Delaware Valley Poker Club/Series I

The inaugural series of the Delaware Valley Poker Club (DVPC) was a friendly group of poker players who wished to compete against each other in low-stakes poker tournaments online and in-person. Participants each contributed $125 to a "Jackpot Challenge" which would be rewarded to the best-performing DVPC player after a series of tournament opportunities. That winning player would use that jackpot to buy into larger-stakes poker tournaments, and the winnings (if any) would be distributed on a pro-rated basis back to the entire Club membership.

Members

Our team of 11 gentlemen vied for first prize:

DVPC ...Series I... RESULTS
PLAYER	NICKNAME	HOME	POINTS
Bill Myers	Bungalow PSU	Upper Gwynedd, PA	315.76
Trent Van Doren	DJ Trent	Tewksbury, NJ	232.69
Mike Gargano	Cowpoke Mike	Philadelphia, PA	203.74
Christian Van Doren	swingerhead7	Bridgewater, NJ	203.31
Michael Wagner	mortylick	Blue Bell, PA	183.83
Gregory Kohs	thekohser	West Chester, PA	174.90
Paul Morrow	shep1005	Blue Bell, PA	169.87
Sean Scalley	beavis610	Blue Bell, PA	168.08
Al Gallo	RandyTheSlug	Hockessin, DE	135.17
Paul Saponaro	SAPMAN	Newark, DE	130.50
Jason Gallagher	Irish Hank	Bridgewater, NJ	56.25

We extend an open invitation for future rounds of DVPC Series action to any poker-loving friends who may want to climb on.

History of Series I

Participants must play in no less than 5 of the 11 following alternative tournament options. Players must e-mail the DVPC mailing list and clearly declare whether a particular tournament is "counting" as one of the selected five (5) toward their Series ranking -- before the tournament starts. Participants are welcome to play in more than 5 tournaments, but they may only declare 5 of them, and only before the tournament begins.

Online tournaments

Each participant will choose cafeteria-style from: Three (3) out of six (6) scheduled online tournament options on PokerStars, which would include:

Weeknight options

A - a 180-seat sit-n-go ($4.40), Wednesday January 9, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $4.40 tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:30 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

SAPMAN (31st)

RandyTheSlug (58th)

DJ Trent (63rd)

zed500 (68th)

thekohser (79th)

mortylick (93rd)

shep1005 (105th)

Irish Hank (135th)

swingerhead7 (164th)

Notes:

It was the night of great hands receiving bad beats. Two players busted out playing AK suited, one player busted with KK versus 88 (eight on the turn), one player busted with AA versus QQ (board came 892TJ). And our first player to exit the tournament played only two hands -- QQJJ and lost, and AA versus 99 and lost. Sickening bad luck. Smartest players may have been CowpokeMike (accidentally unregistered!) and beavis610, who wisely sat out from this initial bloodbath. Average place of the DVPC was 88.4 out of 180. Good God, are we really just a hair better than average? We can only move up from here, right?

B - a 180-seat turbo sit-n-go ($12), Monday January 14, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $12 turbo tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 8:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 9:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

Bungalow PSU (3rd)

swingerhead7 (19th)

beavis610 (20th)

mortylick (23rd)

SAPMAN (45th)

RandyTheSlug (57th)

CowpokeMike (65th)

shep1005 (100th)

thekohser (113th)

DJ Trent (153rd)

Notes:

Trent got reamed on two very playable hands in a row (JJ and AK). We had two players finish on the payout bubble and the bubble-bubble. Other than that, the big news of the night was the awesome finish of newcomer Bill Myers who took it to the house. Bill locked down a 3rd place finish out of 180 -- winning $235 and taking a frightening lead in the DVPC. Average place of the DVPC was 59.8 out of 180. That was the best average showing so far for the DVPC. We done ourselves proud.

C - a 1,000+-seat scheduled tourney ($1.10), Thursday February 21, 2008; Register in advance for the $1.10 multi-table no-limit scheduled tournament going off at 6:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 12 Midnight.

Declared (in order of finish):

thekohser (182nd)

Notes:

There were 3,050 competitors, but only one representative of the DVPC in play. Thekohser ably held off 94% of the field by finishing in 182nd place; but with the micro-sized buy-in, the points awarded were only a small token to move Kohs up in the overall standings.

Weekend options

D - an evening 180-seat turbo sit-n-go ($12), Sunday January 13, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $12 turbo tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 8:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

zed500 (16th)

DJ Trent (22nd)

SAPMAN (30th)

swingerhead7 (45th)

Irish Hank (54th)

Bungalow PSU (56th)

RandyTheSlug (62nd)

CowpokeMike (65th)

mortylick (85th)

shep1005 (95th)

beavis610 (155th)

Undeclared:

thekohser (18th)

Notes:

We only witnessed one really bad beat, and that was where beavis610 flopped a nice set of 8's, got himself all-in against a bonehead who caught runner-runner clubs to make a set-beating flush. Average place of the DVPC was 62.3 out of 180 (or even 58.6 out of 180, if you include the undeclared thekohser's finish). Good job, we are moving up in our performance.

E - a morning 180-seat sit-n-go ($4.40), Saturday February 2, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $4.40 tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:30 AM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:00 AM.

Declared:

None

F - a Sunday 3:30 PM 20,000 seat $100,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament ($11), Sunday March 16, 2008. Register in advance. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

Bungalow PSU (4531st)

Notes:

Bill Myers once again shows that he's got the potential, finishing in the top 23% of an enormous 20,000-seat field. Looks like the only way anyone can steal Bill's crown would be a 3rd-place finish or better in Atlantic City on March 20th.

In-person tournaments

Each participant will also choose cafeteria-style from: Two (2) out of five (5) scheduled in-person tournament options, which would include:

G - An in-home tournament, at the Kohs home in West Chester, Thursday January 17, 2008. $30 buy-in. Estimated time: 7:30 - 11:00 PM.

This tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather and adverse driving conditions. See replacement tournament, J2, below.

H - Due to a Boy Scout invasion, the Cabin Fever 2008 Tournament was relocated from Bushkill Falls to Lackawaxen, PA, Saturday February 16, 2008 (Presidents Day weekend). $30 buy-in. Time: 8:15 - 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

DJ Trent (2nd)

swingerhead7 (4th)

RandyTheSlug (6th)

thekohser (8th)

Notes:

Out of 12 entrants, who do we appreciate? (2-4-6-8) This tournament went off very well, much fun was had, and we were all thankful for the Gallo family home which served as an emergency back-up location when "The Bear's Den" was double-booked with Boy Scouts. thekohser seems to be establishing himself as the worst player of this Club, despite having founded it.

I - An in-home tournament, at the Wagner home in Blue Bell, Saturday February 23, 2008. $40-$50 buy-in. Estimated time: 8:00 - 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

shep1005 (2nd)

Bungalow PSU (4th)

CowpokeMike (5th)

mortylick (6th)

beavis610 (7th)

Undeclared:

thekohser (8th)

Notes:

Only 8 participants showed for this tournament, but a good time was had by all. Thekohser didn't declare, and boy did it show -- exiting the tournament after one beer and a couple of doughnuts. The example having been set, beavis610 bombed out next, having had pocket aces cracked twice. Our Series leader, Bungalow PSU, put in only an average performance. And shep1005 did the best of our Club (2nd) against tournament winner, an outsider named Doug... who along with his wife Donna may want to join our Club for the next Series.

J1 - A tournament in Atlantic City, NJ, at the Showboat casino, Tuesday March 4, 2008. $53 buy-in + $12 fee. Estimated time: 7:00 - 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

thekohser (28th)

mortylick (37th)

Bungalow PSU (43rd)

shep1005 (45th)

CowpokeMike (64th)

Notes:

This was the last chance for thekohser, mortylick, and shep1005 to wrest the League lead position from Bungalow PSU. Alas, it was not to be. The closest contender, thekohser, finished the tournament only in 28th place, having gotten himself all-in only twice in the tournament (once with pocket Aces, losing to pocket 66; then finally with AK offsuit, losing to A4 making a wheel straight (A2345) with the dreaded five on the river. With three participants now finished for the season, only a truly superior performance by someone still chasing Bungalow PSU can unseat the calm, cool, and collected League leader.

J2 - A second tournament in Atlantic City, NJ, at the Showboat casino, Thursday March 20, 2008. $53 buy-in + $12 fee. Estimated time: 7:00 - 11:30 PM.

Declared (in order of finish):

DJ Trent (19th)

swingerhead7 (50th)

Undeclared:

thekohser (90th)

Notes:

This was just about the last available opportunity for the Jersey Boys to unseat Bungalow PSU from the top spot in the Club. While he put up a valiant effort, DJ Trent just couldn't get away from a flopped pair of aces and exited the tourney in 19th position. Lest there be any doubt about thekohser's poker abilities, he did rake in about $490 in a $1/$2 no-limit cash game after his disasterous, temper-infused exit from the main tournament. Both DJ Trent and thekohser then met with wild success on a roulette table. All in all, a great night in Atlantic City.

K - An in-home tournament, at the Scalley home in Blue Bell, Saturday March 29, 2008. $25 buy-in, with unlimited $25 re-buys for first hour. Estimated time: 8:00 - 11:59 PM.

We have planned for a mix-and-match of days and times, so that nobody will have trouble fulfilling the five (5) Series entries. There is a surge of activity between January 9 and 17, with four tournaments in that short span. The hope is that every player will knock out at least one of their required sessions in that span, putting everybody into a competitive mood, right off the bat.

Of course, anyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in more than just the mandatory minimum; the "extra entries" simply won't count toward the Jackpot Challenge. Just to make clear, there is no single tournament where all of us are required to be present. We will pick and choose. Some tourneys, maybe all of us will be there. Other tourneys might only see one or two of us present. The Series will run from January through March 29, 2008. That will leave the rest of April or May for our Jackpot Challenge winner to go make a fortune at a big tourney.

Costs

Those on a tighter budget will be able to fulfill this Series with less than $200 out-of-pocket. Those who opt for the pricier selections will expend about $300. You keep what you win in each selected tournament, and everybody is contributing the same $125 to the Jackpot Challenge. The $125 may be paid in installments -- $50 in January, $50 in February, and $25 before March 16, 2008. These payments will be coordinated and saved by Gregory Kohs.

Players who do not currently have an online poker account will contact Gregory Kohs for more information on getting one started and funding it.

Communications

Club communications will be handled by e-mail.

During online tournaments, we have a teleconference "bridge" set up, which we are free to use (outside of office hours), for the equivalent of multi-way calling. This will allow for Club-related dialogue while the tournaments are underway. Players at the same table will be asked not to discuss their hole cards, just as would be standard etiquette in a live game.

There is a useful primer of tournament tips that you may read prior to playing.

Scoring

Each player, having declared that a tournament in which they are about to participate will count toward their DVPC Series ranking, will report (via e-mail) their place of finish and an image screen shot proving such to the rest of the Club members. Image screen shots may be executed with Windows by pressing the combination of Alt-Print Screen to capture only the current active window. By default, Windows does not save the screenshot to an image file; rather, the user must paste the clipboard image into a separate imaging program (such as Paint, IrfanView, etc.) to save it permanently. Apple computer users should go to this page to learn how to use PokerStars on a Mac.

Gregory Kohs tallies in a spreadsheet the DVPC payment history and Series rankings using a formula similar to PokerStars' player points formula:

Points = $10\cdot\sqrt{\frac{n}{k}}\cdot(1 + \log(b + 0.25))$
Where:
\[n\!\] is the number of entrants
\[k\!\] is the place of finish (k = 1 for the first-place finisher, and so on)
\[b\!\] is the buy-in amount (average including re-buys and re-loads) in dollars (excluding any administrative fee).

Payout

Whatever money the Jackpot Challenge winner is able to win back in the high-stakes buy-in tournament, the process of declaring that income and taxation is that player's decision and responsibility. For tournament winnings up to two times (2x) the buy-in, the Jackpot player would be entitled to keep all of those winnings. The amount between two times and ten times buy-in (2x-10x) would be split 70/30 -- 70% to the Jackpot player, and the other 30% split evenly between all the other Series participants. Anything over ten times buy-in (10x+) would be split 50/50 -- 50% to the Jackpot player, and the other 50% split evenly between all the other Series participants.

This way, all DVPC participants stand a chance of making back original stakes (and then some), while the Jackpot winner will earn much more than any of the rest of us, even with taxation considered. Gentlemen, is this really any different than trusting your money with a mutual fund manager? I say not.

Outcome

Bill Myers took the $1375 and headed two times to Atlantic City to participate in $500 + $50 tournaments. In his first bid, his pocket QQ was cracked by an inferior hand, and he went out 29th out of 61 players. In his second bid, the $500 tourney at the Borgata was cancelled, forcing Bill to play in a $200 + $30 at Trump Taj Mahal. Bill exited early. Per the Commissioner's recommendation, he played $5 slots to try to make up a big payout for the Club, but to no avail. About $150 remains, and Bill will try to play a $100 tournament sometime soon, but the Club is considering the jackpot "expended". Time for Series II and better luck.