Jason Tr. headlines the nearly sold out PLO event

Ingram - The PLO event was originally scheduled for November, but had to be postponed because of availability.  Squeezing the PLO event between Event's #9 and #10 gave players an opportunity to make up a lot of ground in a short period of time.  Instead, Jason Tr. used the PLO event to tighten his stranglehold on the leaderboard as he seeks his second straight FNCPT Player of the Year title.  Jason defeated Jim O. to claim the rescheduled Season 3 PLO Event early Sunday morning.

The field of 19 players got started just after 7 P.M. The color commentary of "Buffalo" Bill B. in seat 3 at the red table could easily be overheard at the bronze table. The first pot of the night at the red table was contested by 4 players and ultimately worth 180,000.  After that, it seemed that middle and bottom pair were good to take several early pots at the red table whilst full houses and quads were needed at the bronze table.

Keith K. exited first, choosing not to exercise his option for a 100% reload. Mike T's rebuy at the red table was not enough to keep him from being the night's second victim.  After a rebuy, Kevin A. got mixed up in a three-way pot with John M. (all in) and Eric W.  John rivered a 6-high straight to scoop the pot, eliminate Kevin and cripple Eric.  A few hands later, Eric was eliminated in 16th place courtesy of Jim H's pocket queens.

Substitute player Greg S. at the bronze table hit the rail in 15th place. Nick then  delivered a triple-kill at the red table, eliminating Angie S, Lolly O, and Season II Champion Jim S. in one hand. Jason Tr. eliminated John M. in 11th place who was followed by Jeff R. thus forming the final table of 9 players.

Anita was out in 9th place after getting her short stack all-in PF and coming out on the losing end. Substitute player Fran D. was out next when he fell to the trips of Jason Tr. Sean O. made a return to the FNCPT to defend last year's Omaha cash, but Nick sent him packing in 7th place followed by substitute player "Buffalo" Bill B. It was the best thing for him really. His therapy was going nowhere.

Jim H. was out in 5th place and became the S3E6 "Bubble Boy". The final four was comprised of Jim O, Jason Tr, Jason Ta. and Nick G.  Both Nick and Jason Ta. cashed in last year's Omaha event with Jason Ta. taking home first. Both were fishing for a first place finish in E6.

Jim, Jason Tr. and Nick all had large comparable stacks while Jason Ta. manned the short stack. Just a few hands into the 20k/40k/6k level, Nick's stack suffered a catastrophic blow at the hand of Jason Tr. after both players flopped diamond flushes. However it was Jason who held a higher one with a queen in his holdings. Jason announced pot only to be re-raised by Nick. Jason three-bet with another pot-sized raise and Nick tanked for a minute [Editor's note: There is no way Nick *only* thought for a minute...I suspect it was more like 10-12 minutes] before calling and showing a smaller flush. The turn and river brought no help for Nick and he was reduced to just a few big blinds while Jason scooped the 900k pot.

A few hands later, Nick's two-pair was bettered by Jim O's almost invisible flush that was initially overlooked. Nick gracefully exited the tournament in 4th place.

The three remaining players in the tournament traded chips into the 40k/80k/10k level until Jason Tr. flopped a 5-9 straight against opponent Jason Ta.  With a higher straight and flush draw, Jason Ta. raised pot. Jason Tr. re-potted and Jason Ta. called to put himself all-in and at risk. The turn and river missed him and Jason Tr. took down the huge pot.

Head's-up play between Jason Tr. and Jim O. continued in the 40k/80k level with both players agreeing to omit the ante. Jason had approximately 1.9 million in chips to his opponents 800k.  Pots were exchanged until Jason landed a devastating blow to his opponent's stack by flopping a set of 6's. Jim was forced to retreat after committing over 70% of his stack on the hand. Just a few hands later, the final hand of the tournament was dealt.

All the chips were in preflop and Jim showed Ks-Qd-6h-5d. Jason revealed Kh-Jd-8s-4d. The flop of 2d-Js-Jc gave Jason trip jacks and the lead. Jim needed running cards for a straight or flush to win. The 4c turn missed and left Jim drawing dead. The Kd river made Jason a full house and gave Keith the $40 River Jackpot.

 Thanks to everyone who came out for S3E6 and congrats to Jason on his win!

APRIL 8 UPDATE:

With the stretch run in full swing, players were keeping their fish-eye on the prize, jockeying for position and hoping to solidify themselves at the top of the April 8.

Jason put distance between himself and the rest of the field by winning E6.  Sitting at 56.88 points with two events to go, he is threatening Mike T's top finish in Season I (66.76 points).  Jim H's bubble finish was enough to allow him to leapfrog Nick G. by the slimmest of margins (Jim 43.72, Nick 43.62), despite Nick finishing higher; Nick's rebuy cost him precious points.  Jim O's back-to-back top-five finishes pushed him up 4 spots into fourth place overall with 35.55 points, despite the fact that he has only played in 7 events.  Keith K's disappointing Omaha finish dropped him just 3/100th's of a point behind Jim with 35.52 points.  Jason Ta. (34.48) also dropped one spot, but is close enough to gain more ground in the coming weeks.  Angie S. (30.57) and Eric W. (30.31) each dropped one spot to round out the April 8.

On the outside looking in is Anita G, a full 7 points behind the Top 8. Tom W, John M, Mike T. and Kevin A. are all within a few points of Anita. 

The next event (Triple-stack NLHE Freezeout) can be worth as many as 17.32 points for a win, so lots of movement is expected over the final two events of the season.

~ Eric W.

Jim H. captures S3E9 and earns 3rd career FNCPT win

Hidden Court West - Jim H. defeated head's-up opponent Keith K. early Sunday morning to claim victory in Event #9 of this season's Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour.

The event was the standard T20,000 NLHE with a partial rebuy. Substitute Brian N. was a late cancellation however substitute replacement Dan C. filled the seat. The cards flew shortly after 7 P.M. with a field of 17 players.

First time substitute player Chris B's FNCPT experience was short lived as he was the evening's first elimination after declining the option to rebuy.  S3E8 Champ Tom W. exercised his rebuy option, but followed Chris to the rail.  FNCPT Season II Champion Jim S.  was the third out.

Angie was eliminated in 14th place when she re-raised Jason Tr. from 5k to 9,500. Jason called and turned over pocket ace's. Angie's K-Q flopped a queen however the turn and river brought no help for her and she was out. Rebuys allowed Nick G. and John M. to stay afloat a little longer, but they exited in 13th and 12th respectively.

Jason Ta. was eliminated in 11th place before Lolly ran in to trouble with Jim H.  She called his re-raise to put herself all-in on a 10 high flop. Lolly showed Q-10 and Jim tabled K-10 to out-kick Lolly. The turn was a blank and even though the Qc on the river gave Lolly two-pair, it completed Jim's king-high flush. Lolly was out in 10th place and the final table was formed.

Replacement substitute player Dan C. was the first elimination from the final table after he called Jason Tr's all-in on a board of A-Q-7. Jason revealed A-Q for a flopped two-pair whilst Dan turned over A-K. The turn and river missed him and he was sent to the rail in 9th place. Anita was out in 8th place, just before a clash between Mike T. and Keith K.  With blinds at 1k/2k, Keith pushed all in for 22k and Mike called. Keith tabled K-J and Mike showed J-10. The board missed Mike (and Keith) and Keith scooped the huge pot with king high.

Substitute Fran D. found himself short-stacked and got his last 5,500 in with pocket 9's. Jason Tr. made the call with A-J and immediately paired his ace on the flop. The turn and river gave Jason a full house and Fran was sent to the rail in 6th place.

Heading into the bubble, the final 5 players remaining in the tournament all held sizable, comparable chip stacks and exchanged pots through the 2k-4k-400 level. Jason was the first player on the brink of elimination after he lost a 80k pot to Keith only to double-up through Keith a few hands later when his flopped set of jack's bettered Keith's flopped set of 9's.

Play continued until Jim O's stack took a critical blow at the hand of Kevin reducing it to a little better than 1 BB. Short stacked and steamed, Jim moved in his last 4,300 and got two callers in Jim H. and Jason Tr. Jim H. rivered two-pair to Jason's top pair, top kicker and scooped the sizable side pot. Jim O. mucked his cards, headed to the rail in 5th place and in the process became the S3E9 "Bubble Boy".

Four-handed play continued through the 2k/4k/400 level and into the start of the 2.5k/5k/400 level between Kevin, Jim H, Keith and Jason Tr. After taking a huge dent to his stack by Keith, Jason got his remaining chips in the middle with Jd-10d and got a caller once again in Keith who revealed K-Q. The flop quickly paired Keith's king and after a blank on the turn, Jason was drawing dead and exited in 4th place.

Just a few hands later on an unraised, checked pot, a flop of 4-5-K was dealt. Both Jim and Kevin checked. The turn brought a 2. Kevin bet 15k only to be raised by Jim to 40k. Kevin paused and after a few moments announced all-in. Having just a few thousand more chips than Kevin, Jim called and flipped over pocket deuces for a turned set. Kevin exposed K-Q, was drawing dead and quietly exited stage left in 3rd place.

Jim held a nearly 3-1 chip lead over opponent Keith starting head's-up play however Keith battled back and both players exchanged pots into the 3k/6k level when the final hand of the tournament was dealt.

Jim raised to 16k preflop and Keith called. The flop brought the 7h-Ac-Jc and both players checked. The turn brought the 6h. Jim bet 15k and Keith raised to 45k. Jim quickly moved all-in. Keith tanked for a minute before calling and revealing Kd-6c for bottom pair. Jim turned over Js-7c for two-pair and left Keith with only 6 outs going into the river card. But it was the 7d that came giving Jim a full house and his 3rd career FNCPT win!

 
Thanks to everyone who came out for S3E9 and congrats to Jim on his win! 

 

~ Jason Tr.

APRIL 8 UPDATE:

The last two years, it has required 36.36 and 37.29 points respectively to secure a seat in the April 8.  Only Jason Tr., Nick and Jim H. have eclipsed those points totals this season.  The other five seats remain up for grabs.

With his strong showing in E9, Jason Tr. moved to the top of the Player of the Year leaderboard.  Nick's rebuy and low finish dropped him to second, his lowest position all season.  The win vaulted Jim up four places and into third place in points, and with a second place finish, Keith K. bumped up two spots to fourth place.  Jason Ta. held steady in 5th place and Angie S. dropped two spots to 6th place; she is the only other person (with Nick) to be in the April 8 the entire season.  Eric W. missed E9 and his absence cost him four spots, dropping him to 7th place.  With his bubble boy finish, Jim O. clings to the final spot in the April 8.

The top 8 are dogged by some close followers, including Tom W. (-3.45), Mike T. (-5.31), John M. (-5.36) and Anita G. (-5.81). With three events left in the season, all of these players are within striking distance, especially considering Tom and Mike have only played 5 and 6 events, respectively.

~ Eric Wej.