The Berwick venue smelled of poker last Saturday night. If the previous event was considered a marathon then this event must be called the Ironman. With the same T20K structure, but no rebuy and no add on it was expected to end quicker. This was not the case. The tournament lasted just over 8 hours with the last hand of the night being played at 3:15 AM. Conservative play marked the whole event with no stand out chip leader until Jim H. held all the chips at the end of the night. Congratulation to Jim H. on a tournament well played moving him up 6 spots in the leader board standings to 10th and to runner up Jason T. who jumped up 5 positions sneaking into 8th place.
The tournament moved slowly with no one jumping to a significant cheap lead throughout. The first elimination did not happen until over 3 hours into the night. Lolly was the first to exit with Jim S. shortly behind her. Defending event #9 champ and over all leader in points, Mike T., finished in 17th. John M. whose chips were up and down throughout the night was the next to exit, but had a new baby girl to go home to. Congratulations to him and his family! Eric Wej. , Kyle H., Sean O. and Chris S. were the next to make late night exits. Jim O. followed in 11th place after suffering a suck out by Nick G. to cripple his stack, but managed to put on a pretty good run before finally busting out. Keith K. who lost all his chips on the very next hand cemented the final table.
The final table did not form until much after midnight with the blinds at 2000/4000. Jeff R. went out first when his short stack pushed on the flop with middle pair. Pat M. called with top pair. Bill B., simply playing for points and ready for his vacation the next day was happy finishing 8th when his short stack pushed all in preflop with pocket 7's. Anita G. called with pocket 9's which held up. Bill B. left after getting busted by Anita G., and possibly for the first time, with out swearing or threatening her. Anita G., continuing her bully run, took out Angie S. when she pushed all in with just over 3 big blends left. Angie S. held 2 pair to Anita G.'s over pair of A's. The board paired 9's to put Anita G. ahead and Angie S. out. Nick G. trying to stay competitive pushed all in preflop with A-7. With the blinds at 4000-8000, Jim H. instant called with A-J which held up through the river. Matt Pe., after having another good run in a tournament pushed all in preflop with pocket 5's. Pat M. called with pocket 10's. Pat finished the hand with a full house to finish off Matt. Pe.
The Top 4 had made the money. For the first time in the history of the Fish "N" Chips Poker Tour had the big blind reached the starting chip stack count. With blinds at 10,000 / 20,0000 there were not a lot of moves left. Pat M. had just over 30,000 in chips and went all in. It was called by Jason T. winning the hand with Ace high. Shortly after Pat M. was eliminated Jason bet big and Anita G. pushed all in with K-3 suited. Jason T. called with Q-J. A queen hit on the turn to end Anita G.'s evening out.
One would think a heads up session would last long at the staggering blind levels, but Jim H. and Jason T. made the most out of it. The last hand of the night ended with Jim H. holding 9-7 and Jason T. holding 10-8. Jason T. flopped an open ended straight draw and Jim H. held trip 9's. All the money got in the middle and a Q-K came on the turn and river to finish the hand and the tournament.
Congratulations to Jim H. and Jason T. on a tournament well played!
