The Annual · 2022

Josh Reel Wins a Third Annual and Ties the Record

Ten hours, thirteen players, nine rebuys, and two men who made twelve of the twenty-one knockouts between them.

Josh Reel won the Annual in 2015 and again in 2017. On Saturday he won it a third time, after nine hours and fifty-three minutes, for $790. Only Joe Johnson has as many, and nobody has more.

Josh made six knockouts. So did Jeff Ferguson, and the two of them accounted for twelve of the day’s twenty-one eliminations before meeting each other for twenty-four minutes at the end. Ferguson took $595 for second, in his fifth Annual and by a distance his best — he had never finished higher than tenth.

He has still never won a tournament in either league. He has now finished second in two of the biggest ones there are.

David Doole was third for $395, and Angela Cain fourth for $200 — her fourth Annual and her first time in the money in one.

Where the money went

The undercard

Eric Denny bubbled in fifth. Lee Ugarte, four weeks after taking the Player of the Year, rebought twice and went twelfth.

Jeff Holderman was the first player out, after five hours and fifty-six minutes — a fitting close to a year in which he did not cash once.

The bigger picture

Thirteen players is the smallest Annual field since 2008, one fewer than last year’s. What kept the money up was the rebuying: nine of them, more than any Annual except 2017, turning thirteen entries into a $1,980 pool.

It also made for a very long day. Only the 2017 Annual has run longer than Saturday’s ten hours, and the first player out had been at the table for nearly six hours.

The Tournament of Champions follows in eight days, with the season’s tournament winners in the field.

The 2022 Annual — Saturday, November 12, 2022. 13 entrants, 9 rebuys, four paid from a $1,980 prize pool. The sixteenth Annual; it is a separate event from the Eight Deuce season and does not count toward the Player of the Year.