Statistical Musings Following MPT 2009 Caesars Atlantic City Part II

• Ghosthunter became this season's fifth first-time winner, while joining Betdponies, RowanV, Scurvydog, Trojanrabbit, and Syrorange3042 as the only players to win their MPT debut
• Sass broke a tie with Bigfus for most consecutive second places, with her third straight runner-up finish, fourth in the last five events, and sixth career second place in 18 events
  
• Sass cashed for the fifth time in six events this season
• Sass holds a commanding 19 point lead in the Sealy Cup standings
• RowanB earned his third straight minimum cash to hold onto second place in the Player of the Year race
• Ghosthunter became the 36th different player to participate in at least one MPT event and the twelfth different person to make their MPT debut during the 2009 season
• Sass pulled to within one of Bigfus for most career cashes, with her ninth in the money finish in 18 career events
• RowanB earned his eighth career cash, moving past Harv29 into third place on the all-time list
• Ghosthunter became the 20th different player to cash in at least on MPT event
• Harv29 moved past Bigfus into third place for the season point standings
• Sass passed her husband, Betdponies and TSS777 to leap into second place on the all-time money list, trailing only Bigfus
• Sass took the all-time point lead with 123 and now holds a three point lead over Harv29 and a four point lead over RowanB
• RowanB has eliminated at least one player in four consecutive events, setting a record for the MPT, breaking a tie with Ging for the longest such streak
• Baccarat King tied Betdponies for most career last place finishes, with four
  

Pictures from MPT 2009 #6

Pictures from MPT 2009 Event #6, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the Caesars Centurion Tower on Saturday, November 21, 2009.

The MPT Monkey stands guard over the trophy as heads-up play begins


Sass and Ghosthunter square off as TSS777 deals to begin heads-up play


Bigfus looks on, Baccarat King looks at his iPhone, Betdponies eats a pretzel, while TSS77 deal and Sass checks her cards


A closer look at Sass taking a closer look at her cards


A view of the crowd gathered to watch the final hands


Ghosthunter watches a key hand late in the tournament


Everyone anxiously watched the flop, turn, and river as each player was all-in several times during heads-up play


Ghosthunter watches as the final river card unveiled


The final hand


Tournament Director, Harv29, presents the trophy to the newest MPT champion

MPT 2009 #6 - Return to Caesars (11/21/2009)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - He heard about the Mattress Poker Tour for years, but never joined in. We may never know what convinced Ghosthunter to play in his first MPT event last weekend, but we do know that the man knows how to make an entrance. Patient play in the early stages put him in good position to start the tournament, a bit of good fortune in a big hand against one of the MPT's winningest players, and surviving heads up play with the blinds at a high level made him the newest MPT champion. Ghosthunter became the sixth different player to win their MPT debut, joining Betdponies, RowanV, Scurvydog, Trojanrabbit, and Syrorange3042. He was also the fifth's player to win their first MPT championship this season, sixth different winner in six events this season, thirteenth different winner in twenty MPT events.

The tournament featured a run of river and ugly beats, including a preflop all-in by RowanB with 2-3 that survived against Betdponies' A-K, and rivered straight by Ghosthunter to cripple TSS777 when those two players clashed as big stacks late in the tournament, and Sass doubling through RowanB with 5-5 against his 9-9 near the bubble. These were just a few examples of the roller coaster ride of those who survived to the higher blind levels, as each player will tell his or her story of how their evening came to and end.

Most of the field hung on through the early stages of the event, as only Baccarat King was eliminated before the first break in the action. He vowed before the event to be more selective about his starting hands and kept to his word, though he twice found himself playing big pots with small pairs against boards with quite a few scare cards on the boards. Undeterred, Baccarat King took his hands to the river and found himself first to the rail for the third consecutive tournament he played and fourth time in the last five tournaments, since winning the October 2007 event.

Play among the remaining players was rather uninteresting before the break to color up the red chips. At this stage, TSS777, fueled by a big pot against Baccarat King, was in the lead with 4,200 chips, followed by Ghosthunter with 3,850, Civicmon with 3,550, Sass with 3,025, Betdponies with 2,350, RowanB with 2,000, Bigfus with 1,950, and Harv29 with 1,575.

After the break, some players picked up their aggressiveness looking to double up for a chance at the win, while others limped into pots with speculative hands hoping the cards would fall their way. Civicmon and Harv29 took the more passive approach, calling preflop raises and waiting to see flops before deciding if they wanted to commit their chips, while RowanB and Betdponies took a more aggressive approach before the flop, with a series of raises and all-in moves. TSS777 slowly accumulated chips and had Ghosthunter all-but eliminated until a straight on the river brought the eventual champ off the ropes and back into the action. Sass played patiently aggressive to survive into second place, but lost out in the battle of all-ins during the big blind stages to earn her third straight and sixth career second place finish.

The results:

• Ghosthunter
  
• Sass
• RowanB
• Betdponies
• Civicmon
  
• Harv29
• TSS777
• Bigfus
• Baccarat King