Event # 1  –   ‘ 2012 Season Opener ‘  –  22nd January 2012 

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Betty Caris  has claimed her first win on the Big M Poker Tour

at her very first ever appearance !

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26 players took to the felt for our 2012 Season Opener -

” Deepstack 300 “.  Our new venue – Club Pacific / Golf Club , Carindale

was the real winner with players enjoying the new plush surrounds &

poker room…..BIG M Poker has certainly found a new home !

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It’s a family affair with  ‘ Team Caris ’…..Charles  ” Chuck “  Caris won the last official

event in 2011 - ” Grand Final “ & his Mum – Betty Caris stamps her signature on tour 

with an emphatic win at our first event for season 2012 & takes home a healthy

payout of $3050 including a $100 Bounty.  Well Played Betty ! 

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For Top 9 Final Placings  ~  Click Here

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Event # 40  –   Season Grand Final  –  27th November 2011 

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Charles  ” Chuck “  Caris  has registered his first win on the Big M Poker Tour !

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Chuck decided to bring his best poker performance to the table for the

last official event of the season  -  The Grand Final !

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Chuck, dominated from the start & had the final table in his sights all day.

30 Players spread out over 4 tables soon became 1 & after almost

12 hours of grinding poker we finalised our top 5 !

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1st  ~  Charles  ”  Chuck  ”  Caris   *  2nd  ~  Steve  ”  Super ”  Ford   *

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3rd  ~  Eric  “  Master Turtle  “  Sclavos  * 

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 4th  ~  Wayne  “  Phat Stack  “  Simonds  *  5th  ~  Garry Dilks  *

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Well done to all 2011 season players !

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 BIG M Poker thanks everyone for making the 2011 Poker Tour a success !

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We also thank our 2011 Official Tour Sponsor  ~  CTBS

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Confidential Tax & Business Services

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  It’s official !   Larry  ” Last Race ”  Cassidy  is Season 2011

BIG M Poker Social Club  ~  Player of the Year !

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After 40 Season Events, Larry has become the # 1 ranked player

on tour.  Let’s review his form:

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Total Games on Tour  ~  28

Top 5 ‘ s  ~  10

Final Table Appearances  ~  14

Earnings  ~  Ranked  # 3

Tournament Wins  ~  3

Final Points  ~  12 446

Points Average  Per Game  ~  460.96

Final Ranking  ~  # 1

*

Congratulations Larry on a most deserving title !

 

Event # 39  –  Preliminary Season Final  –  20th November 2011 

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Glenn Higgins has registered his first win on the Big M Poker Tour

with a come from behind effort that will certainly be a confidence booster

going into the Season Grand Final on Sunday 27th November.

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Glenn was derailed early in the tournament when a showdown of

KK vs KK was not declared a split pot & it was Chuck Caris who flushed

out on Glenn & left him in a bad way.  But soon enough Glenn re-grouped &

made his way to the final table where he encountered the Monster Stack of

Mr Larry  ’  Last Race  ’  Cassidy  in a long heads up battle that showed

both grit & determination a key factors in any heads up battle !

*

Glenn, eventually reeled in Cassidy & went on to claim his first victory on tour.

Philip  ’  The Whale  ’  Brennan ran his usual honest race & claimed 3rd prize &

Michael Cook  – 4th –  handed the bubble honour over to

 Maurice  ’  The BIG M  ’  Lorena  in 5th place.

*

With only 1 more event  -  ‘ Season Grand Final ‘  -  Sunday 27th November

the Player of the Year title is sealed, signed & delivered to…..

Larry  ’ Last Race ‘  Cassidy  who mathematically cannot be beaten by

any other player in close range.

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Congratulations to Larry – A truly derserving victory !

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Current Top 3 Players on the Player of the Year Leaderboard are as follows ~

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  Larry Cassidy  ~  12 446

  Adrian Ashford  ~  10 135

  Maurice Lorena  ~  10 135 

Event # 38  –  POTY Bonus Game Deepstack  –  6th November 2011 

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Larry Cassidy has extended his lead on the Player of the Year points table

& it’s  ’ catch me if you can ‘  from now on.  With only 2 games remaining for the

2011 season he needs to hold on because the challengers are still within reach &

ready to pounce should Larry slip up !

*

Larry, struggled early in Event # 38 but slowly collected chips & made his

way to the final table.  New player, Matthew Fischer probably made more

enemies than friends but held  twice as many chips when the heads up battle

against Cassidy began.  The cards began to roll for Cassidy & hitting 2 pair

on the flop with J 3 was more than enough to take out the final hand & claim

his first real tournament win for the season.  Previously, he had won a Cash

Game Challenge & a Quadrella heat win.  Maggie ” The Bean Queen ”  Green

 played her usual solid game & finished in 3rd place.

*

Current Top 4 Players on the Player of the Year Leaderboard are as follows ~

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1.  Larry Cassidy  ~  11 577

  2.  Adrian Ashford  ~  9991

3.  Maurice Lorena  ~  9816

4.  Dave Clark  ~  9300    

 Event # 37 –  ‘  THE WHALE  ’  –  30th October 2011 

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Philip Brennan has become an instant  ’ BIG M Whale ‘  after winning the

biggest event ever on the BIG M Poker Tour ! 

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31 Final Starters including 11 Satellite Winners took their seat

in a marathon day of poker !  With  $15 500  in the total prize pool

players had to bring their ‘ A ‘ game along if they were to cash in.

Players had plenty of chips to splash around with a starting stack of 50 K. 

The 30 minute blinds were gruelling & on a day where the

” Melbourne Cup “ was a central theme, only the proven stayers survived.

*

Due to venue time restrictions players were advised at the start of the

tournament that play would stop at 1am.  At this time, the ” Chip Equity ”

rule applied where players made a chip count & placings  /  % prize pool payouts

 were finalised !  With over 1.5 Million Chips in play  -  Philip Brennan

had close to 700, 000 chips to his name.

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~  FINAL PLACINGS  ~

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1st ~ Philip Brennan   *   2nd ~ Adrian Ashford   *   3rd ~ Bruce Wyborn  *

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4th ~ Cameron De Vere   *   5th ~ Maurice Lorena  *   

 Event # 36  –  Last Chance Whale Satellite 7  –  26th October 2011 

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It was the  ’ Last Chance ‘  to earn a $500 Ticket into the biggest

event of the season ” The Whale Event “ to be played this

Sunday 30th October 2011.

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Nigel Blackwell, Nunzio Pace & Dave Clark all took full advantage

of the situation & locked in their seat in an Event that will carry

a guaranteed $10 000 Prize Pool & Growing !

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A total of  11 Satellite Winners will be amongst the many other

starters on Sunday all chasing glory on the BIG M Poker Tour !

*

Well Done Gents & Good Luck !

 Event # 35 –  El Cheapo Reload 4  –  16th October 2011 

*

Luca  ” The Luckbox “  M  has gained some respect amongst fellow

players when he brought up his first win on the BIG M Poker Tour

in the El Cheapo Reload 4 on Sunday 16th October 2011.

Since joining the tour in August this year, Luca has played 3 times &

has made the final table on all 3 occasions.  Although he may have got lucky

at times along the way, he made the right calls & played high quality poker

all day on his way to victory !

*

Adrian ” Ashy ” Ashford ~ the best maiden performer on tour without any doubt 

once again had to settle for 2nd placing.  He was one card away from posting his first

win on tour but after being in front all the way an evil ‘ 2 ‘ on the river shattered any

dreams of winning once again.  Ashy leads the ” Progressive Earnings “ board & is

running 4th for ” Player of the Year “ glory & yet without a ” WIN “ !

*   

Well Done to Nakea Franklin who cashed in for the first time as he fought 

on tenaciously for 3rd placing. 

*

We move on to our  ” Last Chance Whale Satellite “  ~  Wednesday 26th October 

& the Main Event   ” The Whale ”  ~  Sunday 30th October 2011.