NPP Internet Tournament Standings - Three rounds left!

Here are the standings. Thanks to Nahanni's work on my Excel spreadsheet, things are alot easier.

Rownder is still catchable, and I am still catchable by Rownder!

What a log-jam we would have if we could of had full attendance by all the players 6th thru 15th! My stats are inflated by the short tables early in the year and the fact I have 10 more starts than everyone else.

Except for the great years Rownder and Sev4TSev have had, I think you could throw a minnow net around the rest of us. Add those other tough players for a full season, and I could see a 10-way tie for 1st - with me 16th.

With the new format next year, it should be a load of fun - with more important tourneys sprinkled throughout the year, due to each quarter ending.

Here is what the stats are:
Name - Total points - Points per round - Win % - In the money%
Mikeniks/Faldo - 191 - 4.8 - 8% - 65%

1st - Rownder - 163 - 5.4 - 37% - 53%
2nd - Sev4TSev - 146 - 4.6 - 25% - 53%
3rd - Boother - 143 - 4.0 - 14% - 42%
4th - Matchy - 110 - 3.3 - 9% - 45%
5th - ArticBlast - 82 - 2.6 - 3% - 28%
6th - Nahanni - 54 - 3.2 - 18% - 29%
7th - Beerhog - 52 - 4.0 - 23% - 38%
8th - Momo - 42 - 3.5 - 25% - 42%
9th - Duder - 37 - 2.1 - 0% - 28%
10th - Aqualung - 33 - 3.3 - 10% - 40%
11th - Cigar4John - 28 - 3.5 - 0% - 50%
12th - BonAir - 28 - 3.5 - 0% - 38%
13th - Bronco76 - 27 - 3.9 - 29% - 43%
14th - Hlam - 24 - 3.4 - 29% - 29%
15th - DavetheDog - 9 - 3.0 - 0% - 0%
16th - Chief - 7 - 7.0 - 0% - 100%
17th - 1stout - 3 - 3.0 - 0% - 0%
18th - SpartyToJo - 1 - .5 - 0% - 0%
19th - Farrell - 1 - .5 - 0% - 0%
20th - Tigercub - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Sev4TSev Returns to the Winner’s Circle in NPP #46

Seven players make it to the table, including me from a poor connection from Grand Rapids, MI. I get some great cards early and should have done more with them. Let me get my excuse in now – I was one tired guy. Long day followed by a long drive. You simply cannot play against this group and have success if you are not ready to play. On to the action.

On hand #33 Boother raises and Farrell (7th) re-raises, Boother (AK) goes all-in and Farrell (QQ) calls covered. The dreaded coin flip, but a [K] on the flop and it is over for the ‘newer’ guy.

The oldest guy goes out next – me (6th). On hand #43, Duder and I (99) see a flop with ArticBlast. The flop is [JJ6] with two hearts and here is where I get a little lazy. Duder checks and I go all-in, Artic folds and Duder calls. I expect to see A6 or a heart flush draw, but the (TT) is really bad for me. No miracles and I am all but done.

Sev4TSev hits an A on a flop two hands later and I am out of there. A waste of some good hands early.

On hand #52, after a flop of [875] Duder (5th) gets all-in with (A8s) and is called by Sev4TSev with (AK). A [K] on the turn and Duder is gone.

To the break:

Boother 3305
Sev4TSev 3250
ArticBlast 2470
Rownder 2470

By hand #75, Boother has built a nice chip lead. Sev4TSev (88) gets all-in with half the chips of Boother with a flop of [48K]. Boother has the trap hand of (K4) and they change places in the chip count.

On hand #82, Boother, Rownder (4th) and Artic see a [6c Ks 4c] flop. Boother (Q6) bets, Rownder (T6) moves all-in, Artic folds and Boother calls. A [Q] on the turn and we will have a new champ tonight.

On hand #90, Boother(3rd) raises and Sev4TSev calls. The flop is [3c Ts 6c]. Boother (AK) bets, Sev4TSev (A6) goes all-in and Boother calls. No {K} arrives and Boother is out.

That leave Sev4TSev with a 7500 to a 3500 lead over ArticBlast.

Artic gets close to even when his (88) hangs on against Sev4TSev’s (AQ). But it is an air flight night.

On hand #108, Sev4TSev raises from the BB and Artic calls. The flop is [4A2]. Artic (2nd) gets all-in with (AT) and a dominated Sev4TSev calls with (KQ). But an unbelievable turn and river of a [K] and [Q] and its over. Congratulations to Sev4TSev for his 8th win of the year!

1st – Sev4TSev
2nd – ArticBlast
3rd – Boother
4th – Rownder
5th – Duder
6th – Mikeniks (Faldo)
7th – Farrell14

Collusion Hand at Poker Stars?

Poker Stars investigated and said there was no problem here. They said this rotten play is typical at the ridiculously low stakes I was playing at for my attempt at 24 hours of poker. (Where am I supposed to play at when drunk and tired? Heads up against Negreanu?)

I am UTG, down 3 units on a very loose Limit Holdem table. Every pot has been raises pre-flop.
I have (Ad 3d), so I limp in looking for a score.

D'Goose (DG - 3s 2s)) raises and quickmove in the small blind re-raises (QM - Tc 4d).

Rafton calls from the BB, which makes me call, but DG caps it and four of us see the flop.

[2c 3c 9s]

If I could have seen the cards these Bozos were holding, I would of thought Poker Stars was in on the scam. Who raises and caps with these two hands unless they know what the flop will be? But let's assume for the sake of poker players everywhere that it is my usual bad luck and not Poker Stars that is setting me up for a fall here.

QM bets, rafton and I call, DG rightfully raises, and we all call. I don't know this of course but what the hell is QM betting for and more importantly, why is he calling?

Turn [5d]

Again, if I could see the cards held, I would swear PS is trying to kill me outright. Now QM, who I think is artificially pumping the pot for his buddy, gets a straight draw.

QM of course bets, rafton and I call, DG rightfully raises and QM re-raises!

Rafton folds and I should too. Especially since - and I don't know this but can quess - I could be (am) drawing dead.

Of course I don't know what they have but I type, "Are you two playing together?" I think for a while and decide the tiny amount of money is worth seeing what these strokes are up to - so I call.

DG caps and the three of us see the river.

[2h]

Glad to see that PS is so honest that they can unknowingly reward cheaters and drop perfect cards in their laps - runner, runner no less.

QM checks (my comment put the brakes on him, and besides he knows his buddy hit the full house), I check, DG bets and QM calls (????) and I call and lose.

I type "I'm reporting you two right now." QM says, "Shut up Wanker", but DG leaves the table immediately and QM leaves after one more hand.

Poker Stars reported back to me that, "this type of weak play (did they mean mine? - lol) is common at those stakes. We looked and found that these two have played together at the same table three other times and see no evidence of collusion cheating - but simply a rivalry."

Cost me four units (which I win back later times 25!) to get the lowdown on these two.

What do you guys think?

24 - uh, No - 6 Hours of Poker

Well I screwed up. Up at BWW having a brew with Beerhog, watching football, basketball, hockey and playing a little poker. Not only did he take my money in our little side pot wager, but we got to talking - in between chatting the Hartland Glen Golf Course beer cart women who were up there for a drunkfest.

Anyway, I mention to Beerhog that I was planning on - someday - playing 24 hours on Poker Stars and blogging about it. Kind of a "lets see how many bad beats can I get in a day" kind of thing.

I threw around some dates near the end of the year and Beerhog said the infamous, "What's wrong with tonight?" Now I got up at 7am to give blood and had been drinking with Beerhog since 6pm (it was now 10pm). I said I didn't think it was a good idea and I had not cleared it with the Lovely yet.

He said, "What are you, - a pussy?"

THAT is a double dog dare if I ever heard one. I responded with my usual strong bluff move, , "I'll do it if you do it."

He said, "Ok, let's start at 11:30pm." I see my bluffs work in real life as well as they do at the poker table. I went home and talked to the boss, who shook her head in disbelief - mentioned something under her breath about drunken immaturity and said she would see that I got fed if I had to do this.

So here I am with no nap and working off a drunk, getting ready to play 24 hours on a site that kicks my ass for fun. Tourneys included.

I will be posting my results hourly and Beerhog better be commenting also. Good luck to me.

11:30 pm -
Table Atria V-Limit (home) Plan on being here unless it empties. Bought in for 2500 units. That should last me for 2 hours.

12:30 am -
1st hour in the can. Ate a Nutri-grain bar, a Powerbar and drank a can of Coca-Cola and a bottled water. For some reason that has not chased away the drunk from 5 tall Sam Adams drafts. Go figure.

Up 4 units, having pissed away chips just before posting this. In a tournament on World Poker Exchange also. In 37th place of 187 left of a 321 player freeroll. The old Hubble freeroll on Poker Stars is starting right now.

1:30 am -
Drunk wearing off and now my neck hurts. Couldn't be from sitting on a barstool looking up at a TV screen for 4 hours while rubbernecking around the bar as chicks walked by, could it? Naw. No matter, Advill is my friend.

Up 16 units now in ring play - in spite of 3 river suckouts. Moved to the Aenna table.
Knocked out of the WPE tourney in 98th place.
Knocked out of the PS Hubble freeroll of 12,000 players in 5980th. What no cash for that?
Entered another PS Hubble FR and a FR on Jungle Poker.

Beerhog followed me to the new table, and was in two tourneys also. Beerhog - report! The numbnuts is not emailing me, calling me or commenting. Think I am acid tongued after 18 hours with no sleep - wait til 36 hours.

2:30 am -
Neck feels better so Poker Stars decided to hurt me. Now down 7 units for a -23 unit swing. Lost every conceivable way as they bad beat me down. No details except every river m#%@$%f#%@^&@#$ rat hit a hand on me. Still no word from Beerhog, but he is playing.

Still in the 2nd Hubble FR on PS, but got knocked out of a 514 player tourney on Jungle Poker.

3:30 am -
Nice comeback to plus 1 unit! Should have been more but I nutted up a little too much and missed some pots I should have been in there for. Beerhog called it a night, so the pressure is off. If I fold like an accordion at least I outlasted him.

Got knocked out of the 2nd Hubble FR on Poker Stars. Got all-in with (KJs) against (A6) and (AQ). The flop of [Q6K] looked promising, but somehow the two-outer [Q] got there on the river.

Entered an Absolute Poker tourney. Good night Beerhog!

5:00 am -
Run into two collusion players which put me down -25 units. I turned them in to Poker Stars. A report on that to follow.

I changed tables and stakes and won +110 units.
Finished 86th in the Absolute Poker Tourney and didnot cash.
Finished #304th in a Poker Stars tourney and doubled my entry.

While all this was going on Thai Food called me. He said he was reading the blog and wanted to know if I had lost my mind. I told him probably, but it sounded like this - playing marathon - was a good idea in the bar. He said, "Of course it sounded good - in the bar."

I said, "Drinking has no effect on my decision making abilities."

Well I'm up $ for the action in ring, and up $ in the tourney action. Good time to shut it down.

Per Dr. Thai Food's insistance, I'm giving up and going in for a nap now. Doctor's orders.
Fun while it lasted.

Reminder for the umteenth time - drinking with Beerhog not a good idea.

PS: Don't tell anyone I tried to do this.

Updated: The Correct Way to Fund Poker Sites

The best way to do it is to find a friend that already can fund the poker site and have him transfer you money.

A 10% commission should be expected to be paid to your friend, however. It usually costs around 9% if you go thru the hassle of setting up your own accounts with internet banks. So an extra 1% is a small price to pay to avoid the hassle.

I have heard some credit cards work with some poker sites. But you have to send the poker site a picture of your driver’s license, both sides of the credit card, the credit card number, and that small number off the back. To cash out after using a credit card, the poker site will sometimes ask for a copy of your passport also. Hell, might as well send them your 401K info while you are at it. I don’t like that option.

With the closing of Netteller to US players, some new internet banks have entered the void. Ah, capitalism! It always works. If you are going to set up your own accounts, try using both ePassport and eWalletXpress.

ePassport is used by most sites still accepting US players (see the list of “Where I Play” on this site).

eWalletXpress is used at BoDog Poker, which also happens to accept sports betting. BoDog is the only sports betting site I have found in my research - for news information only - using an internet bank for US players at this time.

If you want to fund your poker sites yourself and have your profits transferred electronically back to your bank, this is the safest way to do it:

Step 1. Open a checking account with your internet poker stake money in a bank that you do no other business with. This will be your ‘poker’ account bank (PB).

Do not use a savings account as those accounts do not allow transfers.
For the sake of discussion, let’s say you open your PB with $500.

Step 2. Open an internet bank account (IB) on-line.

Step 3. Transfer $200 to the IB using the account and funds you deposited in your new PB.

Be sure to leave the minimum required in the checking account so you can transfer winnings back.

Step 4. Once it has all cleared, transfer $100 to your selected poker site using the IB.

This way, the poker site can only reach back to the IB and the IB can only reach back to your poker checking account.

NEVER use your main accounts for anything on-line. I am pretty sure the IB’s and the poker sites I suggest are on the up and up, but better safe than sorry.

NPP strongly suggests that Poker Stars be a newbie’s first stop. It is simply the best site out there. Then try some of the others for a change of pace, scenery or the infamous ‘deck change’ or ‘seat change’.

This is just another friendly public service announcement of NPP. - Faldo

Rownder Does it Again! Wins NPP #45

Without Hlam14 there to stop him, the verdict was in before the jury was selected.

A new juror joined us from fashionable Ferndale – Farrell17. Welcome and bring me a nacho from Warrilow’s for the next game! Also some fries from the New Way Bar. No gays from 9 Mile however, I’m trying to quit. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

With the new meat we had eight players and a sweater by the name of Dave the Dog. He used some lame excuse that he thought the game was at 9pm. Let’s see – he is the webmaster and runs this blog for me, but forgot when we play. Right. On to the action:

I caught some cards early and was merciless on Boother’s stack. On hand #37, the shorter stacked guys at the table went at it to get back to solid footing. Matchy’s (A8) hit an [8] on the flop to beat Boother’s (8th) (AT).

On hand #39, ArticBlast survives an all-in, hitting a flush to beat my two pair. A lot of that kind of stuff happened this evening. “A lot of come backs”, is how Artic put it.

On hand #47, Nahanni’s (AJ) eliminates Sev4TSev (7th) with A9.

On hand #51, Farrell survives when his (KQ) hits a [K] on the flop to beat Rownder’s AQ.

On hand #53, Matchy (6th) runs what I think was a bluff with (33). But Rownder has AT and there was a [T] on the flop and he was not going anywhere. Matchy does go to the rail however.

At this point ArticBlast survives a couple of all-ins and makes a strong comeback. To get all the way back, on hand #62, his all-in with (99) survives the flush and straight draws of Nahanni.

Break time:
Rownder 3850
ArticBlast 3390
Mikeniks 3140
Farrell 1100
Nahanni 520

Now it is time for a Nahanni comeback. On hand #65 her (88) beats Artic’s (Q8s).
On hand #67 ArticBlast (AK) cripples the chip leader Rownder (A5). The flop is an ugly [AK5] for Rownder.

On hand #72, Farrell (5th) goes all-in with (As 4s) and a flop of [Ac Tc 8h]. Artic has to call with (Qc Jc) and the Blast makes his straight on the turn.

On hand #74 Nahanni (K8) moves up to 2nd in chips as ArticBlast calls her all-in with (K2) on a flop of [9 8 K].

Now a war starts between Nahanni and Rownder. If you read the title block you already know how it finished. On hand #77 Rownder picks up chips getting Nahanni to fold. On hand #78, she gets chips back the same way. Rownder really hurts Nahanni when his (55) holds up against her (A9).

Now Rownder starts his run to victory.

On hand #88, I get Rownder to call my bet putting him all-in. I have (QQ) and he has (A6). An Ace falls on the flop.

On hand #99, Rownder hits a flush with (K4s) against ArticBlast’s (99).

At this point Rownder tells us that he is sorry he is not chatting but he is in a final table in another tourney at the same time. Nice when you can kill two sets of poker players at the same time. Amazing.

On hand #109, a short-stacked Nahanni gets healthy when her (88) hits a flop of [A8J] against my (AJ).

But the chips end up in Rownder’s stack as on hand #110, Nahanni (4th) goes all-in with (AQ) and runs into Rownder’s (JJ) and does not get any help.

As the short-stack now, I got to move. On hand #127, I survive an all-in when my (98) hits a [9] on the flop to best ArticBlast’s (A3).

On hand #129, I get some more chips as ArticBlast calls my all-in after a flop of [K87]. I have (QQ) and he has (T9), but the straight doesn’t get there.

On hand #134, ArticBlast (3rd) moves all-in with (AJ) and meets Rownder’s (99) and does not improve.

Rownder has 8200 to my 3800 so I can’t wait too long to try something. Poker Stars decides to kill me fast.

On hand #139, I (2nd) go all-in on a flop of [458] while holding (85). Rownder calls with (A7). A [6] on the turn and it is over. Congratulations to Rownder for win #11, and who is pulling away from the pack. He is sprinting while we are crawling.

1st – Rownder
2nd – Mikeniks (Faldo)
3rd – ArticBlast
4th – Nahanni
5th – Farrell17
6th – Matchy
7th – Sev4TSev
8th – Boother

NPP @ Boother's - Live Action

Boother invited us all over to watch the latest U of M loss to Ohio State and play a little poker.
It was a great time and we managed to get about four hours of poker in as well - with nine guys at the peak.

Boother just has the perfect place for a game. The fridge is packed with beer, hot snacks are on the grill, regular snacks on the island, candy on the counter, the Hi-Def TV is on the wall, the cigar ash tray is just outside the door, nice table and poker chips! Outstanding venue.

Matchy was the big winner I believe. Nice going Matchy! Everyone chime in with your results or Boother - let us know who cashed on the plus side. I know I lost two-buy ins. Just no cards or flops, but what else is new.

Boother also gave us a heads up about poker rooms in Flint! From what I gathered, they are off of US - 23 and Bristol Road. Boother, maybe you can comment with a better low-down.

Another Painful Near Miss! I'm Quitting for a While.

Maybe it is time to hang up the poker visor for a while. Poker depression is setting in.

1) I go with Beerhog to a poker tourney with a time limit - tourney over at 1:30am. They are paying six spots: 2 - $1000, 2 - $500 and 2 - $250. With 45 minutes, two tables and 14 players left, glancing around, I put myself at around 8th place. It is then announce that the tourney is ending at 1am instead! Great, ripped off and I got 15 minutes to make a cash happen.

The blinds are posted; a small stack understandably goes all-in, as does a stack near my size. I look down and see (Ad Td). Time to take the shot and so does the small and big blinds (both with more chips than me). I think I have the hands close that are shown:
(AK), (55), (QJ), and (88).
The flop has two diamonds and pairs no one. The turn is a K and the river is ...not a diamond.

2) Finish 4th on Tuesday. No need to re-hash that.

3) Another SNG on Carbon Poker, with 9 players left out of 10. Get all-in with (KK) and a flop of [Kd 8s 7s]. Get called by the (6s 5s) and the [4d] shows up on the turn.

4) On Carbon Poker in a SNG, three players left, I am third in chips with (AA) and go all-in against the 2nd short-stack and get also called by the big stack with (QQ). I don't have to tell you what falls on the flop.

5) Another SNG on Carbon Poker, four players left, and I am short-stacked in 4th and go all-in with (99) and get called by (A9). They hit the [A] on the turn.

6) Tournament on Cake Poker. A satelite paying seven spots into a $1000 guaranteed tourney. 300 players entered, and we are down to the final table of ten players. I am about 4th in chips. I am in the BB with (AA). One from the cutoff goes all-in with half my chip stack. Blinds are mosterous and even though I am in 4th, I have less than 15 times the blinds. It is folded to me. I call and am up against (QJ).
Flop [K 3 4] turn [T] river [9].

The next time in the BB with the familiar [Ad Td] (see #1 ending). Called by a bigger stack with (99) and see no A, T or diamonds. Finished 8th. Eighth!

Can't complain about cards. Can't see where I am playing poorly. But my results are awful. I think it is time to take a vacation from poker! I am quitting for a while.

Til 5:30 tonight.

Hlam14 Wins NPP #44

It took a blast from the past and a full hour of hand to hand combat to de-thrown Rownder. Rownder still has had an unbelievable run against this group. Six of us hit the felt.

On hand #9, I hit a straight to hurt Sev4TSev.

On hand #18, Matchy hurt Hlam. But not bad enough obviously.

On hand #38, I hurt Boother’s stack when I hit another straight. Maybe it’s my night I’m thinking.

On hand #49, we got 5-way action. I was the only folder. But Matchy’s big bet after the flop got everyone to fold.

On hand #54, a short-stacked Sev4tSev (6th) goes all-in with {Qs 7s} after a flop of
[5d Ks 9s] and ran into Hlam’s {As Js}. No flush hit and no Q or 7 either.

On hand #57 Rownder’s T8 knocks out Boother’s (5th) {AQ} when an [8] flops. The [T] on the turn was not needed.

On hand #68, I (4th) probably got a little impatient. I blame fatigue as my job and my appointment on Monday may have drained my strength (not to mention a lot of what I am full of). I was the short stack at this point and went all-in with {Ad Qd} with a flop
of [7c Jd 5d] against Rownder.

I was quite sure he had a J or maybe A7 or A5, and I wanted a fold. Lazy poker on my part. I had the flush draw and the overcards if he calls. He did with {J7}. Ouch! That was it for me.

At the break:

Rownder 4265
Hlam14 3285
Matchy 1450

Right after the break, Matchy (3rd) goes all-in with {J9} and gets called by Hlam’s {AQ}, and gets no help.

This sets up a near even in chips heads up battle that lasts an hour. Finally Rownder (2nd) goes all-in on a flop of [9J8] while holding {86}. Hlam calls with his {KK}!

In typical Poker Stars fashion, the turn is a [6] to put Rownder in front, only to river a [J] to end the night. Win #2 of the year for Hlam. Congratulations!

1st – Hlam14
2nd – Rownder
3rd – Matchy
4th – Mikeniks (Nik Faldo)
5th – Boother
6th – Sev4TSev

Tropical Poker Has Shut Down

Well, this will be my second site that shut down and took my money with them. It has been two weeks with a "temporarily closed for software maintenance" note when you try to load their software. If you have it loaded and try to get to the site, it shuts down. I say they are done.

It was one of the sites really affected by Netteller closing to US players. I wanted to cash out but with the check fees and delays, I gave myself a 'Cash out - close amount or go broke trying' to hit it. The only problem is I waited too long to do it.

Jet Poker closed on me and I had twice the money in there as I had at Tropical Poker! I had won a tournament on that site, pulled my deposit and some profit and left some meat in there. But they vanished into the internet black hole and took my profits with them.

Now Tropical seems to have pulled the same trick. Pity, because I liked the site's software and their tournament offerings.

Poker . com, now Carbon Poker did take ePassport, but have stopped that service - again without warning. They too added a ridiculous check fee for cashing out. I have money there too. Fool me once - shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me, fool me three times and I'm an idiot. I will have to play there and get to the cash out figure or take my lumps at the poker table, but at least get some play out of the money there.

I must give mention to sites that closed down in a classy fashion. Party Poker, Planet Poker and Pokertropolis all shut down but warned players and helped get funds back to their customers.

Anyway, I'll bet I have lost more money by sites shutting down on me than most of you have lost playing on-line. But I knew it was a risk when I was doing it, so I can't whine about it.

Got to go. I deposited money in a new site "Cake Poker" and I have a "New Player Freeroll" to play in. Heard it was a joint venture between the owners of Jet Set and Tropical Poker. - Nik Faldo

Rownder Wins NPP #43 (#10 win of the year!)

What do you call in when one guy wins five of the last seven tournaments he entered? Domination is what I call it.

We had eight starters, and engines were on all cylinders this night. To quote Worm after Mike folded his rolled up kings, “Lots of action. Lots of action.” It was one of the quickest 8-seaters we have had.

I started it off I guess on hand #20. I sped up instead of slowing down after the flop with my AA. I got called by both Duder and ArticBlast and the flop was [QTT]. I don’t believe (or don’t want to believe) that either has a T and the straight draw looks bad for me. I stupidly move all in and get called by BOTH of them – as they each have a (T). Unfortunately for the unlucky Duder, Artic also has the (Q). I was not unlucky - just stupid.

Duder and I are crippled, but Duder hangs on for a comeback on hand #30 as he doubles up when Nahanni hits a flop that pairs her (Q) but Duder has (KK).

On hand #33, Nahanni raises and gets called by Duder and Hlam14 (who came back after being away from poker and NPP since May). The flop is [6c Ah 7h] and Nahanni bets the standard three times the big blind {BB}.

She gets raised by Duder and that is called by Hlam (8th), so she gets out of the way. The turn is a [6d] and Duder bets 10 times the BB, and Hlam calls. The river is a [Jc]. Duder (A6) with the full house bets, gets raised all-in by Hlam (AK) with the two pair.

On hand #37, I (7th) go out shortly thereafter as I go all-in with (88) and Rownder pairs his (A) on the flop.

On hand #50, we had a rare double knockout! Nahanni (5th) calls the blind, as does Artic and Rownder., with Boother (6th) completing the small blind. The flop is [5s 9h 9s]. Those pair boards were killers tonight.

Everyone bets and calls a smallish raise from Boother, except Rownder. The turn is the [Qs]. Boother goes all-in {trip 9’s}, Nahanni calls all-in {Q-high flush} and Artic calls and wins with the A-high flush.

On hand #70, Seven4TSev’s (4th) {AQ} runs into ArticBlast’s {AK} and that took us to the break.

Rownder 5695
ArticBlast 5225
Duder 1080

Let’s review here. Rownder has taken out exactly one person – a short-stacked Nik Faldo – but has the chip lead? That is some serious poker playing there friends!

Right after the break, Duder (3rd) gets knocked out by Rownder as his desperation (K7) loses to (A8).

Finally a little poker seesaw before Rownder builds to a ten to one chip lead, ArticBlast (2nd) goes all-in with {Q-7 high flush} and loses to Rownder’s {Q-T high flush}.

I call it domination!

1st – Rownder
2nd – ArticBlast
3rd – Duder
4th – Sev4TSev
5th – Nahanni
6th – Boother
7th – MikeNiks (Nik Faldo)
8th – Hlam14