Pictures from MPT 2010 Main Event

Pictures from MPT 2010 Main Event (Event #7), held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in Bally's Atlantic City on Monday, December 28, 2010.

Statistical Notes Following MPT 2010 Event #7

Observations following the seventh event of the 2010 season, the Mattress Poker Tour Main Event, held at Bally's Atlantic City on December 28, 2010.

• Bally's Atlantic City became the most frequent home to the Mattress Poker Tour, hosting it's first Main Event and sixth tournament overall
  
• TSS777 became the first player in MPT history to win Player of the Year (2007) and the Main Event (2010)
• TSS777 became the first player to win three MPT events in a single season
  
• TSS777 tied Stan for the third highest single event point total, and set the record for an event held outside of Las Vegas
• Bigfus extended her streak of cashes to four events, tying the second longest streak of all-time
• Both Bigfus and TSS777 broke the previous record for Sealy Cup points in a single season
• Bigfus' nineteen point lead in the final Sealy Cup standings is the largest margin of victory over second place in MPT history
• Bigfus became the first MPT player to top $1,000 in career earnings, while TSS777 moved into second place on the all-time money list
• Bigfus and TSS777 also finished first and second on the season money list
• 2010 marked the second time in three years that Bigfus topped the season money list
  
• Amazon failed to cash for the sixth straight event, one short of the longest out of the money streak
• Betdponies moved into first place on the list of last place finishes, becoming the first player eliminated for the sixth time in 24 career events
  

Pictures from MPT 2010 #6

Pictures from MPT 2010 Event #6, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the Trump Taj Mahal Taj Tower.

Statistical Notes Following MPT 2010 Event #5

Observations following the fourth event of the 2010 season, held at Resorts Atlantic City on October 23, 2010.

• Resorts Atlantic City became the eleventh different venue to host the Mattress Poker Tour
• Stumerrian became the 40th different player to play in a MPT tournament
• Noahcat is the 17th player to participate in three or more events
• Bigfus jumped into the Sealy Cup lead, while Sass also leapfrogged over TSS777 to move into second place in the season standings
• Bigfus also took the season money lead, after her fourth cash in five chances
• Bigfus became the third player two win two tournaments in the same season, joining Amazon and TSS777
• RowanB became only the eighth different player to cash this season, through five events (and 16 paying positions)
• RowanB broke a streak of four straight events without a cash
• Amazon and Betdponies each failed to cash in their fifth straight event, tying for the fourth longest streak of all-time
• Bigfus extended her lead on the all-time, while Sass passes TSS777 to move into second place
• RowanB jumps to from sixth to fourth in all-time earnings, also becoming the fifth player to break the $500 mark for prize winnings
• Sass retains the all-time points lead, though Bigfus overtook Harv29 to move into second, only four points behind the career leader
• Bigfus became the first player in MPT history to win a tournament by only eliminating only one player
• Noahcat became the 13th different player to finish last place during a MPT event

Pictures from MPT 2010 #5

Pictures from MPT 2010 Event #5, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at the Resorts Atlantic City Rendezvous Tower.

An external computer monitor showed the blind levels while the television was occupied watching the National League Championship Series

The MPT Monkey guards the prize money during heads-up play

Sass and Bigfus heads-up, while Harv29 deals and the MPT Monkey watches

Sass watches as Harv29 reveals a river card

Bigfus looks concerned as Harv29 counts her chip stack near the end of the tournament

Bigfus with her winning cards, the MPT Monkey, and friends

The final hand

Statistical Notes Following MPT 2010 Event #4

Observations following the fourth event of the 2010 season, held in Stone Harbor, New Jersey on September 25, 2010.

• Sass becomes the 14th different winner of an MPT event
• Harv29 cashed in his second straight event, with back to back third place finishes
• Syrorange3042 bubbled for the second consecutive event in which he has played
• The top four positions in the season points standings remained the same, as Bigfus, Sass, and Harv29 each closed on on points leader TSS777
• RowanB continues a horrendous year, with his first last place finish since 2007.
• Both RowanB and Betdponies have earned fewer points for the season than points leader TSS777 is averaging for each of the three events he has played
• Ghosthunter became the 27th player to participate in more than one MPT event
• Bigfus takes back the top spot for all-time prize winnings, $25 ahead of TSS777
• Harv29 passes RowanB in all-time cashes and on the all-time winnings list, where he moved into the top five
• Sass jumps into the top spot in the all-time points race, ahead of Harv29 and Bigfus, who passed RowanB to move into third place
• Bigfus moves into the top five in Points Per Event, dropping RowanB to sixth place on the all-time list
• Bigfus became the first non-Rowan to earn 13 points in a single event
  

Pictures from MPT 2010 #4

Pictures from MPT 2010 Event #4, the ECLVA Fall Classic, held in Stone Harbor, New Jersey on Saturday, September 25, 2010.


Bigfus checks her hole cards while Harv29 and Sass look on


Ghosthunter flashes "the prettiest card in the deck" during play midway through the event


Play as the bubble approaches


The MPT Monkey and friends watch over the bar and snacks


Sass rakes in a big pot during heads-up play


Bigfus maintains her "poker face" while Sass watches


The MPT Monkey sits guard over the trophy and prize money


Bigfus and Sass wait for the turn and river during what would be the final hand


Bigfus congratulates the newest MPT champion


Sass raises the bounty chip in triumph, after knocking out 2010 Event #1 champion, Bigfus


Harv29 presents Sass with her first black chip trophy


Sass celebrates with The MPT Monkey


The MPT Monkey with the cards from the final hand


A behind the scenes look at setting up for the MPT

MPT 2010 #4 - ECLVA Fall Classic (9/25/2010)

Last of the ”Original Six” takes title

STONE HARBOR, NJ - It took over four years, but that made Sass’ victory at the ECLVA Fall Classic that much sweeter. After winning last year’s Player of the Year and Rising Star awards, Sass finally has an MPT Championship to add to that collection. After finishing 2nd four times in seven events (and one 3rd place) last year and two 3rd place finishes this year, Sass bested a field of 9 seasoned MPT veterans to win the ECLVA Fall Classic.

The event started with TSS777 looking for the “Three-peat”, having won at Bally’s and making his trip to Las Vegas worthwhile by winning the event there but ended up hitting the rail early. It would be difficult in this field with 7 former champions in attendance, including last year’s ECLVA Fall Classic Champion, Syrorange3042.

Play started out as it usually does, with players avoiding to be out before the break. In a desperate move before the break, Harv29 pushed with Ah-Kh with just under half the starting chips and was eventually called by TSS777 with 8-8. The flop did not improve either player but a king on the turn helped Harv29 double up before the break.

Pixie made sure that the evening’s dinner would not be burnt by Rowanb’s inattentiveness by his tournament participation by eliminating him first. Betdponies followed him four minutes later, being eliminated by Harv29.

Four minutes seemed to be the magic number as TSS777 was eliminated by Bigfus, then Pixie hit the rail four minutes after him, being busted out by Harv29. It took another eleven minutes before Ghosthunter was busted out by Syrorange3042, but he could not hold on and was bubbled out by Bigfus eight minutes later.

That left Bigfus, Harv29 and Sass in the money. Bigfus had a nice chip lead on the others with Sass being the short stack. Harv29 survived elimination with A-9 against Bigfus’ A-K with a friendly 9 on the flop. However his 5-5 could not hold up against Sass’ A-9 and he doubled the eventual champion. On the very next hand Harv29 pushed his remaining chips with 5-5 again, and this time Sass had A-Q, which hit again, sending Harv29 out in 3rd place.

The heads up battle only lasted 6 minutes with Sass eventually taking the championship.

Sass is having another successful campaign, cashing in 3 of 4 events and bubbling in the other, however with his back-to-back victories, TSS777 remains atop of the Player of the Year standings, with a 3 point lead over Bigfus. Sass trails by 9 points with Harv29 down by 15.

With her victory, Sass takes over the career points lead with 167, 3 points over Harv29 and 6 points over Bigfus. She vaults into third place in career cashes, behind leader TSS777 and second place Bigfus.

There is still plenty of time for some players to catch up to the PoTY leader, TSS777 with two events before the Main Event in December.

The results:

• Sass
• Bigfus
• Harv29
• Syrorange3042
• Ghosthunter
• Pixie
• TSS777
• Betdponies
• RowanB
  

Statistical Notes Following MPT 2010 Event #3

Observations following the third event of the 2010 season, held at the Las Vegas Hilton on August 1, 2010.

• The field of 15 players was the second largest in MPT history, trailing only last year's Las Vegas Spectacular
• TSS777 extended his lead in all-time wins, becoming the first player to top six tournaments
• TSS777 became the first player to win back-to-back tournaments twice in their MPT career
• Harv29 continued his streak of cashing in every Las Vegas Spectacular, with his second third place finish in the last two years
• Tennis_bum finished in 7th place for the second straight year in the Las Vegas Spectacular
• RowanB finished a career worst 11th place
• Baccarat King tied Betdponies for the most career last place finishes, being first out for the fifth time in his MPT career
• Noahcat was the second player eliminated from the Las Vegas Spectacular for the second straight year
• TSS777 set an all-time record for the most points in a single event, besting Trojanrabbit's mark of 30 in last year's Las Vegas Spectacular by a single point
• TSS777 also set an all-time record with nine kills in a single event, two more than
• Trojanrabbit's record seven in last year's Las Vegas Spectacular
• The nine kills by TSS777 in more than all-but the top six players in MPT history have recorded in their entire careers
• TSS777 jumps into the Sealy Cup lead with 47 points, while Bigfus and Sass remain in contention
• Harv29 leaps into the Player of the Year race with his third place finish
• Betdponies became the fifth player to participate in 20 MPT events
• The seven leaders in career appearances all played in this year's Las Vegas Spectacular
• JTinLV became the fourteenth player to participate in three or more MPT events
• Tennis_bum, Noahcat, Hammah, and Eileen became the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th different players to participate in more than one MPT event
• 2timeace and mghenry became the 38th and 39th different players to play in at least one MPT event
• Hammah and 2timeace became the 22nd and 23rd different players to cash in at least one MPT event
• TSS777 takes over the season money lead, while Hammah rockets into third place
• TSS777 moves into first place on the all-time money list, passing Bigfus and Sass
• The all-time points race continues to be close, with the top four spots separated by only five points.
• Harv29 moves from fourth to first in all-time points, leading RowanB and Sass by just two points
• After nine events, Baccarat King now averages a (natural) ninth place finish
• 2timeace and Hammah became with 27th and 28th different players in MPT history to eliminate at least one opponent from a tournament
• TSS777 earned the second highest cash in a single event in MPT history
• Hammah became the 20th player with a triple-digit cash in a single event, earning $100 for her runner-up finish

Pictures from MPT 2010 #3

Pictures from MPT 2010 Event #3 at the Las Vegas Hilton, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, August 1, 2010.


Harv29 appeared in full Elvis regalia to celebrate the tournament in the last Las Vegas home of The King


Elvis29 poses for photos


The paparazzi looks on during Harv29's entrance


A rare wet bar during the MPT provided ample liquid refreshments for the competitors and fans


A wide selection of snacks was also on hand for the players


The large Las Vegas Hilton suite provided plenty of room for the competitors to enjoy the tournament


Another reminded that players had plenty of refreshments on hand


Jacques, the MPT Monkey sat guard over the trophy and prize money


TSS777 in the black hat in the foreground of the Mattress the he dominated, with (clockwise from TSS777) Bigfus, Sass, JTinLV, and mghenry still alive


Play at the table in the later stages, with Betdponies dealing, while hammah, tennis_bum, 2timeace, and Harv29 continue and Eilleen looks on


hammah gets ready to bet, while tennis_bum and Harv29 watch and Betdponies deals


Play at the Mattress, shortly before the final table


JTinLV took over dealing at the final table


A crowd gathered to watch the final table action, while Harv29 look to the bar for inspiration


(clockwise from left) 2timeace, TSS777, and hammah late in the tournament, while JTinLV deals; note the Kill Phil hats, as all the players pictured were regulars in that tournament series


Jacques bring the money and trophy to the table as heads up play begins


TSS777 and hammah share a laugh shortly before the final hand


Don't let the smiles fool you during heads up play, since both players wanted to win their first MPT Las Vegas Spectacular title


Player watch as the final river card is revealed


TSS777's pocket 6's made a straight on the river after both players were all-in preflop on the final hand


Elvis29 returned for more pictures after the event ended, seen here presenting the spoils of victory to TSS777


Amazon lives up to her name


Amazon poses for a more conventional photograph with Elvis and Jacques