Details for the SPO "Cash Game" Special Event have been posted.

Cash Game Info

PLEASE NOTE: The date has been changed to July 22nd.

Washington State passed a law making playing poker online a Class C Felony, and it took effect on June 7th, 2006. If you feel this is ridiculous, and want to help bring about a change, please join the Poker Players Alliance.

Remarkably, if some in US Congress have their way, a national prohibition on playing poker on the Internet may soon be in effect. Legislation moving through Congress right now will stop Americans from playing Internet poker by deputizing banks and Internet service providers to prevent you from accessing poker websites.

The Poker Players Alliance, a growing group of more than 27,000 poker players, is fighting this legislation and working to promote and protect the game. The Poker Players Alliance is asking Congress to consider a rational and realistic approach to online poker that would create a regulated environment for people to play online - much like the regulations that govern traditional casinos. The Poker Players Alliance supports regulation that ensures that the games remain safe, fair and honest, and that dispute mechanisms are available. In fact, legislation has been introduced that would commission a federal study of online gaming to determine the full benefits of regulating and taxing it in the United States.

Our country is gravely out of step with the rest of the world where governments like the United Kingdom have passed laws permitting and regulating online poker. The Poker Players Alliance is actively supporting this as a sensible alternative to prohibition and so should you!

Click |here| to find out how just a $20 membership can help change the landscape.

I am sorry to announce in the 11th hour that tonight's event at Jillian's has been cancelled. Due to the venue management's short sightedness, the SPO did not have any notification of a private party happening in our regular Tuesday night space.

We are due to be back there next Tuesday as scheduled.

This Thursday, June 15th, Dante's in the U District will feature DOUBLE POINTS. This is the Re-Buy Structure division of the league, and points could very well be huge! If you don't have anything on the board at Dante's yet, this is a great opportunity to get in the game in this division. If you already have points at Dante's, this is quite a way to spend those points wisely on re-buy's to get into the astronomical points being awarded.

1 tournament starting at 6:00 p.m., but late-comers can always be seated up until 7:00 p.m.

Congratualtions to Per Widlund and Dan Gestaut for winning the first ever Tag Team Tournament!

Per and Dan fought hard through a field of 22 teams, over 6 hours of play on Saturday June 10th. With the slowest, most gradual blinds ever in an SPO event, there was lots of room to play some good poker, and little need to make moves out of desperation.

When the final table was formed, Per and Dan were just about even with Ted Buttle and Fred Bowen, at about 28,000 in chips. Just behind were Rob Mar and Kevin Saito with 18,000, Roy Hammock and Brent Carlson with 15,000, and Drew Hall and Tyler Chott with 12,500. Rounding out the final table were the teams of Skylar Atkins and Nathaniel Chartrand (5600), Bryce Brewer and Matthew Lorenzo (4000) and Steve and Kate Burnham (2500).

Action went rather quick on the final table in the first few rounds. Steve and Kate's short stack couldn't hold up to the increasing blinds and they finished in 8th. After a couple of severe hits, Drew and Tyler succumbed and took 7th place. While surving some horrendous odds in showdowns all day, Ted and Fred saw their odds change quickly when their Ace-King lost to Brent and Roy's Ace-Queen, and they went out in 6th place.

5 handed went for a little longer, now that the stacks were relatively evened out. Dan and Per still had a decent lead over the others, but Rob and Kevin made up some ground knocking out a couple of teams. Skylar and Nathaniel had survived numerous all-in's with their short stack and out lasted more teams than expected, but they finally fell short and finished in 5th. Roy and Brent decided to make a move with an Ace, but fell short when Rob and Kevin's Queen paired, and they finished in 4th. And while suriving with the second shortest stack on the final table, Bryce and Matthew finished in 3rd.

Head's up began with Per and Dan having almost a 2-1 chip lead over Rob and Kevin. But with a run of horrendous cards in the first 5 hands, they saw their lead shrivel up, and they were then trailing Rob and Kevin by 3-1 underdogs. Kevin and Rob saw an opening to end the tournament and tried to bluff with a 3-7 off suit on a flop of 6-J-5. After a quick tag-out, Dan decides to call with nothing but Ace-King. With nothing coming on the turn or river to help, Rob and Kevin suffer a loss of almost 70,000 chips, and the swing of 3-1 has switched over to put Dan and Per inthe lead.

It didn't take much longer after that. With a board of A-3-4-5 Kevin and Rob decided to push all-in when the 5 of their Q-5 paired, but a quick call from Dan and Per sealed their fate. Dan and Per turned over Ace-Jack, and all that could come to help Rob and Kevin wasa Queen or a 5. When an Ace hit on the river, the tournament was over and Dan and Per became the first ever Tag Team Poker Champions!

Click |here| for the full results of the event.

The game of poker lost a pioneer recently. Walter "Puggy" Pearson was one of the original 7 poker players invited to Las Vegas by Benny Binion in 1970 to particpate in the first World Series of Poker. After leaving the navy, Puggy became one of the roadhouse Texas gamblers, along with Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim. He was runner up in the 1971 and 1972 World Series Main Events, and won the 1973 Main Event for $130,000 (back then it was 'winner take all').

Little known fact about Puggy is that he invented the "freeze out" format of poker tournaments that is the standard today. In the freeze-out structure, players receive only one starting stack of chips and once they bust out, their tournament is over. In 1972, the freeze-out became the format for the World Series of Poker. Funny that Puggy won it that year...

At the height of his career he had won a bus to travel in. On the side of the bus was his name and the quote:

"I'll play any man from any land, any game he can name for any amount he can count."

In very small print below the quote was written, "Provided I like it."