THE MASTERS 2008

Winner Brendan

2nd John

3rd Paul

4th Jordan

5th Tatter

6th Mike

7th Mark

Venue: Marks


After 12 long months of poker slog the year’s winners gathered together at Mark luxurious cassa to see who would be anointed champ of champs. Fearing that the night might be over quickly, what with the array of normally aggressive players in attendance, it was decided that this would be a relatively (in TPS terms) deep stack game with each player starting with 80 chips. The flurry of expected early all-ins and overbets failed to materialise as the game got off to a cautious start. It wasn’t that long however before Jordan pushed all in against Paul with 2 Aces on the board. A long stand off ensued whilst Paul considered the prospect of either an early bath or an early double up but after much deliberation he folded his straight much to the relief of Jordan who would have only had trips.

Another long deliberation followed this time involving Tatter and Paul when Paul put in a big raise after a low value board with a J and a Q as the only high cards. but Tatter, in an amazing show of discipline folded his pocket Aces- Paul had JQ in his mits and the two pair would have won it.

Host Mark was the first to fall when his KJ lost to another set of Jordan’s trip aces and Brendan and Mike played chip tennis back and forth across the table, seemingly the only two players ever to end up in the pot, but Mike came off the worse only to end up being knocked out by John who’s AQ paired up with the flop. Tatter and Paul then faced off again, this time with Tatter holding pocket Kings only to lose to Paul’s Full House 3’s full 10’s.

Jordan who was playing in a much more reserved style than normal (only going all-in every other hand), managed to make it to fourth place until eventually being kicked to the curb by Brendan with a pair of Queens.

By the time it hit midnight fears of a quick conclusion had disappeared and with the ‘big money’ now to play for the last three of Paul, Brendan and John knuckled down to some serious pokee. Despite his big chip stack going into the final stages Paul was the eventual surprise bronze medallist when his QJ got shafted by Brendan’s two pair of Aces and 10’s. This left John in yet another heads up position and yet again miles behind his opponent as far as chips where concerned, but a few deftly played hands later he was in the lead by a county mile. With the game now entering its 5^th hour of play John could almost taste the victory and decided on a swift resolution, putting Brendan all in on every hand. Alas the poker gods must frown upon such impetuous avidity and John lost every hand. Brendan eventually won the title with A 4 against John 5,6, suited.

TPS11 `08 "End Game" Saturday November 8th

Winner Paul

2nd Tatter

3rd Kev Mc

4th Mike

5th Steve

6th Dave

Also Ran: John, Chris,Rob, Briggs, John T, Gazzer

Total: 12
Venue: Riley's Snooker Club
It was a second away outing to Riley’s snooker club for TPS 11, this time with the tantalising promise of a laid on ‘buffet’. The free food offer helped to draw out the crowds (sort of) with a return appearance of Dave and the fresh face of Mike’s brother Gazzer.

With Paul taking the league the month before the final game of the 2008 season would be a race for the last Masters spot plus a battle between John and Kev Mc to see who could clinch the still lucrative runner up position, but with Kev needing to finish in first place and hope John didn’t come second it looked like a tough proposition for the Ice Man.

However John helped Kev’s cause from the get –go by going out in first place, his ‘nothing to loose’ attitude back firing when an all in with A J of clubs was called by Mike who showed A K- a Jack on 4^th Street gave John a glimmer of hope but a King on the River sent him off to the bar to complain about the music and ask when the much anticipated buffet would be arriving.

Brendan was the next to duck out when his K9 lost out to Paul’s AJ and there was much excitement on table two when Dave nearly hit a Royal Flush. Back on table one Mike soon began to dominate taking chips from just about everyone and knocking Rob out with A 10 to Robs QK suited. It soon boiled down to a bubble avoiding chip fight between low stacks Steve and John T, until John did Steve a massive favour by going all in with 8,3, and getting called by Mike who had A,3, – a 3 on the flop didn’t help John’s cause and he missed out on a seat in the final. But before the final, the ‘buffet’ arrived and the hungry players tucked into ham and cheese sarnies, chips (oh the irony) and crisps. Lots of crisps. “I’ve not eaten that many Quavers in years” said John.

By the time the final round got under way the clock was ticking towards turfing out time - if the game wasn’t done and dusted by last orders it would have to be decided on chip stacks. With this added pressure Dave and Steve soon flunked out followed a few rounds later by Mike. With less that 20 mins left it was a three way stand off between Tatter, Paul and Kev Mc with Tatter in the lead and Kev, who had yet to win a game all year, in low stack position. As talk of the impending chip count mounted Kev decided it was now or never and started making all in shouts- he nabbed a few blinds and even managed to double up until he finally got potted by Paul, missing out on both the runner up position and a Masters place – meaning the 2008 event would be the first without the Ice Man’s presence. Kev, looking truly gutted must have been wondering how it all went so horribly wrong. At least there’s still John’s usual dealers position available- all he needs is a Tux.

The TPS season then drew to a quick close and who better to take the final first place than league winner, and now 8 times TPS champion Paul.

TPS 10 `08 'The Jolly Boys Night Out' Saturday October 11th

Winner Jordan

2nd Kev Mc

3rd Paul

4th Mark

5th Tatter

6th Steve

Also Ran: John, Chris,Rob, Briggs, John T

Total: 11
Venue: Riley's Snooker Club

TPS10 `08 saw the first historic ‘away game’ as we ventured out of the safety of each others houses and into the big bad world, or at least the vast deserted space of Riley’s Snooker Club.

The huge trampoline-esque tables meant that all 11 players managed to squeeze round one, so this would be a 1 round game with the top six scoring points.
And there was a lot to play for with John needing at least a first or second place to have any sniff at overtaking Paul at the top of the league and Kev Mc hot on John’s heels for second place.

John T was the first unlucky fucker of the night when his all-in with KQ took one in the face from Marks pocket Aces – a third Ace on table giving him the trips and an early lead.

Chris was next to fall – his A 6 of Hearts against Tatters pair o’ Nines- 2 hearts on flop gave Chris a glimmer of hope but the next card was black and the 9’s held. Rob was the second to fall under Marks massive poker sword, going all-in with K J but this time Mark was wielding pocket Queens.
It was the second league place rivals John and Kev Mc who where next to face off, both of them betting big against a King on an otherwise low value board, when it came to the show down John was holding K Q but Kev Mc had K A leaving John with just a ‘pitiful rookerfull’ of chips.
It was soon time for Jordan to make one of his usual All In moves and this time he had a half decent hand to back it up- pocket Jacks. Briggs took the bait with KJ but it wasn’t enough and Jordan got his first scalp of the night.

Soon the field started thinning like Tatters barnet when John, whose chip stack had been reduced to less than the next big blind pushed all in with a massive 8-2 of clubs. Mark called it followed by Steve, who was holding pockets Aces but even this monster wasn’t enough as Mark hit a Straight- with two more players out Mark was way ahead of everyone else and taking up most of the table with his chip-pile. Tatter went out next when his massive 7-3 suited lost to Jordan's high card King.

Then, in what must count as one of the oddest calls in TPS history, Jordan declared himself all in with KJ suited to which Mark, who had been haemorrhaging chips in the last couple of hands and to the astonishment of everyone, calls with just 9-4 off, needless to say Jordan’s KJ stood up and Mark, who looked certain to take his second TPS win was out. From then on it was all Jordan’s game, making short work of Paul with a pair of 4’s, and Kev Mc, (who’s lack of a TPS victory this year remains a mystery to everyone), when they clashed with a pair of 5’s (Kev) and a pair of 6’s (Jordan), the third 6 on the flop making The Mark Of The Beast -surely a sign of impending apocalypse - and giving Jordan his first ever win.

Paul Wins League

TPS 10 saw Paul take the 2008 title with 1 game to spare. His early season dominance saw him take a massive lead with an unprecedented 3 wins on the bounce and despite some poor results over the summer no one could catch him, the 2005 Masters Champion must still be favourite to take this years title and with 125 points at the top of the All Time Leader board he’ll be the player to beat in 2009.

TPS 10: Important News

Fellow Poker-teers – after the recent uncertainty over the future of this year’s league the TPS board is happy to announced that the last two games of the season will be held at Riley’s Snooker Club, Church Street Blackpool.

This shock departure from out traditional home game format has come about due to the increasing popularity of our beloved TPS and the problems this has caused with regards to finding regular venues.

Important!! - You all need to become members first.

Best way to become a member is online at http://www.rileysltd.com/ and I believe it's free. This will be sent to Rileys computer which will speed up the process. Bring photo ID on the day.

Or you can go in and sign up, take some photo ID, but Maria the Manageress would prefer you do it before the day to speed things up.

You can sign up on the day, just bring some photo ID, it will slow us down if you all decide to do that.

Ask for Maria.

The cost for hiring the tables and equipment is £3 a head. Bargain.

Meet in the Blueroom at 7.00 and I'll sort the seating positions in there. We need to all be on time if possible to make things easy. I don't want to turn up at 8.00 when I've told her 7.30.

The buy-in and game structure will remain the same.

We have already booked the tables for the last two games of this season.

Depending on how it goes we will decide afterwards whether to hold the Masters there.

The date for the next event will be Saturday October 11^th (the week after the advertised date), with TPS 11 on the Nov 8^th.

Don't forget to bring photo ID!

TPS 9 `08 'Eviction Night' Saturday September 6th

Winner Mike

2nd John

3rd Paul

4th Tatter

5th Steve

6th John T

Also Ran: Jordan, Chris, Kev Mc, Dave

Total: 10

Venue: Jordan's
September, and the TPS season is slowly dragging its bloated carcass towards its inevitable conclusion. The 9^th instalment saw a spack-tacular 10 players turn up at Jordan’s and for those languishing in the mid-table morass it was make or break time for a chance to catch Paul at the top of the table and for those still with out a win under their belts one of only three remaining chances of a Masters place.

With the ten players spread out five apiece over two tables, a finish in the top three would put them in the final and a chance of getting some much needed points. It was table two that saw Kev Mc as the first player to get knocked on his arse in the first round, Amir Kahn-like, shortly followed by Jordan whose inevitable All-In with an A, 10, was called by Tatters K, 8, - an 8 on the flop sending Jordan out of the game and wrapping up table two in under an hour. Tatter and Paul where the chip leaders by a mile, with Steve just managing to scrape in to his fourth final this year.

This could only mean one thing for table one- that it would drag on and on for ages and ages……..

John took an early lead after a big pot take down against Mike when they both went large with a pair of Queens but John’s King kicker out did Mikes 10 kicker. Chris was the first to go out and Dave’s prediction that John’s early chip-stack lead would dwindle down to nothing came to fruition as the two of them battled for third place against the mega-chipped John T and Mike. A couple of small gains from John meant that Dave was eventually blinded out of the match and the final table could begin.

An uncharacteristic 1^st hand All In from John is what greeted the five other players on the final table. John T had started things off with a modest raise but without any takers John’s attempt at an early double up meant he was now only on par with the first round table winners with regard to starting chips, until a few hands later when it was John T’s turn to go all in with a 7,A,7 flop. John was more than happy to call as he was holding A,7- John T turning over K,Q, to reveal a gutsy if foolhardy bluff - another Ace on the river gave John the pick of the Full Houses and John T a point and a chance to join the side game.

In what might go down as one of the bravest if not strangest plays of the season Steve was the next to make an all in move and after a long think it was Mike who called it. Steve revealed just a 3 and an 8- the three on the flop giving him just a pair of crabs, but Mike only had 4, J, of Spades and with only one other Spade on the board Steve was looking the unlikely winner until the final two cards gave Mike the Flush and all of Steve’s chips.

Not to be outdone in the crazy All In stakes, Tatter was next to push his entire stack over the line with pocket 5’s and once again Mike took the bait with A,Q suited. A low value board turned into a Straight and Tatter survived for a few more rounds.

Not long after their first toe-to-toe Tatter vs. Mike part two saw Tatski with 10, Q, of Diamonds to Mikes A,K, of Hearts but despite hitting Trip 10’s Tatter lost the rematch when Mike hit yet another Flush.

By this point in the final Mike had almost ‘All The Chips In The World’ and top of the league rivals Paul and John looked to be battling for 2^nd place. A few tense rounds ensued with Paul pulling out all the stops in an effort to force a comeback whilst John’s stack dwindled away as he struggled to land a decent hand. By the time Paul called Mike’s All In John was down to less than 30 chips. Mike showed A, Q, and Paul could only manage A, 6, - with no improving cards on the board Paul’s valiant fight was over and he had to settle for 3^rd place. John then faced his fourth and shortest lived Heads-Up of the season when he followed Paul by going all in with A, 6. Mike, who had to call, turned over 10, 8, and a brace of 10’s on the flop gave him his first TPS win after just five appearances.

‘Freak Night’ a.k.a. ‘Now We Are Four’ a.k.a 'The Honey Trap'. Friday 1st August

Winner Briggs

2nd Chris

3rd Dave

4th John T

5th John

6th Sids

Also Ran: Paul, Tatter, Jordan, Paul N, Steve, Mike, Alex, Mark

Total: 14

Venue: Jordan's

If TPS were a child it would be a petulant tantrum prone toddler by now as TPS 8 '08 was our fourth birthday. The usual summer problem of people actually having lives outside of poker meant the tournament was moved to a Friday, but the change didn’t put people off as 14 players showed their faces. The absence of regulars Andy, the two Kevs and Rob was made up for by newcomers Alex and Paul M.

The seating draw meant that all this seasons previous winners where sat next to each other on table 2 but it was over on table 1 that saw the nights first casualty, Mike, when his Ace 2 got pushed all in by -who else- Jordan with King Jack – a Queen on the flop and a 10 on the river giving Jordan the Straight.

Meanwhile Paul’s signature hand of a pair of 4’s was no match for Sids’ trip Aces leaving Paul short stacked on table 2. New face Paul N rode out some good natured ribbing from the rest of the table after a phone call from his mum asking him if he wanted any sandwiches making; his Ace Queen failed to hit a pair against Mark's pocket 8’s, sending him home first on table 2. Jordan’s all in or nothing style took out another new face on table 1 when his Two Pair of Jacks and Queens beat out Alex’s pocket 10’s. Steve’s disappointing season continued when he failed to make the cut once again and despite his massive early chip lead it was one all in too many for Jordan as he too failed to make the last 6.

Previous winners Paul and Mark also failed to make the grade on table 2 and it was Tatter the Younger John T’s time to shine when he knocked out his older sibling to reach the final 6 for the first time.

In the final it was Chris who came flying out of the traps, eye’s bulging and foaming at the mouth with pure Poker Rage, determined to grab his long over due first TPS win. He took an early lead with Trip 9’s to John T’s Queen Queen and then knocked out Sids with Ace High, Sid’s saying ‘this is the worst game of Poker I’ve ever Played’. Chris followed that up by knocking out short stacked John with a King 7 to Johns Jack Queen; King High taking the hand. John ended the night with 3 vital league points and with second place rival Kev Mc unable to attend, closed the gap on leader Paul to just 11 points. This left Dave, Briggs and John T to face up to Chris’ rabid chip dominance.

John T went out in 4^rd spot with a desperate all in with pocket ducks to Brigg’s pocket Queens and the game then carried on for ages with Dave the player to slowly loose out after most of his decent hands where met with folds, making it difficult for him to grab any chips. He finally went out in 3^th when his Trip Jacks met Chris' Full House. So a new TPS champion was guaranteed as Chris and Briggs faced off with almost even chip-stacks. A solid back and forth rally of Blinds Tennis ensued with hardly a flop to be seen until a 7 8 8 board caused the two players to go all in, Chris was looking for the Straight with his 10 9 holding but Briggs was ahead with 8 4 in his hand. A Deuce on Fourth St. and a 4 on the River gave Briggs the hand, his first win and a seat in the Masters.

So this leaves just three more games for the 2008 season with a maximum 33 points left up for grabs. Can Paul hold on to his lead at the top? In the unlikely event that he fails to reach any more final tables but just turns up, all players above Dave could conceivably finish first if they win the next three games, (Dave would draw with Paul on 49 points). John’s just 11 points behind but would still need to finish in at least a top three position for the rest of the season in order to catch him.

(photo’s coming soon).

Sssshhhh- Secret TPS! Saturday 12th July

Winner Sids

2nd John

3rd Paul

4th Steve

5th Kev Mc

6th Tatter

Total: 6

Venue: John's

With no suitable venues available in July it looked as if TPS 7 `08 might not happen, but in order to avoid sabotaging the entire season John’s gaff was made available at the last minute albeit with a much reduced field due to space restraints. Six players took up their places for the smallest, quietest and soberest TPS ever. It was Steve who took the nights first scalp when his pocket Jacks beat Tatter’s desperate 5, 10. Kev Mc was next when his Ace 8 went up against John’s Ace Queen, John hitting a Queen on the flop.

Despite his recent reading of the ‘Sacred Book of Poker Secrets’, a.k.a. Harrington On Hold ‘em (the book John credits with turning his game around), Steve was the third to drop out after going all in with Ace 4. Sids had the Jacks this time to take the hand but it would have been Paul’s chance to knock them both out if he hadn’t folded his pocket 5’s with another five on the board.

By the time it got down to the last three of John, Sids and Paul, (who’d gathered a healthy stack after winning a couple of big pots with what maybe his signature hand of a pair of 4’s), the big blind had reached 32 and only Sids had a comfortable amount of chips. Several desperate All In’s saw John’s chip pile get back to healthier proportions after its steady decline since his early lead, but Paul helped him out big time by going all in with just a 10 and a 2, Sids called with just a Queen and a 4, hitting another 4 on the board.

This took Sids to his first heads up of the season and John to his fourth but with Sids having the superior chip count by some margin it would take John a couple of double ups to even things out. Sids put the pressure on straight away going all in with Queen 8. Luckily for John he’d managed to grab himself a pocket pair of Kings, unluckily for John two more 8’s on the board gave Sid’s the title and a third TPS winning star.

TPS 6 `08 “The Crazy Pineapple" Saturday June 7th

Winner Tatter

2nd Chris

3rd Dave

4th Mike

5th Rob

6th Sids

Also played: John, Andy, Paul, Kev Mc, Briggs, Street, Steve, John T

Total: 14

Venue: Robs

“Summer, summer, summer-time
Time to sit back and unwind”

Ok so it might not have been a scorcher weather wise but the June instalment of the TPS `08 saga reached it’s midway point with a trip to Robs swanky new maison.

Noticeable absentees where Kev R (who was otherwise engaged camping it up in this years Big Brother), Jordan and Mark. But the fourteen strong turn-out included the return of Sids from his jollies and for his second bite of the TPS lemon, Mike as well as such rarities as Briggs, John T and Street- another TPS sophomore player not seen since TPS 10 last year.

Whatever he’d been biting Mike began playing the same super aggressive style he’d shown at TPS 4 and his constant raises soon pushed him ahead of the rest of table 2.

Steve was the first unlucky punter to go out after staring at a flop of mostly heart’s for an eternity and deciding that his trip Jacks would definitely win out just as long as Mike didn’t have a Flush. Unfortunately for Steve, Mike did have the Flush and Steve’s night was almost over before it began, although, too be honest, that would have required a time machine.

Andy’s miserable season continued apace when his KQ All In was called by his bro’ Paul who turned over pocket Aces putting him out first on table 1 and making him an early nomination for this years Jimmy White award.

Back on table 2 Mike was subjecting everyone to a royal bully-ramming taking out Briggs (with Two Pair: Aces and Deuces), Street (with Jacks to Street’s Crabs) and John T in quick succession. This left Dave, John and Chris who, due to some judicious sitting-out had only managed to play about 3 hands. John thought he was about to double up and keep his chin above the shit when he flopped Two Pair, Aces and Sixes and Chris called the All In only to split the pot when Chris showed the same hand.

It soon got down to a battle between John and Dave to see who could limp into the final in 3^rd spot. With both of them having about enough chips for one last Big Blind John made an audacious move with a pair of 5’s, hoping to blag Mike he’d matched the Ace on the deck. Although he’d guessed right about Mike not having an Ace he hadn’t guessed on him also having a 5 but with a Jack Kicker, which beat John’s 9 Kicker and ended his early season winning streak.

John’s position in joint second place looked a bit more secure when Kev Mc failed to make the final over on table 1, and he was soon followed into the inevitable side game by Paul, meaning we’d be definitely getting an extra face at this years so far short-handed Masters game in December. Kev Mc, ever gracious in defeat, had hoped to put some daylight between himself and John in second place but instead declared Texas Hold `Em to be a ‘shit game’ and suggested we all start playing ‘Crazy Pineapple’ instead.

Tatter took first blood in the final when his pair of 10’s took all but one of Sids chips, Sids going out the next hand.

A few hands later it was a ‘Duel’(geddit?) between ‘Golden Balls’ Chris’ Ace 9 and Rob ‘Da Bank’’s King Jack. This time it was Chris’ turn to take the prize, which in this case were just Robs chips.

So far Mike hadn’t had chance to dominate like he had in the first round but when he did eventually make a play he came face to face with one of Tatter’s genius moves. Mike went All In with Jack 10 only for Tatter to call with just 7 8, hitting a 7 on the flop to win the hand.

Dave was next up to face the resurgent Tatter’s own cruel brand of frontier poker justice when his seemingly unbeatable Two Pair: Queen Ten combo got bitch slapped out of the game by Tatski’s triple Kaisers.

This gave Chris his first Heads-Up and he must have been feeling confident when he went all in with Ace Queen and Tatter called with an Ace and a 4. When the flop came 7,9,3 he must have been ready to bang his missus senseless on a bed of filthy TPS cash. If the Deuce on Fourth Street didn’t dampen his ardour then the 5 on the River and Tatters Straight must definitely have withered his tumescence into lady-boy proportions. Tatter taking first place since TPS 11 last year.

Still, it was Chris best finish yet and a first place must surely be in the pipe-line soon. Dave too has steadily been crawling up the positions and if he can keep it together in a final table Mike’s blitzkrieg style might just garner him a top place finish. Paul, Kev Mc and John’s early exits meant there was no change a the top of the league but Tatters win puts him in 3^rd position and only 6 points behind John and Kev Mc. It also meant he leapfrogged Kev R into second position on the All Time Leader Board and saw him become only the second player ever to get 4 TPS wins.