Duncan wins first SPT title

Long heads up match vs. Stamp

Duncan O'Friel won his first SPT title last night, beating Eric Stamp in a long heads up match.

We began the day with the annual ping pong tournament. As usual, it came down to Jim, Barry and Waiz, with Jim giving Barry a strong run, but ultimately it was Barry vs. Waiz for the title. Waiz (having won a preliminary match vs. Barry), was up 20-15, and looking to close it out for the title. However, Barry went on a huge run to win that match, forcing the title game. The title game was back and forth, with a tie game up to 22. Ultimately, however, Barry pulled it out and won the ping pong title.

Poker started with 15 players on two tables. Early on, Kevin Bristow was eliminated when his QQ went up against Matt's AA. An Ace on the flop ended it quickly. Bill Killian was next to go with a horrible beat - AA vs. A4 offsuit. Bill was a 92% favorite pre-flop, but John caught runner-runner for a flush.

The final table of nine had the following chip counts:

Eric Stamp 1,800

John Mo. 7,500

Barry Bonillo 3,000

Duncan O'Friel 3,100

Dave Gutierrez 5,600

Eric "Spicey" Christensen 5,450

Greg Buhler 4,600

Matt X. 6,000

Tim Waisner 7,850

Barry was the first out, as his AK went up against John with J-7, who caught a straight on the river. Barry claimed for the fourth tournament in a row he lost with the best hand going in.

Stamp tripled up with AK vs. John and Spicey. Then a huge pot came up as Stamp got all-in with QQ, Matt with JJ, and John wiht K-7. The queens held up, and Matt was out in 8th. John was next to go, as his K-8 ran into Stamp's A-K.

Spicey was short stacked, and went all-in with K-10, only to be called by Dave with A-K. A K came on the flop, but the A on the river sealed it for Spicey. Spicey was playing his last tournament as an official member of the SPT, as he moves to Oregon in the next few weeks. Good luck Spicey - we'll all miss you!

Dave was the bubble boy, going out in fifth as he was very short stacked at this point. He was all in with A-8 on a 8-4-3 flop. Stamp called with 8-7, and Greg moved in with 7-7. Stamp shook his head, but called as it wasn't much more to him. The turn was a 5, and the river a 6 to give a split pot to Greg and Stamp, but Dave was out in fifth. Dave earned 83 points towards the year end TOC, but no money as the top 4 got paid.

Greg Buhler was out in fourth place. He raised with A-9, and Duncan called with 6-4 in the big blind for not much more. The flop came down 8-4-8, and the turn 4 ended things for Greg. He took home $33 and 104 points for the TOC.

Duncan had been building his chip stack, including more than doubling up earlier with JJ. Play at three handed lasted a while, with chips moving slowly between the players. Finally, Waiz slow played KK in the big blind. Duncan had J-4. The flop was 3-6-9, no help to Duncan, but a check from Waiz allowed Duncan to see the turn of a 5, giving him an open ended straight draw. Duncan check-called a bet from Waiz. The 2 on the river gave Duncan his straight. He bet out, only to be put all-in from Waiz, and he called. Tim Waisner ended up in third, taking hom $67 and 134 towards the TOC. Waisner now takes a commanding lead in the player of the year race, with 1,154 points, almost 400 ahead of the next closest player. Waisner also claimed his 8th career money finish, tying Stamp and Spicey for second most all time.

Heads up was a much different game than the previous SPT event (which was fast with a ton of raising). This was much slower, with few preflop raises initially. Duncan started with a chip lead of 28,100 to Stamp's 18,300. A key hand developed with Duncan raising on the button with AQ. Stamp moved all-in with KK. Duncan thought for a bit, but then called. The flop of J-10-x gave Duncan a couple of extra outs, but none came, and Stamp took the lead.

Play went back and forth for a while, with Duncan coming back slowly. Another key hand came up with Duncan making a 10 high straight, and Stamp a 9 high straight (the low end), which pulled Duncan even as we moved to 1000-2000 blinds. Duncan started to get more aggressive, moving all-in preflop on a series of hands. He took a chip lead by a few thousand.

The final hand came down with Duncan limping in with 4-5. Stamp had 8-9 of spades. The flop was A-7-3 with two spades. Duncan called a small bet from Stamp. The 6 on the river gave Duncan the straight, but Stamp had a ton of outs. Stamp bet again, Duncan moved in, and Stamp called. Any 5, 10 or spade would win it for Stamp (14 outs). A 3 came on the river, and it was over.

Stamp won $84 and 184 points towards the TOC. This is Stamp's eighth money finish, tied for second all time.

Duncan won $151 and 297 points towards the TOC. This is Duncan's third money finish in 2005, and he moves into 5th place for the player of the year standings.