Canterberry Poker League · Tournament #4

Mazza Makes It Four Winners in Four

The smallest field since the opening night, and the third man to cash in every tournament finally takes one.

Eight players, the thinnest turnout yet, and the man who had been third and fourth in his only two tournaments went one better than both. Rick Mazza made three of the seven eliminations, played three hours and fifty-three minutes and closed it out in eleven minutes heads-up, for $80 and his first Canterberry Poker League win.

He has now cashed in all three tournaments he has entered, and the sequence reads third, fourth, first.

Across the table at the end, again, was Chris Johnson — second for $50, and in the money for the fourth time in four. Nobody else in this league has managed that. Mike Conner took third and $30, which is his third cash from four and keeps him in the argument at the top.

Where the money went

The undercard

Warren Mervin was the bubble man in fourth, one month on from winning, and he took a knockout with him. Mike Short went out first after two hours and fifty-four minutes — in an eight-handed game that is barely early at all, which tells you how tight this one was.

The bigger picture

Four tournaments, four different winners, and every one of them is now inside the top four of the standings. Chris Johnson takes the lead on 38 points, two ahead of Mike Conner, with Mazza and Warren behind them.

Six nights to go. Nobody has repeated, nobody has run away with anything, and the only man to cash every time he has sat down is currently second.

Canterberry Poker League #4 — Saturday, September 13, 2008. 8 entrants, three paid from a $160 prize pool. Points shown are the league standings after four tournaments of the 2008-09 season.