Thanks again to Potomac Village Deli (Attman's), Papa Johns, and California Tortilla for bringing some great grub for the tournament, and thanks to Laurie, Jordan, and Erin for getting the food ready for the crew. After the relaxing break, it was time for the elimination period of the tournament.  Now the game gets serious and nobody wants to win the first trophy.  So, usually it takes a bad beat and this year "the ladies" made an appearance for Tom at a bad time...

Final Table and Results

Per usual, it took a while to get down to the final nine, but eventually the cards did their job and we had a final table. This year, there were three returning champs and one first timer, but you never know what can happen. Bob and Scott joined the final table with big stacks courtesy of Table 2, but everyone had their sights set on the trophy and the final three prizes.

Interestingly, our previous champions were the first to exit the final table (maybe the lure of the cash game was just too strong) and by the time we reached the final 5, we knew that we would be crowning a new champion.  The action really slowed down and the chips just kept shifting around the table (this was truly a game of attrition this year).  But when Steve finally played his last hand, we were down to our final three (Bob, Learie, and Mary).  At first Bob appeared to have a good chip advantage, but Mary kept chipping away at his stack and soon, there were three even stacks for the final three.