Fifteen players (including three making their season debut) convened for the Pinnacle Poker Club’s Deepstack Championship to compete for a portion of our record-breaking $680 prize pool (along with a pile of points for 2024 Player of the Year). With three tables in action, and 50,000 chips in each player’s starting stack, the result was yet another first-time tournament winner, a new leader in the POY race, and some shakeups throughout the leaderboard.
A great start for Christina, and a reversal of fortune for Daniela and Luciano.
Right off the bat, we should have known that Christina would make a deep run. She is the engine that makes the Pinnacle Poker Club run smoothly, and she often misses many hands throughout the night while wrangling the Whittaker kids and hosting our players. This night was no different. Yet even when she was wasn’t at the table, she was making monster hands and raking in chips.
In Level 2, Christina stepped away from the Red table for several hands, including one in which she was in the big blind. John limped from early position, Chris limped from the small blind, and Christina (not even at the table) took a free flop. As the board ran out T-3-6-3-3, John and Chris checked all the way down to the river, John showing Queen-high and Chris showing A-4 for Ace-high. But when Christina’s hand was turned up, she had A-3 for quad 3s, taking down a small 1,000-chip pot early on.
Meanwhile, out on the Blue table, the Tavareses — who have had a great run at the PPC during the past two events — were experiencing a reversal of fortune at the hands of Jake. In his first game of the season, Jake took out Luciano in Level 2, followed by Daniela in Level 4. Luciano chose to call it a night after his quick exit, but Daniela re-entered to keep her hopes alive.
At the first break, 14 players were still in the hunt. Jake was the clear chip leader with about 125,000 in chips after busting two players. James had also chipped up quite a bit out on the Blue table, sitting on about 80,000. The 12 other players were all more or less even on the night, with Kait and Chris leading their respective tables, each with almost 60,000 chips.
Kara and Kim dominate the Grey table.
After the break, Kara got in on the bounty action, busting Matt shortly before the re-entry deadline at the end of Level 6. Then, about half an hour later, Kara busted Shealyn, who is off to a slow start this year after finishing 2nd in the 2023 Main Event.
Twenty minutes later, Kara continued her hot streak by busting Matt again. Matt’s aggressive, high-variance style earned him a win and a 2nd pace finish in the past two events. But this time, it led to an early exit in 13th place.
As the 12 remaining players consolidated to two tables, Kim picked up her first bounty, knocking out James, who turned in his first disappointing performance of the year after coming in 2nd place in last year’s POY race and starting this season with two 5th-place finishes.
Ten minutes later, Kara continued her demolition derby through the Grey table, ending Daniela’s second entry in 11th place.
Lots of action on the Red table as Sharon repeatedly escapes elimination.
Meanwhile, over on the Red table, Sharon was nursing a short stack and surviving multiple all-ins. First, she moved all-in with 8-8 and got called by Chris and Christina. The board ran out K-J-7-K-3, not a particularly good board for Sharon’s hand. But it was good enough to beat Chris’s Q-8 and Christina’s 6-5.
A few rounds later, on a flop of J-9-5, Sharon moved all in with Q-T for an open-ended straight draw. Christina called with A-3. The turn was another Jack, but an 8 on the river gave Sharon a straight and kept her alive with about 10,000 chips.
The next hand, with blinds at 3,000/6,000, Chris raised from the small blind with A-8 suited, putting Christina all-in for her remaining 25,000 chips. Christina called showing 6-6. The board ran out Q-J-3-3-J, giving Christina the win and increasing her stack to about 50,000.
A few hands later, Sharon moved all-in before the flop and got called by Christina and John. The flop came K-9-2, and John found himself all-in as well. Christina was in the lead with K-7 for top pair. Sharon held A-T, and would need either an Ace or two straight cards to survive. John showed T-T and would need the last remaining Ten or two straight cards to win. But an 8 on the turn and a 6 on the river gave Christina two bounties and a pile of chips. Sharon was out in 10th place, and John was out in 9th.
Kim racks up more bounties as the final table forms.
With eight players left, Kim picked up her second bounty of the night, knocking out Kait in eighth place and sending the remaining players to the final table. As final-table play began, Kim, Kara, and Christina led the way, each with chip stacks of about 140,000 or more. Chris, Crystal, and Jake were in the middle with between 100,000 and 125,000. Steve — making his second final table of the year, was the short stack with just a few big blinds remaining.
After about 30 minutes of final-table play, Crystal moved all-in with A-K, but got called by four players, including Steve who went all-in without looking at his cards. The board ran out Q-Q-2-3-2. That board did not improve Steve’s J-7 suited, Kara’s J-8 suited, or Christina’s K-J offsuit. But Kim’s 6-3 — the worst starting hand of the five — hit a pair of 3s to take the entire pot and knock out two players: Steve in 7th place and Crystal in 6th.
As 5-handed play began, Christina and Kim were the big chip leaders with almost 250,000 each. Chris held about 190,000. Kara was down to about 120,000, and Jake was now the short stack with only 65,000 left. But with blinds at 8,000/16,000, all of the stacks were pretty short.
Christina immediately took big pots off of both of the other big stacks at the table, first winning a pot of about 120,000 chips when her Q-9 flopped a pair against Kim’s K-9 on a board of Q-T-T-6-2.
Then, a few hands later, Chris took his pocket Queens up against Christina’s big stack, but Christina prevailed again when her A-5 suited flopped top pair on a board of A-4-4-9-5. Christina raked in another 120,000 chips.
Big swings leading up to the money bubble.
In one of the biggest turning points of the night, Kara found herself in a big pot against Jake. With about 200,000 chips in the middle, Jake made an ill-timed bluff with J-6 of hearts on a flop of T-7-5 with one heart. He moved all-in for his final 60,000 chips, and Kara immediately called him with T-7 for top two pair. Jake’s J-high with a backdoor straight draw and backdoor flush draw was in big trouble. Kara was a 90% favorite to knock Jake out and stack up nearly half the chips in play.
But a Jack on the turn and another Jack on the river gave Jake trip Jacks, doubled his stack up to more than 300,000, and left Kara with an extremely short stack of about 40,000 chips.
Meanwhile, Chris’s stack had dwindled all the way down to 54,000 (just over 3 big blinds), and he put it all-in on the button with A-6 offsuit. Jake, Christina, and Kim all called (with 9-7, 8-6, and Q-J respectively). Chris had the best hand pre-flop, but Kim was actually the 38% favorite to win the hand. The flop of A-K-9 changed things dramatically, and Chris was now a 60% favorite to quadruple up. A Deuce on the turn and a 4 on the river didn’t change anything, and suddenly Chris was back in contention with almost 250,000 chips.
The very next hand, it was Kara’s turn to move all-in preflop on the button. Unfortunately, her result was not quite as positive, as her T-3 was dominated by Christina’s K-3. The board ran out K-2-8-9-3, and Kara was out in 5th place. But she did come out even on the night after racking up $40 in bounties.
That left couples Kim & Jake and Christina & Chris as the final four with relatively even stacks and just one more elimination needed to each the money. Jake, Chris, and Christina all had around 250,000, and Kim had around 100,000.
The first hand of four-handed play, Chris raised under the gun with K-T and Kim called all-in with Q-4. The board ran out Q-8-6-Q-T, giving Kim trips essentially switching places with Chris in the chip counts.
The next hand, Jake raised under the gun and Chris went all-in from the big blind with JJ. Jake called with TT, and the board ran out 7-7-2-8-8, giving Chris a double-up and leaving Jake as an extreme short stack.
Then it was Jake’s turn to shove all-in. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the same result as Kim and Chris; Christina and Kim both called his all-in, and Kim knocked Jake out when her A-K flopped top pair as the board ran out A-T-5-4-3. Jake revealed T-6 for just second pair and a 4th-place exit, taking home $20 in bounties.
That put Kim, Christina, and Chris in the money looking to take down the top prize of $280 and 18 points for the Player of the Year race.
One last big twist as the final three battle for the win.
The players traded chips back and forth for about 15 minutes of three-handed play before the biggest hand of the night went down with Chris holding about 600,000 chips — more than 70% of the chips in play! With blinds at 20,000/40,000, Kim limped, Chris raised to 80,000 with Q-Q, and Christina called the additional 40,000 from the big blind. Kim then re-raised all-in for another 30,000, and both Chris and Christina called. The pot was already almost 350,000, about 40% of the chips in play! The flop came K♣︎-9♥︎-4♦︎, and Chris put Christina all-in for her last 18,000 chips. With both Christina and Kim now at risk for their tournament lives, the players revealed their hands. Kim held A-4 for bottom pair, and Christina held T♦︎-6♦︎ for just a backdoor flush draw (and Kim was holding the A♦︎, one of the cards that Christina needed). Chris was more than a 70% favorite to knock out both of the remaining players and secure the win. Kim had a 21% chance to hit an Ace or a 4 to survive. And Christina had only an 8% chance to hit two perfect cards to make a flush, straight, trips or two pair.
But anything can happen at the Pinnacle Poker Club. Christina hit the 2♦︎ on the turn and the J♦︎ on the river to make a flush, raking in a pot of more than 380,000 chips and knocking out Kim in the process. Kim took home $75 for her 3rd-place finish plus another $50(!) in bounties.
The stacks were about even with Chris holding about 470,000 to Christina’s 380,000. But with the blinds at 20,000/40,000, that could change very quickly. And it did. Christina went all-in two hands in a row, forcing Chris to fold a round of blinds. Suddenly, Christina was the chip leader, as she moved all-in for a third straight time. This time, Chris called, and the players found themselves in a 50/50 race for almost all the chips on the table: Chris held a very small lead with 3-3 against Christina’s A-T, but Chris was the one at risk to bust. And the flop of J-T-8 gave Christina a pair and a big lead in the hand. A Deuce on the turn and a 5 on the river sealed the win for Christina.
Chris took home $155 for his 2nd-place finish (and no bounties despite making it almost all the way to the end). Christina — our tenth different tournament winner at the PPC — took home the $280 top prize plus $60 in bounties (she and Kim each took out exactly one third of the field!).
Some shakeups in the POY standings.
Three players — Kait, Kim, and Jake — made their first PPC appearance of the year, and all three picked up good point totals in their first event, including Kim and Jake who debut at #12 and #14, respectively, in the POY rankings.
Two power couples lead the rankings with Christina vaulting into the #1 spot after her big win, followed by Chris at #2. Matt dropped from his #1 ranking, but still sits at #3, while Crystal climbed one spot with another consistent performance placing her at the #4 spot.
Thanks to her strong finish in Event 3, Thuy remains in the top 5 despite skipping Event 4 and dropping a few spots.
Similarly, Lauren — the winner of Event 1 — now sits at #6 despite missing the last three events. With good finishes in the next two events, she could resurrect her bid for Player of the Year after debuting at #1 to begin the season.
Steve is putting up another strong season, sitting at #7 after climbing two spots with his final-table appearance in Event 4.
Kara and James are tied at #8 after Kara climbed three spots with her 5th-place finish in Event 4, while John dropped two spots to round out our top 10.
We look forward to seeing you all on July 27 for our Dance of Dragons All-Bounty Championship.