03/03/2019
Who won the 2019 CARES Tournament
It had been a long afternoon of playing cards, eating, drinking and just plain having fun. About 8:30 after 5 hours at the tables we were down to the final table. Eight players. Seven would walk away with a prize and one would go home with only his/her memories. That final table was roped off and the crowd gathered to cheer their favorite on to victory.
Soon player number 8 was out going home with just his memories and thoughts of what might have been if only… Now it was serious those seven left at the table knew they would be going home with a prize and each hoped to get the coveted trophy. Who were these people? There was one lady in the group, holding her own against these 6 tough guys. It was her second time to make it this far and Kate Bakkila wasn’t going to let these men bully her. Her brother-in-law Skip Bakkila was also at the table, he wasn’t going to let a family relationship stop him. Skip had made it this far twice before and was hoping this would finally be his time.
The new guy was Kyle Richardson, at this point what did he have to lose. He knew he’d go home with something for his efforts. Alex Pastores was at this final table for the second time. His wife wanted to go home, but Alex was in it to win it as his wife, daughter and son-in-law watched his every move.
This was Patrick Hurley’s 4th time at the final table. Was this going to be his night? The others were going to try to stop him once again. Would they succeed? Time would tell. The final two at the table had not only been to this table before they had each won once and were hoping they would be the first to claim bragging rights to be the first two-time winner. Tim Braise won back in 2010 almost 10 years ago. He was due to win again, right? Bob Brigham was the 2016 winner and he was teased that if he won, he’d have to wear two bullseyes next year.
The room was the quietest it had been all day. Trash talk was going around the table. Chips were passed from one person to another, just as it looked as if someone was going out, they won a big pot and the scales tipped again. Back and forth they went. It felt like it could go on like this all night. And then it happened, Tim Brais was out. His fellow players gave him a hand for his efforts. He had given it his best shot.
Now it was down to six and the tension tightened. The newbie goes out in a flurry, he’s heard to say I knew I shouldn’t have done that, but now it was too late. Five and counting, Kate, Skip, Alex, Bob and Patrick remain. Now Skip is out, always a bridesmaid and never the bride. Oh well, he had a great run while it lasted. Three Kings and the Queen left, but not for long as the queen goes all in and she is out. She says she was just tired of playing,
Just three to go. They had all been there before and the stakes were high. Who was going to win? Goodbye Alex. Now he and his family could go home. Then there were two, Patrick and Bob. They took one more look at the prizes and that trophy. One would win and one would come in second. Whoever remembers the second-place winner? It didn’t take long, when the smoke cleared it was Patrick who came out the winner. Finally, Patrick had won. The trophy was his. He knew Chris would have said “what took you so long”. He didn’t care. He had done it and he had won.
And so, the 2019 CARES Tournament comes to an end. We’ll see you next year.
Chris’ family
