Ingram - Kevin "Woogie" A. defeated opponent Jim H. in heads-up play Saturday night and picked up his second career FNCPT win in Event #7 of this season's Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour! Kevin came to the final table with a huge chip lead and completely crushed the opposition with his big-stack play.
With the smell of limburger cheese in the air courtesy of Jim H, play started out rather slow at the red table as the evening's first 3 eliminations (John M., Fran D. and Lolly O.) all came from the bronze table. Jason Tr. (out 17th) was the first casualty at the red table. Angie was next followed by Jim O, Nick and then Keith. "Buffalo" Bill was out 12th and Eric Wej. was sent to the rail in 11th balancing the two tables at five players apiece.
Sean O. was eliminated in 10th place after he re-raised Jim H's 40,000 chip bet to 160,000 all-in with blinds at 5,000/10,000/1,000. Sean's pocket 9's led the race against Jim's A-Q until the dreaded river card brought a queen. Sean was out and the final table formed.
Anita was out 9th when she pushed her short stack in with rags in an attempt to pick up the antes and blinds. Unfortunately she ran into Woogie's pocket cowboys which took the pot.
Next to bite the tournament dust was Chris S. Although pumped up at one point, Chris' stack was dwindling when he found himself in the big blind with pocket 9's with blinds at 10k/20k/3k. Matt Pe. raised to 45k PF with K-Q. Chris pushed for 60k more and Matt called. A king hit the the flop and Chris was out in 8th.
Mike T. was out next when he raised in the BB to 90k with blinds at 15k/30k/5k. Woogie re-popped it to 190k and Mike moved-in for 30k on top. Woogie called and showed A-Q. Mike's K-10 missed the flop but Woogie hit a queen. The turn and river brought no help and Mike was eliminated in 7th place.
Jason Ta. bubbled in 5th place when he pushed his last 54k in with the Kh-10h and was called by the other 4 players at the table. Although he made 2 pair on the river, Kevin filled his straight and Jason was out.
Jeff R. managed to hang around long enough to secure a 4th place cash with 4 BB's (200k) in his stack with blinds at 25k/50k/7k. He pushed with the J-Q of hearts and was called by both Kevin and Matt who both had A-K. Both A-K's ended up making boats and the pot was chopped while Jeff was eliminated.
Head's-up between Kevin and Jim began with blinds still at 40k/80k/10k and with Kevin having a 3 to 1 edge in chips. After several hands, both players agreed to chop prize money and play for the points. On the final hand of the tournament, Jim raised to 180k with As-3c. Kevin called with the Qd-9h. The flop came out Js-5h-5d. Jim moved in and Kevin called. Jim was ahead however Kevin picked up an OESD on the 10s turn. The river brought the Ks which filled Kevin's straight and gave him the win.
This is Kevin's second consecutive tournament win as he took down the 9 player, non-league Player's Club Invitational on October 18th.
Congrats to Kevin on his win and thanks to everyone who came out for S2E7.
~Jason Tr.
"April Eight" Update:
Even with a 14th place finish, Nick's lead was large enough to hang on to first place (though he is no longer on pace to beat Mike T's POTY total from last year). Likewise, despite missing the last two events, Jim S. remains second in points, largely on the strength of two wins this season. Sean and Jason Ta. both jumped up one spot while Jason Tr. fell two spots. Jim H's second place finish bumped him up into the April Eight, pushing John M. and Mike T. back one spot and leaving Anita on the outside looking in. Kevin A's win this month vaulted him 12 spots to the cusp of the April Eight, less than three points behind Mike T.
With only four events remaining, it appears that the April Eight seats will be hotly contested.
