We finished with our traditional closer for the year, Phantoms of the Ice, with nine players. Nobody's hand seemed to dominate, and soon got picked at, once people realised where the good cards were. I managed to work up to a great hand about half way through but, inevitably, having won a second game with it, by the time it came around to me again, it was full of dross. Steve was first to qualify for the final, but lost a vital card or two before Mark W was able to claim the other spot. The bookies stopped taking bets at that stage because even Mark W couldn't lose the final with a hand like he had. And so it was, as Mark W won the first two games in a best-of-three match: 2-1, 2-1 - and claimed the title of Phantoms champion for 2013.