There was plenty of action early on at the red table with several huge pots being scooped in the first blind level. I (Jason Tr.) was the first casualty of the 20 person field after getting short-stacked and flopping 4 to a flush and turning an OESD. I never got there and Pat M's pocket aces took my stack. Anita was next at the blue table when she got in short with A-5 and flopped 2 pair against Sean's pocket cowboys however Sean rivered a 2-outer king for the winning set. Newcomer Red M. checked out in 18th place when he couldn't beat Erik M's deuces full of 4's in a 300k pot. Jim S. picked up a double elimination of Pat M. (17th) and Jim H. (16th) when he rivered a jack for a bigger full house over Jim H's 5's full.
Lolly was out 15th when her 112k all-in with A-J was called by Mike T's "Ace Magnets" which held up. Jeff R. followed when his "Ace Magnets" collided into "Buffalo" Bill's flopped set of 8's.
At the second break with 13 players remaining, Jim S. seated at the red table was the overall chip leader with about 900k, "Buffalo" Bill (also at the red table) was 2nd with roughly 600k, Sean O. over at the blue table was 3rd with a shade over 500k and Eric Wej. (blue table) was sitting in 4th with 360k.
Angie was out in 13th place when she moved her last 59k in with A-6 and faced Jim O's pocket 6's which actually flopped a set. Fran was next when his pocket 8's were destroyed by Jim O's pocket 4's which turned a straight. John was out in 11th followed by Nick in 10th (both on the blue table) thus forming the final table. [citation needed]
There were several stacks hanging on as the blinds increased, including Jason Ta. His prflop allin was called by Eric Wej. Jason tabled 77 while Eric showed JJ. But a 7 hit the flop and held and Jason doubled up through Eric. An orbit later, Jason would make Eric the first player eliminated from the final nine. Eric raised 3xBB preflop and Jason pushed all in with Eric calling. Jason showed AQ to Eric's AK, but a queen on the flop pushed a pot of nearly 1 million chips to Jason and sent Eric packing. Matt Pe. was next when he called Erik M's all-in for 250k with, you guessed it, A-K. Erik's pocket 9's flopped, you guessed it, a set. Mike followed when he moved it in for 95k holding K-8 and was called by Sean O's K-Q. Trip 7's came on the turn but Sean's queen kicker was the deciding factor. "Buffalo" Bill was eliminated in 6th place when he moved in his last 175k with A-3 and was called by Sean's pocket 5's which led all the way to the river and eventually completed a 4-8 straight. Erik M. was the S2E5 "Bubble Boy" out in 5th place when his all-in with A-7 was called by big stack Jim S's Q-8. Erik led through the turn but the river card made Jim an 8-Q straight.
4 handed play between Jim S, Jim O, Sean O. and Jason Ta. began with blinds at 40k-80k-10k. Jim O. was out 4th when he re-raised Sean O's raise of 260k to about 500k all-in with Kd-Qd. Sean called and showed Ah-3d. Jim picked up a flush draw on the turn card however the river missed him and Sean took the nearly 1 million chip pot with ace high.
Jason Ta's tournament death knell came with blinds at 60k-120k-20k when he moved in PF with pocket jacks and was called by Jim S's pocket 10's. Jim flopped a set and Jason lost 630k on the hand. A few hands later he was eliminated when he moved his remaining 230k in with Qs-4c and was called by Jim S's Kd-7h. Jim turned a king, took the 500k pot and heads-up play began.
Heads-up play began between Jim and Sean with 6:50 remaining in the 60k-120k-20k level. Sean had the edge in chips with 2.3 million over Jim's 1.7 million. Both players battled back and forth with each other through the 60k-120k level until Sean cut Jim's stack nearly in half on a king high flop followed by a big bet and a fold by Jim. Sean had his opponent hooked, was in a position to land him and win the tournament. This would be his first career regular season victory. However it would not be. The fish got away. On the hand that should have been, it turned out to be Sean's tournament death knell. With blinds at 100k-200k, Jim doubled-up back to 1.7 million when he hit runner, runner for a flush against Sean's flopped 2 pair of ace's and 7's. Both players continued to trade pots through the level until Jim struck again taking a 1 million chip pot with the 6h-7h against Sean's 8h-9h. On the hand, Jim rivered an 8 high straight.
On the final hand of the tournament, Jim checked his 2 pair of queen's and 7's on the Qc-7c-6c flop. Sean holding the 6h-4d quickly moved all-in. Jim insta-called and the turn brought the 4c which made Sean a smaller 2 pair. Sean missed his 6 outer on the 2h river and Jim claimed his second career FNCPT victory.
Congratulations to Jim S. on his win and thanks to everybody who attended S2E5!
~Jason Tr.
