POY contest nears final day
By Barbara Engler

As The Cardroom’s annual NorCal Poker Tournament Player of the Year contest heads for the homestretch (the last day of the contest is Nov. 30), it seemed like a good time to point out how much this endeavor has grown in just two years. We’ve had over 900 tournaments to compile points from and the number of players participating has more than doubled from last year.

It’s not always smooth sailing though. There have been questions about how and when points were awarded and we welcome these inquiries as a sign that there is enthusiasm out there about the competition and who will eventually be named the champion. We work as closely as we can with the cardrooms submitting results to ensure that the information we receive is as accurate and inclusive as possible.

As much as 2009 has been an improvement over the first year, we’re really looking forward to 2010. “Our goal is to get every regular tournament player excited about the possibility of being named the NorCal Player of the Year,” said Randall Rapp, The Cardroom’s editor and de facto “commissioner” of the POY contest. “We want to see even more participation in 2010. More cardrooms, more registrations, and, if possible, some added incentives to make the chase for points even more attractive. While it’s too soon to say what those incentives might be, let’s just say that we hope to have an even bigger ‘carrot’ out there for players to go after.”

Meanwhile, the 2009 contest has seen several lead changes and many alterations to the top 10 over the course of the year. Gerry Davidow of Fresno continues in the lead for the time being, but with another month before the cutoff date, anything could happen.

As always, we’d like to thank the casinos that have been regularly sending in their tournament results, namely Bay 101 Casino, San Jose; Casino Royale, Sacramento; Club One Casino, Fresno; Liver­more Casino, Livermore; Lucky Buck Card Club, Livermore; Lucky Derby Casino, Citrus Heights; and The 101 Casino, Petaluma.

All of the casinos working with The Cardroom are eligible to send in results though, so if you’re interested in getting more participation from your favorite cardroom be sure to ask the manager or tournament director about getting them involved in next year’s contest.