With the 3rd quarter winding down, many players are near the top of the points standings. The race for the 3rd quarter points title is extremely close and one bad placing could cost a player dearly in points. JD “Chip Nazi” Deckard had no such worries, continuing his dominating season with a win this week. This is how it all went down that night.

The rarely seen Buzz Finger made his return this week. Buzz has not been seen or heard from since the 1st quarter. He won a game and set a record for quickest to be railed (which has since been broken by Jerry Agren three times) in the few games he played. Nonetheless, he made his return and was rusty for sure. He played just about every hand he was dealt and consequently was out within the first blind. He got into a pot he couldn’t get away from with his pocket Jacks. Unfortunately for him, JD had pocket Aces. JD dodged a Jack, and the mysterious, elusive, crazy, confusing, Buzz Finger was out in 8th. When he exited he exclaimed, “See ya guys in another 16 weeks.” Perhaps we will Buzz, perhaps we will.

Pokersaurus Richard Pearl has been dominant the past two weeks of play. However, this week was a different story as he had no momentum. He was railed by guest player, Ernie when his K-J was out done by Ernie’s K-6. Ernie’s two made two pair and eliminated the dinosaur of poker in 7th.

In a rare event this season Alan “Fairly Odd” Dennis was next to go in 6th. He seemed to be bothered by Jerry “Scab” Agren most of the night. Alan lost every hand he got involved in with Jerry and was eventually railed by him. Alan got it all-in with a pair of Aces, but Jerry called with a flush draw. The turn gave him the flush and Alan has to settle for a disappointing finish. He does manage to stay in 2nd place for the 3rd quarter points title, but only by a few points. Jerry also picked up the bounty with the KO of Alan.

Guest player, Ernie was next to go. Ernie was actually in great position to make a run for it until he ran into Jerry. Ernie had A-K and flopped top pair. He led out and bet, but was raised by Jerry. Ernie called and the turn was seemingly a blank. Ernie led out and again and Jerry raised, this time with an all-in. Ernie called only to see that Jerry had flopped a set of 4s! Daggum! Ernie couldn’t catch up on the river and was done in 5th place.

Mike “Daggum” Krisle was the next victim of Jerry. Daggum was up and down yet again all night, but did survive a few all-ins. Jerry was on the button and announced he was all-in. Daggum looked down at an A-K and called. Jerry flipped over 7-8 of clubs. Daggum was ahead until the 7 paired and he was ousted in 4th place. With his second 4th place finish in a row, Daggum stays within striking distance of the 3rd quarter title.

The next player to be railed was Kyle “I’m just going to pretend like I don’t have any confidence until I wake up with a premium hand” Phillips. He was the most negative player the game has ever seen. I mean the constant complaining about his bad hands was ridiculous! However, he did manage to catch some cards and fold his way to a 3rd place finish. The Chip Nazi had enough of it and took him out when Kyle’s pocket 6s where outdone by his K-7. JD made a pair of Kings on the turn and sent Kyle (along with his rental phone) to the rail.

Heads-up play was wild and crazy. Jerry got it all-in with a 7-4 and JD had A-Q. The flop yielded a 4 and Jerry was on his way to a crippling double up. However, the turn was a 3 and the river a 7, making a straight on the board for a split pot.  Next, Jerry went all-in moments after a JD raise. Jerry had 5-3 which was up against JD’s K-Q. The flop gives Jerry a pair of 5s and it holds for a double up. JD decides he is going to try this all-in thing, and goes all-in a few hands later after the flop. The flop comes 5-J-9 with two spades. Jerry calls with 6-10 of spades, giving him a lot of outs for the flush. JD has 5-4 of spades and a bottom pair. JD avoids 6,10 and a spade to take home his 7th win of the year.

With the win JD vaults up to the top spot and has yet another quarter lead. The 3rd quarter title is a race between JD, Alan, Richard and Daggum, with Jerry having an outside chance. JD has a 1 point lead over Alan, 2 points over Richard and 4 points over Daggum. It’s a very tight race and with only 3 games left before Pokerpalooza, it’s going to be a battle. This is the tightest quarter of the year thus far. Who will win? Stay tuned to Average Guy Poker to find out!