On August 17th, the night before my birthday, I hosted the 3rd annual Sugar Lips Championship Tournament. It took me some years to convince folks that this would be a worthwhile tournament at all, so I am especially proud that we have now played three consecutive years.
If you need a reminder on how to play Sugar Lips, as well as the history of this fine game, then you should read my previous post.
This year we had 13 participants with seven folks playing inside on Paul’s Poker Porch, and six folks outdoors. I split people based on when they arrived, and I let them choose their own seat.
Our inaugural championship was split between Ocho and Swerdlow. As it was Ocho’s Dad who made up the game, it was fitting that he was one of the first champions. In year two, Dan and Steve chopped the prize.
I was beginning to think that it was unlikely that there would ever be an outright champion, as when you are playing a split pot game, there are many hands result in equal pots for heads up players.
It was a happy outcome to be proven wrong in 2025. The final three came down to Swerdlow, Campy, and myself. We passed chips around for 45 minutes or so, with each of us being in command at one point, but ultimately Swerdlow was dealt a winning hand, while Campy and I had nearly identical chip stacks.
In fact, Campy folded with one single chip left, just in case, so he could finish in 2nd place. That’s the way it went down, and Swerdlow became the first outright champion, and first two-time champion. Congrats to Mr. Swerdlow!
annarborpoker.blog 
Leave a comment