Seventeen players packed the tables for the Pinnacle Poker Club’s first-ever Spring Survivor tournament — and what a night it turned out to be! With a $425 prize pool on the line and only four spots available for the lion’s share of the winnings, players had to navigate a minefield of big hands, bold bluffs, and unforgettable moments.

Here’s a look at some of the night’s biggest storylines:

• Two new players, Hari and Lakshmi, made their PPC debuts! Lakshmi notched her first knockout and battled all the way to a strong 8th-place finish. 👍🏼
• Baby Tyler (Crystal and Matt’s son) turned into the unofficial good-luck charm of the night, seemingly boosting the fortunes of anyone who held him at the table. 👶
• Sharon lit up the room by knocking out three players in a single hand and soaring to her best finish in over two years. ❗️
• Matt and Shealyn rediscovered their top form, each reaching the final stages after a string of tough results last season. 💵 
• Rob recorded his best PPC finish ever, dominating early, enduring a dry spell in the middle, then surging again to finish second in chips at the end. ✌️
• Kasra emerged victorious, riding a late surge to barely take the chip lead from Rob on the last hand of the night, landing at the top spot in the Player of the Year standings. 🏆

One final preliminary note: Special thanks to Tania for documenting the action on the Blue and Grey Tables, and for tabulating 15 different March Madness brackets to crown Shealyn as the best predictor of our Spring Survivor Elite 8 and Final 4! Shealyn will get a free entry into Event #3!

Early Fireworks: Rob and Matt set the tone.

The action kicked off with a bang on the Red Table, as Chris ran a big bluff against Rob — raising Rob’s flop bet with 6♦️5♦️on the board of Q-7-3 with one diamond (good for just 6-high with backdoor straight and flush draws). After Rob called the raise, Chris fired a second barrel when the 8♣️ came on the turn, improving his straight draw, and Rob called again. The river was the 2♦️, leaving Chris with just 6-high. Chris was considering whether to fire a third barrel, but Rob instead made a big bet, forcing Chris to fold as Rob took down the night’s first big pot.

Minutes later, Rob and Matt locked horns in an aggressive battle, but Rob’s flopped two pair with J-5 held strong to win another crucial pot.

The Red Table also saw many spousal showdowns with Crystal and Matt trading wins in spirited fashion. 

Meanwhile, over at the Blue Table, Shealyn’s pocket Queens got cracked by not one but two inferior hands, as Peggy hit a full house with J-3 on a final board of 7-7-3-3-4, and Kara beat them both when her K-7 made a higher full house. 

The big hands continue, and big bustouts begin.

It didn’t take long for eliminations to start piling up. Peggy was the first to fall, exiting in 17th place.

Then Chris saw his tournament unravel in two brutal hands. First, Matt opened with 6♠️4♦️ and Chris called from the big blind with A♣️5♣️. Matt’s aggression was rewarded as the flop came 8♣️6♣️4♠️, and he decided to slow play his two pair. 

After both players checked the flop, Matt hit the perfect card on the turn: the 4♣️. Chris made a small bet, thinking that he was the one trapping with his Ace-high flush. But Matt’s big raise immediately made Chris suspicious. He called, but was already hoping to make it to showdown without too many more chips going into the pot. 

Matt did not oblige. After the J♠️ hit on the river, Chris checked and Matt made a huge bet for almost all of Chris’s chips. Chris made a live read and quickly announced that he was pretty sure that Matt had a full house, but he couldn’t bring himself to fold a hand as strong as the nut flush. Matt scooped a pot of almost 50,000 chips, and Chris was left with only 4,000 (less than 3 big blinds) remaining.

The very next hand, Matt finished what he started when he limped in early position with 5♦️3♣️, Chris called from the small blind with 8♦️4♦️, and Crystal checked in the big blind. The flop came 7♦️7♣️4♠️, giving Chris a pair, which was more than enough to put in his last 2,600 into a pot that was already almost 5,000. Matt considered for a long time before making the call, making Chris a 3-to-1 favorite to more than double up and get back in the game. The J♦️ on the turn cut Matt’s odds in half, but the river was the 6♣️, giving Matt a straight and knocking Chris out in 16th place. 

Meanwhile, on the Grey Table, Hari’s debut ended in 15th place when Christina’s pocket Aces held strong (Christina would get Aces again less than half an hour later, but Daniela would hit a flush to take a chunk of chips from Christina).

A few hands later, Shealyn rode a bit of a rollercoaster as she took her K-7 against Tania’s K-Q, and Daniela’s A-K. Preflop, Shealyn was in tough shape with less than a 20% chance of winning the pot. The flop of K-4-4 gave all three ladies two pair, but didn’t change much as Daniela’s Ace kicker gave her a 70% chance of winning the hand. However, the turn brought a 7, flipping the odds and giving Shealyn a more than 80% of winning the pot with her better two pair. But it wasn’t meant to be, as the river was another 4 giving all three players a full house to chop the pot. 

About 15 minutes later, Tania waited one card too long to make a big bluff and it cost her. Holding K-2 on a board of Q-Q-3-7,  she moved all-in against Daniela, who called quickly holding 7-7 for a turned full house. Tania might have been able to get Daniela to fold that underpair on the flop, but Daniela wasn’t going anywhere on the turn with a full house. To add insult to injury, the river was the final 7, giving Daniela quads, and sending Tania to the rail in 14th place. 

The bad beats continued on the Red Table. Despite finally picking up playable hands, Steve just couldn’t get any traction — even having his pocket Tens cracked when Sharon turned trips to take a big pot. 

A few minutes later, Steve found himself all-in with Q♣️8♣️ in a three-way pot against Crystal (A❤️8❤️) and Matt (A♠️K♣️). After a flop of 9♣️9❤️5❤️, Crystal went all-in as well, and Matt called. Matt was in the lead and in position to knock out two players, but Crystal had about a 50% chance of surviving. And that is exactly what happened when the 7❤️ came on the river, giving Crystal a flush, almost tripling her stack, and knocking out Steve in 13th place. 

Meanwhile, back on the Grey Table, Luciano found himself all-in after flopping two pair with K-T on a board of K-Q-T. Three other players came along, and Luciano was in great shape to quadruple up against Kasra’s T-8 (for bottom pair that was drawing almost dead), Daniela’s Q-7 (which would need to hit a third queen or two hearts to make a flush), and Lakshmi’s A-4 (which needed to hit a Jack for a straight). The turn was a 7, giving Daniela a worse two pair, but Lakshmi hit the Jack that she needed on the river, giving her a straight and knocking Luciano out in 12th place.

Mid-Game Madness: Sharon steals the spotlight.

Just when it seemed the night couldn’t get crazier, Sharon turned the tables with the hand of the night. In a four-way all-in pot, she rivered two pair to bust Kara (11th), James (10th), and Crystal (9th) all at once — a triple knockout that rocketed her into Final Table contention and left the field stunned. With the blinds getting higher, James and Kara had moved their last few big blinds into the pot without even looking at their cards. Crystal and Sharon both called. 

On the turn, the board read A-8-6-3, and Crystal put her final chips in the pot with A-J for top pair. Sharon called with A-9 for top pair with a worse kicker. James turned over his cards to discover that he held 8-2 for bottom pair and a chance to survive if he hit an 8 or a 2 on the river. Kara turned over J-7 and was drawing dead. Crystal had an 80% chance of knocking out two players and raking in a much-needed pot to stay in contention. 

But the cards had other ideas as Sharon hit one of the last remaining 9s in the deck to make two pair, knock out the other three players, and give herself a nice stack of chips to make a run at the final four. 

Meanwhile, over on the Grey Table, Lakshmi battled hard but ultimately fell one short of the final table as Daniela knocked her out in 8th place, setting up a final table of seven with the prize money just within reach. 

From there, being in the big blind started to look like a curse:

• Rob busted Daniela in 7th place on her big blind, picking up 56,000 chips in the process when he raised preflop with A-J, bet again when he flopped top pair, and then put Daniela all in on the turn. Rob now had more than 1/3 of the chips in play with 6 players remaining. 
• The very next hand, on Christina’s big blind, Shealyn managed the rare feat of taking out a player who was holding Baby Tyler, knocking Christina out in 6th.

That set up the longest and wildest five-handed stretch the PPC has ever seen — players survived all-ins with worse hands again and again as nobody wanted to give up a spot in the money. Everyone except Rob was at risk of bubbling in at least one hand during this 30-minute stretch. 

Final Battle: Kasra surges at the finish line.

It looked like Kasra would be the next victim as he was the big blind the very next hand. Matt moved all-in, and the rest of the table, including Kasra, folded and allowed Matt to pick up some valuable blinds. 

But Kasra found himself in trouble the very next hand when he completed from the big blind with 9-5 offsuit, then hit top pair on the 9-6-2 flop. He immediately went all-in for his final 40,000 into a pot of 30,000. Sharon quickly called and turned over 6-2 offsuit, flopping two pair in a big blind special. Sharon had a 70% chance of busting Kasra and ending the game, but in the first of many reversals of fortune, Kasra hit a 9 on the river and doubled up with his trip 9s. 

A few hands later, it once again looked like the game was over, this time with Matt at risk of busting on the money bubble! Shealyn started the action off by limping, and Kasra thought for a while before raising with A-J. Rob — the overwhelming chip leader — was in the small blind and could have made life difficult for everyone by making a big raise, which would have put a ton of pressure on everyone to not be the last player to bust. But he folded, Matt called all-in from the big blind, and Shealyn folded, hoping to sneak into the money with her dwindling stack. When the cards were flipped over, Kasra was a 2-to-1 favorite to end the game with his A-J against Matt’s A-8. 

But there was a 7% chance of a tie, and that is exactly what happened when the board ran out A-Q-7-7-6, giving both players two pair with a kicker that didn’t play. So, the players chopped the pot, Matt lived to fight another day, and the rest of the table was left hoping they wouldn’t draw the short straw. 

Next, it was Shealyn’s turn to hope for a miracle as she limped from the small blind with 8-6 and Kasra put her all-in for her last few chips with A-3. Shealyn called and had a little less than a 50/50 shot of surviving. The flop of 5-4-4 kept the odds about the same, giving each player a gutshot straight draw, with Shealyn needing an 8, 7, or 6 to survive. And a 6 is exactly what she got on the turn, giving her a pair to take the lead. The Ten on the river was inconsequential, and once again, the underdog survived to keep the match going and frustrate the other players who kept thinking that they had made the money. 

Next up, Sharon moved all-in with A-T, and action folded to Kasra who called quickly with 99. It looked like a fair fight with Kasra only a slight favorite. That all changed when the flop came 9-3-2, giving Kasra top set and leaving Sharon hopping to hit a backdoor straight (a less than 2% chance), which was her only hope to survive the tournament. A 7 on the turn ended her chances, and an 8 on the river officially ended the game with Sharon busting on the bubble in 5th place, receiving a $25 consolation prize. 

Meanwhile, the final four were Kasra, Rob, Matt, and Shealyn, who each took home $100 for their finish. After busting Sharon, Kasra ended up barely edging out Rob for the chip lead to take home a bonus point in the Player of the Year standings. 

Next Up: The Tag-Team Championship!

Get ready for another fun structure in Event #3, our Second Annual Tag-Team Championship! Players will form two-person teams to battle for the title, playing separately for the first hour, then combining their chip stacks to play tag-team style for the stretch run. It’s a perfect chance to invite new friends and family to join the action. In fact, any first-time player — and anyone who invites a new first-time player — will receive bonus chips to start the game!

Register now, and either bring your own partner or get ready to be paired with another player at the event! Let’s make it our biggest and most fun event yet!

Big Shakeups in the POY Race and PPC Power Rankings

With the final four all coming off of relatively disappointing recent performances, the results of Event #2 created some shakeups in the race for the 2025 Player of the Year, in our all-time PPC Power Rankings, and in our Power Ranking of recent performances. 

After finishing with the chip lead in the Spring Survivor, Kasra now holds the top spot in our POY Race. Thuy, our winner of Event #1, is now tied with Rob and Matt for second place after missing Event #2. Shealyn debuts at #5 after making her first appearance of the year. Lauren, Kara, and Christina all fell a few spots and are now tied at #6. Despite finishing on the bubble, Sharon’s performance was good enough to debut at #9, tied with Daniela to round out the top 10. 

Meanwhile, some of the faces that we are used to seeing near the top of the leaderboards — like James, Crystal, and Chris — all find themselves in the bottom half of the standings after two events. 

Over on the Power Rankings, Kasra jumped ahead of Christina for the #2 spot all-time, Kara continued her climb up the rankings now standing at #7, Shealyn jumped three spots into the top 10, and Rob was the biggest mover climbing four spots. 

In terms of recent hot streaks, Kasra was the biggest mover in the Power Rankings over the past five appearances, jumping all the way into the top 10 as his strong start to the 2025 season has begun to replace some of the results from his previous slump. Christina dropped three spots to #4, despite making the final table, because she is now 6 games out from her best PPC finish – her big win in last year’s Deepstack Championship. Matt jumped six spots and is poised to continue rising this season if he can replace his disappointing finishes in the second half of last year with strong performances to finish out this season. (For what it is worth, his two PPC wins came in the final event before the summer break in the past two years; perhaps this month will be when he completes his rebound!) Sharon and Rob jumped 4 and 3 spots, respectively, and are now poised with Matt just outside of the top 10.