On September 20th, twenty-nine hopefuls sprang off the bench to see if they could become the next poker MVP and bring home the championship mug. Reigning champ, Tyler Wong, was back on the field, but could he pass, rush, and tackle his way to a back-to-back victory?!
After several hours of bad beats, coolers, and bluffs gone wrong – we were down to our final table of nine poker sharks. It didn’t take long for sparks to fly, when three players moved all-in preflop. Danny Daneu held Q♥J♥, Courtney Amis held 9♦9♣, and Dave Malkoff was sitting pretty with the almighty powerful pocket rockets – A♥A♠. Will they get cracked, or would Dave score a double knockout? The flop brought T♠8♦T♥, changing little. The 8♥ on the turn now gave Danny nine outs to make a flush on the river. Alas, the 7♠ on the river changed nothing and Dave’s pocket aces sent Courtney to the rail in 9th place and Danny in 8th place, along with the esteemed title of “Bubble Boy.”
In our next matchup, Brandon Boyce shoved his short stack preflop from the small blind without looking at his cards. His opponent: the one and only Jay “Moose” Moriarty – making his 4th consecutive final table appearance. After a flop of A♠7♦5♥, they revealed their cards. Jay held Queen high with his Q♥9♦. Brandon opened a K♠5♣, taking the lead with a pair of fives. The T♠ on the turn changed nothing, but the Q♣ on the river was just what Jay needed to send Brandon home in 7th place. Tough luck, buddy!
Next up, it would be returning champ, Tyler Wong, finding himself at risk of elimination after moving his short stack all-in preflop without looking. After a flop of A♦3♠9♥, Grant Taylor would lead into the side pot, prompting Jay to fold. Grant turned over A♠5♣ for top pair while Tyler peeled a 5♥T♣. Only running tens could save Tyler, which he got halfway there with a T♦ on the turn. Unfortunately, the 7♠ sealed his fate for a 6th place finish. There would be no repeat for our reigning champ.
In a blind vs blind battle, stacks were shoved in the middle preflop with Dave Malkoff’s K♠9♦ leading against Robert Webb’s J♥2♦. What will the runout bring? When all was said and done, the Q♣8♣4♦A♠T♣ board was of no help to anyone and Robert would become our 5th place finisher.
Normally Q♣T♠ doesn’t match up well against K♣T♣, but that wasn’t the case when the flop of K♠9♦J♥ gave Dave the nut straight and Jay top pair. To keep with the NFL theme this month, Jay decided now was the right time to punt his stack, and boy, did he. After Jay led the flop, Dave min raised, Jay 3bet shoved, and Dave called. With the 4♠ on the turn and J♠ on the river, Dave scooped a gigantic pot and eliminated Jay in 4th place.
And then there were three… In perhaps the most exciting hand of the final table, Dave faced off against Grant with both players showing absolutely no fear. With 75k in the middle, a flop of A♣9♥6♦ hit the felt. Grant moved all-in for his remaining 143k. Dave would make the call, tabling A♥T♣ for top pair. Grant revealed an 8♥7♦ for an open-ended straight draw. Unfortunately, Dave was holding one of Grant’s outs (T♣), so he’d only have seven outs to improve. With the 2♦ on the turn, Grant only had a 16% chance to stay alive. Everyone held their breath as the clouds parted and a miracle T♥ soared down from the heavens, completing Grant’s straight for a huge double up!
A few hands later, Nick Stanton would shove all-in preflop from the small blind with the K♥5♠. Now with a big stack, Grant quickly made the call with A♥6♣ from the big blind as a 2-to-1 favorite. The flop of Q♥7♥7♣ provided little hope for Nick, as did the 6♦ on the turn – now improving Grant to two pair. A king and king only could save Nick from elimination, but it was not meant to be as the 2♦ fell on the river. 3rd place will have to do. Better luck next time, Nick!
Finally, we had reached our heads up match between Grant “Gugliacci” Taylor and the extremely formidable Dave Malkoff. Who will prevail?! It didn’t take long before an absolutely savage hand took place that would completely decimate one of our opponents. Here’s how it went down…
With 240k already in the middle from preflop action, a flop of K♥T♥T♦ would hit the felt. Dave shoved all-in for his remaining 160k. Grant snap called, putting Dave at risk with the shorter stack. Dave tabled K♠J♠ for two pair – kings and tens with a jack kicker. With a knowing grin, Grant turned over his cards to reveal K♦Q♠ for an identical two pair, but with a QUEEN kicker! What a cooler! But it’s not over… The room fell silent as the 9♠ hit the turn. This now meant Dave needed a queen for a straight to win, or a king or ten for a chop. Could he do it?! As we all watched intently, the very handsome and skilled dealer placed the 5♠ on the river, cementing Grant Taylor in WGA Poker Group history as our newest champ!
Here is a summary of the tournament results. Congrats to all our finalists!
1st – Grant “Gugliacci” Taylor
2nd – Dave Malkoff
3rd – Nick Stanton
4th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
5th – Robert “Arjay The Writer” Webb
6th – Tyler “Tired” Wong
7th – Brandon Boyce
Special thanks to my wife, Nichole, for helping run the tournament, as well as to Jay “Moose” Moriarty and the Burbank Moose Lodge. I’d also like to thank our dedicated dealers – Tyler Wong, Grant Taylor, and Brent Boyd.
Thank you to all who attended. Stay tuned for updates via facebook or the e-newsletter. I look forward to playing with everyone again soon. Until then, have a Happy Halloween and please enjoy some photos from the tournament below!
