Season 13

Season 13 Leaderboard

Season 13 Results

TOURNAMENT UPDATES ETC.

Season XIII – Event 16:   Congratulations to Keith who is our Lucky Season 13 Champion.  This season Keith won two events, had seven final table appearances, and nine scores overall.  This is Keith’s second time winning the top spot as he was our champion in Season 7 as well.  In 2^nd place, with three wins and six final tables was Jacob, who will be representing the Syndicate in the Main Event for the second time as well.

Our final event of the season was exciting with many players trying to move up into the playoffs, or into a guaranteed seat, and just as many trying not to fall out of the same.  More on that below.  This tourney – which lasted well over 12 hours – was won by The Wizard for his first victory of the season.  In second place was Patsy, who needed exactly 1^st or 2^nd place to make the playoffs.  Though she achieved her goal she was still disappointed to not get the win, Jonkey consoled her though by saying. “that’s ok Patsy, no one beats the Wizard”!  Oh, and make sure you check out the final hand.  It’s a doozy!

The Leaderboard:  Our post season field is now set and surprisingly everyone pretty much held their positions while at the same time more players joined the field.  At the top Keith held on to take first place with Jacob remaining right behind him.  Alan, who wore the yellow jersey for much of the season, took third and will be the top seed in the Main Event Bonus Tourney.  Below them, in order, were Chad, Don B, The Wizard, MC, Jonkey and Michael in the guaranteed seats and also the Bonus Tourney (random capitalization is in these days!).  Now comes the fun part – with her 8^th place finish this tourney, Joy tied Craigy for the final guaranteed seat.  This is only the second heads-up tie-breaker match in Syndi history.  The last time we held one was back in 2008 (Season 3) when Mark Antis and Tom Standring squared off.  As Tom remembers it he got schooled by our founder and the match was over in about 40 minutes. (More info on that below).

As for the playoff field –Kevin, Monte Jeff B and Patsy  earned enough points to qualify but because of a 5-way tie at the bottom no one got bumped out.  That means that we will have 22 players in the playoff tourney!  I’ll send a separate email to all the participants with more information on this tourney.

Coming Up:   HEADS-UP TIE BREAKER – Craig and Joy will play a heads-up match with the winner receiving a guaranteed $1500 seat and a seat at the ME Bonus Tourney.  The non-winner will then become the top seed in the playoff tourney.  The format is this:  5,000 chip starting stack, 20 minute levels starting at 25/50.  Best two out of three.  This epic battle will go down this Saturday at 2pmat Jamie and Jill’s place.  Everyone is welcome to come watch and cheer them on!

The playoff tourney will be held on May 19^th and the bonus main event tourney will be the following day.

Congratulations again to all of our winners!!

THANKS:  This tournament marked the final regular season tournament to be held at the Hickerson’s.  I want to thank them for having us back the past couple of seasons – without them I’m not sure what would have happened.  You provided a great venue for us and we really appreciate having you as our hosts.  We’ll be playing the Tiki Tourney at the Hickerson’s as well and then we’ll be moving our gear up to our new home in Oceanside.  One of our new players this season, Joey, has offered to let us play at his business, the Fred Astaire Dance Studio, on the S. Coast Highway.   Thank you Joey!!

Thanks also to Patsy and Farid for feeding us so well this season – especially the pineapple chicken and meatball sandwiches!!!  I also want to thank all the players who showed up early to help set up, mostly without me even asking anyone.  Really, this is a pretty awesome group of players and people – Thank You!!

Season XIII – Event 15:   So at about 1:45 am on Sunday morning Gary broke out his happy dance after he won his first tourney since season 10.  It’s been a tough season for Gary, who’s won several Syndi events  (including four back in season 7!), but this victory put him right back into the mix.  In second place – with his second top-2 finish in a row -was Jacob.  He was followed by Keith, who now has nine scores and seven final tables this season.  In 4^th place was Mark Ross, followed by Rowan in 5^th.  Rowan now has five scores and four final tables in just nine events.

The Leaderboard:  With his 3^rd place finish Keith now takes over the top spot on the leaderboard with 560 points.  45 points behind is Jacob, who followed Keith up the leaderboard into 2^nd place.  Dropping to 3^rd place is Alan who will have to play the last tourney of the regular season without his yellow jersey.  Below the three leaders the guaranteed seat placements stayed the same with Chad, MC, Don B, the Wizard, Jonkey, Michael and Craig currently holding seats.  Matt B is still the bubble boy in the top playoff seat.

Remember – with the new format we introduced last season anyone who at least makes the playoffs still has a shot at a Main Event seat.  This season that includes everyone down to 53^rd place – SO DON’T MISS THIS FINAL TOURNEY!!  Also, don’t forget that even if you have a safe spot in the playoffs or guaranteed seats – the higher you finish the more chips you will start with in the post-season events.

Season XIII – Event 14:   Congratulations to Jacob for his second hat trick as a syndicator.  For the second time in his four seasons with us Jacob has won three tourneys in the same season.  In second place was Bob C, followed by Kyle – both with their best results of the season – by a long shot!  Also – check the final hand out in the winner’s picture!!

The Leaderboard:  With two events left Alan and Keith still hold commanding leads, but both can still be caught as Chad, Jacob and MC can all get into the top-two with a top score.  Below them, Don B, The Wizard, Jonkey, Michael and Craig still have a shot, but all are in a combo-situation.

Final Prize Structure:  We can now safely project our prize structure for the end of the season and you’ll notice the guaranteed seat and playoff lines have moved down one spot.  In addition to the two Main Event seats, there will now be eight guaranteed seats.  Below that line the next 18 players (spots 11 – 28 plus ties) will qualify for the playoff tournament.  The TOP TWO players in the playoff will join the eight guaranteed seat winners in the bonus tournament to determine our third Main Event Winner.

Season XIII – Event 13:   Congratulations to Joy on her first syndicate victory!  She got a big boost late in the tourney when she doubled through Wendi when her KQ cracked Wendi’s AA.  By the time there were two players left, Don B had about a 2-1 advantage but after about an hour of heads-up action Joy emerged as the tournament champion.  In 3^rd place was Chad, with his fourth top-3 finish of the season and in 4^th place was Rowan, with her third final table in just 7 tournaments.  The Wizard came in 5^th place for his second FT in a row.

The Leaderboard:  With the events left Alan and Keith still hold the top two spots but there are now three players: Chad, MC and Don B, who could catch up with just one score.  Behind them are Jonkey, Michael and Jacob in the guaranteed seat race.

Season XIII – Event 12:  Congratulations to Matt B for taking down the third major of the season. He got a big stack early in the tourney and never gave it up.

The Leaderboard:  ¾ through the season and Alan and Keith are still sitting well above the pack.  MC is still lurking within reach but everyone else is in a combo situation to get one of the top two seats.   Chad sits in 4^th place, 105 points behind Keith and Jonkey is in 5^th, 30 points behind Chad.  After that we have Michael, Jacob, Don B and the Wizard in order filling in the remaining guaranteed seats.

Season XIII – Event 11:  The streak is over! After seven runners-up finishes since his last victory back in season 7, MC once again sat in the captain’s chair!  MC had a healthy stack for much of the night, and was one of the chip leaders with sixteen players left, when he got a nice boost to his stack when Jonkey decided to bluff off his stack in an ill-advised play.  Then at the final table he got another big chip-up when he called an all-in by Alan with 77.  Alan showed JJ but the board ran out giving MC a straight!   Chad continued his strong season in 2^nd place last night, followed by Rene, Craig, Alan and Patsy – all in the money.

The Leaderboard:  With his 5^th place finish last night, Alan extended his already considerable lead over the field.  Keith was out early but still has a firm grip on 2^nd place.  With his win MC moved from 6^thplace up to 3^rd, which knocked Jonkey down into 4^th place. Chad also moved up several places and is now in a tie with Jacob for 5^th place.

Season XIII – Event 10:  Apparently the warm tropical climate, awesome food, and  buenas olas of Costa Rica suited Keith just fine as he has now won his second tourney of the season.  Keith snuck on to the final table with a modest stack and then won all-in after all-in.  Basically if Keith had an over his opponent was toast.  In 2^nd place was Matt H, followed by Michael, Stan Diego, Jill, Brad and Don.

The Leaderboard: Ten tournament in and we already have three double winners: Keith, Alan and Jacob.  And of course they are all near the top of the leaderboard. Alan blanked this time but still holds 1^stplace.  Keith, with his victory, moved into sole possession of 2^nd – just 25 point behind.  After that is Jonkey, Jacob, Don B, MC and Dana in order.  Michael also made a big move to get into the guaranteed seat section.

Season XIII – Event 9: So far Alan is the only Syndicator to purchase our cool new shirt in yellow.  He seems to think it brings him luck – as if he’s the leader of the Tour de France.  I thought he was being silly.  I was wrong.  In 2nd place was Monte, with his second final table in just five appearances this season.  In 3^rd place was Don C with his best result of the season.  He was followed by Michael, with this third FT and then Jacob and Jonkey – each with four final tables.

The Leaderboard: Alan already had a healthy lead on the pack and now he’s extended it dramatically.  With his second win of the season Alan now has a 125 point lead on the next closest player.  Speaking of that, the next closest player is actually three players as Keith, Jonkey and Jacob are all tied for 2^nd place.  Behind them is MC in 5^th, Dana and Don B are tied for 6^th, and Chad holds 8^th place.  Craigy is our current bubble-boy.

Season XIII – Event 8:  This season it seems to be all about Alan Alan Alan (say it in a Brady bunch “Marcia Marcia Marcia” voice!).  He’s played in six events and final tabled five of them, including a 2^nd place earlier in the season and win on Saturday night.

With two tables left Alan got his AA cracked by Jon Towers to get down to just 10 BB’s.  But he held on to steadily grow his stack until this hand came along:  with four players remaining at the 5k/10k/1k level it folded to Alan on the button.  He had about 450k and he raised to 25k.  Matt B, who had about 250k, defended from the BB.  The flop came KJT-rb.  Matt checked and Alan checked behind.  The turn brought an A.  Matt checked, Alan bet 25k and got a quick call.  The river was a 7 and Matt checked again.  Now Alan bets 75k and Matt insta-calls showing KJ.  Alan turned over 98 to take down a big late-tourney pot with a rivered straight.

Matt was out soon after that when he open-shoved for 10bb with 65s.  Alan made the call with A2o (he had about 600k at the time).  Matt flopped flush and straight draws but couldn’t improve and went out in 4^th place.  Soon after that Keith open-shoved for about 10bb but ran into Alan’s KK.  That left MC to challenge Alan with about a 450k to 1.2m disadvantage.  MC pulled even with Alan after not too long but then bled back down to about 400k.  The final hand occurred at the 10k/20k/1k level when Alan raised to 50k and MC shoved – Alan turned over QQ and MC showed A5s.  MC didn’t improve and finished as the bridesmaid for the sixth time while Alan notched his fourth syndicate victory.

The Leaderboard: With 9 final tables between them, Alan (1^st place ) and Keith (2^nd place) are putting some space between themselves and the rest of the field.  Jacob, who busted without points this week dropped down to 3^rd place, while MC moved up into 4^th place.  Chad, Gary B, and Wendi hold places 5-7 and there is a 3-way tie for 8^th between Dana, Jonkey and Don B.

Season XIII – Event 7:  Jacob had A LOT of chips for most of the tournament and managed to overcame severe damage to his ears from listening to Thursday and Thrice at full volume to win his second tournament of season.  Really, he just had a ridiculous amount (see how I used that word Anthony?) of chips for the entire night. By the time he was heads-up with Don B. he had a 5-1 advantage in chips.  Don really dug in and improved to at least 4.9 to 1.1 in chips before going all in with A2 and running into the AQ of Jacob.  In 3^rd place was Mark Ross, followed by Stan Diego, Steffan and Farid to round out our money winners.

The Leaderboard: With his second win of the season, Jacob took over first place and now has 245 points.  He’s followed by Keith, who came in 11^th place this week, with 225 points and Alan, who is now in 3^rd place, with 215 points.  Behind them we have Chad, Wendi, the Wizard, Jonkey, Craigy and MC in the running for the guaranteed seats.

Season XIII – Event 6:  Back in season 10 Jonkey and Dana played heads-up for the first time.  There were 915,000 chips in play and The Wizard had about 15,000 of them.  That meant that Jonkey had 98.36% of the chips in play.  Keithy and Craigy were both there as dealer/shufflers and they witnessed Dana completely obliterate Jonkey to come back from less than one big blind to victory.   Now almost three years later the two foes faced off for just the second them ever.  And again Jonkey had a huge advantage as heads-up play started.  This time Dana had more than one blind but probably only had about 15% of the chips in play.  So naturally he liked his chances!  Dana chipped up a little early and then shoved over a raise by the Jonkey.  The commish made the call, lost, and then matched the Wiz’s stack (AK vs K9). Now Dana had about 40% of the chips and it was game on!  Finally, after 66 minutes of heads-up play, Dana, who had given back much of his stack to a (surprisingly) patient Jonkey  shoved with KQ and ran into AK.  An Ace landed on the flop and Jonkey declared the curse lifted!!  This was Jonkey’s 10^th Syndicate victory and it was made all the more surprizing by the fact that with 13 players remaining, at the 2500/5000 level, he only had 4,500 chips remaining.  Jonkey hung on to get to the final table and then went on a HEATER.  By the time Jonkey cracked Anders’ AA with QQ (Q on the river!) to knock Anders out in 8^th, Jonkey was the chip leader. In 3rd place, with his third final table in the last five events, was Craig.  In  4^th, with his third final table IN A ROW – was Don B.  In 5^th place, in just her second Syndicate tournament, was Rowan.  MC and Mark Ross rounded out our money winners in 6^th and 7^th place respectively.

The Leaderboard: We are now at the half-way point of the season and Alan still has a solid lead – though it looks like a breakaway group of Jonkey, Dana, Gary B and Don B have tried to breakaway from the peloton to attack the leaders.  Alan and Keith still hold the lead with 325 and 300 points respectively and MC and Jonkey have moved ahead of Jacob to take the 3^rd and 4^th spots.  Jacob is now 5 points back in 5^th,while Dana has moved up to 6^th place.  Chad hold 7^th by himself, while Don B and Craig are tied for the 8^th and final guaranteed spot.

Season XIII – Event 5: So it finally happened – a final three of Chad, Keith and Jonkey!  When 3-handed play began Keith and Jonkey had about the same sized stacks with Chad trailing, though still healthy.  The tide turned though when this play happened:  Keith raised from the button, Jonkey called and Chad folded.  The flop came 983hh.  Jonkey checked, Keith bet and Jonkey called.  The turn was a K.  Check, bet, call.  The river was a black 10.  Now Jonkey leads out with a sizeable bet.  Keith thinks for some time before calling, saying “I think you were on a flush draw”, and showing 77.  Jonkey turned over 56hh for busted flush and straight draws.  This gave Keith a huge lead and his stack was never in danger again.  This win was Keith’s first since back in season 8 and his fourth overall – so he was definitely due a victory!!

The Leaderboard: With his FOURTH final table in a row Alan kept his position in 1st place overall. Chad and Keith moved up the board from 4th and 11th respectively to sit in a tie for 2nd just 5 points behind Alan.  60 points behind them are Jonkey and Wizard in a tie for 4th place.  Jacob is right behind them in 6th and MC and Craig are tied for our final guaranteed slot.  

Season XIII – Event 4: We all know the story of a chip and a chair – and this isn’t quite that dramatic – but it’s pretty close!  Last weekend’s winner – everyone’s favorite chemist, Kelly Sprankle – was down to one big blind with only two tables remaining and rose from the ashes to claim his first ever Syndicate victory.  Congratulations Kelly on your victory!  In second place was Craig, followed by Anthony, Keith and Michael.

The Leaderboard: With his third final table in a row Alan has now moved into 1st place overall. That dropped The Wizard (who had an uncharacteristically early exit this tourney) down into 2^nd place.  Jacob, who had trouble getting points this event – because he didn’t play in it – is now in 3^rd place.

Season XIII – Event 3: Congratulations to our own human Jon Snow chip, Chad Mothe’, on his victory in Event #4 of Lucky Season 13!  He overcame great adversity after being up and down all night and barely surviving several close all-in situations.  Actually, your reporter busted out, went to the cash game, and then left early so he has no idea what really happened.  Though it has been reported by many who did stay that Chad’s hair looked awesome all the way to the end of the tournament.  This victory also moved Chad up into a tie for second most Syndicate wins – with 9 now.  He is now even with Jonkey (it clearly helps to play all 13 seasons!) and they are both two behind our revered founder, Mark Antis.

The Leaderboard: The leaderboard is finally starting to take shape this season – though for sure no one is running away with it so far.  Of course the Wizard (Dana) is at the top along with Jacob.  They are followed closely by MC and Alan, with Paul R, Gary B, and Goldilocks – I mean Chad – right behind them.

Season XIII – Event 2: We had another tournament!  This event, the 221^st regular season tourney in Syndicate history, was won by Gary B.  This was Gary’s first win since back in season 9 when he went on to earn a Syndicate Main Event seat.  In 2nd place was the freshly coifed MC.  This was the 21^st final table in MC’s Syndicate career and in that span he has managed five runner up finishes.  That’s a pretty high 2^nd place/final table ratio!  In 3rd place was Kevin H, followed by Jim H, Jonkey, The Wizard (aka Dana – really, imagine him with long white hair, a lustrous beard and a staff!), Alan and Keith to round out our eight money winners.

The Leaderboard: We had four players make it into the points in both events this season: Dana, Jonkey, Paul R and Matthew.  The rest received their first points of the season.  The good news in that for everyone else is that so far no one is running away with anything so far.

Season XIII – Event 1:  From this moment forward this season is now officially named “Lucky Season 13”!  For example, if I am talking to a friend who says “hey John, what season is your poker group on?”, I will answer, “we are on Lucky Season 13”!  Season 12 was fantastic  – and not just because I came in first place (though I really liked that part of it!).  It was rewarding to see that after a dozen years this group is still sticking together.  As a poker club not only did we have nearly full attendance for the season (we averaged over 48 players per event with a 50 player max) but we traveled in force to Vegas and had a great time and came really close to having some of our players break through and go really deep.  And not only did we have about 23 players in the Monster Stack, we had a record 9 members in the Main Event!!  It was especially fun to see players like Matthew and Dana on the TV table and to cheer for the rest of our players.  In addition to being part of a fun poker group, many of us have become very good friends away from the table and I think that’s a big part of what keeps this whole thing together.  But as good as all that is, the one thing we are missing is a deeeeeeeep run at the WSOP.  So, this is it.  Lucky Season 13.  We’re serious this time!!

The Leaderboard: Since this is the first event the leaderboard is the same as the final table!!