July Poker League 2009 - Game #1

Last July (2008) a plethora of poker pugilists gathered regularly to test their skills in a semi-weekly contest of skill and luck. The season ended with a solid victory for .com and the summer of 2009 started with another season of the...

... July Poker League!

Without any further ado, here's how things kicked off.


July Poker League 2009 - Game #1

The players convened at Daffy's place. .com, the reigning champion, was originally going to be a no-show but did arrive from Queens. As a result, it was decided that tonight's action would indeed count as game 1.

The rules were reviewed. Each week, the top five finishers would receive 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 points respectively, and at the end of the season the top finishers will receive bonus money which is built with each event. Two extra bonus points are possible each week: 1 for knocking off the current points leader, and 1 for knocking off last week's winner. So, it was decided that .com would have a 1 point bounty on his head. Finally, winning a hand while holding 2-7 means that anybody who was dealt cards that hand must pay the winner $1 cash.

10 players took the table: True, Karma, Lady Luck, Zeus, .com, Pads, My Choice, Daffy, Chick, and a newcomer to this season: "Hoboken", brother to Chick and Daffy. Hoboken missed all of last season.

Play started in a traditional fashion. The only two things that made tonight notable were that Michael Jackson music was on in the background for a large portion of the game, and Pads had crutches and seating issues to be accommodated because he had knee surgery a week before the game.

Play started and chips shuffled slowly around the table. Hoboken built up a stack with aggressive play. Eventually, True and Karma (who will be married in a couple of months!) went out in 10th and 9th place, respectively.

Lady Luck's luck ran a little short and he finished in 8th. Hoboken, who's aggressive play also cost him some big pots, lost a large number of chips to Zeus and subsequently went out in 7th place.

Zeus lost a couple of tough large pots and finished in 6th place, a large number of his chips going to Pads.

Now down to a tough five, the players had to break from playing. Without getting too graphic, Pads' medication was playing games with his stomach and needed a break.

Finally, play commenced. Daffy, who was running short in chips for a while but managed to stay in the game, finally succumbed and finished in 5th place. He did, however, take down a nice pot with 2-7 earlier to win a few bucks from the table.

.com, who played tight solid poker as usual, looked remarkably awake as he coasted into 4th place, earning his first points of the new season.

Chick, who had quietly stuck around solidly all night and seemed to avoid major fireworks, went out in 3rd place.

Brothers Pads and My Choice went heads up with chip stacks tough to stack and swinging wildly back and forth. Finally, My Choice emerged victorious. He was also responsible for the knockout of .com to earn 11 points for the night. He did lose $1 to Pads though, as Pads won a heads-up hand with 2-7 - a small token for Pads for a 2nd place night.

The schedule of future games seems like it is still being worked out, but Game #2 will commence Thursday night, July 2. Shuffle up and deal!

Standings:

My Choice: 11 (11)
Pads: 7 (7)
Chick: 5 (5)
.com: 3 (3)
Daffy: 1 (1)
Hoboken: 0
Lady Luck: 0
Karma: 0
True: 0
Zeus: 0