Tournament of Champions · 2024
Lee Ugarte Buys Back In and Takes the Biggest Prize of the Year
Only two places paid this time, and $575 went to the winner.
The Tournament of Champions paid only two places this year, which made it the richest thing anybody played all season: $575 for winning, nothing at all for third. Lee Ugarte rebought, made four knockouts and won it in five hours and two minutes.
It is the largest single prize the league has paid in any event other than the Annual, and it caps a year in which Lee won two Friday tournaments, led the standings from June to September, and then went out first in the finale.
Lance Cain lost the five-minute heads-up match and took $305. Justin Vaughn came third and got nothing for it.
Where the money went
| Player | Prize | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Ugarte | $575 |
| 2 | Lance Cain | $305 |
The undercard
Steve McLean, who won this event in 2022, rebought and finished fourth. Warren Mervin, the Player of the Year, made two knockouts and went fifth.
Rick Mazza was the first player out after three hours — a long night by the standards of going out first.
The bigger picture
Eight players and three rebuys made $880, the same figure as 2022 from one fewer entrant. Lee Ugarte, Lance Cain, Justin Vaughn, Steve McLean, Warren Mervin, Shawn Miller, Eric Denny and Rick Mazza made up the field — seven of the season’s eight winners, with Shawn Miller alongside them.
That closes the league’s fourth year: forty tournaments played since January 2021, eight different winners in 2024, and Warren Mervin taking a season title sixteen years after his first one.
The 2024 Tournament of Champions — Sunday, December 1, 2024. 8 entrants, 3 rebuys, two paid from an $880 prize pool. The field is built from the season’s tournament winners; the event is separate from the Eight Deuce season and does not count toward the Player of the Year.