Tim Waisner won his first career SPT title last night at the Bonillo residence, beating Bill Killian in heads up play. Waisner was the runner up in the Super Bowl major earlier this year at Bonillo's, and this time had enough to take the title.

 

The tournament field started with 10. A late starting time was necessary due to the longest draft in the history of fantasy baseball, since 3 people were not present and had to be called, and at least one of them was drunk. Played started with 2 tables of 5.

 

However, we went down to one table of 9 only 5 hands into the tournament. Barry Bonillo had K-Q, while Dave had K-J of spades. Both called the K-9-4 board with 2 spades. A Q came on the turn, and Barry went all-in. Dave called and was thrilled to see he was ahead. The rest of the table realized that Dave had a lot of outs with a spade or a ten. The Ace of spades came on the river, and Barry was in shock. Dave, meanwhile, immediately declared his tournament a success.

 

Waiz picked up the first royal flush on SPT history as his Q-10 of hearts flopped a flush. The A of hearts came on the turn, and he had a royal.

 

Spicey was the next out, as he was short stacked and went all-in with A-5 suited. Waisner called with AK. A 5 was the first card off on the flop, but a K was the next one, and we were down to 8. Gabe was next, as he got his money all-in with K-Q on a K-2-5 flop, only to run into Steve Harbaugh (playing in his first SPT event) who had 2-5 in the big blind.

Duncan was crippled as his QQ ran into Kevin's KK. He was left with only 500 in chips, and was on the big blind for 400. However, he quadrupled up there and then won a couple of pots to stay in. Dave lost a few, and then went out to Duncan, and we had the final 5 of Kevin, Steve, Duncan, Bill and Waiz.

 

Steve was out in 5th. Waiz limped in with KK, Steve raised with 33 from the big blind, and Waiz moved all-in. Steve was pot committed at this point, and had to call. No help on the board, and Steve was out, earning 51 points towards the player of the year standings, an impressive feat in his first tournament.

 

Kevin fought off elimination a few times, all-in with KK and flopping a K, and then all-in with 2-3 vs. K-Q and K-J, only to see a flop with a 2 and no card higher than a 9. However, he moved all-in with K-5 and ran into Duncan's QQ, sending Kevin out in 4th with 68 points. This is the second straight tournament that Kevin has earned points, yet finished one out of the money. In both tournaments, he lost to QQ.

 

The final 3 went back and forth for over 45 minutes. Raises were deliberate, and we went almost a full level without seeing a flop. The money seemed to go back and forth for a while. Waiz started to get aggressive at the end, and either raised or moved all-in 4 times in a 6 hand period. He picked up valuable chips and Duncan was getting short stacked. Eventually, Duncan moved in with Q-8, and was called by Bill with Q-J. No help came, and Duncan was out third. Duncan earned 93 points and $45 in his second career money finish.

 

Much like last month's tournament, play went quickly when it was heads up. Bill started with a slight chip lead, 16,500 to 13,500. Bill made a raise on the button with KJ, and Waiz called with 8-9 of diamonds. The flop came down Q-10-7, all diamonds. Waiz checked, Bill moved in with his open-ended straight draw, and Waiz called with his flush (and another straight flush draw). Bill was drawing dead at this point, and Waiz had a massive chip lead.

 

Bill doubled up twice in a row, however, to make it back to 8k in chips. He then went all-in with A-5, and Waiz took a long time to consider with 3-3, knowing that if he lost, Bill would again have the chip lead. Eventually, Waiz called. The board came down 8-9-4-6, meaning Bill needed an A, 5 or a 7 for a straight. The K on the river, however, ended it for Bill, and gave Waiz his first SPT win. Bill earned 134 points for second, and won $67. Waisner earned 226 points for first, and won $113.

 

The points situation has gotten interesting. Waisner didn't quite earn enough points to take over the 2005 leadership, but he narrowed the gap. Matt Gilbert, due to his Super Bowl victory in a major with 23 people, remains in first with 779. Waisner is second with 724. After that, 4 players are within 4 points of each other. Bill has 376, Kevin 375, Chad 374 and Barry 373. Greg and Dave would complete the TOC if held today, though with Matt unlikely to attend, Spicey would get the next invite.

 

Kevin did re-take the career points lead, 2696 to Matt's 2632. Bill is in third with 2,224. Bill tied Stamp, Spicey and Matt with 7 career money finishes, second all time.

 

The next major will be held at Dave's house, the "Cinco De Mayo" tournament. However, the date is still being negotiated. More information to come!