As you’re reading this, the 2024 World Series of Poker is in full swing in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. Over the last five weeks, many of our fellow scribes have been showing off their poker prowess. Congratulations to the following writers on their impressive WSOP finishes!
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!
On Monday, May 13th, WGA Poker Group member, Nikhil “The Shook Rook” Jayaram, organized a low-stakes “home” game with some local members from the valley (mostly) in a battle of wits and laundry money… literally. Thank you Myles for buying in with quarters. Since it wasn’t a tournament, I don’t fully remember who won or lost (definitely me), but I do know that it was a night of laughs, endless fun, and a welcome relief to some exhausted parents. Thank you for ditching your kids to join us! Attendees included Nikhil Jayaram, Tracy Held, Danny King, Arthur Tiersky, Miller Tai, Guy Yosub, Harsha Rao, Myles Warden, Tyler Wong, and myself (Aaron Ho).
If you’re interested in hosting a home game and would like to open it up to WGA Poker Group members, please post on our facebook group or contact us and so we can help spread the word!
Check out this video of the most epic play of the night when Harsha Rao faced off against Guy Yosub. On a flop of K♥️5♣️2♥️, Harsha lead out for 12 into a pot of 11.25, only to be met with a min-raise of 24 by Guy. Harsha turned up the heat by going all-in for 92.50 on top. Guy had him covered, but would he want to risk all that cheddar to see if his A♦️K♣️ (top pair, top kicker) was good? Watch the video to find out!
Here’s another video with a hand that resulted in a three-way showdown! All aboard! Next stop: value-town! Chugga-chugga-chugga-choo-choo!
Still on tilt from the last tournament? Time to redeem yourself by battling on the felt again to see who will be our newest WGA Poker Group champion! Will it be you?
For full details and access to the RSVP link, please join our facebook group or subscribe to our e-newsletter.
Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. See you there!
If you like to eat, drink, play poker, win raffle prizes, and support a good cause at the same time, then the “12th Annual Ed Asner & Friends Celebrity Poker Night” on June 15th might be right for you!
Funds raised will go the The Ed Asner Family Center, a non-profit that assists families with special needs. Some writers and I have attended this event before — it was a lot of fun and my wife even walked away with a 60 inch 4K TV from the raffle, though she’ll claim she “won it at a poker tournament.” Which is technically true… 🤔
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:
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!
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