Return of the Jedi

Another well attended TNP lead to the return of Tanner to the winner's circle. Crystal was unable to fend off the dual attacks of Adam & Nick, even though Nick did all he could to lose before Crystal did, up to the last second. Deb came up short of her goals and Justin, even though we thought he had tied Mark last night, after the points were tallied, was 1 point shy of catching his rival. As for the polls, let's see just how accurate they were.

TABLE 1
Jeff
Tanner
Crystal
Justin
Markus

TABLE 2
Adam
Nick
Stevie
Jake
Deb


Hoping to best his new beau, Markus nevertheless exited the game first with one point. I don't think he was too disappointed as this allowed him more time to spoon with Jake.

Choosing not to take Mark's advice to bring a second set of boobs to the game, Crystal defended herself with her own and they let her down. She earned 1 point for each boob and lost ground to both Nick & Adam.

It took forever for table 2 to deliver up their first loser, something about blood stained cards. At any rate, Nick was out seconds after Crystal was. He seems to have doomed himself, showing his pocket queens to Deb who had pocket aces, which she promply folded since there was a queen on the flop. Nick earned 3 points and pulled out of his tie with Crystal.

Periodically I'd venture to the other table to check their progress. I noticed early in the game Stevie had a huge chip lead, but this soon dwindled to thin air as he was next to exit from table 2 with 4 points.

Struggling early, Jake was able to fight back and remain in the game long enough to earn 5 points.

Trying to remember off the top of our heads, we first thought Justin's 6 points was enough to tie him with Mark. However, after the points were tallied, it seems Justin was just shy of matching Mark's total so we'll have to see if he can jump past Mark next week.

My game was up and down, but good enough to keep me in until the top 4. Then, the hand I dread the most, the one that had lead to victory only a week before, ended my night when pocket aces, that happened to have tripped up, let me down when Tanner's club flush sent me packing with 7 points.

Adam, looking over his shoulder often, for some strange reason, made the top 3, distancing himself from Crystal and Nick and creeping up on Stevie.

The heads up came down to two new nemisis, Tanner & Deb. Coming off her previous 2 week winning streak, looking to join the 3 peat club and assume the top spot, Deb fought valiantly until the bitter end. But as the hour grew late, her chip stack dwindled and finally ended the night with 10 points.

Having put me out with his club flush, fighting back from near elimination and needing desperately to make up lost ground Tanner won the night with 12 points, returning to the winners circle and hopefully starting a new streak. Congrats Tanner!

As for the polls, let's see:

Deb did not 3-peat, but came dam close.

Crystal's boobs deflated and she now trails not only Adam, but Nick to!

Justin, like Deb, came dam close to outscoring Mark but came up a point short.

Markus & Jake aren't married, but you couldn't tell it by watching them. Looks like a honeymoon to me!

And so far, yes, Nick's ADD is keeping him from winning. Next week people will be wanting to sit next to him so he can show his hand to them.

So the polls were dead on accurate. We'll see how well the polls predict next weeks outcome. Here's the breakdown from last night's action.

NAME__________POINTS__________PLACE
Markus_____________1__________10
Crystal____________2___________9
Nick_______________3___________8
Stevie_____________4___________7
Justin_____________5___________6
Jake_______________6___________5
Jeff_______________7___________4
Adam_______________8___________3
Deb_______________10___________2
Tanner____________12___________1

The force has restored balance to the universe, as Tanner has returned to his winning ways. He's still in third place, but last night's 12 points puts him within striking distance of the perch he held for so long at the beginning of the year. Deb and I are tied, the Empire having re-established itself, reluctant to loosen our grip on supremecy. The rest of the rebellion is fighting amongst themselves in an effort to unseat the one above them. How will this epic struggle play out? Return here next week to find out. Until then, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!