The Stacked Deck Tournament

Each year the gamblers of the Realms unite to compete in the Stacked Deck Tournaments.  As the year progresses points are gained settling on a top roster of the best gamblers of that season in the Realms. The top 16 enter into the Stacked Deck Final.  These were the placing at the start of the final by the end of the year:

Standings reported by Duke Sir Tao of Blackwood, Lord of Clontarf

The Weekend Report

The Stacked Deck: Final Table  

Everyone knows that I am not much for playing poker, but some of my friends are so I decided to attend this year's (last years?) Stacked Deck finale. This was my first time attending the event, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I quite honestly assumed I would be bored much of the time and relegated to retrieving things for the folks participating in the tournament. I was very happy to be proven wrong on this account. While I did voluntarily tell the players if they needed anything to ask me, but they, for the most part, took care of themselves and I was free to pursue other avenues of entertainment.

The food was done in a pot luck style. None of it killed me, though I didn't actually feel adventurous enough to try Daekara's Risotto. It was white and lumpy and quite honestly I was on vacation from work and decided to pass. But others ate it and are still here to tell the tale, so it appears that all is well. Whoever made the kielbasa in the beer gets a special mention because it was quite delicious. Also, special thanks to Trent for bringing coffee as we all likely wouldn't have made it through the day without it.

Aside from the main tournament itself, there were other games to be had. While there were non-gambling games, apparently we aren't very enticed by those and they sat mostly unused. Trent and I did make an attempt at playing a game of cribbage, but that's when they decided to start the second poker game and we were interrupted, which is fine because I was winning and I am confident that I would have continued on to victory. The craps table was off the rails, literally, there were no rails, and I think this may have contributed to how much money I lost. Though I did roll really well and made other people some money, I myself didn't fare so well. The roulette table was equally as against me, and I didn't stay there very long either.

The blackjack table was very good to me, so I spent most of my day there. Tempest was dealing most of the day, and while she started out a bit shaky, she seemed to have it together by the end of the day. She facilitated a fun, social environment that I appreciated and we all seemed to enjoy. There was some slight argument over the statistically poor choice of the 'Jinx Bet', but we seemed to prove Gordon and Sir Sean wrong with the chips we racked in on what we now call the 'Thicc Jinxie'. I got no less than three eleven-to-one payouts on that 'statistically bad investment', so clearly I was doing something right.

They ran the first Stacked Deck tournament of 1019 once the main tournament was down to the final final table, so if you were out of the championship early you could get a leg up in this year's competition. Trent kept saying that this added parity, and he was right but all I kept thinking was that I wish Jack of Redwall was there to make a parity pun instead. Anyways, as I was quite sick of blackjack by then, and definitely sick of losing at roulette, I decided to participate. I didn't stay in long, but at least I didn't completely embarrass myself and I did find it quite enjoyable. I am thinking about entering more in the future.

In the end, Avendar was the big winner at the final table so congratulations to him. Trent won the first tournament of the new season, which is good for him and bad for the person traveling with him as I was quite exhausted and ready to go home.

So now when someone says 'who the fuck is Avendar', you can tell them he's the 1018 Stacked Deck Champion.  

- Zarine

For more articles from Zarine, visit her Ramblings.