2006 is coming to an end and it is the time for big finishes and exciting competition. The second year of the Tamarindo Poker Tour saw its final event Sunday, when 32 hopeful players competed for prize money and the chance to finish in the Top 10 on the TPT "Moneymaker" list. I did not finish in the money at the event, but I did hold on to my seat among the ten most succesful players of the year, an accomplishment I did not reach last year much to my own disappointment.

The TPT 2006 Final Table is a freeze-out thing, all players start with equal amount of chips. Well into the second level, Jennifer got her purse stolen by professional pick pockets right there in Pasatiempo, and everything was quite chaotic for a while. The tournament was put on hold, but we could eventually get on with it after an hour or so delay. Willy was sitting on my right, and he seemed to be involved in 2 out of 3 pots, a strategy which seldom bears fruit, and his stack was dwindling. Then something happened, and he started catching both cards and flops, and now he took players out one by one. I took out 2 players, and we ended heads-up, Willy with a big chip lead. The battle went on for a good half hour, I came in the lead, then he re-took it, then I came back again, before we finally ended with all the chips in the middle, he with pocket fives, me with the ladies (must have been a quiet salute to Chad, who was out of town and had to concede his seat at the table). It got pretty scary when the flop came 678 for an open-ended straight draw, but he failed to improve from there, and I am the new TPT Champion! I am very proud of course, it is a big deal for me - especially since I had the original idea for the TPT and it has been my "baby".

The last three days before the tournament I decided to exercise my 1-table game on-line, and I finished second in the 2 tourneys I got to play. I also finished 6th in a 90-player tourney, so I was quite confident. Actually I was so confident that on the draft for the 2007 web site for the TPT I had written that "Henrik Bodholdt won in 2006"!!

Two more prestigious and important 1-night tourneys are coming up. Tomorrow Tuesday is the Final Event in Junior's $$-tourney. It is another 10-player tourney, and I see no reason why I should not have a decent chance there. I look forward to it, stacks are relatively deep and levels are 30 minutes, hopefully I am in for a long evening.
Wednesday I am finishing my own tournament organizer year with the Tournament of Champions Invitational. All winners of TPT events, the winner of the WSOP Challenge, the winner of Junior's tourney and the Best Player in the Pura Vida Poker Team Championship are invited, and it looks to be an exciting 2-table tournament.

I have just launched the newest version of www.costaricapoker.org, we are ready for a new and exciting poker season in Paradise, with even more events and action than the two first pioneer years of 2005 and 2006.

The photo shows the vintage TPT 2005 cap with various poker star autographs plus mine and Diego's (last year's TPT Champion). I get to keep the original coveted TPT 2006 silver bracelet, while the cap will be passed on for future champions to sign.