Eight Deuce · Tournament #5

Eighteen Players, $1,080, and Josh Reel Beats a Debutant to It

The biggest field and the biggest pool the league has seen — and a fifth winner in five tournaments.

Eighteen players turned up on Friday and put $1,080 on the table — the first four-figure pool the league has assembled, and half again what a full Canterberry night used to be worth. Josh Reel took $460 of it.

Josh knocked out four players, all of them from the final five, and closed out a thirteen-minute heads-up match after four hours and fifty-four minutes. It is his first Eight Deuce win and the twelfth of his career; he also owns the 2015 and 2017 Annuals.

The man across from him at the end was Jeff Ferguson, playing his first Eight Deuce tournament. He made the last two on debut and took $280 — the second time in five tournaments a first-timer has reached heads-up here, and Jeff Holderman won his.

Holderman came third this time for $190, which makes it four top-three finishes from four starts. Steve McLean completed the money in fourth for $150.

Where the money went

The undercard

Warren Mervin made three knockouts and bubbled in fifth — then went out to Josh, like everyone else who reached the last five. Angela Cain was seventh, one place off the sixth she has taken in each of the last three.

Mike Conner was the first player out after an hour and eighteen minutes, which is where he finished the January opener too.

The bigger picture

Five tournaments, five different winners, and nobody has yet won twice. The pool has climbed every month bar one — $800, $800, $920, $860, and now four figures.

Jeff Holderman still leads the Player of the Year race on 210.17 from four starts, with Josh Reel thirteen behind him having played all five.

Eight Deuce #5 — Friday, May 14, 2021. 18 entrants, 1 rebuy, four paid from a $1,080 prize pool. Player of the Year counts each player’s best eight scores.