but when he went all-in with AJ vs Masi's 77, he was forced to the rail when Vince hit a 7 on the flop.

That left the field 4-handed but the worst beat of the night would soon end Edge's night. With the blinds at 40/80, Edge went all-in with his last 325 chips and Fallica in the big blind called him with JQ of spades. Edge calmly flipped over KK and had Fallica dominated. However when two spades hit on the flop, things got worrisome for the Edge. When another spade hit on the turn, the proverbial check showed up in Fallica's column and Edge's night was over and he was left to contemplate how Rutgers could be placed in the same region with Uconn?

That left Bearman, Fallica and Masi with Fallica holding a decent chip lead on his two pursuers. Bearman, starting to get chip dead went all-in on the big blind and Vince called him. Bearman flipped over A4 and Vince showed K10. A king hit on the flop and when a ten spiked on the river, Bearman was sent to the rail and the tournament was heads up and Fallica was guaranteed his first cash of the season.

It was very quiet heads up for a little while as Masi and Fallica felt each other out. There were a few raises but no big hands until we came to the finale. Masi called the big blind of 100, Fallica raised to 300 total. Vince moved all-in and Fallica hemmed a small second before calling. Masi flipped over A10 and in what seemed to be the theme of the evening, Fallica showed 44. The flop came 922 and the turn and river with 6 and 7 respectively as Vince failed to improve and Fallica had his first win at 52 Irving.

Here are final results from Mar. 18:
6th place - Jeremy Lundblad - 1 point
5th place - Clutch - 2 points
4th place - Brett Edgerton - 3 points
3rd place - Bearman - 4 points
2nd place - Vince Masi - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Chris Fallica - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/18

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22/20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14/14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .842 48/57 2 4
4) Jason McCallum .773 34/44 3 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
5) Vince Masi .750 24/32 1 2
7) Chris Fallica .692 9/13 1 1
8) David Bearman .634 26/41 1 1
9) Brett Edgerton .558 24/43 0 1
10) Matt Ketaineck .553 21/38 0 2
11) Matt Willis .531 17/32 0 1
12) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
13) Nick Loucks .250 5/20 0 0
14) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
15) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $128

Reminder.. Next Tourney at 52 Irving on Wednesday, March 18th at 7:30 PM

Clutch

Wed. 3/12 Recap

Hey Fellas -
Sorry for the delay…It's been a little crazy for me lately but enough of the excuses…
As always, let's announce the next poker tournament. It will be next Tuesday, March 18th at 8:00pm. There's a ton of you off or off early, so GET IN.

OK - now for the March 12th recap…

The chips were flying fast and furious right from the get-go, but it seemed to just be a "pass-the-chips-in-a-circle" scenario as the 6 players played over 2 hours before somebody went out. It should be noted Brett Edgerton won the first 4 hands and was in a position to win a 5th but Nick Loucks pushed all his chips and Edge did not let pride get in the way and backed down.

Speaking of Loucks, who was down to the felt many times throughout the evening, was not afraid of throwing his chips around. Unfortunately he met his demise when he went all-in with QQ only to be called by Willis's KK. When his queens failed to improve, Nick was sent to the rail. Brett, the early chip-leader, was next to go. After lasting a few all-ins, he went to the rail when he called a bet that put him all-in after a queen high flop with Q10. Ketaineck showed QJ and the last 2 cards did not help Edge and he was out in 5th place.

The last four participants played for another hour waiting each other out until one of the toughest hands seen at 52 Irving crippled Willis. Willis and Ketaineck got into a pot. The flop came JQK. They both checked. The turn came a harmless 4 and both checked. The river came a 7 and this is when the action fell. Ketaineck bet, Willis raised and Ketaineck went all-in and Willis quickly called. Willis flipped over KK to show a set but Ketaineck flipped over A10 to show the nut straight and left Matty very much chip dead. His night would end a few hands later when his J5 couldn't beat Ketaineck's Q3.

That left JMAC, Ketaineck and Clutch. Clutch was the small stack but he eventually put himself in near chip lead with numerous all-in calls and some very lucky set hits. But in the theme of the night, he was done in by a very cruel hand. Ketaineck and Clutch were in the blinds and both limped in to see a K106 all-clubs flop. Ketaineck bet 300 and clutch called. The turn came a 6 and clutch bet 300 and Ketaineck went all-in and Clutch quickly called. Clutch flipped over A3 clubs but Ketaineck flipped over 1010 to show a full boat and Clutch was sent to the rail in 3rd place.

This left JMAC and Ketaineck heads-up with Ketaineck having about a 2-1 chip lead. They played heads up for about a half-hour and JMAC chipped away at Ketaineck's lead eventually taking a small lead before the final hand that ended things. The final hand started with a raise by JMAC and a call by Ketaineck. The flop came Q3Q, and both players checked. The turn came 5 and both players again checked. The came an 8 and JMAC bet 500 and Ketaineck raised all-in and JMAC quickly called. Ketaineck showed A8 but JMAC flipped over his set Q2 and was victorious for the 3rd time this season.

Here are final results from Mar. 12:
6th place - Nick Loucks - 1 point
5th place - Brett Edgerton - 2 points
4th place - Matt Willis - 3 points
3rd place - Clutch - 4 points
2nd place - Matt Ketaineck - 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 League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/12

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22-20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14-14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .902 46/51 2 4
4) Jason McCallum .773 34/44 3 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Vince Masi .692 18/26 1 1
7) David Bearman .629 22/35 1 1
8) Brett Edgerton .567 21/37 0 1
9) Matt Ketaineck .553 21/38 0 2
10) Matt Willis .531 17/32 0 1
11) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
12) Nick Loucks .250 5/20 0 0
13) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0
13) Chris Fallica .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $116

Reminder.. Next Tourney at 52 Irving on Tuesday, March 18th at 8:00 PM

Clutch

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

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

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

MAJOR 52 IRVING POKER ANNOUNCEMENT!! MUST READ!!

Hey all -

As you probably figured out from the subject line, 52 Irving has a major announcement regarding poker at Unit 24.

Over the last 8 months since we have moved in at 52 Irving, we have hosted a number of poker nights that most of you have attended and hopefully had fun at! There has been some discussion and clamoring for some sort of standings and/or league to be put together. Well Friday night, you all were invited to play at our 1st 2008 event (unless you were scheduled to work of course!) and it went very well. Through discussion we came up with 2008 52 Irving Poker League with the following rules.

How it works is that each time there is a tournament played at 52 Irving you will earn points or "hits" towards your "Poker Batting Average". Your Poker Batting Average will determine how many chips you will receive at the 52 Irving Year-End Poker Bonanza. Obviously you are asking yourself 2 questions right now:

1) How exactly does the point system work?

2) How exactly will the the 52 Irving Year-End Poker Bonanza work (prizes, chip counts, etc.?)

OK let me answer Question #1
With the point system, each time there is a tournament, the amount of points or hits are determined by the number of players in the tournament. For example, Friday night we had 6 players entered. The 1st person eliminated gets 1 point. The 2nd person eliminated gets 2 points, 3rd eliminated 3 points and so on until the person to win the 6 person tourney gets 6 points. You get an extra point if you cash (i.e. in a 6-person tourney 1st and 2nd pay out) and you get an additional point if you win the tourney.

So the points from last night went like this:
6th place - Jason Mccallum - 1 point

5th place - Matt Ketaineck - 2 points

4th place - Vince Masi - 3 points

3rd place - Brett Edgerton - 4 points

2nd place - Ryan McCrystal - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)

1st place - Dennis "Clutch" Renno - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

Now you are probably thinking, shit, I can't make it to every tournament, all those bastards that live there or play all the time will rack up all sorts of points. In order to be fair and to get a better idea of people's performances, we created a "Poker Batting Average".

It works like this:
You get "at-bats" based on the number of people entered in the tournament. So for instance, each of the 6 people entered in last night's tournament, each received 6 at-bats. Their "hits" are determined by the number of points you receive. With that said, here are the batting averages for each of the 6 people who played last night:

Dennis Renno - 1.333 (8/6)

Ryan McCrystal - 1.000 (6/6)

Brett Edgerton - .667(4/6)

Vince Masi - .500 (3/6)

Matt Ketaineck - .333 (2/6)

Jason McCallum - .167 (1/6)

I feel confident that I have explained this fairly well, but if you don't understant, just go see HR and turn in your badge as you don't deserve to work at ESPN…

OK now to answer the question about the 52 Irving Year-End Poker Bonanza.
Prior to the start of each tournament, each person entering will pay the normal $20 plus a $2 Bonanza feel that will go into the Bonanza pot and will be saved for that tournament. To qualify for the 52 Irving Year-End Poker Bonanza, you will need to a minimum of 50 at-bats. This way, somebody doesn't just try to accumulate a high Poker Batting Average and then wait for the Bonanza.

As each tournament happens throughout the year, you will get an update on all the Poker Batting Averages. If you qualify for the Bonanza, your Poker Batting Average will determine the number of chips that you receive. For instance if the Bonanza was tomorrow, Clutch would have 1333 chips to start and JMAC would have 167. If you qualify for the bonanza, you can enter the Bonanza by paying a normal tournament entry fee of $20. That way with the entry fees plus the $2 bonanza fees collected throughout the year will have us a pretty nice pot.

If 8 or less people play in the 52 Irving Year-End Poker Bonanza, the prize payout will go:

1st place - 80%

2nd place - 20%

If there's 9 or more, the prize payout will go:

1st place - 75%

2nd place - 15%

3rd place - 10%

Lot of information to process but I think you all can figure it out…

Other thoughts to chew on:

1) Our hope is to host at least 2 tournaments a month…

2) In thinking outside the box, we may try to host tournaments at various times throughout the day to try to accommodate various schedules…

3) The minimum to host a tournament is 5...

4) We may have more than 1 tournament in a sitting…

5) Embrace this, it should be fun…

6) After each tournament, you will get a standings update that will look like this:

52 Irving Poker LeagueCurrent Poker Batting Averages Thru 1/25

1) Dennis "Clutch" Renno 1.333 8/6

2) Ryan McCrystal 1.000 6/6

3) Brett Edgerton .667 4/6

4) Vince Masi .500 3/6

5) Matt Ketaineck .333 2/6

6) Jason McCallum .167 1/6

The next poker tournament will happen Thursday, Jan. 31st sometime between 8-8:30pm. Please let me know if you can make it.!!

GET IN!

Clutch