We had two full tables in action at the Pinnacle Poker Club’s season-opening event, as 16 players (including 5 of last year’s regular-season winners) vied for the title of 2024 Unlimited Re-Entry Champion. Despite the unlimited re-entry format, and the shorter-than-usual starting stacks, we saw only three players bust early, and only one of them chose to re-enter. In the end, two players recorded their best PPC finish, two of last season’s league leaders made early exits, and Lauren took down her first win since 2022.

The Fireworks Start Early, and Chris Builds Up Large Chip Lead

The first big hand of the night came late in Level 2 with blinds at 75/150. Several players limped and saw a flop of T-9-5. Everyone checked to Quang on the button who bet small. Chris called from the small blind and Peggy called from middle position. The turn was an Ace, and action checked to Quang who bet again. Chris then put in a big check-raise and was surprised when both Peggy and Quang called. After a Jack on the river, Chris went all-in and got called by both players. Chris showed A-5, revealing that he had caught two pair on the turn. Peggy turned over J-8 for a flopped straight draw and second pair on the river. Quang showed T-6 for top pair on the flop. Chris raked in a pot of around 150 big blinds and collected his first bounty of the night for knocking out Quang, who quickly re-entered.

A few minutes later, the fireworks continued as Crystal likewise got paid big in a three-way pot. One a final board of J-9-6-8-T, Lauren bet big and Shea called before Crystal put in a raise. Lauren reluctantly called the raise, as did Shea. Shea showed J-8 for top pair on the flop that improved to two pair on the turn. Lauren showed 9-7 for a rivered straight. But Crystal picked up where she left off last year, showing A-Q for a higher straight, and raking in about 10,000 chips.

Chris’s early luck continued in Level 4 when he limped pre-flop with K-6 of diamonds and saw a flop of K-Q-T with two diamonds. He bet big and got a call from first-time PPC player Kaylen. The turn was a 3, and Chris quickly put Kaylen all-in, not knowing whether his top pair was ahead or if he would need his strong flush draw to come through. Kaylen agonized for a bit before making the correct call, revealing that she had turned two pair with Q-3. Kaylen was ahead and just needed to avoid a diamond, King, Ten, or 6 to double up. Unfortunately for her, the river was the Ace of diamonds, giving Chris the nut flush and ending Kaylen’s first appearance at the Pinnacle Poker Club. Chris was now up over 30,000 in chips.

Later in Level 4, Peggy was the next competitor to fall as Shea’s 8-7 hit trip 8s on the river when the board ran out T-8-3-4-8 against Peggy’s Q-J. (Throughout the night, we learned that Shea has developed a habit of hitting trips during her weekly poker games at UCLA—a habit that she certainly brought to the PPC during Event #1.)

After Matt busted Kara on the Blue table, John suffered a similar fate on the Red table. With blinds at 300/600, Chris raised from the button with A-9 of clubs, John called, and Chris got a perfect flop of K-8-6, all clubs. John went all-in for his last 3,000 chips, and Chris quickly called. John would need to hit two cards to make a full house to avoid elimination. An 8 on the turn preserved his chances: if he could spike one of the four remaining Tens or 8s, he would survive and double up. Unfortunately, a 6 on the river was no help, and Chris collected his third bounty, knocked John out in 13th place, and grew his chip stack to over 40,000 (more than half the chips at the Red table).

Christina and Thuy Dominate the Blue Table, and Chris Gives Back All of His Chip Lead

Meanwhile, Christina and Thuy were wreaking havoc on the Blue table. Thuy knocked out Sharon in 12th place. Then, Christina knocked out Matt in 11th place and took most of Kasra’s chips, before Thuy finished him off in 10th place. (Matt took home a $5 bounty for knocking out Kara.) At this point, Christina held about 40,000 chips. Chris and Christina together held more than 80,000 of the total 170,000 chips in play with nine players still remaining.

Unfortunately for Chris, it was all downhill from there and he wouldn’t even make it to the final table. His downfall began a few minutes later. With blinds at 500/1,000, Lauren was in the big blind with only about 5,000 chips left. Chris put Lauren all-in with K-J of spades, but Lauren woke up with A-K and called off her last 5 big blinds. The board ran out 8-3-3-6-Q, and Lauren doubled up, taking about 15% of Chris’s stack.

One level later, with blinds at 800/1,600, Shea limped on the button with only 10,000 left in her stack (about 6 big blinds). Quang called from the small blind with 13,000 (about 8 big blinds). Chris looked down at 2-2 in the big blind, a hand that would be hard to play out of position against two short stacks if he didn’t flop a set. With almost 5,000 already in the pot, Chris decided to play the hand aggressively, putting both players all-in. Shea folded, but Quang called, holding K-7 of spades. If Chris’s hand could hold up in the coin flip, he would chip up to about 50,000 chips and knock Quang out for the second time on the night. But the board came K-Q-5-9-6, giving Quang top pair, and taking about a third of Chris’s remaining chips.

Later that same level, Crystal picked up A-A and flopped top set against two players when the board came A-K-T. The turn came a Jack, and the river was an 8, making the board quite scary. But Crystal was undeterred, raising Shea’s river bet and winning a pot of about 15,000 chips when Shea showed J-5 for just a pair of Jacks.

Then, in Level 9, with blinds at 1,200/2,400, Chris looked down at J-J in late position. With only 24,000 chips remaining in his stack, he moved all-in, happy to just take down the 3,600 in blinds if the remaining 3 players folded. But Lauren called in the small blind, showing K-9 of hearts. The two players’ stacks were almost even, and Chris was a 2-to-1 favorite to double up to about 50,000 chips. But a terrible flop once again doomed Chris, as the flop of K-8-5 with two hearts gave Lauren a stranglehold on the hand. Chris would need to hit exactly one card—the Jack of diamonds—on either the turn or the river to double up. In the end, it was Lauren who improved, hitting a flush on the river to win the hand. After the chips were counted, Chris was left with just 2,600 chips (about one big blind).

The very next hand found the two short stacks (Chris and Shea) all-in with all three of the other players at the Red table calling, hoping to bust one of the two players and make it to the final table. When the flop came K-Q-2 with two diamonds, Chris felt pretty good about his K-7, which had hit top pair. Shea likewise was pretty happy with her 8-7 of diamonds, which had about a 35% chance of making her flush. The three remaining payers checked the hand down to the showdown, and a Queen on the turn and the Jack of diamonds on the river had Shea feeling pretty good about her made flush. But Crystal struck again with another monster hand, revealing that her K-Q had flopped two pair and turned a full house to bust both players—Chris in 9th place (taking home $15 in bounties), and Shea in 8th (collecting a $5 bounty).

The Final Table Begins with Lauren, Christina, and Crystal Holding Most of the Chips

The final seven players than combined at the final table. Although Chris had squandered his half of the Whittaker stockpile of chips, Christina had not; she entered the final table holding almost 50,000 chips (about twice the average stack), tied with Lauren for the chip lead. Crystal was third in chips with more than 30,000. Quang, James, and Steve each entered with around 12,000 (about 5 big blinds).

Thuy, who had snuck into the final table holding just 4,000, was the next to fall as she had to put most of her stack in as the big blind. On a board of 6-4-2, she found herself all-in with Q-7 against Christina who held T-6. The turn and river were no help, and Thuy was out in 7th place, her best finish at the Pinnacle Poker Club, collecting $10 in bounties.

As Level 10 began, with blinds at 2,000/4,000, Lauren began to dominate the table. Despite holding nearly one-third of the chips in play, she had not yet knocked any players out. That was all about to change as she took a flop three ways against Quang and James. All three players checked the Q-5-3 flop and saw a 7 on the turn. Quang quickly went all-in and got called by both players. The river came another Queen, and James bet into Lauren, who raised him all-in. James called, showing Q-J for trip Queens, easily beating Quang’s K-7 (pair of 7s). But Lauren turned over 7-7 for a full house, punishing James for his tricky check of top pair on the flop. Lauren collected her first two bounties of the night as Quang and James were out in 6th and 5th place.

But Lauren wasn’t done yet. Later that same level, Steve—who was down to his last big blind—finally found a good hand to go all-in. Unfortunately, with such a short stack, he could not force either Lauren or Christina to fold their junky hands, so his K-J would need to hold up against Lauren’s 8-3 and Christina’s 6-2. The A-A-9 flop looked clean for Steve. But an 8 on the turn put Lauren ahead, and a 5 on the river sealed Steve’s exit as he collected $20 for his 4th-place finish, while Lauren collected her third bounty.

Lauren, Christina, and Crystal Battle for the Win

That set up a long three-way battle between Lauren (with about 80,000 chips), Christina (50,000), and Crystal (40,000) with blinds starting at 3,000/6,000. The players traded chips back and forth for about 30 minutes as the blinds continued to climb. Crystal got short-stacked and was continually at risk, but kept surviving. She survived an all-in pot when her K-7 out-flopped Christina’s A-9, getting her back up to about 30,000.

Then, in Level 12, with blinds at 5,000/10,000 Christina took almost all of Crystal’s remaining chips when her T-9 turned a straight on a board of 8-6-2-7-5, and Crystal paid off with A-7 for a pair of 7s.

With just over one big blind left, Crystal was in bad shape, but she managed to hold on one more time in a three-way pot. With 6-5 in the small blind, the flop came 9-8-7 giving Crystal a straight. A Queen on the turn gave Lauren a pair of Queens, but Crystal’s straight held up, tripling her stack up above 30,000 again.

But it just wasn’t meant to be. In Level 13, with blinds at 8,000/16,000, all of Crystal’s chips were in the pot one last time. This time she held 8-3 offsuit, and Lauren turned over 9-7. The flop came 9-6-2, giving Lauren a 95% chance of winning the hand. But it wasn’t over yet; the turn was a 5—the best possible card in the deck for Crystal, giving her a double-gutshot straight draw (any 7 or 4 would give her a straight). Crystal now had a 16% chance of hitting one more of her trademarked straights to stay alive. Instead, the river was a King, giving Lauren a fourth bounty and a significant chip lead over Christina as heads-up play began. Crystal took home $45 for her 3rd place finish plus $10 in bounties.

After about 10 minutes of heads-up play, Christina found herself all-in holding A-Q on a board of T-9-7-7. Lauren turned over A-T, revealing that her dominated hand had out-flopped Christina’s. Christina would need a Queen to stay alive. An Ace on the turn gave Christina a pair, but improved Lauren to two-pair, sealing her win. Christina took home $75 for her 2nd place finish (her best performance at the PPC), plus another $10 in bounties.

Lauren collected $120 for her win, plus a whopping $25 in bounties. Lauren also now leads the 2024 Player of the Year standings with 12 points, followed by Christina with 8 points, Crystal with 5, and Steve with 3.