Hidden Court West - Chris S. drove his massive chip stack to victory lane early Sunday morning by defeating head's-up opponent Jim H. in the final event of this season's FNCPT!
All 20 seats filled and 14.14 first place points were up for grabs! Unfortunately it wouldn't be sub Brian N. seated at the black table. Brian was well-positioned to double up after flopping three 8's and getting Eric to commit all his chips on the turn. Eric held his worthless pocket aces over the muck and was about to release them when an ace came on the river, saving Eric and crippling Brian. Nick G's pocket aces finished Brian off and brought the evening's first elimination.
Brian was followed by Jim S and John M. With the board showing two pairs, Eric pushed all in and was called by Alan's A-J; Eric rolled over pocket aces and the river was clean, sending Alan to the rail in 17th. Next out were Jim O, Lolly O, Kevin A. and "Buffalo" Bill B. Jason Ta. was next (out in 12th place) after suffering two suckout losses holding pocket jacks. Keith and Jason were actually both eliminated on the same hand by substitute player Fran D.
Anita G. was eliminated in 10th place by Mike T. after she found herself short-stacked and all-in with K-7. Mike looked her up with A-X. Anita led after flopping a king, however Mike took the lead when the turn brought an ace. The river missed Anita and the final table was formed.
The final table included Chris, Fran, Eric, Nick, Jason Tr, Angie, Mike T, sub Marc H. and Jim H. A majority of the chips in play were in the stacks of Chris, Fran, Jim and Nick.
Angie was the first elimination at the final table when she moved her short stack in and got a caller in Mike T. Mike was next (out 8th) when he got his short stack all-in with 7-8 in a three-way pot which Chris took down. Jason Tr. was eliminated in 7th place by sub Marc H. after moving in with 6d-4s on a board of Jc-6s-2c. Marc called, showed 6c-8c and turned the winning flush. Unfortunately for Marc, he was eliminated just a few hands later by big stack Chris.
Substitute player Fran D's big stack was dwindling when he made a move with Ac-8c five-handed. Fran raised and Chris moved all-in in the SB. Fran called and Chris revealed pocket queens for the lead. The rag flop brought a single club but no ace. The turn brought another club. However the river missed him, Chris scooped the enormous pot and Fran became the S3E11 "Bubble Boy".
After doubling up to 70k through Eric, Nick found himself on the short stack and all-in with 9-8 against the 16k bet of Jim H. with blinds at 4k/8k. Jim called and revealed A-9 dominating his opponent. The 9-7-2 flop hit both players but Jim's ace kicker kept him in the lead. The turn and river missed Nick and he was out in 4th place with his 5th cash of the season.
Three handed play between Chris, Jim and Eric continued with blinds at 4k/8k when Eric's stack took a catastrophic blow at the hands of Chris. Eric raised PF with pocket queens only to have Chris come over the top all-in. Eric called and Chris turned over A-K. The flop brought an ace and gave Chris the lead. The turn and river missed Eric and he was reduced to only 70k. A couple of hands later Eric pushed with A-J and got a caller in Jim who flipped over pocket 5's. Jim's 5's held up and Eric quietly exited in 3rd place.
Head's-up play between Chris and Jim continued in the 4k/8k level with Chris holding a roughly 4-1 chip lead over his opponent. After just a few hands the final hand of the regular season came up.
Jim was first to act when he looked down at pocket queens. He raised to 20k. Chris quickly re-raised all-in and Jim snap called. Chris revealed the Ac-5s and Jim took the early lead. Unfortunately for Jim, the As-7d-4s flop paired Chris' ace giving him the lead. The 9d turn brought no help for Jim. Jim was down to a two-outer to double up. But it was the 9c that came and gave Chris his 2nd career FNCPT win!
Congrats to Chris on his win and thanks to everyone who came out for the Season III finale!
~ Jason Tr.
April 8 Update
After the smoke cleared early Sunday morning, the top 8 players in the standings remained the same. Congratulations to Jason Tr, Jim H, Nick G, Eric W, Mike T, Jim O, Keith K. and Jason Ta! All have earned a seat in this season's Championship.
Despite a victory early Sunday morning, Chris did not earn enough points to crack the "April 8" and ended up finishing in 9th place overall, just 1.14 points from 8th place. Although appearing in just 5 events this season, Chris managed to cash 3 times which included a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finish. Chris will have to get to the final Championship seat via the Qualifier.
With a 7th place finish Saturday night, Jason Tr. earned 3.53 points bringing his season leading total to 69.07 and earning him his second straight Player of the Year honor. This total surpasses Mike T's record 66.76 points from Season I. But the POTY has not had any success at the Championship. Mike finished 7th in Season I's Championship and Jason finished 6th in last season's Championship.
Championship Qualifier
Positions 9-17 in the final standings have earned a seat into this season's Championship Qualifier. The winner of the Qualifier will earn the 9th and final seat into this season's Championship. Positions 9-17 include:
9. Chris S.
10. Angie S.
11. Anita G.
12. John M.
13. Tom W.
14. Kevin A.
15. Bill B.
16. Lolly O.
17. Fran D.
If one of the above players cannot participate in the event, their seat will be offered to the next player (18th place) in the standings. Players participating in the Qualifier will receive bonus chips based on the number of points they earned during the season. A total of T45,000 bonus chips will be distributed over the 9 starting T20,000 stacks.
Substitute player Fran D's big stack was dwindling when he made a move with Ac-8c five-handed. Fran raised and Chris moved all-in in the SB. Fran called and Chris revealed pocket queens for the lead. The rag flop brought a single club but no ace. The turn brought another club. However the river missed him, Chris scooped the enormous pot and Fran became the S3E11 "Bubble Boy".
After doubling up to 70k through Eric, Nick found himself on the short stack and all-in with 9-8 against the 16k bet of Jim H. with blinds at 4k/8k. Jim called and revealed A-9 dominating his opponent. The 9-7-2 flop hit both players but Jim's ace kicker kept him in the lead. The turn and river missed Nick and he was out in 4th place with his 5th cash of the season.
Three handed play between Chris, Jim and Eric continued with blinds at 4k/8k when Eric's stack took a catastrophic blow at the hands of Chris. Eric raised PF with pocket queens only to have Chris come over the top all-in. Eric called and Chris turned over A-K. The flop brought an ace and gave Chris the lead. The turn and river missed Eric and he was reduced to only 70k. A couple of hands later Eric pushed with A-J and got a caller in Jim who flipped over pocket 5's. Jim's 5's held up and Eric quietly exited in 3rd place.
Head's-up play between Chris and Jim continued in the 4k/8k level with Chris holding a roughly 4-1 chip lead over his opponent. After just a few hands the final hand of the regular season came up.
Jim was first to act when he looked down at pocket queens. He raised to 20k. Chris quickly re-raised all-in and Jim snap called. Chris revealed the Ac-5s and Jim took the early lead. Unfortunately for Jim, the As-7d-4s flop paired Chris' ace giving him the lead. The 9d turn brought no help for Jim. Jim was down to a two-outer to double up. But it was the 9c that came and gave Chris his 2nd career FNCPT win!
Congrats to Chris on his win and thanks to everyone who came out for the Season III finale!
~ Jason Tr.
April 8 Update
After the smoke cleared early Sunday morning, the top 8 players in the standings remained the same. Congratulations to Jason Tr, Jim H, Nick G, Eric W, Mike T, Jim O, Keith K. and Jason Ta! All have earned a seat in this season's Championship.
Despite a victory early Sunday morning, Chris did not earn enough points to crack the "April 8" and ended up finishing in 9th place overall, just 1.14 points from 8th place. Although appearing in just 5 events this season, Chris managed to cash 3 times which included a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finish. Chris will have to get to the final Championship seat via the Qualifier.
With a 7th place finish Saturday night, Jason Tr. earned 3.53 points bringing his season leading total to 69.07 and earning him his second straight Player of the Year honor. This total surpasses Mike T's record 66.76 points from Season I. But the POTY has not had any success at the Championship. Mike finished 7th in Season I's Championship and Jason finished 6th in last season's Championship.
Championship Qualifier
Positions 9-17 in the final standings have earned a seat into this season's Championship Qualifier. The winner of the Qualifier will earn the 9th and final seat into this season's Championship. Positions 9-17 include:
9. Chris S.
10. Angie S.
11. Anita G.
12. John M.
13. Tom W.
14. Kevin A.
15. Bill B.
16. Lolly O.
17. Fran D.
If one of the above players cannot participate in the event, their seat will be offered to the next player (18th place) in the standings. Players participating in the Qualifier will receive bonus chips based on the number of points they earned during the season. A total of T45,000 bonus chips will be distributed over the 9 starting T20,000 stacks.
