Eight Deuce · Tournament #57

Juan Ends the Drought

Twenty-nine months between wins, and Juan Lopez picks the perfect Friday night to break the streak.

Folks, if you left early, you missed a good one. Eighteen players took their seats a little after seven and it took nearly five hours to sort them out — and when the last chip finally moved just past midnight, it was Juan standing over the table with all of them. Four knockouts. Four hours and fifty-three minutes in the chair. And a first-place prize of $445 that has been a long, long time coming.

How long? Juan last won an Eight Deuce tournament on February 9, 2024 — twenty-nine months of showing up, grinding it out, and watching somebody else scoop the last pot. He has been here since the very beginning, in the field for Eight Deuce #1 back in January 2021. This is Eight Deuce win number four for Juan, and five career wins going back through the Canterberry Poker League. The drought is over, and it ended in style.

He had to go through a live one to do it. Brian Connolly was an absolute wrecking ball all night, matching Juan knockout for knockout with four of his own — including third-place finisher Josh Reel and fifth-place Eric Denny — and he rode that momentum all the way to heads-up play. The two of them went at it for 13 minutes and 39 seconds before Juan closed the door. Brian takes $290, his third top-three finish of the season. Nobody is sneaking up on Brian anymore.

Third place and $195 went to Reel, who has quietly turned his season around. Fourth in January, then two nights he would rather forget in February and March — and now a runner-up in June and a third here, back to back. He was four hours and thirty-nine minutes deep and knocking on the door before Brian finally sent him packing.

Rounding out the money in fourth for $150: Sean Denny, and this kid is turning into a problem for everybody else. Sean has now cashed in back-to-back months after taking fourth in June, and he drew first blood on the night, sending Joe Rottinghaus to the rail after 42 minutes. He already looks like he belongs at the business end of this thing.

Where the money went

The undercard

The cruelest seat in the house belonged to Eric, who busted out fifth — one spot off the cash — after digging in with a rebuy and taking out Steve Sarbaugh along the way. Justin Vaughn went out sixth, but not before ending Jeff Ferguson's night. And keep an eye on Lance Cain: he finished eighth, but he did more damage than almost anybody at the table, sending three players home — Andrew Shier, Angela Cain and Mike Conner. Josh Maida chipped in a pair of knockouts on his way to seventh.

The bigger picture

Juan becomes the fifth different winner in seven Eight Deuce tournaments this season, and more importantly, that win punches his ticket to the Tournament of Champions in December. Win one, you're in — and he's in.

The Player of the Year race, though, still runs through a man who wasn't even in the building. Joe Johnson won the first three tournaments of 2026 and sits on 397.80 points despite playing only five events — a cushion of more than 130 over Brian, whose runner-up finish here lifts him into second. Eric and Andrew are right behind, and Juan's victory vaults him into eighth with three tournaments still to play before the Annual.

Eight Deuce #57 — Friday, July 10, 2026. 18 entrants, four paid from a $1,080 prize pool. Chip counts settled at 12:14 a.m. Points shown are the Player of the Year standings through seven tournaments of the 2026 season.