Eight Deuce · Tournament #59

Seven Knockouts and a Statement Night for Joe

Joe Johnson bulldozed a 13-player field, then survived a heads-up fight with Shawn Miller for his fourth win of the season.

Joe Johnson did it the hard way, and he did it loud. Seven knockouts. Four hours and 26 minutes in the chair. A 26-minute, 45-second heads-up battle with Shawn Miller to close the show. Joe collected $370 for his fourth Eight Deuce win, and all four have come this season. It's his first win since March, and the three-time Denny Poker Tournament winner reminded everybody who owns this league.

Shawn Miller made him earn every chip. Shawn won #56 back in June, and here he came within one hand of doing it again, taking $240 for second. He knocked out three players on the way, including two of the last four, before running into the Joe Johnson wall in the final showdown.

Josh Maida took third and $165 without a single knockout to his name. Maida simply outlasted ten other players and let the chaos happen around him. It took Shawn to stop that run.

Sean Denny rounded out the money with $125 for fourth, and he got there the loud way with four knockouts. The son of Eric Denny was the most dangerous player at the table for a stretch, and his dad had to watch it from the rail.

Where the money went

The undercard

The bubble belonged to Andrew Shier, who finished fifth, one spot shy of the cash, after Joe sent him home. Warren Mervin, who won #58, went out next in sixth, also at Joe's hands. Joe was busy all night: Eric went out tenth, and Joe was behind that exit too. The first player out was Brian Connolly, gone not quite an hour and twenty minutes in, and Joe was the one who did it.

The bigger picture

Joe now leads the Player of the Year race with 535.30 points, and he has played only seven tournaments. Warren is second at 297.35, followed by Shawn at 281.82, Eric at 276.04 and Andrew at 274.45. Joe's lead over Warren is more than 237 points.

Nine tournaments in, the season has produced six different winners: Joe, Steve McLean, Eric, Shawn, Juan Lopez and Warren. Every one of them has earned a seat in the Tournament of Champions.

Eight Deuce #59 — Friday, September 18, 2026. 13 entrants and 4 rebuys, four paid from a $900 prize pool. Points shown are the Player of the Year standings after 9 tournaments of the 2026 season, counting each player's best 8 results.