Monthly Game - Archive of 2012 Games


December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012

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December 2012

First I’d like to thank everyone for making this the best year (so far). We had great games this year and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun! The new points system and great play kept the championship in doubt until the final hour. It’s going to be tough to top in 2013 (but I’ll try)!

There were 11 players this month and most had a shot at the title. Jim had a 1 point lead, and that point got bigger and bigger as players dropped out. Jim cinched the championship when Ed fell out in third place. Jim went on to prove it wasn’t a fluke by besting Bob in the heads-up battle for first. After a slow start for the year, Jim managed to place in 4 out of the last 5 events to place him far above the rest. Jim also won the online season championship. I guess it’s his year and he’ll definitely have the target on his back for next year!

Speaking of next year – there are a few changes coming up:

  1. We’re starting WSOP partnership. We need at least 6 participants. Each partner will pay an additional $15 each month (whether they play or not). At the end of the year, the top player (among the partners) will be able to represent the group at a WSOP event in Las Vegas. I’ll have complete rules before the next game, but I need to know how many people might be interested. The cost will go down if we have more partners. Also, the top player can pass and the next highest player will represent us if the top player is unable or unwilling. Let me know before the next game if your willing to commit to this.
  2. Starting next year, we’ll be awarding points for 4th place. This should make the points race a little more interesting.
  3. I’ll also be bumping up the number of starting (and re-buy) chips to 2000 (from 1500). This should make the re-buys a little more valuable.
  4. The themes were fun, but I’m going to shoot for 4 per year to spread them out a little.

Looking forward to seeing you all in 2013!


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November 2012

We had 13 players in November and the play was fast an furious. A few early re-buys and by the time we got to the final table people were dropping out fast. Barb held on for 3rd place. David got the bonus bucks (including those carried over from September). After a heated heads-up battle, Jim had to settle for second as David took the win.

The second place finish was enough to put Jim into the points lead. BUT ONLY by 1 POINT! There are still more than a dozen player who could take first place! We’ve never had this many this close before.

Here are the top 5:

  1. Jim – 250 points
  2. Harry – 249 points
  3. David – 244 points
  4. Jerry - 226 points
  5. Barb – 224 points

Here’s a list of the others that could win it (no particular order): Jon, Tony, Lecia, Kathy, Ed, Ben, Bob, and Lori. Show up December 1st and find out who takes it!

The theme will be holidays. So wear your most outlandish Christmas sweater, your light-up menorah, or your Baby New Year costume. See you then!


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October 2012

October was the month of QUADs! We had 13 players this month and it seemed like everyone either had quads or got busted by them. Actually we only had 4 sets of quads, but that's quite few for one night! With all that action, you'd think people would drop like flies, but we had quite a few last past the third break.

Kathy managed to take third for her fourth cash of the year. Tony scored his second second. And Jim got his first win of the year to put him in 4th. We've had 10 games this year and 10 different winners. I'd say we're pretty evenly matched. With up to 180 points up for grabs, there are still a low of players who can take the top spot!

Here’s the current top 5:

  1. Harry – 239 points
  2. Jerry – 216 points
  3. Kathy – 204 points
  4. Jim - 201 points
  5. Ed – 198 points

November's theme is "Dressed to the Nines". Here's your chance to really "glam" up. Break out the tuxedos, furs, and gloves. See you then!


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September 2012

We had 14 players in September. I expect big turnouts for the remainder of the year. The play seemed a little faster than usual, with a number of people out early. We still finished around 11:15 PM. Barb took third to go with her pervious first place finish. Marv took out Barb for second place, but he didn't play the bounty game so it rolls over for next month! And I managed to out-last Marv heads-up to take my first win in nearly 2 years! .

Here’s the current top 5:

  1. Harry – 239 points
  2. Jerry – 206 points
  3. Ed – 188 points
  4. Jon – 188 points
  5. Barb - 188 points

My win took me to second and Barb's third place brings her into the top 5. Ed, Jon, and Barb all have 188, the only difference is the $$$ each has won. It's still anyone's championship!

The October theme is “Hippie Sixties” – Let's find out who remembers the 60's and who was there! Peace-out until next month!


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August 2012

August was another busy month with only 12 players able to attend. The play was still good, with 5 players making it to the final break. Kathy took third for her 3rd cash of the year. Lecia and Jim got their first cashes of the year with a 1st and second place (respectively). We kept the extra time in the first level and the game finished around 11:15 PM. Not bad. We’ll see what happens with 16 players.

Here’s the current top 5:

  1. Harry – 229 points
  2. Ed – 178 points
  3. Jon – 178 points
  4. Bob - 176
  5. Kathy - 158 points

As you can see Kathy’s moved into the top 5 (and she missed the first two games). Harry has a good lead, but he’s catchable. It still looks like anyone could win it!

The September theme is “Fabulous Fifties” – break out your leather jackets and poodle skirts. Watch Grease or Happy Days for inspiration and we’ll see you the 8th!


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July 2012

I guess July is a busy month as we only had 12 players this month. In honor of the red-white-and-blue theme, everyone received an extra 605 in chips (one red, one white, and one blue). We kept the extra time on the first three rounds and, even with the extra chips the evening ended by 11:00 PM. We may add some extra chips permanently (starting next year). It does allow for a little more play.

And the play was very good this time with a number of players all struggling to reach the money. They were nice and let me have 3rd. Harry took second and Ed took his first win ever! I doubt it’ll be his last.

This brought Ed up in to the top five:

  1. Harry – 229 points
  2. Ed – 178 points
  3. Bob - 176
  4. Jon – 168 points
  5. Barb - 140 points

Ed came from off the chart to second. Jon lost 2 places because he missed a game. There’s still time for anyone to win the championship!

This month will have a “beach” theme in honor of the end of summer. Keep it decent, I don’t want to see any thongs (Jon!). I’ll see if I can find some sand to sprinkle in the food.

See you next month!


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June 2012

16 players for the third time in a row. And what a colorful group we were as everyone got in to the Hawaiian theme! The games are filling up quickly so reserve your spot as soon as you can. The extra time for the first three rounds didn’t seem to change much except to shift a little of the player into the lower blind levels. I think this is a good thing, so we’ll keep them there.

This month Kathy finished in third, Tony took a second place and Jon finished in first place. This shuffled the top 5 a little. Here’s the current list:

Here are the top 5 in the points race:

  1. Harry – 183 points
  2. Jon – 168 points
  3. Bob - 166
  4. Barb - 130 points
  5. David – 129 points

Halfway through the year and no one has really run away with it. This could end up being a close finish this year!

The games have been filling up. In fact we already have 11 players for June, so reserve your spot early. Here’s who is already signed up:

This month’s theme is red-white-and-blue. So I expect another colorful event!

I leave for Vegas on the 14th. Kathy can’t make it this trip, but I’ll be keeping her informed and she’ll post to her Facebook page as often as she can. I’ll try to post a write-up here as soon as I can. Wish me luck!


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May 2012

We had 16 players again this month! Play seemed really heavy early on with a number of re-buys before the first break. Once we combined tables it slowed down a bit, but the game still finished before 10:30 PM. I managed to hang on for third place (my first cash this year). Harry extended his points lead with a solid 2nd place. And Bob took his first win (and second cash) of the year. Congratulations Bob!

Here are the top 5 in the points race:

  1. Harry – 173 points
  2. Bob - 156
  3. Barb - 120 points
  4. David – 119 points
  5. Lori – 110 points

As you can see Bob came from nowhere to end up in second place. There’s still hope!

The games have been filling up. In fact we already have 11 players for June, so reserve your spot early. Here’s who is already signed up:

  1. Jerry
  2. Kathy
  3. Ed
  4. Jon
  5. Jim
  6. Barb
  7. Ben
  8. David
  9. Lecia
  10. Bob
  11. Tony

Also, the games have been going too quickly, so I’ve decided to make a small change in the blind structure. I’m going to increase the first 3 blind levels by 5 minutes each. This should add about 15 minutes of play time at the low levels. We’ll try it for June and if we like it, we’ll keep it.

The theme for June is “HAWAII”. Grab your most outlandish Hawaiian shirt, grass skirt, etc and celebrate our 50th state!


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April 2012

First I want to thank everyone who helped host the April game. This was the first game I missed, but thanks to them the game went on. A special thanks to Kathy – I couldn’t have done it without her.

Even though I didn’t make it, 16 other players made it a great night. When the dust settled, we had three new winners. Rod scored a third place. Ed took second and Lori picked up a first place.

This tightens up the points race. Here are the top 5:

  1. Harry – 115 points
  2. Barb - 110 points
  3. David – 109 points
  4. Lori – 100 points
  5. Ben – 100 points

The theme for this month is “Super Shades”. Bring your best or most intimidating sunglasses.


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March 2012

14 players showed up proudly wear’n their “greens”, but only three walked away with the green stuff that matters. The rest of us were just green with envy. Barb was on a tear busting player 2 or 3 at a time. The field was fairly quickly whittled down to the final three. Kathy and Jon faced the monster chip stack that Barb had. But, they held their own and as the blinds went up things started to shift. Barb’s stack went down and theirs slowly went up. Barb re-established her lead when she took out Jon. Kathy lasted slightly longer, but Barb was not to be denied. Good game Barb!

This points race is now:

  1. Harry – 105 points
  2. Barb - 100 points
  3. David – 99 points
  4. Ben – 90 points
  5. Jon – 58 points

It seems like a lot, but Barb came from nowhere to take second and you can too!

The Theme for April is “Pirates!” so break out those eye patches and stuffed parrots (but leave the hooks at home – they leave holes in the cards).

The kids were much better this month. So we’re going to open up the upstairs play room with a couple of new rules. No food upstairs. We’ll bring some small tables down so the kids won’t have to eat off the floor any more. Second, Madison has agreed to watch the kids while they are in the play room. This is above and beyond the call of duty for her and it would be good if they parents showed their appreciation (enough said?).

Jim Bonus poker is being hosted by Lecia and David on the 23rd of this month. It’s another Friday night game so play will probably start around 7:00 PM. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll pass it along and make sure you have directions.

See you at the tables!


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February 2012

The play at the February game was as good as the pants were bad! There were fifteen players and everyone made it to the second break! Then the chips started to fly and we were down to the final table in no time. Marv held on by his fingernails and finished in 3rd (he’s really got that down to a science). It was David against Goliath, I mean Harry. Harry was hitting everything and I had to bring out extra chips to buy off his red chips. Anyway David could overcome the monster stack and had to settle for second play (second cash this year for him). Harry was the big winner!

This leaves the top five looking like this:

  1. Harry – 95 points
  2. David – 89 points
  3. Ben – 80 points
  4. Marv – 50 points
  5. Bob – 46 points

The rest of us have either 10 or 20 points depending on if we have played once or twice this year. Still time to catch up.

The Theme for the March game is the “Wear’n of the Green”. You can decide what that means. Have fun with it.

On a slightly more serious note, some of the kids got a little out of hand this month. It’s understandable, but for the time being the upstairs rooms will be off-limits. The kids will need to stay downstairs and watch the movie or otherwise amuse themselves somewhere where their parent(s) can keep an eye on them. This is also a reminder to the parent(s) to keep a closer eye on your child and make sure everyone (players and non-players) alike have a good time!

Jim & Barb have agreed to host bonus poker again this month. It’ll be FRIDAY the 24th. It’ll probably start around 7:00 PM to give everyone a chance to recover a little from work. Email me or Jim if you can make it. Two games a month – I can get used to this!

One more little hint – we will have a returning player at the March game. I won’t say anymore – you’ll have to show up to see who it is!


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January 2012

Twelve players for the start for 2012, many sporting their special footwear. Jim, Ben, and Barb were awarded their 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place trophies (respectively) and Jon received the first-ever online champion trophy.

Play was good and most people made it quite deep. There also seemed to be a number of suck-outs on the river which keep the game lively. David had a particularly lively stack with many ups and downs. Unfortunately the final “down” left him in third place. Barb played well with the target on her back for the first time. But Ben took her out (and collected the bounty). Ben went on to take the game, beating Bob in a short but sweet heads-up battle.

As I discussed lat month, I’ve added a few new rules for this year. They are online and you can see all the rules here: (see the link below)

We also have a new spreadsheet to track the points for this year. It is here: (again look below)

Finally all this information (and more) can be found on our web site (that's here) The February theme is “fancy pants”. Think golf pants, something like that. Be creative. Finally anyone interested in joining us on Thursdays for the online games, you can get sign-up information here

You can also get the Improved Pokerstars software here (the one they normally reserve for paying customers). Sorry I only have the version for windows (so far).


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