Eleven players descended on the Pinnacle Poker Club for the penultimate event of the 2024 regular season. With shorter starting stacks, five levels of unlimited re-entry, and 28 POY points up for grabs by collecting bounties, the stage was set for lots of action. 

Plus a special team bounty of $140 created additional rooting interests. The 11 players were divided into Team Black (6 players) and Team Green (5 players). As soon as all members of one team were eliminated, the surviving members of the winning team would split the $140 team bounty. 

The tournament structure creates lots of early action. 

Things started fast on the Red table with Luciano and Peggy clashing repeatedly in a battle of wills in the early levels. The players frequently raised and re-raised each other all the way to the river only to show down hands like Ace-high versus a low pair. 

Chris was the beneficiary of some of that early aggression when he found himself in a wild three-way pot against Luciano and Peggy. With blinds at 75/150, Peggy called on the button, Chris completed in the small blind with Q-T, and Luciano checked from the big blind. The flop came K-Q-T, giving Chris bottom two-pair on a scary board. He was about to bet when Peggy tried to bet out of turn. With the information that Peggy intended to bet, Chris checked. But Luciano surprised everyone by betting 500, which Peggy quickly called. With a strong, but vulnerable, hand, Chris raised to 1,600. Both players called. 

The turn was a Deuce and, with the pot already up over 5,000 chips, Chris was deciding what to do. He still thought his hand was likely best, but one or both of the other players could easily have a set, a better two pair, or even a straight with A-J or J-9. As he was deciding whether to bet, Peggy suddenly announced an out-of-turn bet to 1,000, so Chris decided to play it safe and check. Luciano checked this time as well, so Peggy’s bet of 1,000 was binding, and Chris and Luciano both called. 

The river was a 3 for a final board of K-Q-T-2-3. All three players checked, and Chris turned over his two pair, wondering aloud if it could possibly be good in a pot that was up over 8,000 chips. Luciano turned over J-3 and Peggy turned over J-8; both players had been fast-playing their open-ended straight draws. Relieved, Chris raked in a big early pot thanks to the aggressive play at the table. 

Despite lots of fireworks, and plenty of all-ins, it takes almost an hour to record the first knockout. 

In Level 3, Chris held A-K on a flop of A-J-4. Chris put Luciano all-in, and Luciano called with Q-T for a straight draw. Chris was a big favorite to pick up his first bounty, but the turn was a 9 and the river was an 8, giving Luciano the win and increasing his stack back up over the 6,000 chips he started with.

A few hands later, Chris got some chips back. On a flop of K-T-5, Chris’s K-T hit top two-pair against Daniela (who held K-3 for top pair) and Peggy (who held 6-5 for bottom pair). After a round of betting, the turn brought a 6, a bad card for Peggy who now held a worse two-pair. A Queen on the turn did not improve anyone’s hand, and Chris scooped another big pot, leaving Daniela with only about 600 chips (3 big blinds).

Two hands later, Daniela was all-in with 6-2 in the small blind for her final few chips. But she hit a flush on the river against Luciano’s A-9 to survive. 

Three players are at risk in one of the most unusual hands of the night. 

In Level 4 with blinds at 100/200, Matt moved all-in from the cutoff for about 2,400 chips holding J♠️-9♠️. Daniela called off her remaining 150 chips on the button, holding 6-2 once again. Then, Peggy also called off her remaining 1,300 in the small blind holding A-6. Chris was in the big blind holding T♦️-9♦️ and needed to call another 2,200 chips to win a pot that would be about 7,300. Even with a big chip lead on the table, and even needing to win only 30% off the time, he would have folded in any other tournament. But with three players all-in and $30 of bounties in play, Chris mathematically had to call with almost any two cards (he needed to win only 9% of the time in this format to justify a call). So, Chris made the call and had the three remaining players all at risk. Surely, one of them would go broke this hand!

But wild things happen at the Pinnacle Poker Club. Peggy’s A-high had a narrow lead over the other three players before the flop, but the flop came J-6-5, giving Matt a pair of Jacks. Matt was now firmly in the lead with a 60% chance to survive, scoop the pot, and pick up $20 in bounties along the way. 

The turn brought the last remaining 6, giving both Daniela and Peggy trip sixes. With the Ace kicker, Peggy now had the best hand with more than an 80% chance of surviving and knocking out Daniela in the process. 

But the cards had one last trick to play, as the river brought the 2♠️, one of only 3 cards left in the deck that could give Daniela the win with a full house. So the shortest stack in the hand survived and quadrupled up!

Peggy, the second shortest stack and the preflop favorite, hit trip sixes to triple up. 

And Matt, who had Chris’s hand dominated preflop, survived with his pair of Jacks and picked up a few extra chips despite losing the two side pots. 

Meanwhile, Chris lost about 2,400 chips. And we were still looking for our first elimination of the night!

The knockouts — and re-entries — finally begin.

A few hands later, the first player finally busted and Chris got some of his chips back when Matt moved all-in preflop with 4-3 and Chris woke up with A-A, and spiked a third ace on the flop. 

Matt re-entered and quickly made the most of his second entry by immediately knocking out Daniela, who was forced to put her few remaining chips in with 3-2 before re-entering.

Then, just before the re-entry deadline, Luciano pushed his final 600 chips into the pot, holding J-T on a board of A-K-8-3-J. Peggy called with A-T for top pair, and Luciano was forced to re-enter. 

With the re-entry period over, the knockouts continue — but only on the Red table!

A few minutes later, Matt moved all-in from the small blind holding K-J suited, and Daniela called from the big blind with T-8 offsuit. Matt flopped a pair and that was good enough as the board ran out Q-J-6-A-7, and he eliminated Daniela (Team Black) for the second time that night. With no more re-entry available, Team Green and Team Black were now tied with 5 players each. 

The all-in action continued a couple levels later when Luciano got all-in against Matt on the flop. Luciano held K-2 for top pair on the K-J-4 flop. Matt held A-Q for a gutshot straight draw. The straight did not come, and Luciano improved to two-pair to stay alive. 

But Peggy quickly picked up most of those chips from Luciano when her K-8 flopped trips, then turned a full house as the board ran out 8-8-6-K-2. Peggy bet all three streets as Luciano called her down with Q-7 trying to catch a bluff.

Meanwhile, James had moved from the Blue table, which had been relatively safe thus far, to the Red table, which had already seen four knockouts! And he quickly found himself in a massive 4-way pot. With blinds at 200/400, Matt moved all-in on a flop of A-K-8 and got called by Luciano, Peggy, and James, creating a huge pot of about 19,000 chips. The turn was a 9 and the river was a 5. Matt held just J-T for a straight draw that did not hit. Luciano held pocket Queens for a great preflop hand that got much worse as the board ran out. Peggy held K-9 for two-pair, but James had a better two-pair with A-8. James knocked out Matt, collected his first bounty, and grew his stack up over 21,000, the biggest stack at the table. Luciano was left with just 600 chips, while Peggy — the previous chip leader — still had a healthy stack of 12,000. 

In the end, Matt (Team Green) made great use of his second entry, picking up two bounties ($20) and a crucial 5 points to stay in the hunt for Player of the Year. But Team Black was now up five players to four. 

About 15 minutes later, with blinds at 300/600, Chris (who had lost most of his early chip lead) put Luciano all-in for his final 400 chips. Chris held K-T, but Luciano had him dominated with A-T. The flop of Q-J-3 gave Chris some outs to win, but a Ten on the turn and Queen on the river sealed the small double-up for Luciano. 

That double-up was short-lived. Just minutes later, Luciano (Team Green) was all-in again, this time with A-3. Peggy called with Q-8, and Luciano was a favorite to double up again. But the board ran out J-8-4-7-3, giving Peggy a pair of 8s for the win. Team Black was now up five players to three. 

The Final Table is formed as Team Green tries to stay in the hunt for the team bounty. 

Finally, the Blue Table got involved in the knockouts, as John took out Kasra (Team Black) in 8th place to set up the Final Table with the teams split almost evenly, three Greens to four Blacks. 

A few minutes into Final Table play, Crystal moved all-in preflop and got called by Kara, James, and Peggy. The hand checked down to the river as the board ran out 3-2-2-J-4. Crystal showed K-8. Peggy and James both had Crytsal beat before the flop with A-Q and T-T, respectively, and neither hand improved. But it was Kara who picked up the pot — and her first bounty — with J-T for a pair of Jacks. Crystal was out in 7th place, and the teams were now tied with three players each. 

The very next hand, with blinds at 800/1,600, Chris moved all-in with A-2 for his final 6,000 chips, and got called by John and Peggy. The flop came J-9-3, and John pushed his last 2,000 into the pot, getting called by Peggy. John had the best hand with A-T, and Peggy also had Chris beat with A-5. The turn was a King, keeping John in the lead, but a Deuce on the river gave Chris a pair and kept him alive as he raked in the main pot to triple up. John picked up the side pot of about 4,000 to stay in the game. 

Two hands later, it was Christina’s turn to be at-risk when she moved all-in on the flop of 5-5-3. Kara and Peggy both called and then checked down as the turn brought another 5 and the river came an 8. Peggy held just K-8, and Kara held A-Q. But Christina held 3-3 for a flopped full house. Christina tripled up and never looked back. 

Four hands later, with the blinds at 1,200/2,400, Chris raised with A-T and John called all-in with K-3. The board was no help to John, running out 9-5-2-8-9. John was out in 6th place, taking home $10 in bounties, and Team black was back up three players to two. 

The very next hand, Peggy — who had been the chip leader most of the night — was forced to put her final 4,000 chips into the pot as the big blind with T-3. Kara and James both called and checked down as the board ran out Q-2-2-4-4. James and Kara both held a pair of Queens, but James’s Q-J had a better kicker than Kara’s Q-3. James scooped the 12,000 chips and his second bounty of the night, and Peggy was out in 5th place, taking home $20 in bounties.

Chris and James lead the way in the final four. 

Down to the final four, with blinds still at 1,200/2,400, Team Black was in prime position to split the $140 team bounty. Kara, the only remaining member of Team Green, was down to 16,000 chips and had picked up one bounty so far. Chris and James each had 30,000 chips and had each collected two bounties. Christina was trailing the pack with just 12,000 chips and no bounties yet. But a lot can change in 15 minutes when the blinds get high.

Kara was looking to outlast the remaining three players to take home the $140 team bounty prize all for herself. Meanwhile, the three other players were hoping that Kara would be busted soon so that they could split the prize among themselves. 

Three hands in, Christina moved all-in on the flop with a flush draw against Chris’s A-T. She hit the flush on the turn, doubled up, and left Chris with just 8,000 chips with blinds at 2,000/4,000. 

Two hands later, Chris went all in with A-K. James called with A-5, and Christina called with 7-4 suited. Christina hit a pair of sevens on the flop, knocked Chris out (ending Chris’s run for the second straight tournament), and collecting her first bounty. Chris was out in 4th place taking home $20 in bounties. Kara, meanwhile, was one step closer to collecting the team bounty for herself. 

The next hand, James flopped a full house in the big blind with 7-5 offsuit and got paid by Christina when she made a flush holding Q-6 suited. 

As level 13 began, with the blinds at 3,000/6,000, the chips had moved around quite a bit. Christina was now the big stack with 40,000 in chips. Kara had picked up some chips and now had 26,000 in her stack. Meanwhile, James had lost a few pots and was down to 22,000. 

A few hands into the level, James was forced to move all-in before the flop with T-9 offsuit. Christina called with A-6, and the board was no help to James. He was knocked out in 3rd place, taking home $10 in bounties for his efforts.

Kara and Christina battle heads-up for the $140 team bounty.

Kara and Christina were now heads-up, but Kara would need a lot of help to take down the team bounty prize. Christina held 82,000 chips, and Kara had just 6,000. Kara would need to get lucky a few times to get back into the game. 

On the first hand of heads-up play, she moved all-in before the flop with Q-8 offsuit. Christina made the call with T-6 suited. Unfortunately, for Kara, getting all-in with the better hand just wasn’t enough. Christina flopped a pair as the board ran out A-6-2-5-2. Kara was knocked out in second place and took home $10 in bounties.

The stage is set for the final Race Against the Clock for Player of the Year, with Christina in the pole position.

Christina, who barely made it into the final four, made the most of her opportunities late in the game to collect $40 in bounties plus $140 for the Dance of Dragons special team bounty. With back-to-back wins, and three knockouts in Event #5 to give her seven more points, she extended her lead in the Player of the Year race by two points over Chris and Matt who each collected five points and remain in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. 

Despite recording no knockouts, and picking up only a single point in Event #5, Crystal remains in 4th place on the strength of her second straight impressive season (having made the final table in all five events). Arguably our most consistent player, all that is missing from her 2024 resume is a big win. Perhaps that will come in our final event of the season …

With two knockouts, James picked up a crucial 5 points to rebound from his disappointing finish in Event #4 (his only finish outside the final table) and jump three spots into 5th place.

After her runner-up finish in Event #3, Thuy has fallen out of the top five after missing two straight events, but still sits in 6th place.

With one knockout and 3 points each, Kara and John climbed the rankings to 7th and 8th place, respectively. 

Lauren is now tied with John for 8th place on the strength of her win in Event #1, despite missing the last four tournaments. 

Steve fell three spots after missing Event #5, but still rounds out the top 10, despite playing in only three events so far.. 

Daniela retained her spot at number 11, while Peggy more than doubled her season point total with two knockouts and five points in Event #5, leaping into 12th place. 

Luciano picked up a point to move into a tie for 14th place, while Kasra’s one point in Event #5 wasn’t enough to move him up the standings.

We look forward to seeing everyone for the Final Countdown on September 7.