There was a buzz in the air as the players arrived for the start of season 2. Hoped springs eternal and with a clean slate, this season is truly up for grabs. There were a few adjustments to the rules in the offseason, including shortening up the breaks and lengthening the amount of felt time. In addition, hand-for-hand play was utilized until the final table bubble burst.
The night started out rough for John M. With Jim S. all-in in front of him, he looked down at pocket aces and snap called, finding himself ahead against Jim's 9-10. As the board fell 4-9-3-10-Q, John's fishing license was revoked.
Jeff R. was the next to be hooked. He hit top pair on a 10-rag-rag board, but Kevin An. found a big blind special and flopped two pair, which held through the river, sending Jeff home in 19th.
Matt Pe. was out in 18th place after taking a few huge hits to his stack early on. With only 15,500 remaining, he gambled and moved-in with Q-9 offsuit. Matt's push forced Nick to fold his ace-ten, but Angie mustered a call and and showed king-ten. Though ahead from the start, Angie paired her king and Matt left the building.
Chris' season didn't start out the way he had hoped. It started with him getting lost and arriving late. He picked up two black aces early and re-raised Mike to 27,500. Mike called and paired up a jack on a rainbow flop. Mike moved all in and Chris called, firmly in the driver's seat. But Mike managed runner-runner hearts to flush up on the river, sending Chris out to sea in 17th place. Jim O. followed Chris and was eliminated in 16th place. [citation needed]
Ray S. moved in for 35,500 with A-Q and got called by Bill B.'s pocket 7's. The board fell 8-9-J-6-J and Bill's pocket pair held up, sending Ray home in 15th place.
Pat M. was next on the chopping block. Facing a dwindling chip stack and ever-increasing blinds, he finally pushed all-in with pocket 6's and got a caller in Eric Wej, who held A-K. Pat survived the flop and turn, but he drowned on the river when an ace hit, eliminating him in 14th place.
Facing a raise to 35,000 from Sean, Keith re-raised to 91,000. Anita then re-popped it and forced Sean out of the pot. Anita's pocket aces held up against Keith's A-J, canning Keith's night in 13th place.
Kevin An. was out 12th when he moved his micro stack all-in and and got called by Nick and Lolly holding the 9-10 of hearts. Lolly hit her king and scooped the 3-way pot.
Sitting at 11 players, the next elimination would start hand-for-hand play. Sean pushed all in for 41,000 and got two callers in Jim S. and Mike T. Sean turned over J-K off, Jim flipped Q-8 suited and Mike revealed A-8 suited. The flop came Jc-10s-4s, giving Sean top pair but giving Jim a flush draw and an inside straight draw. Unfortunately for Jim, the turn (2h) and river (10h) missed both his draws and sent him home in 11th place. With 10 players left, hand-for-hand play began and Sean nearly tripled up to infuse him with life as the final tabled bubble loomed. Nick G. was eliminated in 10th place by Eric Wej. and the final table formed. [citation needed]
The first elimination at the final table belonged to Sean O., who had been card dead for some time. Dealt A-K, Sean pushed all in and was called by Jim H. The action progressed to Mike T. who came over the top and forced Jim out of the hand. Isolating Sean, Mike T. turned over pocket queens and was in a race against Sean's two overs. Unfortunately for Sean, the board stayed low and Mike's underpair held up, sending Sean home in 9th place.
With the blinds at 15,000/30,000 with an ante of 5,000, Jim H. was dealt pocket 8's. He looked down at about a quarter-million in chips and made it 100,000 to go. After a short tank, Mike T. raised enough to put Jim all-in. Jim made the call and Mike turned over ace-10. The race was short for Jim as an ace hit the flop and sent Jim home in 8th place.
Anita eliminated Lolly and Angie (out 7th and 6th respectively) on the same hand when they both called her preflop raise with short stacks. Anita's pocket ace's took the three-way pot.
Mike T. had churned his chipstack all night, building a comfortable stack as he creeped closer and closer to the money. Mike was crippled by Jason when his A-7 survived counterfeited Mike's pocket 8's after the flop and turn showed two higher pairs; it was the first of two such counterfeits that worked to Jason's benefit. Left broken but not out, Mike fought on.
Down to five-handed, Bill was nursing one of the short stacks. He picked up a much needed double up to give himself some breathing room. He got it all in again with pocket 5's against Jason's AQ. A brutal flop and turn put two over pairs on the board, counterfeiting Bill's pocket pair and giving Jason the victory with the higher kicker. A gracious Buffalo Bill burst the cash-bubble and exited in 5th place.
Mike was eliminated in 4th after he raised preflop with the A-10 of spades and was called by Anita who held K-J o/s. Mike hit top pair and an inside straight draw on the A-K-J rainbow flop. Thinking his ace was good he announced "all-in" however he was snap called by Anita's 2 pair which held up through the blank turn and river cards.
At one time, Eric Wej. maintained a modest stack, but when he went card-dead orbit after orbit, he was quickly becoming blinded off. He managed to nurse his chip stack into third place as Bill and Mike both got hands worth gambling on -- and both lost. In the small blind, Jason raised Eric's big blind enough to put Eric all in. Having only enough chips to make it a half-dozen or so more hands, Eric looked down at 9-10 offsuit. Figuring Jason may be trying to steal, and even if he had a big pocket pair, the connectors provided a "cracking hand," Eric called. Sure enough, Jason turned over Q-8 and Eric had two live cards. Both players missed the board and Jason took the pot with queen-high, eliminating Eric in third place and starting heads up play. There were 2 million chips in play with Anita holding about 1.2 million of them.
Anita and Jason sparred back and forth, trading pots. Jason held his ground and turned the momentum his way on the second to last hand. Anita raised preflop to 320,000 and Jason pushed all-in for 870,000. Anita called, putting herself in a position to win the tournament. Anita showed A-7 but unfortunately for her, Jason showed A-K. Both players missed the board and Jason's king kicker gave him a 1.7 million chip pot.
Anita pushed all-in blind on the final hand. Jason looked down at A-7 offsuit and called. Anita rolled over 10-3 suited and prayed for the deck to hit her. A river 3 was too little, too late as Jason turned a higher pair to take the pot and open season 2 up with a victory.
Thanks to everyone for coming out to S2E1 and congrats again to Jason Tr.
~Eric Wej.
