The Red Hot Poker Tour's^® Season 18 Tournament of Champions

It Was Worth The Drive, For Acton, To The Red Hot Poker Tour’s Tournament Of Champions XVIII
By Mike Stone

Red Hot Poker Tour - Season 18 Tournament of Champions winner Jason Acton August 28, 2010 - Norma Jeane's, Mississauga View Photos

Pretty much everybody in Canada is playing poker these days. From the flurry of Canadians who ripped up the felt at this year’s World Series of Poker, to the bars and taverns where you can find a Red Hot Poker tournament any night of the week. My mom even has a regular afternoon poker game with her ladies, and I’ve heard rumours that retirement homes are getting in on the action, using poker to help the seniors better enjoy their Wednesday nights. Poker is still thriving, growing, and evolving.

For the Red Hot Poker Tour’s 18th Tournament of Champions, the excitement level was as high as ever as the season’s top 120 players entered the tournament room. Two players from assembled throng would win trips to Las Vegas, and seats in a World Series of Poker tournament next summer. The only question left to answer, after a long season of hard-fought competition, was: who would they be?:

Dean MacNeil took the mic to introduce the outstanding achievements during the regular season. The regional leaderboard champions were each introduced. Doug Ouimet from GTA and Charlene Butler from HBO each had to win the final tournament of the season to come from behind and take their respective titles (the latter told me that she had to endure a 45-minute heads-up battle with Red Hot all-timer Lisa Clayton to seal her victory). Bob Hopkins from KWC, Lema Sole from Windsor, Stephan Sabourin from Toronto, Neil Piercey from London, and Norm Fegan – who won a trip to Vegas and a World Series seat the night before at the Elite Showdown – were also introduced.

In the online league, Sal Villaluz once again took down the AT leaderboa Dwayne Collinsrd. And your humble author won his second Red Club leaderboard.
The aforementioned Lisa Clayton won her fifth straight Ladies Championship. And then, after 17 seasons on the tour, I was honoured to be introduced as the overall points champion of Season 18, having amassed over 51,000 points. I am terribly proud of my season, especially since it came as a result of lots of study and a constant desire to improve my game. And I’d like to congratulate Sal Villaluz, who finished second overall, for never quitting, even until the end, and forcing me to be on my game all season. I’d also like to point out the stellar Red Club seasons put together by ‘Zeken100’ and ‘chrismystero’. We three competitors brought out the best in each other during the online games, and I think it made us all stronger players.

The Championship qualifiers all nodded in agreement, acknowledging that the above words were just one part of the gauntlet that each had to run in order to rise to their respective positions as the best players in the league.  I would add “I thought you were bluffing” and (online only) “Oops, misclick” to the list above. But who ever heard of a Top 12 list?

After putting a smile on everyone’s faces, Chris made the announcement to “shuffle up and deal”, and the real fun began.

As usual, there were many quick bustouts, big pots, coolers, sick bluffs, and bad beats to start the day. Chips flew across the table faster than a condor racing to protect her young. As the tournament paced the 3-hour mark, some big stacks started to take control of the room. Gareth Virgo from Toronto, Dwayne Collins from London, and Dave Busch from the HBO all had well over 20,000 in chips. Bob Johnson and Jeff Vandenberg, both from the GTA, had also crossed the 20k mark, if only barely. Right behind that group in the 16k range were Seumas McCluskey from Toronto, Andrew Don from HBO, and, representing the Red Club… me! I was pleased to be in such rarefied air.

At this point in the day two factors caught my attention that dramatically affected the flow of the tournament. Firstly, the room was boiling hot. I almost passed out at one point (not really, but I certainly felt the heat and the dehydration, and noticed others around me battling unneeded sweat). And secondly, Red Hot had added several new blind levels to the Tournament of Champions structure, giving the players much more room to play. This was good news to those of us who believed we had a skill advantage, because it gave us more time to work with deep stacks before we were forced to go all-in.

Before my third table change of the day, Carlos Munoz pulled me aside for a quick warning. “Bob is calling everything!” he pleaded. I thanked him, and licked my chops for a chance to take a bite out of Mr. Johnson’s big stack. Didn’t have to wait long as he doubled me up to 32,000 when my QQ won over his 99. “This is my chance to take out Mr. 51,000 points,” he said, before calling. Not so fast, sir. Still, Bob won most of those chips right back a couple of hands later, and he, Sharyn Lewis and I were all sitting pretty at our table with 30k+ stacks, easily amongst the room’s chipleaders.

With three tables to go, I had a nice run of cards that allowed me to play aggressively, taking down several pots in a row. This streak was stopped when I went for a stone cold steal from the button, and a player I'd never met before shoved on me from the big blind. "That's a battle between two online rivals," crowed Grantel Gibbs from the rail, while I Hollywooded before folding. When the hand was over, my opponent and I exchanged online handles, discovering that, sure enough, we had played many hands together on the virtual felt this season. And then, almost as an afterthought, we exchanged real life names! Nice to meet you, Gareth Virgo (more on him later).

We were down to two tables remaining, and Gareth won a huge hand when, after a Dave Busch opening raise and a reraise by Bob Johnson, he woke up with pocket kings and busted Bob and his pocket jacks. On the other table, Dave Kersey was mopping up a big pot with quad tens. Seumus McCluskey and Gary Biggar were also still in action, though both busted before reaching the promised land. After losing several players from our table, Hope Tong on the other table was the last player eliminated before the final table was set.

As is tradition, here's your final table lineup including the player's home region and chip counts. And just because these were the things running through my mind as I sized up my competition, I've also included a personal scouting report on each player:

So now that we've met the contestants, it was time for dealer Michael Bennett Leroux to shuffle up and get the cards in the air. The blinds would start at 1000/2000 with a 300 ante.

Jason pointed out that in his previous two final tables he lasted a grand total of 2 hands. I jokingly asked if he open-folded pocket kings on the first hand of this table, just to break that curse. He never gave me a straight answer, so draw your own conclusions. James noted that in his lone final table appearance he lasted just 2 hands as well, and expressed a desire to better that lofty number. I, on the other hand, didn't come here to fold, shoving my stack in the middle on the first hand to take down the blinds, and get this game jumping.

Inevitably, short stack Sharyn was the first casualty, shoving all-in for 7000 on hand #6, only to find Dwayne, Chris and Jeff ready to call and check-it-down. Jeff's pair of tens won the pot, and eliminated Sharyn in ninth place.

With the blinds increasing to 2000/4000 (500), Jason, having safely achieved his quota for number of hands lasted, shoved from the button for 16,000 and took down the blinds. Some time after that, Dwayne and Dave played a pot where Dwayne somehow managed to not go broke holding AK, when Dave had aces. That, as Phil Hellmuth might say, is how you "dodge bullets, baby".

After stealing the blinds several times with my shortstack, I finally found the rush I was looking for, starting with hand #22. Jeff made a big open-raise. I looked over at him, and noticed that his stiff posture, expressionless face, and dark wrap-around sunglasses made him look like he'd been sent from the future to this final table to kill John Connor. I looked down at pocket queens and decided this was the right spot to do some terminating myself. I shoved, Jeff called with pocket nines, and I held for a crucial double-up. One orbit later, on hand #31, Jeff, now short-stacked, moved all-in. I looked down at pocket kings. "Hasta la vista, baby," I said in my head, before re-shoving. When I showed Jeff my hand he winced (I didn't think liquid metal could do that), and showed me his jacks. The cowboys held, and Jeff finished in eighth place. I was now up to 145,000 in chips!

Dave was next to go out. On hand #40 he made a sizeable raise, which was reshoved on by James. Dave, knowing he was behind, reluctantly called. His AQ needed help as James showed two kings. The help never came, and Dave finished seventh. Five hands later it was Dwayne's turn to hit the rail. He moved in over the top of a button raise by Gareth, only to find that his KJ had run into Gareth's queens, knocking him out in sixth place. That made two top-6 finishes in 3 seasons for Dwayne, an impressive accomplishment.

After my initial rush, I had gone card dead, and inactive. So much so that Brandon Farrell (who I want to thank here for helping out with this article, documenting the action while I was still in play) actually wrote this in my notebook: "Mike Stone swats at a fly". To be fair, it was a big fly, prone to dive-bombing my ear canal. Something needed to be done, and since I wasn't playing any hands...

The blinds were now at 4000/8000, with a 1000 ante that in the past used to be 2000. Again, kudos to Red Hot for improving the blind structure. This kind of adjustment definitely increases the skill level needed to succeed. The higher blinds produced a couple of big pots, both involving James. The first was against Gareth, when both players got AK all-in preflop, and wound up chopping. Then, 3 hands later (#63 of the final table), we saw the table's first major suckout. James raised to 23,000 and a shorstacked Jason decided that it was time to take a stand with AT. He was behind James' AJ, and furiously called for a ten on the flop. Somebody must've heard him, because a ten in the door gave Jason the double-up he needed. He got another one on hand #70, when his pocket jacks held against Gareth's AQ. And just like that Jason was our new chipleader. That's no limit, baby.

Former chipleader Chris was not so lucky. After shoving all-in for 72,000 on hand #72 he was called by James from the big blind, who got back a lot of the chips he'd just lost to Jason when his AJ flopped an ace and Chris' K8 couldn't improve. Chris finished in fifth place. James was now second in chips to Jason, while Gareth and I were holding strong in third and fourth place, not too far off the pace. Gareth immediately improved his standing by winning a race with 55 against James' KT, just before the blinds raised yet again to 5000/10000 (2000).

During this flurry of eliminations, I had been shoving a lot to steal the blinds, without getting caught. Then, on hand #81, somebody finally looked me up. I moved in from the small blind on James' big blind, with 65s (see #5, #6, and #9 from Jensen's list above for why). James called pretty quickly with AK. Oh well, let's just get lucky. Before the river neither of us had hit anything, but I had picked up a gutshot straight draw. So any 5, 6 or 7 would win me the pot. When a lucky 7 dropped, I couldn't help but give a little fist pump. James, having taken several big hits to his stack the last round or two, could only shake his head in disbelief. A couple of hands later he shoved over my opening raise with his now short stack, and I called with KJ. His A2 was ahead, but I made another straight on him, this time getting it out of the way on the turn, and eliminating James in fourth place.

Which pretty much ended the good fortune I'd been having all day. For from this point on, I kept bumping up against the wall of chips that was Jason, and never made a dent. Even though I had position on him most of the time, he kept smashing every single flop and made the rest of my tournament a living hell. Which is exactly what he was supposed to do.

Two key hands versus Jason that lead to my ultimate downfall:

On hand #94 I raised the button with A3o, and Jason called from the big blind. The flop came A-x-x, with one diamond. We both checked to the turn, which was another diamond. He bet, I raised, he called. The river was the 3d, and before I could rejoice over having just made two pair, he insta-shoved for more than pot. I think I tanked on this decision longer than I'd ever tanked before, finally finding the fold. He showed me KdJd for a flush.

Next, on #97, Jason limped from the small blind, I raised KQ from the big blind, and he called ("I had a tonne of chips, and just wanted to see the flop," he told me later, when we recounted the hand). The flop came J-J-x, and again we both checked. The turn was a ten, and he made a min-bet. I called, missed my open-ended straight on the river, and folded to his shove. He showed J9, for flopped trips.

I still had more chips than Gareth, at this point, and was in a good position to at least salvage a Vegas trip out of the day. But those hopes were dashed when Gareth doubled up in a topsy-turvy hand. He shoved with 97s, and was called by Jason with QJs. The flop paired the 7, but Jason hit a queen on the turn. The river was a 9, giving Gareth two pair, and prolonging the bubble.

My last hand, #103 of the final table, was equally dramatic. With a similar, heartbreaking outcome. Jason open-shoved from the small blind. I had only 45,000 left, looked down at the king of hearts, and figured that I had to gamble some time. So I called. Jason showed a rag ace, and I finally looked at my second card, to see the nine of hearts. Which was handy, because the flop came J-T-3, all hearts. The flopped flush was a godsend. But... at about the same time that I noticed the ace of hearts in Jason's hand, another heart hit the turn. I was drawing dead to a one-outer, but couldn't hit my straight flush. Me, out in third.

"Bubble brothers!" I said, to Grantel Gibbs on the rail. He finished one short of the prize in the previous night's Elite Showdown. We shared a sincere, good-natured laugh.

And with that, a heartfelt congratulations to both Gareth Virgo and Jason Acton, as the two of them will be playing in the 2011 World Series of Poker. I am writing this sentence two-and-a-half days later, and am genuinely pleased for those two guys. Sure, it's disappointing that I won't be joining them (unless the future brings a prize). But I went on the Red Hot Vegas Invasion two summers ago, and got a chance to play in the WSOP. If I hadn't made that trip already, this one might've stung a bit more. But I can honestly say that I got further in this tournament than the cards were going to take me on their own. And if I could say that at the end of the day, then I'd done all that I could do. But enough about me...

...We had a heads-up match to decide, and a Tournament of Champions jersey/trophy to give out, to one of these two worthy contestants.

Jason, behind the big stack, looked like he was ready to cruise to victory. But hand #109 altered those plans dramatically. Gareth raised, and Jason insta-shoved. Gareth even more quickly called with pocket queens. Jason's A4 was in bad shape. Before the flop was even dealt Jason was already beating himself up about his "one big mistake" that could cost him the tournament. He was right, it was a big mistake. And when the queens held, Gareth now had the huge chiplead.

But you can't ever count Jason out. And one two-hand combo got him right back into the swing of things. Gareth raised, Jason shoved, and Gareth quickly folded. After a couple of small pots were traded, this sequence was repeated, on hand #120. Gareth raised, Jason shoved, and Gareth said, "This is the same hand I had the last time you did that!" Only this time, Gareth thought for a bit and then called. When Jason's AJ held up against Gareth's KT, the latter jokingly said, to himself as much to the room, "And that's why I folded it last time!"

One hand later, in a limped pot that saw a flop of 4-2-5, Gareth tried to get those chips back by shoving. Jason snap-called with 84. Gareth's Q2 was behind, and neither the turn nor the river could help him out...

Making Jason Acton the winner of Tournament of Champions XVIII. Congratulations, Jason, and good luck to you and Gareth at the World Series of Poker next summer.

In the aftermath of his victory, Jason reverentially donned the red champion’s jersey. And then, in a room full of Red Hot staffers and vanquished opponents all worn out after a long day in a hot room, Jason still had enough energy (and winner’s adrenalin) to bounce around giddily while having his picture taken, and smiling the whole time. Like a kid in a poker-themed candy store.

Next stop for Jason: the WSOP candy factory in Las Vegas!