We'll order some pizza around 8 or 9 as well.  If you've been here before just show up a little before 7 for the buy in.  If you don't know where we are just email me: league@lansingpoker.com

Hope to see you Saturday!

 Email us for directions: league@lansingpoker.com

Click logo to visit the Winter Poker League message forum

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[#] Before Name = Week number where that player finished 1st (#) After Name = Number of times finished in a payout spot League Championship Prize Pool: $1,200   Qualifying    Week #:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Best 5 1 [5] Justin Shaulis (4) 50 52   10 70     20 47 13 239 2 [2][3] Joe Zanti (2) 39 66 64 17 32           218 3 Mr. X (3)   27 40 55 10 7 10 27 51 19 200 4 Andrew Zink (4) 6 5 9 38 25 43 21 36 25 55 197 5 Dennis Campbell (2) 15 8 60 19 33 27 45 12 9 17 184 6 Lawrence Kaylor (3) 45   43 51   18   9 13 26 183 7 Matthew Rynbrandt (3)   11   6 63   38 26 33 16 176 8 Jason Niekamp (2) 24 55 29 28 30 34         176 9 Jeremy Jennings (3)   17   5 43 6 54   37 25 176 10 [4] Travis Flynn (2)   19 13 64       55 22   173 11 Jonah Allen (2) 7 38 29 12 35   23 41     166 12 [7][9] Dan Wernstrom (2)             57 17 61 26 161 13 [10] Everette Miller (3) 10 21 18 11 23 11 30 8 24 61 159 14 Chad Patrick (1) 20   24   54 9   22   36 156 15 Jeremy Brown (1) 16 17 27 27 16     45   30 146 16 Sharon Stokes (1) 24 30 17 7 26 8 13 14 15 41 138 17 [1] Brian Pretzel (2) 60 6 8 41       13 6 10 132 18 Owen Stewart   32 20   20   12 27 12 31 130 19 Ron Difilippo 12 9 5 18 35 23 24 24 17 14 124                           20 Brian Ziolkowski (1) 32 13 24 24 21 22 7 10 19 123 21 Shannon Martis (1)   28 52 9   10   23     122 22 [6] Mike Redding (1) 15 12 19 16 11 59 5   8   121 23 Bill Stokes (1) 5 7 15 16 14 18 22 11 15 48 119 24 Chris Connelly     30   17 13 24 15   20 106 25 [8] Mrs. X (1)     12     5   63 10 12 102 26 Josh Brinkman (1)   46     18 12     5 15 96 27 David Albert     14 21 24 21 15       95 28 Ken Romanczyk (1)     36     45 10       91 29 David Peterson   14 23 14 20   13 5   11 84 30 Scott Gilmore 21 20 11 8 13   6 16     81 31 Eric Spicer   23   28     16       67 32 Raul D. (1)         50   8       58 33 David Koenigsknecht 14   16   12           42 34 Derek Harris     11 14         14   39 35 E.C. Carolan   12   26             38 36 John Collins   28 7               35 37 Julie Kaylor               6 23   29 38 Adam Ryckman 9 19                 28 39 Chad Bush         23           23 40 Stephen Parker 22                   22 41 Roger Chandler                 21   21 42 Chris Dingee                 16   16 43 Jeff Brooks   15                 15 44 Dan Hatfield         15           15 45 Andy Radimaker             14       14 46 David Ecker 12                   12 47 Nathan Oberhaltzer 8                   8 48 George                 8   8 49 Mike Smyth               7     7 50 Andy Humphrey     6               6

2009 Winter Poker League

February 21st thru May 9th

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The 2009 Winter Poker League is a series of home games running on 11 consecutive Saturday nights at 7pm, with the only exception being March 28th where we will NOT play.  All nights are now No Limit Hold'em Tourneys with a $40 Buy-In, with weeks 5 & 10 being BIG STACK events with a $50 Buy In.

Points are earned each week you play based as how well you finished against the field.  See below to read how points are earned.  Everyone's top 5 scores will count toward the Week 11 Championship event, with the top 18 players making the field.  So even if you can't come to all or most of the events you won't be left behind by those who can.  No matter how well you do only your best 5 scores count.

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The games' structure, format, blinds and payouts will be the same as the '08 Fall Poker League with the following notable exceptions:

--  As just mentioned ALL 10 Weeks are No Limit Hold'em Tournaments.  Weeks 5 & 10 are Big Stack events.

-- Additional points are now awarded for making a final tale (3 pts.) and for each player you personally bust from a game (1 pt.)

-- On nights with 23 players or less the first two levels will be 30 minutes instead of 20.

  When:  11 Games played February 21st through May 2nd, Saturdays at 7:00 pm.  First buy-in is at 6:50pm.  Week's 5 & 10's Big Stack games will start at 5pm.

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  Where:  My home, south-west side of Lansing, about a mile from the Waverly/I-496 exit (CLICK HERE to request full directions)

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  How Does It Work:  The Winter Poker League is a series of 11 No Limit Hold'em tournaments played in 11 consecutive Saturday nights, with the only exception being March 28th when we will not have a game.  The first 10 games will be the "regular season" where anyone and everyone is welcome to play every week.  The 11th game will be the Championship game, where the TOP 18 points earners from the regular season play for the league pool (see below to view how the points system works.)

         The buy in will be $40 per game, with $5 from each player going to the league's Championship game prize pool.  The only exception will be the two Big Stack events in weeks 5 & 10 which will have a $50 buy-in.  All remaining money will be paid out like a regular tourney each week.  Every dollar paid in buy-ins will be paid back out in prize money; there is no "house rake" or fees of any kind.  Any drinks or munchies are complimentary, as some players occasionally bring snacks or beverages to share, and I usually have a few things here for everyone.

         The Championship Game does not have a buy-in at all--it is a Freeroll for those who qualify, where the league's pool money is used for payouts.  

         People may come to as many or as few games as they like; you DO NOT have to commit to playing all or even most of the games, just come when you can.  We have had over 120 people attend our league games over time, and several of them have only come to 1-to-3 events.

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  What We Play:  All of our tournaments are No Limit Texas Hold 'em.  Weeks 5 & 10 are Big Stack events, and also No Limit Texas Hold 'em.

  Seating for Each Game:  At the start of each tourney we will randomly draw for seating.  Each table will be represented by the one of the four suits in a deck of cards--hearts, clubs, etc.  All players will randomly draw a card for their seat and match it with the corresponding card at one of the tables. Whoever draws the Ace for their table will start the game as the dealer for their table, the 2 is the Small Blind and the 3 is the Big Blind.

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  Blind Structure:  The blinds are raised every 20 minutes.  Our system has them moving slowly at first, then quickening up as the game goes on.  This insures everyone gets some good, enjoyable playing time in before the blinds force more action.

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    We've used this system (or ones similar) for 50+ home tourneys and its worked very well.  The games have been ending shortly after midnight for the last 2 players.

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  Optional Bounty Chips:  Everyone has the option of purchasing a $5 bounty chip at the start of the tournament.  If you buy this chip you will be eligible to win the $5 chip of other players when you bust them out if they have one.  No matter how you finish in the tournament you will be able to cash in all the bounty chips you accumulated during the game--you DON'T lose them when you bust out yourself, you only lose the one you bought at the start.  Once you've won someone's bounty chip it's yours to keep until you cash it in.  If you buy a chip, and are busted by a player who DID NOT buy one himself and is not involved in the bounty pool, you can cash out your own chip and get your $5 back, along with any other chips you earned along the way.  And of course if you win the tournament, you get the $5 for your own chip.

  So far about 75% of our players are opting to join the bounty chip pool, and its working very well.  You may finish out of the weekly prize money, but you can still cash out $20 or more just from busting other players first.

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  Points System:  Points are earned during the 10 week regular season based on how well you finish each week AND how many players participated in that week's game.

The finishing places are awarded points in this fashion:

                   1st)  30 pts.

                   2nd) 25 pts.

                   3rd)  20 pts.

                   4th)  15 pts.

                   5th)  10 pts.

    6th-on-down)  5 pts. each

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  In addition to the placing points, all players will get also receive points the following ways:

  -- 1 point for every other participant they outlasted during that week's game.

  -- 1 point for every opponent they busted out during that game.

  -- 3 points for making the final table for that week.

  So as an example: Someone who finishes 1st in a 30 player tournament will receive a total of at least 63 pts.: 30 pts. for 1st, 29 pts. for outlasting 29 other players, 3 pts. for making the final table and 1 pt. for busting the last opponent when heads up at the end.  They would also receive additional single points for every other player they busted along the way.

Here are some other examples for points awarded to the top 10 finishers with various total player entries.  Keep in mind everyone gets at least 5 pts. per game (10 pts. on our Big Stack nights) as well as 1 point for every player who went out before they did--I just listed the top 10 here for sake of space:

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  As you can see the top finishers in bigger games are rewarded for surviving the tougher field, however the difference isn't so dramatic as to render a smaller victory meaningless either.

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  Weekly Payouts:  Here is the payout structure for the $40 weekly games, based on attendance.  As you can see we average about 1 payout position for every 4-to-6 players.  Payouts for the $50 Big Stack games will have roughly a 30% higher award per person, as $45 per player goes to the weekly prize pool as opposed to $35: 

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