State of the Club address
It's that time of year again to hear me blather about club progress, welcome new members, talk points standings, and potential end of the year prizes.
Editor’s Note: There are now a lot subscribers to this newsletter that are not in our poker club. Because of the Beginner Series and the postings on substack we have gained a lot of subscribers that have never played our Tuesday game. That is ok. I like the idea of expanding our reach to interested poker players even if they aren’t potential club members. However, if you are interested in playing our weekly game (the crux of the club), or just learning more about it, please visit the about page on the top of the page or click this link: About our game.
I say all this to warn the reader that today’s content is specific to our game and may not be of great interest to you. If this is the case, please tune in for future columns that are broarder in poker scope.
Welcome new players
We are excited to welcome 17 new registered players this season. These new members hail from Texas, South Carolina, Michigan, and Kentucky.
The 2024-2025 season (May-April) was our biggest player pool ever and we are going to break that this season. We have been averaging 27 players per Tuesday tournament. That’s up from 24 last season. While players come and go week by week and year by year, these numbers show that we are growing steadily.
Update on WSOP points race
Chris Lannoye. That is all. That is the full update. If you need more information, go to the points tally.
Player skill level
Having a tougher time getting weekly results? Assuming your name isn’t Chris Lannoye, the answer is probably yes. I know it has been more difficult for me. Well I’m here to tell you that it isn’t because your game has diminished.
The players in our club have gotten significantly more skilled as a whole in the past few years. Some of it is attributed to players cycling in and out of the game with some players hanging it up and new up and comers moving into those spots. However, another aspect to this phenomenon is our existing players’ improvement. I hope that this substack newsletter has helped a few of you and I know that some others are finding plenty of alternative places to study.
I am really glad that we are getting better as a whole. Sure it makes it harder to win each week, however, playing against better players is a great way to improve your own game and I think we all want that.
If you do find yourself falling behind and want to do something about it, shoot me a line and maybe I can point you toward some resources that can help. It’s always free to email me at mikieculpepper@gmail.com. If you aren’t sure where to start, find a hand you played that you are unsure of and we can go from there.
Update on WSOP prize packages
After reading the update on the WSOP points race above and checking out the points standings, you may find yourself feeling disenfranchised about your chances to win the package. If that’s the case, I am here to tell you to keep your nose to the grind stone and not just for the reason of grinding down your nose.
It will come as no surprise to you who have read a previous State of the Club addresses that I have had ambitions of multiple WSOP prize packages for a number of years now. We simply haven’t had the numbers to justify it.
Well, this year we are on track to make it a very close decision. Right now we are sitting at $3175 in the prize pool halfway through this season.
We make and announce the final payout decisions after the final tournament of January so we have some runway to figure it out. We are on track to make this leap. Let’s see if we stay on that track.
Where’s Dave Paukovitz?
One of the great mysteries of this September is the absence of TheNewHotPauko from our weekly game. Speculations range from our defending champion not being able to afford the $25 to having embarked on a September lent of sorts and denying himself the game that he loves.
My hope is of a different nature. I am dreaming that he is taking this time to write his experiences, trials, and tribulations of winning the 2025 WSOP package last year, taking the trip to Vegas, and his day 3 run in the WSOP Main Event!
If you are looking forward to reading this hypothetical manuscript of which I hint, hit the like (heart) button at the bottom of the page. I think he doesn’t realize how many are interested.
In summary
Wrapping it up, I want to thank you all for a great 6 months.
We successfully shifted the club to a new PokerStars destination, got everyone to move to the new venue that we have more control over, and are averaging more players per week than we ever have. All the while, we are still keeping this thing rake free.
Also, thanks to all of our players for paying reliably. Most of you are very timely and it is appreciated more than you may imagine.
Good luck to all of you in the second half of the season!
Keep up the good work Mikie. We all enjoy your commentary and the weekly game.
Agreed, Noel! And yes, Pauko I look forward to reading your Wsop recap- there is ALWAYS something new to learn from other ppl’s Wsop experiences which might help us improve or just contribute to the enjoyment of going out there! For example, Gene (galvestontexas) was always singing praises about the Orleans casino and so we finally checked it out on our recent Vegas trip and we had a great time. Competent dealers, easy tourney footprint, short uber ride (8 min) from the strip. We would go again, so it was a good tip! Looking fwd to learning the secrets of making day 3!