Thursday’s game saw the conclusion of the Spring Quarter of the 100k promo. Roger The Rounder took down the victory when his J9 defeated Maya Maelstrom’s 69 one hand after she had doubled him up. Congrats and well played, sir.

Entering into the night, five players were vying for the #1 spot for the quarter with its coveted seat to Nationals. Players T-Rex (1335), Gutshot Gary (1312), Mark Third-Degree Burns (1291), Steve Big Butt Bufflap (1119), and Tie-Dye Matt (1117) all had high hopes for the seat. Three other players in attendance were in play for a seat in DE States this Fall: Steve-O The Mad Trapper (970), Gordon The Ghost (881), and Tre Bien (870).

Early in the evening, shortly after the first break, Mark Third Degree Burns’s evening and chance for the top spot was savagely cut short with a cracked pair of AA’s. Not long after, Steve-O The Mad Trapper was ensnared by the mighty River Rat and eliminated. His departure brought us to the final two tables, where Gordon The Ghost was busted out in 15^th place.

Despite his constant monitoring of every remaining stack in play, Steve Big Butt Bufflap triple-bubbled in the 11^th spot; ending his chance at #1 but also putting the States seat at risk. His defeat did, however, lock Mark into States (his second stack).

Play remained five-handed at two tables for quite a while. Tie-Dye Matt, short-stacked had just folded in the big blind position to a bet when the 10^th player was eliminated and the clock was paused for the final table draw. To his dismay, he drew the dreaded 3s card; placing him immediately back into the big blind seat. He only had 2.5 big blinds remaining in his stack. After iron-manning it literally hours after knee surgery; his night was cut short with two crappy hands and he bubbled.

With the bubble ruptured, play continued with the quarterly fate of four players in the hands of the remaining eight players. Steve floated around the final table, anxiously watching the proceedings: his destiny tied to Tre. Whether it was prayers or hopes; they were answered when Tre’s night came to an end in 7^th place at the hands of the chip leader. Tre’s elimination clinched Steve the final seat into States.

With Tre vanquished, the remaining race was between T-Rex and Gutshot Gary. Both of whom were short stacked relative to the rest of the table. Both players survived two orbits of the blinds, winning enough chips to endure the next round of blinds and antes. Gary was the first to make an all-in move, securing a significant pot of the blinds, ante, and two limpers; all without a showdown. With this added pressure applied to Rex and the blinds quickly approaching; Rex was forced to go all-in with a sub-optimal hand. His hand failed to improve and Rex was eliminated in 6^th place. Considering he arrived after the first break due to the date-change email getting snagged by his spam folder; Rex had a terrific run. Not only in this game, but for the entire quarter.

With the elimination of Rex, the race for the seat in Vegas was not concluded. Gary needed to finish third or better to win the quarter or fourth for a tie. With Ryan falling in 5^th place, Gary over-aggressively tried to steal Roger The Rounder’s big blind with 54 offsuit. The Rounder had pocket JJ’s and crippled Gary. Two hands later, Maya Maelstrom and Jose El Tiberon got it all-in, Maya’s 66 vs. Jose’s 33. Maya eliminated Jose, clinching the quarter for Gary and leaving the question of how ties for the quarter are broken for another day.

Two quarters completed; July starts the final (Summer) quarter of play in the 100k promo. Thus far, seats won are as follows:

States:

4x Gutshot Gary, 3x Tie-Dye Matt, 2x Mark Third-Degree Burns, 2x T-Rex, 1x Pat McStat, and 1x Steve B³

Nationals:

Gutshot Gary (x3), Tie-Dye Matt, Mark Third-Degree burns, Steve-O The Mad Trapper, and Steve B³

September marks the end of the Summer Quarter. The States (one game for both bars) and the Tournament of Champions (two games, one for each bar) will be held in October/November: dates TBD. (Qualification for States is finishing in the top 10% of the given Quarter. Qualification for the TOC is winning any live weekly bar tournament.)

Lastly, don’t forget to play your online games. Steve Bufflap and Steve-O Ruble both won their Vegas seats by playing the monthly and weekly online games, respectively. There be gold in them online games.

Spring Quarter Finale Won by The Rounder