Sorry Vegas, you may have kicked off the 2024 World Series of Poker last week, but the real action was found at the May WGA Poker Group Tournament! On Friday, May 31st, 24 hopefuls slugged it out to see who would become our newest champ. There were several exciting hands early on, like when three players shoved all-in on an AKT flop only to learn they all were holding different combos of JQ for the identical nut straight! Soon, players began to bust, including reigning champ, Dylan Brody. There would be no repeat.
After combining to two tables, another notable hand unfolded between Patricia “The Rez” Resnick and Danny Jordan. After Danny opened from under the gun, Patricia raised all-in with A♥J♠ from the big blind. Danny snap-called to reveal K♣K♠. Patricia was at risk of busting when the flop of J♣5♦4♠ hit the felt, giving her three additional outs. She must have prayed to the poker gods, because a miracle J♥ appeared on the turn, giving her the lead with a three-of-a-kind! With the meaningless 4♥ on the river, Patricia successfully doubled up, proving that you don’t have to work “9 to 5” to make a livin’.😉 Instead, just hustle your friends at poker. Watch the hand below!
Eventually, we consolidated to our final table of nine with the top six finishers set to bring home some bacon. Richard Smith finished in 9th followed by Tyler “Bubbly Boy” Wong in 8th. The game then slowed to a crawl as no one wanted to be the last to go home empty-handed. Ultimately, it was decided that 7th place would also be awarded to keep things moving. With that, it was yours truly that was next to bust when my preflop shove with 9♥8♥ couldn’t improve against Elias Madias’ T♠5♣ on a 2♦T♦4♠7♥ 5♥ board.
Soon after, Jay “Moose” Moriarty shoved with K♠Q♠ from the cutoff, only to be called by Randi “A Little Randi” Barnes holding A♦Q♥ on the button. To add to the excitement, Patricia already had most of her chips committed in the big blind and decided to gamble with J♦3♠ for a chance to triple up. The board ran out 5♣Q♦6♦8♦9♣, scoring a DOUBLE knock-out for Randi and catapulting her chip stack into the stratosphere! Check out the video below!
After Elias and Brandon Boyce hit the rail, we were down to our final two with Lisa “Rat Fink” Dickey and Randi duking it out for the title and championship mug. Did I mention that they’re married? That’s right, they say all is fair in love and war. Let’s test that out. Who would be our new champ? And who would be moping on the car ride home? Randi had a mountain of chips, so Lisa would need to stage an epic comeback to claim victory. She started strong with a quick double when her A♦Q♠ held up against Randi’s K♠5♥, but moments later, the two found themselves all-in once again. This time, Randi held J♥J♣ against Lisa’s K♣T♣. After missing the 8♣5♥4♠ flop, Lisa was in desperate need of help. The turn brought some hope with the 4♣, giving eight extra outs to a flush draw in addition to the three remaining kings in the deck. As we all held our breath, the T♦ hit the river. And just like that, we had a new champion. Congratulations Randi!
Here is a summary of the tournament results. Congrats to all our finalists!
1st – Randi “A Little Randi” Barnes
2nd – Lisa “Rat Fink” Dickey
3rd – Brandon Boyce
4th – Elias Madias
5th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
6th – Patricia “The Rez” Resnick
7th – Aaron “Triple A” Ho
Special thanks to my wife, Nichole, for all of her help running the tournament, as well as to Jay “Moose” Moriarty for securing the venue. I’d also like to thank our dedicated dealers throughout the night – Tyler Wong, Adam Cole, Arthur Tiersky, and Brandon Boyce. You all rock!
Thank you to everyone who attended! I look forward to seeing you all at the next one. Stay tuned for updates via facebook or by signing up for the e-newsletter.
Here’s some photos from the tournament below. Enjoy!
