Statistical Notes Following MPT 2014 Event #3

Observations following the MPT Main Event, the final event of the 2014 season, held at the Borgata Water Club in Atlantic City, NJ on December 28, 2014.

• The 2014 MPT Main Event was only one player short of tying the record largest Main Event set in 2010
• Sass became the sixth different Main Event champion and fourth consecutive woman to win the end of year event
• Sass is the seventh player in MPT history to win more than one series event
• Sass scored more points in this event than in any other in her MPT career and came within $5 of tying her all-time biggest single event cash
• Skiteacher became the first Player of the Year with only a single cash during the season
• Cushla and Sherlock returned to the MPT after missing seventeen events, the second longest gap between appearances in series history, trailing only Dave's 25 tournament gap
• Betdponies also broke a long streak of missing nine straight tournaments, the fifth longest in series history, just shorter than Sionow (13) and Ging (10)
• RowanB finished in eighth place for the first time in his MPT career
• Cushla became the nineteenth different player in MPT history to finish an event in last place
• For the first time in his career, Harv29 went through a full MPT season without a cash, also breaking a streak of six seasons with more than one cash
• TSS777 failed to cash in a MPT event for only the second full season in series history

Statistical Notes Following MPT 2011 Event #6

Observations following the sixth event of the 2011 season,  held at the Borgata Water Club in Atlantic City on November 19, 2011.

• The Borgata became the sixth different venue to host more than one MPT event
• RowanB has now won both events held at the Borgata
• The two-player team named Trouble was the 47th different player in MPT history (and the first two-person team)
• Mr. Lucky is the 30th different player in MPT history to participate in more than one event
• Mr. Lucky became the tenth different player to cash in more than one MPT event, and the first since Betdponies and Bigfus did so (in the first two events of the series) to cash in his first career two events
• Baccarat King was the first player in MPT history to be eliminated on the first hand
• Baccarat King tied the Amazon for longest career streak without cashing, which currently stands at eight events
• RowanB ended a streak of five events out of the money, which tied to fifth longest streak of all-time
• Bigfus ended a four tournament in the money streak, which tied the second longest streak of all-time
• Sass' absence from the tournament ended her streak of 29 straight MPT events played
• RowanB was the first player in MPT history to win with pocket Aces on the final hand
• Baccarat King tied Betdponies for the most career last place finishes, being the first player eliminated first for the sixth time in his MPT career

Assorted Statistics Following 2009 Main Event

• Judykq and Syrorange3042 became the 20th and 21st players to participate in more than one MPT event
• RowanB became the fourth player in MPT history to win more than one event
• Bigfus became the fifth player in MPT history to finish in last place in more than one event
• RowanB moved into a tie for second place in all-time career cashes with Sass, each with 9
• Betdponies moved into solo position of 5th place on the all-time cash list with 6, now one ahead of TSS777
• Judkq became the 21st player to cash in a MPT event
• Sass's one-point victory in the Player of the Year race tied TSS777's 2007 title for the closest margin of victory in the Sealy Cup race
• RowanB's second place marked his second consecutive year of improving on his place in the Sealy Cup standings, moving from fifth to third before this season's runner-up finish
• Betdponies jumps to third place in the Player of the Year race after his second cash in the last four events
• Harv29 secured fourth place in the Player of the Year standings with his second cash of the season and second consecutive Main Event cash
• Bigfus falls to fifth in the Player of the Year standings after her third straight early exit
• Syrorange3042 cracks the top ten in the Player of the Year race, moving up to eighth place, despite playing in only two events
• RowanB and Harv29 each pass Sass on the all-time points leader race, with RowanB moving into first place and Harv29 into second place in that category
• RowanB's fourth consecutive cash is the second longest streak in MPT history, trailing only Bigfus' amazing run of six straight cashes starting in the 2008 season and continuing through her victory in June, 2009
• Baccarat King's early exit marked his sixth consecutive failure to cash in a MPT event he has played, one short of RowanB for the most tournaments in a row without making the money
• Bigfus also failed to cash in her sixth straight event, having not reached the money since her win in June, 2009, following a string of 8 cashes in 9 events
• RowanB's four kills tied him with several other players for the sixth most in a single MPT event and moved him into sole position of second place on the all-time list, trailing only Betdponies
• RowanB eliminated a player for the fifth consecutive event, continuing the longest such streak in MPT history
• RowanB's eleven kills during 2009 was one short of Harv29's single season record, set during the 2008 season
• Betdponies three kills brought his season total to ten, making him only the third player in MPT history to earn double-digit kills in a single season
• RowanB's 21 points were the third most in a single MPT event, trailing only Trojanrabbit and Stan, who both set their records in the largest field in MPT history in July, 2009
• Betdponies' seventeen points was the seventh highest total in a single MPT event
  

Pictures from MPT 2009 Main Event

Pictures from MPT 2009 Main Event (Event #7), held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the Borgata Casino Hotel and Spa on Monday, December 28, 2009.


Before the tournament, players celebrated a new arrival to the Tournament Director's family


The MPT Monkey stands (sits) guard over (under) the coveted Main Event trophy


TSS777 deals, while Betdponies and RowanB (Richards) look on in the late stages of the event


Still three-handed, Judykq hangs in against RowanB and Betdponies, while TSS77 deals and Syrorange3042 watches


RowanB watches his opponent bet during heads-up play


The pivotal hands in heads-up play, as RowanB turns over his 10-7 suited, revealing he was ahead of Betdponies 6-4s


The final cards from the final hand, where RowanB's K-7 held up against Betdponies' J-7


The new champion, his cash and his new trophy


Harv29 presents the third Main Event bracelet to the second Main Event Champion


The future MPT champ (Harv30? Harvette29?) rests with the MPT Monkey after the event

MPT 2009 #7 - Main Event, Borgata (12/28/2009)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – This year’s MPT Champion did not come as a complete surprise, but not many people expected RowanB to take home the Main Event trophy last month. After failing to cash in the last four events of 2008 and the first three events of 2009, it looked like RowanB had lost the form that made him a Player of the Year candidate early in the 2008 season and looked more like the player who finished in last place in three of his first six MPT events (and second to last in another). An agonizing loss on the bubble in Las Vegas against Trojanrabbit’s pocket aces could have made 2009 a lost year for one of the MPT’s season veterans, but RowanB regained his lost confidence at his own tournament during this year’s ECLVA Fall Classic, when he began a series of four straight cashes, culminating in December’s Main Event victory.

The tournament started with Baccarat King providing the early action, losing a big pot to TSS777 and taking those chips back and then some before the end of the first blind level. Baccarat King also crippled Bigfus early in the event and took what appeared to be a commanding chip lead. Baccarat King was looking like the player who ran over a field of MPT veterans back in October, 2007, but lost a series of big pots to fall back into the pack before eventually falling out just after the short-stacked Bigfus finally was the first player eliminated for the second time in her last four events. Both former MPT champs, Bigfus and Baccarat King, finished out of the money for the sixth straight event, one short of RowanB’s record seven straight tournaments without a cash.

With Amazon knocking out Bigfus and Harv29 eliminating Baccarat King, it looked like RowanB’s run at Player of the Year was just about over. Despite cashing in the three previous events, recording kills in the last four events, and never finishing more than two spots out of the money since the first event of the season, Sass’ amazingly consistent season of four second place finishes and one third in the first six events of the year barely left the door ajar for the biggest comeback since the Sealy Cup was first presented after the 2007 season. However, a fortuitous flop for RowanB ended Sass’ day early in the Main Event and by eliminating the Player of the Year leader, he kept his slim hopes for the season championship alive.

It appeared for a while that two-time MPT champion Amazon might be poised for another run at a championship, but both she and TSS777 fell victim to Betdponies. Those two kills not only vaulted to three-time defending Main Event Champion back into contention to win again, but all but sealed his wife’s Player of the Year title. RowanB took the chip lead in the later stages of the tournament, but failed to translate this edge into the early kills he needed to overtake Sass for the season title. Still, it was shaping up to be an interesting battle in the later stages of the tournament.

Betdponies had a lot of momentum going in the late stages of the event, but never could amass enough chips to run over the table as he has done many times. However, despite his chip disadvantage, he did have the positional advantage over RowanB, as the two MPT regulars were the most aggressive remaining players and appeared to be the favorites to win as the bubble loomed. 2009 ECLVA Fall Classic champion Syrorange3042 was next the fall, as both he and Harv29 fell victim to RowanB’s bigger chip stack after calling preflop all-ins. The Tournament Director, Harv29, appeared ready to double back into contention, but a runner-runner straight sent him to the rail in fourth place.

Following those two eliminations, only Judykq stood between a heads-up battle between two MPT regulars, but she didn’t seem too eager to let that happen. She had played a patient tournament up to that point, not putting her chip stack at risk until she was forced to, but also not being afraid to move all of her chips in with an above average hand in the late stages. She doubled through RowanB at one point when he called her preflop all-in with a smaller pair than she showed, but eventually fell victim to Betdponies. In the process, she continued the trend of at least one woman cashing in every MPT Main Event and also for the sixteenth time in the last seventeen events (with this year’s Las Vegas spectacular being the only event in that stretch where all the money went to the men in the field).

With two experienced players and the blinds and antes representing such a big portion of each player’s stack the heads-up battle didn’t figure to last very long, but after a quick double up when Betdponies had an ace in the big blind against RowanB’s king in the small blind it took a while before we saw a flop. Each player moved all-in a few times, with Betdponies being a little more aggressive and eventually overcoming his chip deficit to take the lead when he chose to call RowanB’s all-in with 6-4 suited. RowanB showed 10-7 suited and his hand held up, leaving Betdponies with fewer chips than the blinds. Shortly afterwards, RowanB’s K-7 finished off Betdponies who turned over J-7 and the MPT crowned a new Main Event Champion for the first time since 2006.

RowanB’s victory broke a string of thirteen straight tournaments between victories, the longest in MPT history. His win plus four “kills” almost allowed to close the gap from to a single point behind Sass for the MPT Player of the Year, where going into the Main Event he trailed by 19. The one point margin of victory by Sass ties the previous closest margin by TSS777 in 2006, where he edged out Betdponies, 20-19 (places 1 to 7 were all separated by 1 point). The win moved RowanB to second place on the 2009 money list with $220, behind Sass’ $320, and moved him moves into first place in career points with 140, leading Harv29 (129). RowanB also became the fourth player in MPT history to win more than one series event - joining Betdponies, TSS777, and Amazon – while also extending his record to five straight events with at least one “kill”. Bigfus became the fifth player to finish in last place in more than one MPT event.

The results:

• RowanB
• Betdponies
• Judykq
• Harv29
• Syrorange3042
• Tss777
• Amazon
• Sass
• Baccarat King
• Bigfus