The 2024 WSOP might be over but the WGA Poker Group is just getting started!  On Friday, July 26^th, our third official tournament drew 24 players to the felt to see who would take home the coveted champion’s mug.  Our returning champ, Randi Barnes, was once again putting on a poker clinic, but would it be enough to defend her title?! 

The prize pool swelled with some early rebuys, most notably from Jay “Moose” Moriarty who found himself all-in time and time again versus the formidable Zach Robbins.  Sometimes he was ahead, other times… not so much. 

But you know what they say – “the fourth rebuy’s a charm” when Jay’s set of fours smashed Tristan Thai’s top pair-top kicker, setting Jay on path to make the final table for the third straight tournament in a row. 

Meanwhile, his early nemesis’ stack began to dwindle after some coolers, like when his boat of tens full of sixes was smashed by Tyler Wong’s boat of queens full of sixes after shoving preflop. 

Excitement was in the air as the final nine gathered at the final table.  The fireworks started when Zach Robbins open shoved with A♥️Q♥️, followed by an overshove by Catherine Galutera holding 5♣️5♠️.  With a big stack and with chips already committed in the big blind, Nick Stanton decided to call with his 8♥️2♣️ for a chance at a double knockout.  Would it work, or would Zach and Catherine live to see another day? 

Soon after, we lost our first player from the final table with Patricia Resnick finishing in 9^th place.  Next, it was William Gonzalez at risk when he called all-in from the big blind with A♦️3♦️ versus Andrew Newman’s opening raise with K♥️K♦️.  Will it hold or are we looking at the new bubble boy?! 

Next up, Catherine found herself all in with A♦️T♥️ against Nick’s A♠️J♠️ on a flop of J♦️8♠️7♦️.  With the 2♦️ on the turn, Catherine had 12 outs to make a flush or straight on the river and double up.  Can she do it?! 

Now down to six players, it was our re-buy radical, Jay Moriarty, at risk of actually going bye-bye when he found himself in a three way all-in preflop with Q♣️J♣️ against Tyler’s A♠️K♠️ and Andrew’s 4♥️4♠️.  (I say “Zach” instead of “Tyler” in the video, but that’s wrong.  I was tired…)  Andrew had both players covered, but could he pull off the double knockout?!

After Jay’s exit, only five remained.  Next up, we have a classic race with Andrew moving all-in with A♣️T♥️ and receiving a call by Randi with 2♥️2♦️ out of the big blind.  The saying goes “Deuces never loses,” but is it actually true?!

In arguably the most exciting hand of the tournament, Nick Stanton raised with T♠️7♥️ in the small blind only to be met with a shove from Zach in the big blind.  After some hemming and hawing, Nick decided to make the call in hopes of having live cards and getting lucky.  Unfortunately, Zach had the goods when he tabled K♦️K♥️.  It’s always a sweat, as the flop would bring K♣️8♣️9♠️, giving Zach a set and Nick an open ended straight draw.  Could he hit his eight-outer and send Zach packing?! 

Despite doubling through, Zach found himself at risk shortly after with Nick once again.  This time, Zach’s J♦️Q♦️ would need to improve against Nick’s A♥️9♥️ if he wanted to stick around.  But what do the Poker Gods have to say about it? 

With three players left, we would soon witness one of the greatest sun runs in tournament history with Tyler doubling up through Nick not once, not twice, but THREE times when his A♦️9♦️ caught a straight on the river against Nick’s two pair (Q♠️T♦️) on a Q♥️8♥️6♥️T♣️J♣️ board.  Brutal! 

While Tyler did most of the dirty work, it was Randi with the chance to land the final blow when she put Nick all in with her Q♦️J♣️ versus his 9♠️2♥️.  Sometimes, the most you can ask for is live cards.  But would it be enough?!

Despite making trips on the river, Nick was out in 3^rd place.  Finally, we’ve arrived at our heads up battle.  Who will prevail – reigning champ and chip leader Randi Barnes?  Or self-admitted resident “Bubble Boy” Tyler Wong? 

In their first showdown, Randi was back at it with her pocket deuces against Tyler’s A♠️4♦️.  Can they outrace her competition once again?!    

In their next duel, it was Tyler at risk of busting once again, but he had Randi dominated with his K♦️Q♣️ versus her Q♥️J♥️.  Will Tyler continue his tyranny? 

Down to her final 20k in chips, Randi was forced all-in from the small blind, tabling 7♥️6♦️.  Tyler flipped over T♥️9♠️.  Is it finally Tyler’s turn to take home the mug or does Randi still have some fight left?

And just like that, Tyler is our newest WGA Poker Group Champion!  Congratulations!  I couldn’t have written a better comeback story!  And apparently, neither could have him because he’s a film editor.  Wait, who the hell let Tyler into our WGA Poker Tournament?  Oh, right, I did.  Sorry, everyone.    

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

1^st – Tyler “Not Bubble” Wong
2^nd – Randi “One & Done” Barnes
3^rd – Nick “Leech” Stanton
4^th – Zach “Panic Attack” Robbins
5^th – Andrew “Hill” Newman
6^th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
7^th – Catherine “Cat Attack” Galutera

Once again, special thanks to my wife, Nichole, for all of her help running the tournament, as well as to Jay “Moose” Moriarty and the Burbank Moose Lodge.  I’d also like to thank our dedicated dealers throughout the night – Tyler Wong, Randi Barnes, and Brent Boyd.   

Thank you to everyone who attended!  I look forward to seeing you all again at the next one.  Stay tuned for updates via facebook or the e-newsletter. 

Please enjoy some photos from the tournament below!

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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 31^st, 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 9^th followed by Tyler “Bubbly Boy” Wong in 8^th.  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 7^th 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! 

1^st – Randi “A Little Randi” Barnes
2^nd – Lisa “Rat Fink” Dickey
3^rd – Brandon Boyce
4^th – Elias Madias
5^th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
6^th – Patricia “The Rez” Resnick
7^th – 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!

On Wednesday, March 20th, we held our inaugural WGA Poker Group tournament where 32 players battled for untold riches, bragging rights, and the coveted championship cup… I mean, beer mug!

After several hours, the competition had whittled down to our final table of nine prize winners. Once several opponents were eliminated, a discussion of cutting a deal was brought up, but was met with a resounding “No!” by Tracy “Pika Pika” Held, who was quickly amassing chips and had her eye on the top prize. She eventually got her chance at it, finding herself playing heads up against the formidable Dylan Brody. Dylan had been running red hot the entire night and started heads up play with a colossal chip advantage. Dylan kept the pressure up, and before long, Tracy found herself all-in preflop with Q♠️3♦️ against Dylan’s Q♥️T♠️. After the board ran out A♥️6♣️4♥️K♥️2♣️, Tracy was unable to improve, solidifying Dylan Brody as our first ever WGA Poker Group champion!

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

1st – Dylan Brody
2nd – Tracy “Pika Pika” Held
3rd – Guy “River Rat” Yosub
4th – Jay “Moose” Moriarty
5th – Tyler Wong
6th – Andrew Hill Newman
7th – Dave “Bio Dave” Malkoff
8th – Nikhil “The Shook Rook” Jayaram
9th – Matt “Always Comes In 9th” Harry

Thank you to everyone who played on Wednesday, it was a lot of fun and I hope to see you all at another game soon. I’m aiming to host another tournament in May or June, but don’t let that stop you from organizing your own home games through the facebook group, that’s why it’s here!

I’d like to give a special shout out to Jay “Moose” Moriarty for his help in organizing this event, as well as to my wife, Nichole, for her tireless work registering players, running chips, and putting up with me in general.

I will continue to make updates on the website and facebook group, but I highly recommend everyone subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to stay informed on future events, tournament results, and more. You can sign up by heading to the link below:

http://eepurl.com/iMru7c

Please enjoy some photos from the tournament and a video capturing the final hand of the night. Good luck and see you on the felt!