Game 9 - Oct. 18, 2008

LINDBERGH — After trailing for much of Game 9, Nick pulled off a late upset to extend his league lead to nine points. Showing first in the 12th hand, Nick held a J-Q-Q-5 which combined with a "5" starter card to yield 16 pegs and the late win. Meanwhile Greg, whose momentum from Game 8 carried over into the early stages of this matchup, sputtered late in the game to finish last. Scott pulled his third consecutive runner-up finish and his sixth of the season.

With a combined total of 352 pegs among the three players, this fell just a peg short of Game 2 among the highest-pegging matches. Among all games, Nick leads the pegging averages with 110.33 per game; however, when excluding each player's wins, Scott leads with 105.88 per game followed by Greg's 102.00 and Nick's 97.00.

Each player has dealt (i.e., dealt first) in three games so far. At this point, Greg is doing best when he deals first, scoring 11 points in his own games. On the other hand, Scott has scored zero points when he deals, as Nick has swept all three of Scott's games as dealer for 15 points. Nick's also scored 8 points in his own games.

Dealer: Nick
03 hands - Greg 041 Scott 024 Nick 032
06 hands - Greg 067 Scott 062 Nick 053
09 hands - Greg 092 Scott 093 Nick 083
12 hands - Greg 113 Scott 118 Nick 121 Final

League Table
Nick.... 05 01 02 01 24
Scott... 01 06 01 01 15
Greg.... 03 02 02 02 14

Special Update: By Dealer (3 hands each)
When Greg Deals.... Greg 11 Scott 09 Nick 01
When Scott Deals... Greg 00 Scott 00 Nick 15
When Nick Deals.... Greg 03 Scott 06 Nick 08

Game 8 - Oct. 18, 2008

LINDBERGH — The League welcomed a new venue into the rotation on Saturday, convening at Lindbergh City Center to play a couple of matches. Greg moved up to second place with a come-from-behind victory that started by pegging 8 places in the first hand, then falling more than 20 pegs behind by mid-match, and then surging to a late victory. His 11 pegs in hands 4 through 6 constituted the worst three-hand total by any player this season, but his 47 pegs in the next three hands tied for second-highest.

Meanwhile, early leader Nick fell behind to finish third, ending his three-game winning streak, and Scott secured his fifth second-place finish of the season.

Dealer: Greg
03 hands - Greg 034 Scott 038 Nick 038
06 hands - Greg 045 Scott 066 Nick 067
09 hands - Greg 092 Scott 099 Nick 083
12 hands - Greg 121 Scott 114 Nick 108 Final

League Table
Nick.... 04 01 02 01 19
Greg.... 03 02 01 02 14
Scott... 01 05 01 01 13

Game 7 - Oct. 11, 2008

DECATUR — Game 7 ended with a tense finish, as Nick's poor play and Scott's poor crib led to a 119-118 showdown after ten hands while Greg staged a major 29-peg rally. Play in the 11th hand was tense, but Nick managed to peg out, laying a 5 down after Greg's 5 to win his third consecutive game and take an eight-point lead in the league table.

Dealer: Scott (after draw)
03 hands - Greg 025 Scott 024 Nick 033
06 hands - Greg 049 Scott 053 Nick 064
09 hands - Greg 077 Scott 093 Nick 102
10 hands - Greg 106 Scott 118 Nick 119
11 hands - Greg 108 Scott 118 Nick 121 Final

League Table
Nick.... 04 01 01 01 19
Scott... 01 04 01 01 11
Greg.... 02 02 01 02 09

Game 6 - Oct. 11, 2008

DECATUR — Nick won his second consecutive match, while Greg narrowly avoided a second successive skunk and rallied to claim second place at the last minute. In the 10th hand, with Scott as dealer, Greg showed his hand and advanced to 99 pegs before Nick pegged out, leaving Scott in third by one peg. With the win, Nick moved into first place in total pegs, with 643 to Greg's 633 and Scott's 618.

Dealer: Scott
03 hands - Greg 029 Scott 034 Nick 030
06 hands - Greg 060 Scott 059 Nick 069
09 hands - Greg 092 Scott 096 Nick 117
10 hands - Greg 099 Scott 098 Nick 121 Final

League Table
Nick.... 03 01 01 01 14
Greg.... 02 02 00 02 09
Scott... 01 03 01 01 09

Game 5 - Oct. 11, 2008

DECATUR — Greg fell from top of the table to last place after falling one peg short of safety in Saturday's opening match. Greg, who was never skunked in Season One, became the first player to be skunked twice in Season Two, following an 86-peg showing in Game 3. Meanwhile, Nick won his second game of the season, narrowly outpacing Scott in a competitive contest.

Dealer: Nick
03 hands - Greg 033 Scott 033 Nick 038
06 hands - Greg 065 Scott 080 Nick 075
09 hands - Greg 090 Scott 112 Nick 121 Final

League Table
Nick.... 02 01 01 01 09
Scott... 01 03 00 01 09
Greg.... 02 01 00 02 07

Game 4 - Oct. 4, 2008

DECATUR — Finally a normal game with a first, second, and third place finisher, no ties and no skunks — the first such game of the season. It was also the first time this season that the dealer of the first hand won the game. Not shown in the statistics was the fact that Scott completely failed to score on the first hand but roared ahead to the 28th peg by the end of three.

Dealer: Greg
03 hands - Greg 039 Scott 028 Nick 029
06 hands - Greg 073 Scott 060 Nick 051
09 hands - Greg 095 Scott 093 Nick 092
11 hands - Greg 121 Scott 107 Nick 103 Final

League Table
Greg.... 02 01 00 01 09
Scott... 01 02 00 01 07
Nick.... 01 01 01 01 04

Game 3 - Oct. 4, 2008

DECATUR — The early league table tightened considerably as Nick broke away from the pack, claiming his first win of the season and skunking both Greg and Scott in the process. For the second game in a row, both non-winners finished with the same number of pegs — what are the odds of that happening?!

Dealer: Scott
03 hands - Greg 033 Scott 036 Nick 038
06 hands - Greg 061 Scott 069 Nick 080
09 hands - Greg 086 Scott 084 Nick 120
10 hands - Greg 086 Scott 086 Nick 121 Final

League Table
Scott... 01 01 00 01 05
Greg.... 01 01 00 01 04
Nick.... 01 01 00 01 04