Happy Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai! I’m excited to announce that the year of the snake started off by making WGA Poker Group Hisssssssss-tory by rounding up our biggest turnout yet with a total of 37 players vying for the championship mug and a lucky red envelope full of riches.

On top of it all, we also raised a whopping $765 for the WGA Member Fund that will directly support Writers Guild members who lost their homes during the Southern California wildfires. I’d like to give a special shout out below to all the players who contributed via our fundraising bonus. Thank you for your kindness! If only the AMPTP was so generous… #WGAStrong

The fundraising page will stay active, so please continue to donate if you can. Every little bit helps!

Onto the tournament recap! After several hours of play, the field of 37 players whittled down to our final nine with several newcomers ready to claim the title. After getting decimated by Nick Stanton in the previous hand, WGA Poker Group newbie, Jason Mac, was forced to go all-in with his few remaining chips holding the A♣️J♣️. He was up against another short stack, Danny Jordan holding the K♦️4♥️, as well as Nick with the A♦️5♦️ – ready to put the nail in the coffin. The flop of A♠️Q♣️4♠️ put Jason in a strong lead with a comfortable 67% chance to win the hand. The turn of T♠️ raised his equity to 77%, but gave Danny more outs in the form of a gutshot straight draw. All Jason needed to fade was a Jack, 5 or 4 to triple up. Alas, the J♦️ fell on the river, giving Danny a straight and sending Jason to the rail in 9th place. Hey, not bad for your first time!

Despite that win, Danny would find himself at risk again a short time later, moving all-in with the Q♥️T♠️ versus familiar foe, Nick Stanton, holding the Q♠️4♠️. You know, it’s okay to fold sometimes, Nick! After some confusion due to a tired (but handsome) dealer holding the wrong deck, the proper board was dealt out with a flop of J♦️9♠️2♦️. This changed nothing, along with the Q♦️ on the turn. As long as a 4 didn’t hit the river, Danny would stay alive. Unfortunately, the poker gods took issue, summoning a 4♦️ on the river to send him home in 8th place. Danny, thank you for taking it in stride. Phil Hellmuth would surely have spit in my face!

Next up, a three-way pre-flop all-in would determine the fate of Zach Robbins (J♠️8♣️), Franklin Hardy (A♦️Q♣️), and Taylor Blackburn (K♦️2♦️). The flop of 5♠️3♠️3♣️ changed nothing as Franklin remained in the lead with Ace high. The turn of 6♥️ would give Taylor additional outs to a gutshot straight. A brick on the river would mean a double knock out for Franklin – could he do it?! The 7♣️ hit the felt, sending the huge pot to Franklin with his almighty Ace high. Zach would earn a 7th place finish and Taylor would walk away in 6th place. Better luck next time!

Now with a big stack and feeling lucky, Franklin looked down at 7♥️6♥️ from under-the-gun and thought, “To hell with it. All-in!” Tyler Wong decided to make his stand, calling all-in from the small blind with the K♣️Q♠️. The flop of K♦️9♠️5♠️ must’ve been a welcome sight for Tyler, catapulting him to 81% chance of winning the hand. However, any eight would give Franklin a winning straight. Does he have any more punches left to knock Tyler out? The turn came a meaningless 2♥️, upping Tyler’s equity to 91%. As Tyler whispered to himself, “Don’t do it,” the river loudly shouted back, “Screw you!” BAM! The 8♠️ peeled off the deck, sending the pot once again to Franklin and Tyler out in 5th place.

Erika Kaestle was next up on the chopping block, shoving all-in from the small blind with J♠️5♠️, otherwise known as “Motown.” (Jacks-and-five, get it?) She received a call by Robert Webb, holding K♦️4♠️. Can Erika moonwalk her way to a double-up?! Unfortunately, the flop of Q♦️Q♣️9♣️ was no help. The turn of 8♦️ now gave Erika additional outs to a gutshot straight. Can the river save her or will we find Erika screaming “I Want You Back” to her poker chips? Sadly, the K♣️ fell on the river, sending her out in 4th place. Good run! No choice but to “Blame It On The Boogie.”

Some unexpected fireworks from our two chip leaders blasted off when they found themselves all-in on the turn. To recap, Robert limped from the small blind with this 6♥️4♥️ and Franklin checked his A♦️9♥️ from the big blind. On a flop of A♣️2♥️2♦️, Robert check-called Franklin’s half-pot bet. The turn of 3♦️ gave Robert a gutshot straight draw – good enough to bluff all-in. Franklin quickly called with his two pair. On the sidelines, Nick Stanton squealed with delight alongside his miniscule stack, knowing he could ladder up as long the river wasn’t a five. As the 9♣️ hit the river, an avalanche of chips moved Franklin’s way. Robert would have to settle for 3rd place and our respect. The man’s got heart!

Finally, we had arrived at our heads-up battle with possibly the largest difference in chips stacks ever. Like, in all of poker history. Nick started with 24,000 versus Franklin’s 1,048,000 in chips. That’s only 44-to-1. “Chip and a chair,” right? Almost instantly, Nick was forced all-in from the small blind with his 9♣️3♥️ and auto-called by Franklin’s K♣️8♦️. Can David defeat Goliath?! The flop of 7♣️2♠️4♠️ brought no help, nor did the 7♠️ on the turn. Down to his last card, Nick would need a miracle to stay in the game. Unfortunately, Nick used up all his luck earlier as the T♥️ hit the river, sending him home with a very commendable 2nd place finish. And just like that, Franklin Hardy is our newest WGA Poker Group Champion!

Here is a summary of the tournament results. Congrats to all our finalists!

1st – Franklin “Bingo” Hardy
2nd – Nick Stanton
3rd – Robert “Arjay the Writer” Webb
4th – Erika Kaestle
5th – Tyler “Daddy” Wong
6th – Taylor Blackburn
7th – Zach “Should Have Won” Robbins
8th – Danny “Wrong Deck” Jordan
9th – Jason “Killer Mac” Mac

Special thanks to my wife, Nichole, for helping run the tournament and Andy Mathieson for processing donations for the fundraising bonus. As always, thank you to Jay “Moose” Moriarty and the Burbank Moose Lodge for their hospitality. Finally, my deepest gratitude to our dedicated dealers – Tyler Wong, Nick Apostolina, and Grant Taylor. Tyler will be a father soon, so we may not see him for a bit. Thank you for your service. You should name your daughter “River” because she’ll definitely change your life in the most unexpected ways.

Our next tournament is planned for late March where we’ll be celebrating the WGA Poker Group’s one year anniversary! Stay tuned for updates via facebook or the e-newsletter. Until then, Happy Lunar New Year and please enjoy these photos from the tournament!

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!

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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!