Douglas shines in poker finale

The competition was fierce and the stakes were high, but that’s the way that Saipan’s King of Cards liked it when he out-bluffed, out-bet, and outplayed all but Japan’s dynamic duo over the weekend during the Hats, Chaps & Six Guns Texas Hold “Em Poker Tournament at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.

John Douglas is no stranger to a deck of cards and a stack of chips, and he was heavily favored to join the tournament elite at the final table. When he got there some 16 hours later he was on a mission to be the last one standing, and he almost made it.

As dealers put on a smile and got into the tournament theme adorned in their western gear, Douglas employed his stoic style and hid behind a pair of dark sunglasses and under his cap to prevent his fellow card sharks from picking up any hints as to his strategy.

The competition was one of the most intense of the Dynasty’s recent history as 15 players didn’t get enough with their initial investment and bought back into the tournament after elimination.

While he wasn’t perfect, the kid from the backside of Capitol Hill said that he was glad to have battled some of the best to take third place in the tournament despite committing near-fatal blunders that almost cost him his seat at the final table.

“It was great because I made some mistakes. I played well most of the time but made two large mistakes which almost cost me the tournament and would have put me in sixth place. It would have been $600, but the cost of the tournament is $350 and with the price of the hotel I almost spent that this weekend, so I was really glad to really bounce back and take third place. I am really happy about it,” said Douglas.

The first casualty of the finals was the short stack player who made an early exit, and one by one the finalists left the table to watch the outcome of the tournament among the spectators. As the field began to dwindle, Douglas eyed his road to Elite Street by seeking out the weak and sending them home. One of the competitors was an especially significant target for the Florida State grad, as Matsushita Toshinori and Douglas have a history that dates back quite a while.

“Well, this tournament had personal significance for me because the first tournament I ever played in Tinian I took second place and was beaten by a Japanese gentleman named Masa. He beat me, it was a bad beat, I had better cards, and he was a big bully the whole time,” he said.

Douglas never let loose the memory of his loss and bided his time until the moment was right to strike his nemesis. After staving off elimination by going all-in with a King-Four combination that earned him $5,000 in chips, Douglas proceeded to knock of Masa to surge into third place for a guaranteed $2,400 purse.

“I’ve been waiting three years to do that,” he looked over his shoulder to tell the crowd when Masa left the table.

“This tournament he didn’t have the chip stack that he had last time, so when it came to a point when he went all in, I called him and I had a better hand. It was great for me because it had been bothering me that he beat me [before] because I felt that I played better than he did so this time I played better than he did and I felt really good about it, won a trophy, and some cash,” he said.

Unfortunately, that will be the final chapter in the Masa-Douglas saga as Saipan’s hired card slinger will be unable to make next month’s tournament and is hanging up his CNMI chaps in favor of the mainland.

That leaves open the opportunity for another local hustler to seize the crown during the Dynasty’s next tournament that is expected to draw a slew of high rollers from Japan.