Eight Deuce · Tournament #40

Warren Mervin Wins the Finale and the Season

Thirty-one tournaments here without a win, then two wins and the Player of the Year inside eight months.

In March, at his thirty-second attempt, Warren Mervin won his first Eight Deuce tournament. On Friday he won the last one of the season, beat Eric Denny heads-up in twenty-four minutes for $340, and took the Player of the Year with it.

He finishes on 367.36, seventy-two clear. It is the second season title of his career: he was Canterberry League Champion in 2008-09, the first season that league ever ran, and this one comes sixteen years later.

Eric took $240 for second, Shawn Miller $160 for third and Lance Cain $120 for fourth. Everyone in the top four made three knockouts on Friday, which is not a thing that has happened here before.

Where the money went

The undercard

Jeff Ferguson made two knockouts and bubbled in fifth. Justin Vaughn, who came into the night third in the standings and needed a big result, went thirteenth.

Lee Ugarte was the first player out after sixty-three minutes — the shortest night anybody has had all season, and it belonged to the man who had led the standings for most of the year.

The bigger picture

Ten tournaments and eight different winners, matching 2021 and 2023 for the most the league has produced. Only Lee Ugarte and Warren Mervin won twice.

The money came back up: $8,900 in regular-season prizes, a little under last year, but the fields held between ten and eighteen and February matched the league’s records for both field size and prize pool.

The Annual follows in November and the Tournament of Champions in December.

Eight Deuce #40 — Friday, October 4, 2024. 14 entrants, 1 rebuy, four paid from an $860 prize pool. Final tournament of the 2024 season; Player of the Year counts each player’s best eight scores.