Canterberry Poker League · Tournament #20
Eric Closes the Season the Way He Spent It
A fourth win of the year on the last night, and a champion who came into it without a single one.
The title was as good as settled, so Eric Denny went out and won the tournament as well. Five knockouts, four and a half hours, and an eighteen-and-a-half-minute heads-up match for $140. It is his fourth win of the season, and nobody in this league has won four in a year before.
Seven months ago he had played thirteen Canterberry Poker League tournaments without winning any of them.
Josh Reel was second for $80. He won two tournaments of his own this season, more than anybody except the man who just beat him. Tom Buzbee took third and $45, and Warren Mervin fourth and $30 with three knockouts. Charlie Drotar completed the money in fifth for $25 — four money finishes in six, all of them since October.
Where the money went
| Player | Prize | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Denny | $140 |
| 2 | Josh Reel | $80 |
| 3 | Tom Buzbee | $45 |
| 4 | Warren Mervin | $30 |
| 5 | Charlie Drotar | $25 |
The undercard
Lee Ugarte bubbled in sixth. Paul Denny, who won on his debut back in October 2008, played his second league tournament eighteen months later and was the first man out after two hours and thirteen minutes — sent home by Warren.
The bigger picture
Ten tournaments, six different winners, and a champion who won four of them.
Eric Denny is the 2009-10 League Champion on 139 points — the highest score anybody has recorded in a season, and twenty-six clear of Josh. He takes the title and the trophy. Josh finishes second on 113 with two wins of his own, and Warren, last year’s champion, is third on 105.
The season also produced the league’s first woman winner in Dawn Buzbee, a first win for Mike Short at the nineteenth attempt, and the biggest field it has ever seen. The Denny Poker Tournament follows in May.
| League standings — final, 2009-10 | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Denny | 139 |
| 2 | Josh Reel | 113 |
| 3 | Warren Mervin | 105 |
| 4 | Charlie Drotar | 95 |
| 5 | Tom Buzbee | 92 |
Canterberry Poker League #20 — Friday, April 16, 2010. 16 entrants, five paid from a $320 prize pool. Points shown are the final league standings for the 2009-10 season.