Noticeboard & Leaderboard

Another championship is in the books, and this time the crown belongs to Lesley Webb! 🎉 WTG Lesley!

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She started strong with the very first knockout of the night on just the second hand and, obviously, landed the final knockout to seal her victory. The heads-up battle came down to Lesley versus Dianne Meloche. After some back-and-forth chip swings, the decisive hand arrived:

• Dianne shoved all-in with A5

• Lesley snap-called with JJ

• The flop delivered another Jack for Lesley, nearly locking it up.

• The turn gave Dianne a gutshot chance… but the river wasn’t a 4.

And just like that, Lesley was crowned champion! 🏆

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Now, before the cries of “rigged!” start flying (too late—I already heard it about ten times from the diehards who stuck around), let me clear the air: I didn’t even deal the final table! As soon as Lesley made it there, I stepped aside and handed the cards to Matt Clayman to make sure everything was on the level. Truth is, Lesley doesn’t need any help—she’s a rock-solid player and earned every chip herself.

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Shout-out to last season’s champ, Rod Comeau, who fought hard and finished 6th in his title defense—nothing to hang your hat on there! 👏

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Here’s the rest of the Top 10 Final Table, who split $2000 in prizes:

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1st: Lesley Webb

2nd: Dianne Meloche

3rd: Jonathan Waldman

4th: Patrick Smith

5th: DanK

6th: Rod Comeau

7th: Jeff Linger

8th: Paul Bayley

9th: Judy Webster

10th: Giordan Kovacs

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This season we added something new: a bubble prize!

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Last month, Burlington’s own Avi Saliba had custom T-shirts made for Lesley and me. On the front? A hilarious AI-generated muppet version of us (credit to Hamilton player Dan O’Neill for sparking that idea). Avi, for reasons only he knows, gave us three shirts instead of two. That left me with a dilemma: who else was going to wear this thing?

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The solution: it would go to the bubble player—the unlucky soul finishing just outside the money. At first, the room was quiet. Then I announced the twist: “Whoever wins this shirt will earn DOUBLE REWARD CARDS every time they wear it for the rest of the season.” Suddenly, eyes lit up, the table chatter kicked up, and a surprising number of people actually wanted this fashion crime.

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As we crept toward the bubble, players even joked about tanking just to snag the shirt. But in the end, 11th place went to Rochelle Matte! WTG Rochelle! She wasted no time—slipped on the shirt right away, played the Stay & Play, and promptly scored herself 4 bonus reward cards in a single shot! Looks like the shirt has magic… or maybe just sweat equity. Either way, I’m seriously considering making the bubble shirt a Dead Man’s Hand tradition. Fair warning though—it’s only going to get uglier (and less wearable) each season.

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Earlier that same day, we held the Stay & Play Championship, where Jon De Forest came out on top! WTG Jon! All those nights of staying late, playing hard, and yes, ordering “just one more beer,” finally paid off. Jon’s prize? A private chef experience with our very own Shai Mohindra, valued at $250. 🍴 Not bad at all! Runner-up honors went to David Pirie—solid run, David!

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We also handed out a slew of awards for outstanding play this season—along with some great prizes. Here are your winners:

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Norm Gaudette

Points Leader - 8259

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Matt Clayman

Most Bounties - 103

Highest Attendance - 57

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Rob Gracie

Most Final Tables - 16

Most Wins (tie) - 3

Highest Final Table % per Entry (30+ appearances) - 40%

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Rich Reich

Highest Points per Entry - 293.8

Most Bounties per Entry - 2.83

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Patrick Smith

Most Wins (tie) - 3

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Judy Webster

Highest Points per Entry (30+ appearances) - 202.3

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Rod Comeau

Highest Final Table % per entry - 44.4%

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John Elgersman

Most Bounties per Entry (30+ appearances) - 1.67

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Roberto Ragona

Most Bounties Redeemed for Reward Cards - 50

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Draw for Leftover Prizes

Dave Webb

Eileen Grady

Karen Rossignol

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Draw Winner

Eileen Grady

Donation to be made to Interval House of Hamilton Women's Shelter

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Bike Winner

John Elgersman

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And finally — a huge thank-you to everyone who made this season possible:

• Matt Clayman — as always, thanks for helping run the tournament and for dealing both final tables. Couldn’t have done it without you.

• Lesli Gladstone — thanks for helping shuffle for the Stay & Play Championship. Much appreciated!

• Norm Gaudette — thanks for letting me use your poker chips. Lifesavers.

• Owen & Dave — thank you for the generous gift card donations.

• Shai Mohindra — thanks for the generous prize donation (and for being awesome).

• Rachele, Mel, and the Brown Barrel kitchen staff — you made the night run like clockwork — seriously, this might have been the smoothest one yet.

• The anonymous bike donor — you say anonymous, but I know who you are — thank you!

 

And, of course, one more enormous thank-you to the beautiful and incredibly talented Lesley Webb. Not a day goes by that I don’t count my lucky stars that you’re in my life. We both had a marathon weekend packed with events, and we’re completely wiped out (we slept until about 1pm — proof!). Watching you pull off this win after another strong showing the day before just made me admire you even more. It was a long week getting everything ready and balancing life’s curveballs, but moments like this remind me we can tackle anything together. Love you, babe. ❤️