Canterberry Poker League · Tournament #1

Six Players, and a League Starts Here

One table, a twenty-dollar buy-in, and a winner who did not leave much for anybody else.

It begins small. Six players, one table, twenty dollars a seat and two places paid — and by the end there was only one man in it. Mike Conner put out four of the five who busted, sat for three hours and forty-nine minutes, and needed three minutes and fifty-six seconds once it got heads-up. First prize in the first Canterberry Poker League tournament ever played: $80.

Four of five is about as complete as a six-handed night gets, and Mike did it with nothing to go on. There is no form book yet. There are no standings until tonight. Four of the six have sat down at the Denny Poker Tournament in May — Eric Denny and Mandy Denny at both of them — but nobody has played this.

The man who lasted longest against him was Eric, second for $40. He got heads-up and did not get much further, but he was the only player all night who made Mike work.

Where the money went

The undercard

With two paid from six, the bubble came early and it belonged to Chris Johnson in third — the only player besides the winner to record a knockout. Warren Mervin was fourth and Mandy Denny fifth, sent home by Chris in the one hand of the night the winner had nothing to do with. Brian Albers went out first after two hours and thirty-nine minutes, and it was Mike who put him there, because it was Mike who put nearly everybody there.

The bigger picture

One tournament down, and a set of standings that means very little yet but has to start somewhere. Mike leads on 10 points for the straightforward reason that he beat everybody in the room.

Nine more nights before anybody is League Champion. On tonight’s evidence, whoever wants it will have to go through him.

Canterberry Poker League #1 — Saturday, June 21, 2008. 6 entrants, two paid from a $120 prize pool. Points shown are the league standings after one tournament of the 2008-09 season.