The Red Hot Poker Tour's™ Season 8 Tournament of Champions

DUELING BANJO: An Insider's Account on How I Finished Second at TOC VIII
by Michael Stone

Red Hot's best and brightest convened outside the Montana Restaurant and Lounge, waiting to be ushered into the plush 'M-Lounge', where, for the second season in a row, the tour's Tournament of Champions would be held. I streetcar'd in with Season 3 champ Adam Domenchini, and, after registering, we ran into Season 7 champ James Reinhart. Hearing James tell stories from his deep run at the World Series of Poker Main Event was inspiring. Maybe I would get a similar chance, as the winner of this TOC would get a seat into the North American Poker Championship, a WPT event being held at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls this October.

	Red Hot Poker Tour - Season 8 Tournament of Champions winner Fred "Banjo" Tierney Saturday, July 21, 2007 Montana Restaurant 'M-Lounge' - Toronto
	Tournament of Champions 8 photos

As players took their seats, Dean MacNeil began his traditional opening announcements. I was proud to be introduced -- along with James Arseneault, Brian Crosgrove, George Kuzmanovic, Carlos Munoz, Sean Powell, Shelley Reinhart, and Fred "Banjo" Tierney -- as one of the newest members in Red Hot's exclusive "50K Club". Lise Noel, from New Brunswick, was introduced as the season's top female, breaking records in the process and getting a spa gift certificate for her efforts.
 
What followed was another quasi-Red Hot tradition. "It wouldn't be a TOC," Dean pointed out, "If we didn't talk about Bill Bawden for a while." I could see Bill through the crowd, his head hung low, chuckling to himself, as Dean read the gaudy list of numbers he compiled this season. For another spectacular season, Bill received an entry into a WPT satellite.
 
James Reinhart was then introduced, and he gave a public version of the conversation he had with Adam and I not half an hour before. You could see in James eyes that, despite losing a tonne of chips on a bad beat very close to the money, he was proud of what he had done, and sure that there were other Red Hot players more than capable of following in his footsteps. Dean then announced that, should we miss our chance this TOC, the Season 9 TOC winner would also get a shot at a WPT event. Thanks again to Party Poker for providing a "winner's choice" seat to either the Borgata, Tunica, or Los Angeles WPT events.
 
As all this was going on, I tried to stay relaxed. Despite the high stakes we were playing for, poker is still a game. I reminded myself that the best poker experiences were neither tense nor anxious, but fun. So I resolved to keep myself loose, my table loose, and my game loose.
 
As the cards were shuffled, and the first hands were dealt, that is exactly what happened. I tried joking around with Russ Bursey, and Stuart Kerridge, and Randy Rosales, friends from many previous Red Hot tournaments who were at my starting table. And I tried mixing things up early, raising a lot of pots with connectors and medium aces and anything I could get my hands on.
 
This strategy dipped me down in chips early, until I picked up JdTd in the bb, and saw a multi-way pot. I flopped a flush draw, turned an open-ended straight flush draw, and hit my flush on the river to take down a nice pot. This pushed me over my starting stack for the first time all day, and began my early-tournament rush. Shortly thereafter I busted Stuart when my pocket nines held up versus his AT. Then, at the 200/400 level, the table's big stack raised early to 1500. I was in the cutoff seat, and looked down to find two beautiful aces. I shoved in, and got called in two spots. My aces held up against a shortstack's KdJd and the big stack's pocket kings. And before I knew it I was up to about 24,000.
 
The table then broke and I was moved to a new table, where I found Carlos Munoz, Jess LePage, Sachin Annand, Sean Powell, and Larry Fedoruk. It was like a mini Friday-nights-at-Adam's-Rib reunion! Sadly, the good times didn't last two long, as that table broke quickly.
 
I found Lucy Brum, Steve Annon, Lino Pessoa, and -- once again -- Russ Bursey at my third table. I got involved early by stealing a couple of small pots. Then found myself in a tricky spot when, after a shortstack moved in, Lino reraised big. I folded AK in the small blind and showed the table. Good thing, too, because I would have been up against pocket aces and pocket nines.

The very next hand was the tournament's defining moment for me. At 300/600/100 blinds, an early position player made it 3000. Russ quickly called. I looked down at pocket kings, and pushed. The original raiser stood up and stared me down. "You just saw me fold AK," I said, hoping to get a dirty ace to fold and take down the huge pot right there. He stared at me some more, and, in a show of bravado, said, "I think you're stealing... I call!" Russ showed me his pocket tens as he tosses them into the muck, and I was happy to see that I was heads up against just one player, who had AJ. The flop was T-9-8, and Russ pounded the table in disgust. The turn was a Q, and it felt like I was just punched in the stomach, as my opponent leapt up in delight after catching his straight.

So now I'm steaming. Which is not a good place to be. Luckily we get a break shortly thereafter, and I have a chance to go outside, cool down, and get refocused. "I'm winning this thing," I said to myself -- and anyone who'll listen -- as I came back into the M-Lounge. In the waning moments before the dinner break, I built my stack back up from 10,000 to close to 20,000.
 
Thirty-eight of us were still alive as the food is served, and I am ready and anxious to get back into action. As play resumed, dealer Emily is seated at our table, and I resolved to steal every chip I could get my hands on. As the number of tables left shrunk from 3 to 2, Banjo and Chris Sellors are moved to my table, both with monster stacks. I was just treading water, but still remained positive. I could see that everybody was feeling the pressure as the final table approached, and I kicked my aggression into overdrive. But still, without a big hand or a double-up, I was just barely staying ahead of the blinds.
 
With about 15 people left, my stack was down to 12,000, and the blinds were 3000/6000. Hoping to see a monster under the gun, I looked down at 5s2s. Damn. I knew that I was going to be pot-committed anyway the very next hand, so I decided to be the one pushing my chips in rather than being forced to push my chips in. Only Russ called me from the big blind, and his jack-high is good until I spike a 5 on the river. Happy for the double-up, I was bummed that it had to come at Russ's expense, because I enjoyed playing with -- and bantering with -- him all day. He busted out of the tournament moments later, and I went on a nice little rush.
 
I doubled-up after pushing from the button with KQ, getting called by A2, and spiking a Q on the flop. Then, after Chris raised from early position, I pushed when I found KK again. This time I managed to talk Chris into folding (he said he had AJ... phew!). And, in a matter of moments, I had gone from 12,000 to 95,000 chips. We were near the final table bubble, and doing our best to bust Phil Hymans, our table's micro-stack. Phil would not go gently into that good night, but eventually someone on the other table did, and the last 9 of us still in play would get to sit down at the final table.
 
I was ecstatic. I could barely keep focused as I filled out my final table information card. I was asking questions of no one in particular, and calling friends who couldn't be there to update them on my status. I remember, at one point, spotting Dean sitting down in the empty final table area, and giving him a double-devil-horned salute, to show how pumped up I was. He just laughed, which relaxed me a bit. Tournament Director Scott McFadyen asked me who I wanted to sit in my audience reserved seat. I looked around to see that Michael Bennett Leroux would be doing the announcing, and Liv-Aline Ringseisen would be dealing the final table. The two of them have both become close friends outside of Red Hot, and I couldn't have been more proud to have them there with me. "Everyone I want here is already going to be in the room," I said to Scott, and he nodded, understanding completely.
 
I paced nervously -- or like a tiger waiting to pounce on its prey, take your pick -- as we waited outside the tournament area to be introduced. I tried joking around with Banjo, Chris, and Steve, and introduced myself to Kyle Fullarton and Irene Plouffe, just to keep relaxed. I was in second position as play resumed:

Blinds began at 4000/8000/1000, and, as everyone probably expected, Phil busted on the first hand when his AJ was no good against Banjo's AK. Gary Lee then doubled up as his pocket tens held against my A9. I came in for a raise, he pushed, and I had to call. Probably not too wise, but I was trying to start the final table with aggression, in the hopes of either getting a lot of chips -- and giving myself a chance to win -- or busting out quickly.
 
Six of the first 9 hands included an all-in, and it resulted in a lot of blind steals. Kyle eventually made his presence felt when, on hand #10, he won a 4 player flop by leading out for 27,000 on a J-high board. I learned quickly that Kyle was a tough player, even having never played with him before. He was also my go-to guy whenever I felt like I needed to relax the table, and myself, with a joke.
 
Action remained swift through the early stages. Chris doubled through Gary Sanwald when his eights held versus A9. And then the two Garys got tangled up in a big pot that proved anti-climactic, when both were all-in preflop with Big Slick and wound up chopping.
 
As the blinds raised to 5000/10000/2000, Chris tried a steal from the small blind with KQ, but Irene looked him up with A7s, and though Chris flopped a K, the ace on the turn sealed his fate and he was out in 7th place. On the very next hand, I moved all-in from under the gun with pocket jacks, and Gary Sanwald called me from the big blind with AK. When the king hit the flop my heart sank. But agony turned to ecstasy when the turn was a jack, sending Gary to the rail in 7th place. That pot was worth well over 120,000, and it propelled me into a sure chiplead.
 
The chips, which had already been flying around the table, seemed to move at supersonic speed for the next orbit. Gary Lee doubled through Kyle when his pocket fours held against KQ. Then, Kyle got the first of a series of big hands when I tried limping from the small blind. He woke up in the big blind with Kings (I didn't try to go to war with him holding nothing but Q9o).
 
On hand #26 Steve moved all-in, and was called by both the blinds. After checking the flop, Kyle led out on the turn, and after Banjo folded he showed 76 for two pair. Steve's flopped pair of aces did not improve, and he finished the tournament in 6th place.
 
The very next hand, Kyle got involved once again, raising the button. Banjo, getting short by this point, moved his last chips into the middle and Kyle called. His pocket sevens were well ahead of Banjo's Qd6d. But two diamonds on the flop, and the ace of diamonds on the river, gave Banjo his flush. This was the most worrisome moment of the final table, because I've seen moments like it dozens of times before. I know that if you have a chance to bust Banjo, you better take it. Because if you don't the man is remarkably resilient, and knows how to build up chips in a hurry. Sure enough, he went on to win the next 7 pots in a row!
 
Thankfully, on hand #36, I picked up a tonne of ammunition to defend against the Banjo-onslaught. After Gary Lee moved all-in for 44,000 under the gun, Irene called off her last 41,000. I found pocket jacks on the button, and called them both. Gary had pocket sixes, and though she didn't turn her cards over, I could see that Irene didn't like the 7h-Js-Kh flop. But I sure did. My set beat Gary's sixes and Irene's paired king, and all of the sudden we're down to three-handed.
 
And lo and behold, look who had the chiplead:

We took a break, and came back to find the blinds at 6000/12000/2000. The next 5 orbits or so featured little more than small pots taken down pre- or post-flop. Then, on hand #56 I raised the button with AJ, and Kyle moved all-in. I was getting a good price to call, and read him as strong, but not too strong. It thus surprised me when he turned over pocket queens. I couldn't find an ace on the flop, turn, or river, and wound up doubling Kyle up. Three hands later I raised the button again, this time with pocket fours, and got called in two spots. The flop came 3d-Ad-9h, and Banjo lead out with a strong bet, to take down a nice pot. Then, on hand #62, Kyle raised to 42,000 preflop and Banjo called. They saw an ace-high flop, and Kyle moved all-in. Banjo thought about it for a moment, and I could see right there that he had the ace but didn't like his kicker. He called, showed A6, and was well-ahead of Kyle's stone cold bluff. Kyle, a player who's game I learned to respect greatly in the short time I sat with him at the final table, finished the tournament in third place.
 
And with that, I found myself staring down Banjo and his 4.5-1 chip lead, as the only things between me and a seat in a WPT tournament. I knew that I would have to be aggressive in order to get back into the action, and hope that Banjo wouldn't pick up a hand to trap me with. Happily, the former held up for a while. Sadly, the latter would eventually seal my fate.
 
I moved in preflop quite liberally, taking down 6 of the first 9 pots. I had a lot of medium kings mixed in there, but also some complete bluffs (at one point I showed the crowd 7d2d, just for kicks). On the tenth hand of heads-up play, after working my way up to close to 200,000 again, I raised the button with K7o. Banjo called from the small blind, and we saw a flop of 6h 2d Ts. Banjo sighed, and checked. I decided he was weak, trusted my read on him (which had been good all day), and moved in right there to take down the already sizeable pot.
 
He paused for a second, took a deep breath, and then, in that booming Banjo voice, announced, "I call!"
 
Oops.
 
He turned over pocket twos, for a flopped set. I sheepishly flipped up my king-high. Knowing I was all but cooked, I got up, walked over to Banjo, and shook his hand. The 8h on the turn gave me a gutshot straight draw and some hope, but the 6s on the river gave Banjo a boat. And with that Fred "Banjo" Tierney won the Red Hot Poker Tour Season 8 Tournament of Champions, and a seat at the WPT North American Poker Championship.
 
And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy. Banjo finished the past two seasons 1st and 2nd on the points leaderboard, set a record for most wins in a season, and supported the bars more than almost anyone I can think of. I'm sure he will represent Red Hot well when he takes his seat at the Fallsview Casino in October. Congratulations once again, Banjo.
 
As for me, I am not disappointed in the slightest. After every Red Hot tournament I play I ask myself one question: Did I go further than the cards would have gotten me on their own. And I can say, unequivocally, that the answer to that question is "Yes". Saturday July 21st, 2007, was without a doubt, the most fun day I've had as a member of the Red Hot Poker Tour. I was proud as punch to finally make a Tournament of Champions Final Table, and know that I did all I could do to bring home the win. Thanks to the Red Hot staff for organizing a great tournament, thanks to all those I sat with all day for providing some fun and tough competition, and thanks to those of you who were rooting me on. Your support was integral to my success.
 
Here's to a great Season 9. And here's hoping that I get a chance to write this TOC summary again in 4 months... only with a slightly different ending.