The Annual · 2025

Eric Denny Knocks Out Eight, Then Takes the Annual in One Hand

Player of the Year in October, Annual winner in November.

Eric Denny made eight of the fourteen eliminations on Saturday — the players who finished third, fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth among them — and then went into heads-up about four to one ahead. After one hand, his opponent conceded. It paid $580.

Four weeks after taking his first Player of the Year, he adds the Annual. Only Jeff Holderman, in 2023, has held both in the same year in this league.

David Doole reached heads-up a long way behind and conceded after one hand; he took $360 for second, with four knockouts of his own, and he is the defending champion here.

Warren Mervin was third for $260 without a knockout, and Angela Cain fourth for $200 — her second time in the Annual money, after a fourth place in 2022.

Where the money went

The undercard

Rick Mazza bubbled in fifth. Jeff Ferguson, who won his first tournament in September after sixty-four without one, went tenth.

Andrew Shier was the first player out, after five hours and twenty-two minutes.

The bigger picture

Thirteen players is the smallest Annual field since 2022, and the fifth year running it has come in at thirteen or fourteen. Two rebuys made $1,400, down on last year’s $1,780 and the smallest pool the event has had since 2015.

The day was short by Annual standards: seven hours and thirty-six minutes, where the last three all ran past nine and a half. The finish was shorter still — one hand and a concession, one minute and forty-eight seconds, quicker than any Annual has ever ended, and only one Friday tournament has ever ended faster.

The Tournament of Champions follows in a week.

The 2025 Annual — Saturday, November 15, 2025. 13 entrants, 2 rebuys, four paid from a $1,400 prize pool. The nineteenth Annual; it is a separate event from the Eight Deuce season and does not count toward the Player of the Year.