Sunday, January 15

The Face of a new Season

Its a new year and a new season for Koolgreen Poker Tour (KPT). And just like my old snowboarding days a few faces had faded into obscurity for various reasons, work domestic or otherwise. Kris for instance, one of the KPT pioneers keep an early work schedule eschewing him from my home tournaments, whereas Jonathan (Mr. Slowblind) just got tired of Donating his money - yes, his own words-. In essence it is donating money but in fairness and to be grammatically correct Jonathan simply did not play often enough, therefore wasn't able to obtain crucial play information to resonate or hone his skill to win... Mike and Sara on the other hand whom we've become accustomed to and fond of... and the only bf-gf duo since my sister and Akio, parted ways and ceased playing. Of course they are always going to be welcome in KPT.

However with the help of KPT regulars (especially Josh), we have a couple of new faces who seem to be as Poker-loving as the next guy. During the off-season a few other players were interested enough to play regularly in KPT, but as much as i would like to have a big game every Sunday, i simply for logistical reasons, can not accommodate all the interest. I would hate to be a such a choad and turn away players because i made a mistake of over-booking a Sunday game.

If you haven't visited the KPT headquarters in quite a while and you happen to stop by during GAME 1 of Season Six you'd probably think you stumbled into someone else's game with all the new faces (and missing regulars). Where was big David dominating the table talk and threatening to knockout Jonathan for the umpteenth tournament in a row?? How about Vince with the dark sunglasses and the stern face?? And where the fuck is Adrian?? Instead you have a few white guys from Pittsburgh and Texas and another white guy who is an aspiring actor from God knows where... Even new guy Dennis who turned into a knockout Juggernaut won the opening day game . Could this be the new face of KPT? Will we be rewarding the Season Six Championship to a non-Filipino, Korean or Thai person? Could it be one of the five White Guys or the lone black guy Quincy? Could the Phantom Player (coined by no other than yours truly during the interim offseason) have an adverse effect on the Championship standings in the end? We will have to see...

At any rate the Season rolls on. Its a little early for me to make my customary predictions so you'll have to wait a few more games (maybe by game 4). Hana seems very confident of a back to back Championship (and i don't doubt his skills) but a lot of his contemporaries including me might have other ideas. The No Rebuy setup no doubt will discourage loose play (especially after the Phantom stacks are sold) so we might see a bit more passive style of Poker from even the likes of Frank and Randy. The good part is that even with... say less than say 14 players the Phantom stacks are capped at 4 and with the no RB setup a side game is never unbearably far from conception.

Perhaps premature but who has the best chances of winning the Season Six Championship? First i like the chances of the previous champions... Hana, Jee and myself and the players that have gotten close... Gerry, Mori, Frank, Allan, Kris & Mike (if they ever play again) and the abominable Randy.

So as my parting blog words and to bid everyone goodluck on this dawned new season, in the words of Mike Sexon "May all your cards be live and your pots be monsters" and in the words of a true Tournament Director "thanks for the Donation" ...

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