Bravo Pizza & Sports Bar

5 Full Tables as we Celebrate Lorraine’s Birthday and Longshot takes it Down

There was more than a tournament to celebrate Monday night at Bravo Pizza & Sports Bar ⁠. With Tom Banis serving as Tournament Director, 49 entries took to the felt as we celebrated Lorraine M’s ⁠ birthday and welcomed Skippy (Anthony) ⁠ as our guest TD-in-training. Thanks to Skippy for stepping into the role and gaining experience alongside Tom! Lorraine marked the occasion with a fourth-place finish, while Longshot ⁠ claimed the Main Event title. And beneath the night’s results, the race toward the Tournament of Champions took another turn—especially around Bravo’s coveted top three. Longshot Takes the Title Longshot earned the victory and 64 points, finishing ahead of Don Rodrigo ⁠ in second with 58 and Trystan ⁠ in third with 52. The win brought Longshot to 85 points at Bravo, tied for 12th after just two appearances. That puts Longshot inside the current top 30 needed for venue-playoff eligibility and 37 points behind third place. Monday also marked Longshot’s first Main Event victory of the season. The wins-based automatic ToC route requires at least two wins, so another victory would make Longshot eligible to contend for that qualification route. This one didn’t clinch a seat, but it gave Longshot a much stronger foundation. Don Rodrigo Moves Into the Automatic-Seat Race The biggest immediate ToC development belonged to Don Rodrigo. His runner-up finish moved him from seventh to third in Bravo’s standings, increasing his venue total from 64 to 122 points. That places Don in a current automatic-qualification position—but only two points ahead of Karen Red ⁠ , who sits fourth with 120. With the venue’s top three earning automatic seats at season’s end, this is a race where even a small difference in finishing position can matter. Kenny K ⁠ also improved his position. Seventh place earned 43 points, moving Kenny from third to second at Bravo with 140. Heather B ⁠ retained the venue lead with 146 after finishing 11th for 38 points, but Kenny trimmed the gap between them from 11 points to six. The current leading group at Bravo is: Heather B — 146 points Kenny K — 140 points Don Rodrigo — 122 points Karen Red — 120 points Steve Pa ⁠ — 111 points Coconuts ⁠ — 109 points Coconuts’ ninth-place finish kept the pressure on, with fourth through sixth now within 13 points of Don’s third-place total. Those automatic seats remain very much in play. A Birthday Final Table for Lorraine Lorraine M gave herself an extra reason to celebrate by finishing fourth in the 49-entry field. Her 46 points raised her Bravo total from 20 to 66, putting her 19th in the venue standings and currently inside the playoff-eligibility group. Lorraine also sits ninth overall with 334 points. Those points matter beyond Bravo: after automatic qualification and the venue playoffs, any remaining ToC seats go to the highest-ranked players in overall season points who have not already qualified. There are no guaranteed wildcard seats at this stage, but Lorraine’s birthday final table helped both her venue position and her overall campaign. Happy birthday, Lorraine! The Rest of the Final Table—and a Tight Playoff Boundary Suzie Q ⁠ finished fifth for 45 points, followed by Xav ⁠ in sixth with 44. Kenny K took seventh with 43, Jerry M ⁠ finished eighth with 42, and Coconuts completed the final table in ninth with 41. Trystan’s third-place finish lifted the Bravo total to 94 points and eighth place, just 28 behind the current third-place qualifying position. Jerry’s finish brought the venue total to 85, tied with Longshot for 12th. Suzie and Xav also illustrate how close the playoff-eligibility race can become. In a first Bravo appearance, Suzie earned enough points to join the group tied for 30th. Xav sits 34th with 44 points—only one point below that group. With several players sharing the boundary position, that cutoff is worth watching as the remaining results come in. Second Chance Honors The Second Chance title went to Your Local Physics Teacher ⁠, who earned 10 points. Pat M ⁠ took second for six points, and Lyss ⁠ finished third for three. Those results count toward the separate Second Chance standings. The Bigger ToC Picture Heather’s night also strengthened her position in the overall-points race, which awards an automatic ToC seat to the season leader. Heather now has 544 points to Pat M’s 441, expanding the lead from 87 to 103 points. Suzie Q’s final-table finish raised the season total to 392 and fourth overall, while Don Rodrigo moved into a tie for sixth with Ace Plays ⁠ at 373. No seats were clinched by Monday’s results alone. But the implications were substantial: Don moved into Bravo’s top three, Kenny closed on Heather, Longshot gained ground through both points and a first win, and Lorraine turned a birthday celebration into a valuable night in the standings. Congratulations to both tournament winners and everyone who reached the final table. Thanks to Tom, guest TD-in-training Skippy, our hosts at Bravo Pizza, and everyone who came out to play and celebrate Lorraine. Next time, arrive early: check in by 7:30 PM for the 3,000-chip early bonus. Always free to join and play!