Ragged Aces Poker Group

23 down and 1 to go before the Championship on July 11^th.  Jordan hit a miracle 2 out 8 on the river to double up against Clark’s pocket QQ and then ground his way to the cash before pulling a huge upset and toppling Garrett heads-up to take the final Big Ace magnet of the year.  That 2 outer pretty much decided the player of the year as without it, Clark would have taken the lead by 1 point (if he still finished in 3^rd in that alternate timeline) and the PoY race would still be alive between the top 5 players.  With the miracle 2-outer, Jordan has a virtual lock with only Clark having a mathematical chance at taking it away.  Congratulations to Jordan on a hard fought tournament, Big Ace title, Double Ace milestone, and season. 

With their top 3 finishes, Garrett (Elite) and Clark (6x Ace) moved within one chip of their Ace milestones and have a shot at improving in the final game.  Other players on the verge of Ace milestones include: Darin “Monkey Boy”, Rich “the Revealer”, Christine “the Cockroach”, Terry G. Lee, Scott A., “Steamroller” Garth, and Andrew.  I have updated the website to reflect the current standings: http://tfcia.com/raggedaces/pages/2009Standings.aspx and the lifetime chip count: http://tfcia.com/raggedaces/pages/rosterofaces.aspx

Mike B. improved his season standing to 3rd place to move up to the Ace of Diamonds, dropping Christine down to the Ace of Clubs.  Darin leapfrogged Rich M. to move up to 6th place (King of Hearts) while “Bad Beat” John improved to a King of Clubs (8th), “Mc”Garrett to the Queen of Spades (9th), and Andre “the Quiet Giant” dropped to the Queen of Hearts (10th).  Brian T. and “Black Hole” Peter both improved over Rob B., “Johnny Fabs”, and “Anecdote” Allan to become 10’s (16th & 17th). 

 We are less than 4 ½ weeks away from the championship tournament with one tournament to play (last chance to gain chips for the championship).  For those in the hunt for Player of the Year, Bounty Hunter, and Most Improved, this is your last shot at overtaking those above you in the standings.  For everyone else, this is your last chance to improve your place (card), grab some chips (points), and pass those that don’t make the final game.

Tournament #24 is 11 days away, on June 20^th, in the Hangar (my place), costs $20 to enter, and starts at 6:30pm.

Championship Game on July 11^th

At this point the top 30 players are in the safe to invite zone as there is little chance you will be overtaken in the standings.  The following are the officially invited players, please let me know for sure if you plan to attend the championship game on July 11^th (underlined are confirmed playing, italic not playing): Jordan, Clark, Mike B., Christine, Tyler, Darin, Rich M., John D., Garrett, Andre, Sue S., Scott A., Garth, Joe C., Diana, Brian T., Peter, Rob B., John F., Allan, Diep, Andrew, Erwin, Bondy, Mike M., Terry, Harold, Nick, Marvin, and Kevin W. 

Garth, Rob B., John F., Diep, Erwin, Bondy, Mike M., Terry, Harold, Nick, Marvin, and Kevin W., please let me know ASAP if you will make the championship.  I will invite alternates after the final game for those that have not confirmed they can make it by then. 

I plan to invite 4 tables of 7, 28 players total for the championship which means Casey and Don would also get an invite if the season were over today. Adam C., Lan, John M., Brian B., Max, Jeff B., Tom O., Pat W., Steve S., John L., Aaron N., Paul H. all need at least one more game to move up in the standings to increase the chance of garnering an invite to the big game. 

What makes playing the championship worth it?  Even though the players at the bottom of the 28 start with less chips, there is extra juice in the purse for the championship.  We have $500 in added reasons for one, plus a Full Tilt jersey that will be awarded to the best hand of the night, and a Full Tilt hat to the worst beat.  A trophy and bragging rights for the champion.  With 28 players buying in for $20, the total purse will be $1,060.  Not a bad return on investment for $20 and you get to hang out with everyone the whole day and eat BBQ…lots of fun.

I hope that you all have July 11^th set aside for the invite only championship BBQ tournament.  The championship is an all-day event that starts at noon, cards fly at 1pm, and we’ll have a BBQ dinner break at about 4pm.

The Trophy Race

There is only one game left to decide the season. 

The Player of the Year Award is virtually locked for Jordan.  Clark has the only mathematical shot at overtaking him with the space in the hangar (no more than 30 players) and the final game will have to be a big one to do it.  At least 22 players need to show up and Clark has to beat 21 of them.  Jordan has to go out in the first 9.  It’s a pretty steep hill to climb…stupid 8.

Twelve players have reached the 10 game plateau (the most ever) and will replace their worst game if their next game has better points (only score partial or 0 points per game going forward).  Those players, points, and number of players that must bust before them for game #24 to count are in the following table:

Mike B. failed to knock anyone out in the Big Ace tournament but Darin was only able to grab one bounty while Jordan took down 2.  This puts Darin and Jordan in a tie for second place, 295 points behind Mike.  If the final game is a big one (22 players or more), each bounty will be worth 100 points (or more).  Mike needs to keep Darin and Jordan from gaining three more bounties than him while also holding off Tyler (5 bounties behind) and Mike M. (6 bounties behind).  In fact, in a big game,  Joe C. or Garrett could take down 8 bounties and the trophy.  The Bounty Hunter competition could get real interesting, but Mike has it in his grasp, and we’ll need a big game to make it interesting.

With the large field of players this year, I’ve decided to expand the MIP (Most Improved Player) candidates at the championship to include the top 5 improved players of the year.  This award is the only one voted on by the players but the nominees are gleaned from the statistics they generate year over year to determine who has improved the most over the last year.  With his showing in the Big Ace, Mike improved on his statistics lead, improving to a 4.10 rating, Garth is still in 2^nd with a 3.82, while Jordan improved his numbers with the win to a 3.71.  Garrett is in 4^th place having shown a huge improvement over last year at 2.12, and Rich M. rounds out the most improved top 5 at 1.99 (though since he won’t make the last game, he’ll probably drop 3 spots in the standings and out of the competition).  Christine, Andre and Sue S. continue to have positive improvement numbers and could move into the top 5 with a big final game.

Ragged Aces Online Tournaments

A number of us now play on Full Tilt or are about to sign up on Full Tilt.  With the new season, I will create a couple of online tournaments that those that have online accounts can play.  If you want to start a Full Tilt online account, let me know what email you’d like to use (probably not a work address) and I can send you an invite (you get an extra $25 if you earn enough player points).  I will post more information about his after the June 20^th game.

2009 Schedule (all Saturday games)

http://tfcia.com/raggedaces/content/TournamentSchedule.aspx

1. June 20 - Redmond Ridge "The Hangar" 6:30 start ($20)
2. July 11 - CHAMPIONSHIP, Redmond Ridge "The Hangar" 1:00 start (invite only $20 entry)

~ Clark