Oh how the mighty have fallen! The Smaller's Hold'em Showdown proved to be too much for two recent BBPT champions. In what was one of the most surprising turn of events that the young Big Boy Poker Tour has yet witnessed, last month's title holder Kyle was ousted in under an hour, when his pair of Kings ran into Darren's pocket Aces. Kyle's hand didn't improve when the board played out, which sent him to the couch to enjoy a night of beer, pizza and no-holds-barred* UFC action. Even with the early exit, Kyle still leads the league with a 66.7% cashing frequency so far this year, and remains both the league point and knockout leader. The surprise exits continued when the league's first ever winner, Chris, also found himself on the couch after being eliminated by bitter rival Bobby, when his top pair fell to Bobby's river straight (a 5 carder no less!). There is some analyst speculation that Chris' play was hampered by a head injury he sustained on the way to his seat. Observers point to a second fall later in the night as evidence of Chris' confused mental state and that perhaps the earlier mishap had done more damage than first suspected. Only time will tell if this past champ can battle through personal adversity to once again have an impact on the felt, or if he will be but a pitiful, drooling shadow of his former self. Get well soon Chris! To prevent a recurrence of this unfortunate chapter, the league is looking into installing various barriers and padding solutions at future event venues, which they hope will offer the necessary protection to both BBPT players and its many fans.

Eliminated in 7th spot, and sporting one hell of a 'stache, was Jeff. Jeff played a solid game for the first couple of hours of the tournament before getting ejected by Bobby, who claimed his second victim of the night. Jeff would spend the remainder of the night enjoying delicious Little Caesar's Pizza and no pop.

Sean delivered yet another disappointing performance, finishing in 6th spot and collecting a paltry 5 points, putting him ahead of just two players on the BBPT leaderboard. It should be noted that the two players trailing Sean have only played 1 event each, whereas Sean has played in all 3 tour stops this season. He was among the chip leaders after a couple hours of play, but once again collided with Danny, who went all in preflop with pocket Queens, which would hold up against Sean's Ace King and leaving Sean only a few big blinds to play with. Sean was eliminated in the next hand as Mike delivered the knockout. Mike once again saw his chip stack shorten early on in the tournament, but just like we've seen him do before, he managed to battle his way back to give himself a chance before taking a couple of bad beats which would send him to the sidelines. One notable beat occurred when Mike got all his chips in against Danny, who would put his Ace-rag up against Mike's pocket nines. Danny made the unlikely straight as the board showed K-Q-J-T. Danny kindly pointed out to Mike that he also had a straight, but this did little to ease the pain of the beat.

Bobby played some of his best poker yet, placing 4th and adding 7 points to his season total. Bobby's performance is all the more remarkable when you consider his tough starting table that included two recent BBPT champs, the always-tricky Darren and an aggressive Danny, who would eventually be the man who would end Bobby's night. Bobby was a busy multitasker during the Smallers Holdem Showdown. Not only did he provide UFC colour commentary, but he also took numerous wagers on fights throughout the night, and also had to fulfill his usual high ball busting quota, for which he holds himself to an extremely high standard. This 4th place finish was the best of Bobby's BBPT career, and may be a good sign of things to come for him.

Darren played yet another solid tournament, landing in 3rd place and picking up 8 points. Darren is one of the most surprising players on the tour this year, having now turned in 5th, 3rd and 2nd place finishes. Darren's unpredictable and undefinable style has earned him the highest average finish position of anyone on tour, and if he can sustain this pace he will continue his meteoric ascent up the leaderboard, where he now sits just 3 points behind the leader.

DJ Hero Danny once again used his aggressive style and solid reads to rapidly amass a sizable chip stack, which would eventually carry him to a second place finish. Although a late arrival to the event and starting with a diminished chip count, Danny was unfazed and would soon prove to be more than up to the challenge. Although Danny has had large stacks in each of the first 3 BBPT events, he is yet to secure a win. Nevertheless he has already established himself as a regular contender and a force to be reckoned with in future events. Danny now finds himself in 4th place overall.

The surprises didn't end when Kyle and Chris met their earliest exits to date. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was the stellar play of our new champion, Phil who was coming off of a disappointing 10th place finish at the Lee Invitational. Phil played a patient game where he picked his spots well and generally stayed out of trouble. His win was not without adversity, however. During the appetizer round Phil fearlessly bit into a pastry of some kind and began frantically waving his hands in front of his mouth and was temporarily unable to speak. The other players initially mocked him, as they were under the mistaken impression that Phil was complaining about the spice level of the tame hors d'oeuvres. It was soon apparent, however, that Phil's mouth was melting inside as the food was just out of the oven. This was no laughing matter, although apparently it was still quite humourous to his tablemates who laughed anyway. Fighting through adversity is what makes a great champion, and Phil did just that. The win and its 15 point boost catapulted Phil into 5th place and well into the thick of things on the leaderboard.

*Except for these 30 or so violations, which include "7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent." I don't know about you, but my UFC includes fingers deep inside cuts and orrices. TOO MANY RULES. I smell a boycott!