Robertson is NorCal's POY
By Arnold Warner
It’s been a long season of poker tournaments for everyone working toward being named The Cardroom’s first NorCal Poker Tournament Player of the Year. One thing has remained consistent throughout, though: Livermore’s Aubrey Robertson’s name either at or near the top of the standings.
After posting an excellent December, including six final tables in the last two weeks of the competition, Robertson pulled ahead for a decisive victory to earn the title of 2009 NorCal Player of the Year. With Lodi’s Phil Cullinan nipping at his heels for most the year, Robertson’s results in November and December increased his lead from 365 points on Nov. 2 to 1,501 on Dec. 20 when the final points were tabulated.
When asked about his style of play Robertson said, “I go for it. I don’t even know what I mean by that, but that’s what I do. I’ve shot shotgun my whole life in competition and I’m a real competition player. I can’t handle losing. Period. I always believe that I’m better than the other guy.”
Despite his competitive nature, this retired general contractor says that it’s the good times and enjoyment that keep him coming back to Livermore’s Lucky Buck Card Club on a regular basis. “We have fun all the time down here,” Robertson said, adding, “I have fun at everything I do.” Lucky Buck owner Dale Common then chimed in, “I just appreciate these guys coming in every day.”
Robertson seldom watches poker on television and has never read a poker book. When asked to explain his success he could only say, “I’ve got my own way and I don’t know how to explain what it is. I just go to the table and try to get the other guy’s chips.”
He’s been playing for about three years now, ever since he got steered to the Lucky Buck. “I go down to this local bar and have coffee in the morning with a bunch of guys and Dave Jones, who’s one of the dealers here at Lucky Buck—we were playing Liars Dice—he says ‘you ought to be playing cards.’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about it.’ So I came over and started playing, started watching, and it wasn’t too long before I was doing alright.”
Robertson says he doesn’t travel much, so he mostly plays at the Lucky Buck, but has made a few trips to play at the Wine Country Cardroom in Lodi, the Bay 101 in San Jose, and the Oaks Club in Emeryville. While he does occasionally sit in a live game, he says that he prefers to stick with tournaments for the most part.
When asked to say whether it was skill or luck that took him to the top, Robertson shrugged and said, “If you want to say luck, okay. I’ve been lucky my whole life.”
Second place finisher Phil Cullinan of Lodi said that he appreciated the experience and knowledge gained by playing in all the tournaments throughout the year. “Getting to compare yourself against the level of competition throughout Northern California,” was something he enjoyed, along with, “the idea that finally NorCal players have something to play for that does stand for something. As the player who finished second I have had people as far away as Reno recognize me from my photo in The Cardroom’s publication.”
Evan Gomez of Livermore said of the Player of the Year contest: “It was something to play for, more than just the money. It was more enjoyable. It was another level of entertainment, really. Some people didn’t like me because I wouldn’t chop because it would hurt my points. I said it a few times: ‘I’m not chopping. I’m not losing points on this.’”
The inaugural year of the NorCal Player of the Year contest had 138 players sign up from all over Northern California. A total of 39,348 points were awarded from eight different participating casinos: Cameo Club, Stockton; Colusa Casino, Colusa; FLB Casino, Folsom; Lucky Buck Card Club, Livermore; Lucky Derby Casino, Citrus Heights; River Card Room, Petaluma; The 101 Casino, Petaluma; and Wine Country Cardroom, Lodi.
The Lucky Buck sent in the most results—117 tournaments, followed by Wine Country Cardroom (111), and Lucky Derby Casino (76).
The most points awarded for any one tournament was actually the first tournament reported, in which Chai Thao of Marysville secured 257 points at Colusa Casino. Second most went to Ken Kirsten of Woodbridge (238) at Wine Country, then Douglas Dahlstrom of Livermore (220). The top four finishers did so by scoring points in multiple tournaments, rather than hitting it big in any one. Robertson’s biggest point haul was 138 and Cullinan’s was 110. C.J. Herro of Livermore (third place) had one 127 point score, as did Gomez in fourth place. The average amount of points awarded per tournament player was 93 points.
The 2008 competition was 45 weeks long, meaning that with 55 final tables that scored points, Robertson averaged 1.2 final tables per week and Cullinan a little more than one per week (48).
This brings us to the start of the 2009 points race. We plan to start officially taking results from tournaments beginning Jan. 21, 2009 and will end the contest this time on Nov. 30 (to give us a little more time to contact winners and make an even bigger splash). Forms and rules are still available on our website (www.norcal cardroom.com), but they will probably be slightly modified before we begin the 2009 season.
As of press time, we have added four new casinos to those where points will be awarded—The Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, Casino Marysville in Marysville, Casino Royale in Sacramento and Club One in Fresno. Unfortunately, the River Card Room in Petaluma has shut its doors (but you can still go right around the block to The 101 Casino for points). Also, Colusa Casino is no longer running tournaments and the FLB Casino in Folsom is also—at least temporarily—not involved. Despite this, we still hope to add more cardrooms to our list of participating casinos to make the race for points in 2009 bigger and better.
Good luck to everyone in the race to be named the 2009 NorCal Poker Tournament Player of the Year, and congratulations again to Aubrey Robertson for winning in 2008. In the meantime, here are the final points totals for 2008:
Final
Name City Points Tbls.
Robertson, A Livermore 5,727.12 55
Cullinan, P Lodi 4,226.92 48
Herro, C Livermore 3,181.52 31
Gomez, E Livermore 2,085.95 21
Graumann, M Acampo 1,846.25 19
Arnold, A Stockton 1,139.96 12
Estrada, P Santa Rosa 889.23 10
Johnson, T Rancho Cordova 884.73 12
Kirsten, K Woodbridge 873.75 7
Klipfel, J Lodi 810.25 9
Weber, G Orangevale 746.93 8
Heltsley, K Petaluma 724.52 7
Blank, R Stockton 718.55 8
Longacre, J Fair Oaks 676.14 9
Mantua, N Bodega Bay 608.25 7
Angel, K Gold River 507.38 6
Dailey, B Cotati 506.00 5
Dahlstrom, D Livermore 479.52 4
Ansari, T Novato 452.65 6
Hicks, J Citrus Heights 450.73 5
Brink, C Rohnert Park 434.23 5
Barber, B Citrus Heights 394.08 4
Lopez, A Citrus Heights 373.65 3
Miller, K Livermore 361.80 4
Becker, B Orangevale 361.38 5
Willden, S Citrus Heights 346.59 3
Miller, S Sacramento 346.46 3
Morrow, A Rohnert Park 341.00 4
Mayo, E Lodi 306.25 4
Xiong, X Stockton 300.00 3
Comb, M Windsor 267.85 3
Drake, S Sacramento 261.25 4
Malin, M Occidental 256.90 4
Thao, C Marysville 256.50 1
Common, A Clear Lake 253.00 2
McBride, K Folsom 245.00 3
Duong, T Sacramento 239.49 2
Palmer, M Rohnert Park 221.25 3
Porcalla, E Elk Grove 215.63 3
Gibble, D Santa Rosa 209.70 3
Palmer, C Rohnert Park 204.60 2
Knapp, S Rancho Cordova 201.25 2
Trimboli, P Elk Grove 198.95 2
Maldonado, S Lodi 194.25 2
Vaughn, K Stockton 183.75 2
Kalbach, C Lincoln 180.95 2
Francis, J Rancho Cordova 177.88 3
Palmiere, R Sacramento 177.40 4
Wedum, D Roseville 168.47 2
Smith, D Fair Oaks 167.75 2
McGuin, B Duncans Mills 162.25 2
Larson, M Petaluma 149.05 2
Nunez, S Clovis 143.75 1
Flowers, A Roseville 142.80 1
Hiatt, S Rocklin 137.50 1
Hyler, J Sacramento 131.25 1
Olocco, K Petaluma 126.50 1
Mitchell, D Fair Oaks 121.88 2
Keena, J Antelope 117.60 1
Lesiuk, G Sacramento 116.60 2
Lamb, M Tracy 115.50 1
Tynan, D Napa 112.60 2
Krasny, M San Anselmo 112.20 1
Estes, C Manteca 111.56 1
Lemons, M Tracy 111.56 1
Perry, W Galt 100.00 1
Carney, M Sacramento 96.60 1
Look, C Richmond 96.60 1
Johnson, M Sacramento 96.25 1
Wardlaw, C Citrus Heights 96.25 1
Dier, D Sacramento 91.88 1
Geigle, J Lodi 89.25 1
Haugh, D Orangevale 88.55 1
Flowers, R Roseville 86.25 1
Flemmer, J Woodbridge 85.00 1
Salvador, L Lathrop 85.00 1
Cassidy, B Folsom 82.80 1
Lohman, S Citrus Heights 82.50 1
Vadhva, S Sacramento 79.20 1
Ganacias, R Mather 79.20 1
Gaudreau, K North Highlands 75.90 1
Camper, L Manteca 73.50 1
Pothast, L El Dorado Hills 71.88 1
McQuaid, J Sacramento 71.88 1
Eichmann, E Fair Oaks 68.75 1
Ewing, C Carmichael 65.63 1
Alvarez, R Santa Rosa 63.25 1
Phavasiri, S Santa Rosa 60.50 1
Townshend, J Sacramento 57.50 1
Radzik, B Fair Oaks 55.00 1
Rennert, A Tiburon 52.80 1