Eight Deuce · Tournament #17

Fifty-Nine Tournaments Later, Lance Cain Wins One

Second last month, second in September, and now first — with five knockouts to go with it.

Lance Cain has been playing in this league and the one before it since 2015. Counting Canterberry and Eight Deuce he had entered fifty-eight tournaments and won none. On Friday, at the fifty-ninth, he made five knockouts, beat Steve McLean heads-up in fourteen minutes, and took $365.

He knocked out the players who finished second, fifth, sixth, eighth and eleventh, and closed out a four-and-a-half-hour tournament. His wife Angela Cain played it too and finished ninth.

Mac took $260 for second, his best result since he won the January opener. Justin Vaughn made four knockouts and came third for $170, and Jeff Ferguson was fourth for $125 — his first cash since he reached heads-up on his debut fourteen months ago, and only his second in ten tournaments.

Where the money went

The undercard

Josh Reel bubbled in fifth. Lee Ugarte, who has won two of the last four, went fourteenth after ninety-three minutes.

Mike Conner was the first player out for the second tournament running, and for the fifth time in the nine he has played. Nobody else has been first out more than three times.

The bigger picture

Seven tournaments, six different winners, and the only man with two of them is still Lee Ugarte. His lead is down to sixty on 317.01, and the four players behind him are covered by thirty-six points.

Fifteen entries and a single rebuy made $920, matching May for the smallest pool of the year — a figure that would have sat in the top half of last season.

Eight Deuce #17 — Friday, July 8, 2022. 15 entrants, 1 rebuy, four paid from a $920 prize pool. Player of the Year counts each player’s best eight scores.