Nick Wins Event #6...Gaming Commission Opens Investigation

Norborne - If you have been looking, you probably haven't seen much written about Event #6. In fact, even the league's Twitter site has been scrubbed my the Gaming Commission. Shortly after S2E6, the Commission launched a full investigation and they have been interviewing staff and patrons alike. They have a team of analysts reviewing the feeds from all the cameras rolling during play.

Here is what we know for sure (from Twitter): Matt Pe. crippled Eric W. at the blue table by flopping a set of kings. Other than that, the details are extremely sketchy.

The video recordings were taken by the Gaming Commission within hours of the event ending. Although some security personnel have made statements about what they recall, no one can corroborate the information without the video recordings. All we know is that allegedly, Nick eliminated six of the other eight people at the final table; only newcomers Ged and Ted were eliminated by someone other than Nick.

Adding to the mystery, the tournament records show that Kevin A. finished 13th, but we crossed referenced the time frame with the records from the valet, and we know that Kevin left well before 3 players were eliminated. Interestingly, it was Nick that eliminated Kevin, taking the last of his stack. The Commission is investigating the possibility that Kevin was involved in collusion.

Nick did not linger long after the tournament, instead opting to take his first prize money and run. Shortly after he left the building, the Gaming Commission called the proprietors to ask about the unusual events surrounding the final table. We've been able to obtain a transcript of the telephone call and the relevant portions are produced below:

Gaming Commission: He took out 6 of the 8 other players at the final table. Do you have any idea what the odds are?

Head of Security: It's gotta be in the millions, maybe more.

GC: Six [expletive deleted] eliminations at the final table?! Why didn't you call us?

HS: It happened so quick. I didn't have a chance.

GC: You didn't see the scam?

HS: There's no way to determine that.

GC: Yes, there is. Nick won!

HS: It's a poker game. People gotta win sometimes.

GC: You're [expletive deleted] me off. Now you're insulting my intelligence. You know [expletive deleted] well somebody had to get into that deck and set those [expletive deleted] cards. The probability of Nick knocking one person out is a million and a half to one. On knocking out six people, it's in the billions. What's the matter with you? Didn't you see you were being set up?

HS: I think you're overreacting.

GC: Listen, you [expletive deleted] yokel. We've been carrying your [expletive deleted] ever since we got here. Get your ass outta here.

HS: You're firing me?

GC: We're firing you.

HS: You might regret this.

GC: We'll regret it if we keep you.

HS: This is not the way to treat people.

GC: If you didn't know, you're too [expletive deleted] dumb. If you did know, you were in on it. Either way, you're out. Get out. Come on, let's go.

We are not allowed to make any official comment until after the Commission finishes their investigation and releases their findings. Until then, Nick has an asterisk next to his name in the win column.

___

With all apologies to the writers of the movie Casino (which included a scene that formed the basis of the Commission's "phone call"), the truth is that I didn't have anyone tracking eliminations (there was no one to "tweet the deets"), and being the first one out, I dealt until a cash game started, so I never saw any hands at the final table.

Yes, Nick won, and he did so in impressive fashion by, as mentioned above, knocking out all but two players from the final table. His victory was well-earned and the above tongue-in-cheek "investigation" is not intended to cast doubt on him as a player (I had to write that...he threatened to sue me).

Limit play slowed the action considerably. Through two breaks, I don't think we lost anyone. We had very few capped raises at the blue table, though I did hear a few more from the red table. It seemed that stacks stayed relatively close for most of the night, but when players started to fall, they went out in bunches.

Red canceled late because of a sinus infection, leaving us with just 17 players. Kevin left after the first break, either bored by or frustrated with the limit structure. His stack stayed on the table and he was blinded off.

I was the first one out, unable to outlast Kevin's chipstack. Next were John M., Bill B. and Anita. Kevin's stack hung around to go out in 13th place, however, as stated in the rules, (Section 9: Tournament Play, Absent/Late Players, page 17) because Kevin was gone for more than 20 minutes and failed to return before his chips were blinded off, he forfeited all points earned in the tournament. The "collusion" comments about Kevin above were also tongue-in-cheek (yeah, he threatened to sue me too).

Outlasting Kevin's chipstack but unable to make in to the final table, the next victims were Keith K., Sean and Jason Tr., in that order. The final table formed with Angie S., Lolly, Jim H., Matt Pe., Nick, and subs Erik M., Ged O., Jason Ta. and Ted S.

Nick really began to find his groove at the final table. Lolly was Nick's first victim, followed by Jason Ta. and Matt Pe. This was Matt Pe's 10th event, giving him enough events to appear on the Highest Average Cash per Event leaderboard; he debuted at #5 with $64.50 in earnings per event. Congrats, Matt.

Angie was the last woman standing, being claimed as Nick's next victim in 6th place. She was followed by newcomer Ted who bubbled in 5th place. Another newcomer, Ged, finished in the money in 4th place (incidentally, John M. has invited three guests to the games so far: Red, Ged, and Ted. Seriously. It's like he's trying to write a nursery rhyme), and Erik M. took home 3rd place money, his first cash since ORPL Season 2.

Jim H. and Nick met heads up and although I didn't see the action, it sounded like Nick had a couple of major suckouts. Shortly after midnight, the final hand came down Jim holding and Nick holding . Nick flopped a flush draw, but with only the river to come, Jim was a 3:1 favorite to double up. In fact, he's got an app for that:


But this was Nick's night. Despite being dead to a ten or a spade, the river brought Nick the flush that dispatched with Jim's queen-high.


And when all the chips settled, Nick was on top of the mountain.


And now, the push for the Championship table begins. With only five events to play, Nick's win catapulted him to the catbird's seat with 36.58 points. Nick's performance has been so dominating that he is on pace for 67.06 points, a mark that would surpass the last season's Player of the Year, Mike T (66.76). Jim S. is right behind at 35.50 points and Jason Tr. (29.11) rounds out the top 3. In the middle of the pack, Sean O. (28.80), Jason Ta. (26.39) and John M. (24.72) are all looking to make up ground. The final two spots are currently held by Mike T. (21.66) and Anita G. (19.92), both of who hope to hold on to their seats; there are five people that are within 5 points of moving into 7th place and ousting either one of them.

Congrats to Nick, and thanks to everyone for playing in S2E6.