And so the seven winners of the previous season gathered at the TPS Poker Dojo. Rob, who'd somehow managed not to turn up to the last Masters way back in 2005 was the first to go, and the pressure of the stressful end of season must have got to Kev R as he went out next.
Andy soon followed leaving Tatter in short stacked position. He must have given up all hope when with 40 chips left he went all-in with a ludicrous 7- 2 off. Sids', seeing an opportunity called with King 7 knocking Tatter oot.
Sids' extra chips didn't help him much as 10 minutes later he was oot too having gone all-in with King Queen only to be called by H who had Ace Jack, the flop did nobody any favours and the Ace high won, giving H a massive chip lead as he went heads up against Kev Mc.
The head to head lasted the best part of an hour and at one point Kev went all-in with Jack 10 and the best H had was a Queen. Kev spiked a 10 on the board to become chip leader. The next time H went all in Kev called with King 7. H showed another Ace Jack and looked to be the favourite until Kev hit a King giving him the Masters crown (and his vase back).
The 2007 season finally reached its throbbing climax with TPS 11 `07 shooting thick streams of poker jizz over the expectant faces of the Hold `Em world. Thirteen payers turned out to see if Kev R could take the title and, for those not already in it, for one last desperate attempt to reach Masters Heaven.
After the sad demise of Paul's Old Green Table (R.I.P.), table 2 had to contend with squeezing round a tiny coffee table, whilst those on table 1 had the luxury of Paul's Big Red Fancy Table. The seating draw meant that league leader Kev R was placed next to the contender Sids, whilst Sids was placed next to the only two players who could knock him off second spot if he failed to win: John and Tatter.
The evening started off in a subdued, pensive atmosphere; possibly down to the high steaks at steak, or possibly down to several players (Kev R, Steve, John and Paul) still recovering from the previous nights real-ale-athon (courtesy of JD Wetherspoon).
All this pressure must have got to Sid's when he failed to spot Brendan's flush and, despite holding trip queens got knocked out first - handing Kev R the league title on a doily with only a couple of dozen hands played.
With the title in the bag Kev R was the next to bow out, leaving the rest of table 1 at the mercy of Jordan's new found all-in tactics, which where starting to give him a tidy pile of chips and effectively blocking everyone else from playing anything but their strongest hands. Which was exactly what Brendan did, flopping a straight and calling Jordan's all in only to get rivered by a full house.
Table 2, which had started out much tighter soon started to unravel with Mark, Andy and Rob dropping out in quick succession. The last player to get knocked out on table 1 was John who finally stood up to Jordan's dominating play with and Ace 9 of hearts to Jordan's Ace 6 off. The flop gave up two more hearts and John was still in front until the river gave Jordan a pair of 6's and a seat in the final.
He wasn't there long- Paul finally putting an end to his blitzkrieg tactics. H and Chris where the next to exit leaving Tatter, Paul and Steve still in contention. With Tatter needing to win to overtake Sids in the still lucrative second league position and Paul and Steve desperate to add their name's to the final Masters list, the game slowed to a chess pace- "it was like watching Cliff Thorburn v. Terry Griffith's" said Andy.
Paul was the first to exit, going all-in with Jack King only to suffer a humiliating defeat from Tatter's Ace high, pissing all over his dreams of defending his Masters crown* which he won so effectively in 2006. Tatter won out after a long heads up with Steve, who leapfrogged John and Sids into second in the league.
And so a season that's seen smashed houses, drunken arguments, drunkener players, pot money mix ups, Masters dates disagreements and even some poker drew to a close. The lucky few who managed a win can prepare for playing in the Masters whilst those who failed can practice their dealing and only dream about what might have been. And bore people endlessly with bad beat stories.
TPS 2008 starts in January (2008).
*Please note: TPS Masters™ winners do not win a crown.
TPS10, the penultimate game of the season turned out to be not just eventful but event-filled. It all kicked off with the shock non appearance of Andy, Tatter and Rob- effectively ending all Tatters hopes of winning the league (leaving them literally 'In Tatters'…) and it looked like being one of the lowest attended games of the season until Mark turned up with 2nd time TPS'er Brendan and new player 'Street' in tow.
Things got off to a cautious start until John took a chunk of Steve's chips with a nut flush, then as the beers began to kick in things started loosening up like a fresh prison bitch. One family pot grew to epic proportions until only Mark and Street remained, sensing a straight Mark folded trip Aces, his disciplined move earning respect from the rest of the table.
The night's first casualty was Steve, still feeling under the weather from the previous night's revelry's, with Paul and Brendan following in quick succession. Kev R put his claim in for worse play of the season when he folded a full house for only 8 extra chips.
With Mark and Kev Mc next to drop this left John, Kev R and Street up against the Uber-Chipped Sids. Not soon after John flipped out with a crazy hand only to find himself out of the game like a pregnant whore.
Sids was by then far ahead of the pack and soon took out Kev R and Street to get within 5 points of the TPS 2007 League title.
All this must have been too much for Paul, who after failing yet again to reach the Masters went on a kill crazy rampage throughout Kev R's house smashing everything in sight. Either that or he accidentally managed to un-hinge one of Kev's patio doors sending it crashing to the ground at 4am in the morning. Unperturbed by this, and with a sense of 'being on guard' Paul, John and Kev Mc carried on playing in the sub zero temperatures like a trio of Russian soldiers in a Siberian Gulag.
So now the final game of the season beckons like an inviting trollop. All Kev R has to do its watch that he gets in the points, and Sids has to hope he can win it again and Kev goes out early. As for everyone else, there's still one final chance at Masters Glorwy.
