Winner John
2nd Kev Mc
3rd Paul
4th Dave
5th Rob
6th Steve
Also played: Jordan, Mark
Total: 8
Venue: Jordan's
It was a return trip to Jordan's for the May instalment of the TPS year and, with Andy and Tatter sorting out band business, Sids catching rays in Spain, Kev R counting his winnings from the previous night's trip to the casino with Paul and Jordan and Chris arriving late, a disappointing 8 players started the night making it a one table tournament; the top six getting points.
Jordan, who’d got into the top 20 from an 80+ field at the casino the night before, and who’d been hitting the rosé all afternoon got a few mandatory all in’s in in the early rounds taking not much more than the blinds, but this early lead was enough to mean his next few all ins could take out any callers so the rest of the table turned cautious and waited for him to fold a hand.
A few rounds later and Jordan’s stack had started to dwindle so when he next went all in, this time with a pair of 5’s, he got called by both John and Mark- who was in a much more subdued mood compared to last month’s barn storming performance (he was probably burnt out from too many hours of Call Of Duty 4) - John winning the hand and taking out both players with a King high flush.
Next to bet all his chips was Steve with AQ, quickly called by John with K 2 suited. John had enough chips to cover Steve’s stack with plenty to spare but a King on the board gave him the hand and Steve a point. The remaining five players’ swapped chips until Rob’s A 9 went up against Kev Mc’s A J- Kev winning with 2 pair and maintaining his 100% record for final tables this season so far.
Dave was the next to fall foul of the Ice Man when his KQ lost to Kev Mc’s Ace high Flush- this left Kev, league leader Paul and John- who’d managed to lose most of his early chip lead to Paul a few hands earlier but had managed to claw enough back (with a little help from another tasty Crab Salad), to go all in with yet another KQ. Paul showed A 2 but a Queen on the flop knocked him out, giving John his 3rd heads up in a row.
Regulars will know by now John’s propensity to go all foolish during a heads up situation and with his previous encounters with Mark and Paul weighing heavily on his mind he soon made a move with his lucky hand of the night KQ. Kev Mc called with QJ and when no Aces or Faces appeared on the board every one began congratulating an oblivious John who had yet to realise he’d actually won after 4 long years of trying.
John can now cancel his dealers Tux and join Mark and Paul in the Masters and it’s now Steve who holds the dubious honour of being the highest ranked player without a win. It’s neck and neck for second place between Angry and Ice (who surely must be due a win after never finishing lower than 3rd all year) and a gap is starting to appear at the top of the table. But with Paul still 14 points clear in first position and the halfway point of the season fast approaching it’s going to take a couple of first place finishes from the rest of the field to catch up.
