Just like the early settlers who started Thanksgiving, the WGA Poker Group gathered on November 22nd to give thanks, break bread, and then pillage their new friends for personal gain. Bounties were placed on several “turkeys,” including former champions Grant Taylor, Tyler Wong, and Randi Barnes. Can one of them survive the hunt and become our first two-time champ? Or will a new pilgrim carve up the competition and use them for stuffing?
After several hours of play, the field of 29 players had narrowed down to our final nine. The first casualty came when Lisa Dickey shoved her short stack preflop with A♣2♦, only to be called by Danny King with the 9♥5♠. Well, Danny must be a big Dolly Parton fan because the 9-to-5 was more than enough to “make a livin” after a 5♦ appeared on the flop. The turn and river bricked, sending Lisa home in 9th place.
A short time later, Danny King faced elimination when he shoved all-in with A♣J♦. Unfortunately, he found himself dominated by the A♥Q♦ of Randi Barnes. As we soon learned, Danny doesn’t know Jack because he certainly never appeared on the board of K♥9♣K♣4♥7♥. 8th place and the title of “bubble boy” will have to do, but at least Danny collected a few bounties along the way to soften the blow.
The next confrontation came between 5x final table-ist Jay Moriarty and Adam Cole. Short on chips, Jay was forced all-in from the small blind with Q♣7♠ followed by an automatic call from Adam with 8♥5♦ in the big blind. After an 8♠ hit the flop, Jay was looking for a queen and a queen only to bail him out. While I’m sure Jay was quite the ladies’ man in his youth, they were no longer answering his call this evening. As the A♥ and 5♠ hit the turn and river, Jay was eliminated in 7th place.
Next up, tournament director and resident donkey, Aaron Ho, shoved all-in from under the gun with K♦8♣. He had hoped for some quick folds, but instead, was called by both Dave Malkoff and Grant Taylor. Will Aaron triple up or hit the rail? After a useless flop of A♦T♥6♠, Dave moved all-in and Grant folded. Dave tabled A♥J♥ for top pair, leaving Aaron drawing practically dead. The 2♥ and 9♣ on the turn and river made it official, busting him in 6th place.
Soon after, Adam Cole moved all-in with A♣8♦ from the button, receiving a call from former champ, Randi Barnes, with A♥5♥. The flop of K♥3♠2♠ brought a world of possibilities for Randi with additional draws to a gutshot straight and backdoor flush. The turn came the 5♠, propelling Randi into the lead with a pair of fives. Adam was dead to an eight if he wanted to live another day. Unfortunately, the river fell the K♣, prompting a loud “ugh” from Adam and a 5th place finish.
In one of the most exciting hands of the night, Dave Malkoff shoved all-in with a set of fives (5♣5♠) on the flop. Guy Yosub decided now was the time to gamble, calling off the rest of his stack with a flush draw with the 9♦2♦ on a Q♣5♦6♦ board. With 26% equity, could Guy find the diamond in the rough?! The turn came the 2♣, cutting his equity down to 18%. Now for the river… the 9♣! While making two pair, it was still not enough to best Dave’s three-of-a-kind, earning Guy a one-way ticket to the parking lot in 4th place.
The next face off would determine our new chip leader when Dave shoved all-in preflop with A♠Q♠ with a healthy stack. Grant Taylor showed no fear by putting his monster stack also on the line when he called with K♣J♦. Dave was in the lead, but anything can happen when you have live cards! The flop of T♥8♣5♣ changed little, upping Dave’s equity to a comfortable 72%. Grant said a silent prayer to the poker gods and boy did this they answer when a J♣ fell from the heavens. With the tables turned, it was now Dave in need of divine intervention. Alas, the 4♥ fell on the river, sending him home in 3rd place.
For the first time ever, we had two former champs in Grant Taylor and Randi Barnes duking it out for the top spot. Who will be our first 2x champion?! Grant started heads up play with a strong chip lead, but as we all know, that can all change in an instant. It didn’t take long before the chips were all in the middle with Randi shoving all-in from the small blind with the 9♦8♦. Grant decided to “gambol gambol” and call with the J♦7♥. It was basically a coin flip, so the question becomes which turkey has the luck and which turkey is about to get uh… plucked?! The flop came down Q♠7♠5♥, retaining the lead for Grant but giving Randi additional outs with a gutshot straight draw. The T♦ on the turn improved her to an open ended straight draw, but she still trailed. With 13 outs and 30% equity, could Randi find her miracle card? The dealer slowly revealed the river – a T♣. And just like that, Grant Taylor becomes our first 2x WGA Poker Group champion! Winner, winner, Thanksgiving dinner!
Here is a summary of the tournament results. Congrats to all our finalists!
1st – Grant “Gugliacci” Taylor
2nd – Randi “Rerun” Barnes
3rd – Dave “The Hammer” Malkoff
4th – Guy “River Rat” Yosub
5th – Adam Cole
6th – Aaron “Triple A” Ho
7th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
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, Nick Apostolina, and Brent Boyd.
Our next tournament is planned for late January 2025. Stay tuned for updates via facebook or the e-newsletter. Until then, happy holidays and please enjoy some photos from the tournament below! Gobble gobble!
-Aaron Ho
