Estes Park World Championship
August 17th 2021
In the History of HighLowJack there may never have been a day like this! The References to Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA Playoff finals , when Mr. Reed (Rumored to be a bigtime HighLowJack player!) came to spark his team to victory despite a severe injury, is frankly not even close to what happened in the Rocky Mountains. Let's set the scene: thousands of people were in Rocky Mountain National Park, many it seemed, there only to witness the 2021 World Champion HighLowJack Tournament with the final match to be played at Sprague Lake. Steve Laffey, the number 1 player in the World, (See Top 10 players list) had decided to sit this one out, and watch other great players. There were many contesting but Laffey knew he would not lose his ranking--as he sits so far ahead of the rest of the players... in the final match it was #4 Jessie Isabel, teamed up with the luscious and beautiful #5 Kelly Thorell against the always dangerous #2 Audrey (she who threw the Queen) teamed up with American Samoa Champ (Just before escaping the Island in July) #10 Samuel James.
Kelly and Jessie were losing 15-6 and all seemed lost for this somewhat dynamic duo... when a sudden and unexplainable injury hit Miss Jessie and she stumbled into the woods. No one knew what to do...was the game over? Would Kelly have to forfeit? Oh no...but Shazam!... Mr. Laffey was present and called the judges looking on via ZOOOM. After looking thru the rulebook they cited an old blue book rule seemingly from Abe Lincoln's time that allowed, due to the massive deficit Kelly was facing, and also because it was a wooded area, and also because of the "injury" being of an unknown cause...that YES! , it was possible for a replacement to stand in...Well Steve Laffey could not let the attractive Kelly just lose so he stepped in to play. He knew the risks....down 15-6...ouch!! but that did not deter Laffey.
He won every game and out flanked even the Queen thrower, who did play wonderfully but when Sam came to deal Laffey/Kelly were still down 13-8 when Laffey, who had the first bid ,yelled out "Four Smush!" (Some people thought he said 4 Smudge!" but we will leave that for another day.) Mrs. Kelly was about to yell out..."Your Making a Mockery of the Game"! but she looked over to her partner and only the Word "Your.." came out of her mouth...She knew something was up....The Dealer, Samuel had to pass as he did not want to take for "4 Smush" and Laffey promptly asked for 3 cards...OUCH WENT THE CROWD...HOW COULD LAFFEY PULL THIS OFF NOW...!!?? But Steve Laffey had analyzed everything and threw the Ace, King and Queen of Hearts in a row picking up from his laughing teammate the 2 the ten and the jack of Trump...now laffey, who had picked up 2 Trump cards and the king of Spades, thew the two trump cards, knowing his opponents were out of trump and then held up his remaining card and announced...Humbly, there is a less than a .01 chance that anyone can beat us now! He threw the non trump king and the crowd went wild as no one had the Ace of spades!
The papers would report..."There's a reason he's the number one player in the world.... and we saw it in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2021 again!" The marvelous Kelly started her patented victory dance and it occurred to Steve Laffey that he better go find his wife and remind her that they had met 27 years ago that day, When she walked up to his front steps...but that is a story for another day!
Oh as a postscript, Jessica Isabel wandered back in muttering something about nibbling and , well let's just say the judges were not pleased.
Arcadia National Park 2018 Grand Championships
June 9, 2018
In front of a very large weekend crowd in Northern Maine, one of the greatest weekend Championships was played. Steve Laffey, undisputed number one player in the world brought his thoughtful play and perseverance to another part of the region, to expand interest in this remarkable game…HighLowJack!
In the finals, the Philly Kid, Jonathan Newman had Laffey down to his last hand, Newman ahead 11 to NEGATIVE 1!!!, was doing his intimidating waving to the crowd, but Laffey kept his cool….Newman was dealing for the victory, prepared to bid 3 or 4 but Laffey….Laffey bid 4 smush!, Laffey holding a queen, high, Jack and 9 of hearts, looked into the face of defeat and gently said “4 smush” to the talented, taking the country by storm, Philly Kid. Maybe distracted by the amount of phone calls he was receiving from fans, Newman stood by in disbelief as Laffey asked for 3 cards, 3 cards!
Laffey drew the 10 of hearts and the king and queen of spades. Analyzing the Newman only had 3 at most of trump, Laffey thru the queen to 9 in a row, taking all four tricks and then Letting his talented foe , who was out of trump, know, that he had just calculated in his mind, that he, Laffey, had a 97% chance of winning and only one card that the Kid could have could save him now….and he did not have it….the crowd went wild and cars were beeping all over in Maine to support this new Championship. Even “Cookie” the blueberry piemaker for the tournament said “I have never seen anything like this game, what a sport, they all stand for the National Anthem, respect our country, I am going to support this tournament every year!!”
Laffey left, taking the last train to Clarksville, no more Monkeying around, as he headed home to his lovely family in Colorado!
August 17th 2021
In the History of HighLowJack there may never have been a day like this! The References to Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA Playoff finals , when Mr. Reed (Rumored to be a bigtime HighLowJack player!) came to spark his team to victory despite a severe injury, is frankly not even close to what happened in the Rocky Mountains. Let's set the scene: thousands of people were in Rocky Mountain National Park, many it seemed, there only to witness the 2021 World Champion HighLowJack Tournament with the final match to be played at Sprague Lake. Steve Laffey, the number 1 player in the World, (See Top 10 players list) had decided to sit this one out, and watch other great players. There were many contesting but Laffey knew he would not lose his ranking--as he sits so far ahead of the rest of the players... in the final match it was #4 Jessie Isabel, teamed up with the luscious and beautiful #5 Kelly Thorell against the always dangerous #2 Audrey (she who threw the Queen) teamed up with American Samoa Champ (Just before escaping the Island in July) #10 Samuel James.
Kelly and Jessie were losing 15-6 and all seemed lost for this somewhat dynamic duo... when a sudden and unexplainable injury hit Miss Jessie and she stumbled into the woods. No one knew what to do...was the game over? Would Kelly have to forfeit? Oh no...but Shazam!... Mr. Laffey was present and called the judges looking on via ZOOOM. After looking thru the rulebook they cited an old blue book rule seemingly from Abe Lincoln's time that allowed, due to the massive deficit Kelly was facing, and also because it was a wooded area, and also because of the "injury" being of an unknown cause...that YES! , it was possible for a replacement to stand in...Well Steve Laffey could not let the attractive Kelly just lose so he stepped in to play. He knew the risks....down 15-6...ouch!! but that did not deter Laffey.
He won every game and out flanked even the Queen thrower, who did play wonderfully but when Sam came to deal Laffey/Kelly were still down 13-8 when Laffey, who had the first bid ,yelled out "Four Smush!" (Some people thought he said 4 Smudge!" but we will leave that for another day.) Mrs. Kelly was about to yell out..."Your Making a Mockery of the Game"! but she looked over to her partner and only the Word "Your.." came out of her mouth...She knew something was up....The Dealer, Samuel had to pass as he did not want to take for "4 Smush" and Laffey promptly asked for 3 cards...OUCH WENT THE CROWD...HOW COULD LAFFEY PULL THIS OFF NOW...!!?? But Steve Laffey had analyzed everything and threw the Ace, King and Queen of Hearts in a row picking up from his laughing teammate the 2 the ten and the jack of Trump...now laffey, who had picked up 2 Trump cards and the king of Spades, thew the two trump cards, knowing his opponents were out of trump and then held up his remaining card and announced...Humbly, there is a less than a .01 chance that anyone can beat us now! He threw the non trump king and the crowd went wild as no one had the Ace of spades!
The papers would report..."There's a reason he's the number one player in the world.... and we saw it in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2021 again!" The marvelous Kelly started her patented victory dance and it occurred to Steve Laffey that he better go find his wife and remind her that they had met 27 years ago that day, When she walked up to his front steps...but that is a story for another day!
Oh as a postscript, Jessica Isabel wandered back in muttering something about nibbling and , well let's just say the judges were not pleased.
Arcadia National Park 2018 Grand Championships
June 9, 2018
In front of a very large weekend crowd in Northern Maine, one of the greatest weekend Championships was played. Steve Laffey, undisputed number one player in the world brought his thoughtful play and perseverance to another part of the region, to expand interest in this remarkable game…HighLowJack!
In the finals, the Philly Kid, Jonathan Newman had Laffey down to his last hand, Newman ahead 11 to NEGATIVE 1!!!, was doing his intimidating waving to the crowd, but Laffey kept his cool….Newman was dealing for the victory, prepared to bid 3 or 4 but Laffey….Laffey bid 4 smush!, Laffey holding a queen, high, Jack and 9 of hearts, looked into the face of defeat and gently said “4 smush” to the talented, taking the country by storm, Philly Kid. Maybe distracted by the amount of phone calls he was receiving from fans, Newman stood by in disbelief as Laffey asked for 3 cards, 3 cards!
Laffey drew the 10 of hearts and the king and queen of spades. Analyzing the Newman only had 3 at most of trump, Laffey thru the queen to 9 in a row, taking all four tricks and then Letting his talented foe , who was out of trump, know, that he had just calculated in his mind, that he, Laffey, had a 97% chance of winning and only one card that the Kid could have could save him now….and he did not have it….the crowd went wild and cars were beeping all over in Maine to support this new Championship. Even “Cookie” the blueberry piemaker for the tournament said “I have never seen anything like this game, what a sport, they all stand for the National Anthem, respect our country, I am going to support this tournament every year!!”
Laffey left, taking the last train to Clarksville, no more Monkeying around, as he headed home to his lovely family in Colorado!
LAFFEY “TRIPLE REELS” IN SOUTH CAROLINA!
May 20th, 2018
South Carolina HLJ Championships of May, 2018 —AKA The Charleston Massacre (AKA to many as the “TRIPLE REEL”)
June 2018—Maybe the greatest HLJ Tournament ever played was a recent tournament in the revered city of Charleston SC. Let me tell you every word of this story is true, documented and unbelievable!
After a long tournament the three top players, Kelly Thorell, Jon Newman-- “The Philly Kid”, and third, the UNDISPUTED NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD –Steve Laffey, settled in for a long weekend in front of thousands of fans. Livestreamed to the world, the finals took place over a long weekend after hundreds of competitors had lost in a double elimination setting.
In the first two days, Friday and Saturday, Laffey was on a tear, winning (as Mr. Mopmop used to say) just about every darn game! So off the charts was Laffey that the Beautiful Kelly and the Waving, ever friendly “Kid”, decided to team up against Laffey. They could not beat him by themselves, so despite the rules, they talked out loud to try to defeat him.
Now Laffey was not bothered by this as he had an ace up his sleeve. As the banter of his opponents went on and on…Laffey said nothing. Now picture this…As Laffey had 8, (enough to win--get 11, if he could only bid and win.). But “The Kid” had just taken one for the team (meaning the team of Kelly and The Philly Kid, teaming up against the solo, rule abiding Steve Laffey) and rode after bidding an outrageous 4, with nothing in his hand, so that Laffey, the dealer on that hand, would not bid and win!
A brave move by the talented and ferocious Philly Kid. But now it was Kelly’s bid, (Laffey, Kelly, The Kid sitting in clockwise motion). The score was now Kid-5 (after riding for negative 4!), Laffey-8, and the beautiful Kelly-9. Kelly deals the cards and “The Kid” tells Kelly that is was her turn to bid high to keep Laffey from winning and he bid a low 2.
The bid turned to Laffey, who, knowing his Kelly so well, (we don’t publicize it on the web-site very often, but Laffey and Kelly [her real name is Kelly Laffey, but why live in the shadow of the NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD!!] have been married for nearly 24 years!)
knew what to say!
Laffey announced to “The Kid”. Jonathan, you don’t know this but you have been double reeled! Kelly and I secretly have been working against you so she could win one match! We discuss this in bed each night, she has only been pretending to be your partner and now I will “pass” on my bid, so she can take you for 2 and win the game!”
(Don’t worry—Laffey knows his wife very well and knew exactly what would happen! This is the TRIPLE REEL part.)
Kelly, the dealer, exploded in quick anger, despite holding a true 4 hand and within one breath of saying “I take you for 2”… and winning the tournament, she yelled, “Jonathan that is not true! That never happened, I would never do such a thing! Stephen Laffey, you tell him right now that I would never do such a thing!”
Laffey, with that twinkle in his eye, the same twinkle that caught hers, on that fateful Wednesday at 12 noon Memphis time of August 17th, 1994, merely said, “Oh honey it’s ok, you can tell Jonathan the truth, that we plotted against him and it was all a ruse…”
Laffey knew what would happen next, after some more yelling, Kelly did the “honorable” thing and passed! Jonathan got his 2 but Laffey won the game on the next hand, with a true 4 bid, got 4 and as the beach crowd exploded with clapping, stunned by the change of events, Laffey walked off with the Crown!!
Now what happened after that will be kept private, but while the Philly Kid, laughed and immediately flew out to Nova Scotia, to win the Fundy National Park Championship against some hard playing, french speaking Canuks, and we mean that in a loving, gracious way for our friends to the north, steel tariffs or not!, it did take several hours, and many flowers to calm down the beautiful, if excitable Kelly!
This is considered the best game of HighLowJack game ever played by some and will soon be, we think, a case study used at The Harvard Business School’s Ethics Class for first year students!
May 20th, 2018
South Carolina HLJ Championships of May, 2018 —AKA The Charleston Massacre (AKA to many as the “TRIPLE REEL”)
June 2018—Maybe the greatest HLJ Tournament ever played was a recent tournament in the revered city of Charleston SC. Let me tell you every word of this story is true, documented and unbelievable!
After a long tournament the three top players, Kelly Thorell, Jon Newman-- “The Philly Kid”, and third, the UNDISPUTED NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD –Steve Laffey, settled in for a long weekend in front of thousands of fans. Livestreamed to the world, the finals took place over a long weekend after hundreds of competitors had lost in a double elimination setting.
In the first two days, Friday and Saturday, Laffey was on a tear, winning (as Mr. Mopmop used to say) just about every darn game! So off the charts was Laffey that the Beautiful Kelly and the Waving, ever friendly “Kid”, decided to team up against Laffey. They could not beat him by themselves, so despite the rules, they talked out loud to try to defeat him.
Now Laffey was not bothered by this as he had an ace up his sleeve. As the banter of his opponents went on and on…Laffey said nothing. Now picture this…As Laffey had 8, (enough to win--get 11, if he could only bid and win.). But “The Kid” had just taken one for the team (meaning the team of Kelly and The Philly Kid, teaming up against the solo, rule abiding Steve Laffey) and rode after bidding an outrageous 4, with nothing in his hand, so that Laffey, the dealer on that hand, would not bid and win!
A brave move by the talented and ferocious Philly Kid. But now it was Kelly’s bid, (Laffey, Kelly, The Kid sitting in clockwise motion). The score was now Kid-5 (after riding for negative 4!), Laffey-8, and the beautiful Kelly-9. Kelly deals the cards and “The Kid” tells Kelly that is was her turn to bid high to keep Laffey from winning and he bid a low 2.
The bid turned to Laffey, who, knowing his Kelly so well, (we don’t publicize it on the web-site very often, but Laffey and Kelly [her real name is Kelly Laffey, but why live in the shadow of the NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD!!] have been married for nearly 24 years!)
knew what to say!
Laffey announced to “The Kid”. Jonathan, you don’t know this but you have been double reeled! Kelly and I secretly have been working against you so she could win one match! We discuss this in bed each night, she has only been pretending to be your partner and now I will “pass” on my bid, so she can take you for 2 and win the game!”
(Don’t worry—Laffey knows his wife very well and knew exactly what would happen! This is the TRIPLE REEL part.)
Kelly, the dealer, exploded in quick anger, despite holding a true 4 hand and within one breath of saying “I take you for 2”… and winning the tournament, she yelled, “Jonathan that is not true! That never happened, I would never do such a thing! Stephen Laffey, you tell him right now that I would never do such a thing!”
Laffey, with that twinkle in his eye, the same twinkle that caught hers, on that fateful Wednesday at 12 noon Memphis time of August 17th, 1994, merely said, “Oh honey it’s ok, you can tell Jonathan the truth, that we plotted against him and it was all a ruse…”
Laffey knew what would happen next, after some more yelling, Kelly did the “honorable” thing and passed! Jonathan got his 2 but Laffey won the game on the next hand, with a true 4 bid, got 4 and as the beach crowd exploded with clapping, stunned by the change of events, Laffey walked off with the Crown!!
Now what happened after that will be kept private, but while the Philly Kid, laughed and immediately flew out to Nova Scotia, to win the Fundy National Park Championship against some hard playing, french speaking Canuks, and we mean that in a loving, gracious way for our friends to the north, steel tariffs or not!, it did take several hours, and many flowers to calm down the beautiful, if excitable Kelly!
This is considered the best game of HighLowJack game ever played by some and will soon be, we think, a case study used at The Harvard Business School’s Ethics Class for first year students!
May, 2019..."BIG BOY" WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS....What a tournament, what a weekend...thousands crowd into Laramie WY to watch and play for the Team World Championship....Steve Laffey somehow gets paired up with Junior Mint! and despite all odds....match after match they decimate the others and win...the final game was close but it was Junior Mint who said..."I bid 4!" ....and got it to win the whole thing!!!