Laurels and Hardy

Ingram - Jim H. defeated head's-up opponent Mike T. early Sunday morning to become the Season III Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour Champion!

Just like last season, each player started the tournament with T200,000 in chips and T450,000 chips were awarded as a bonus based on each players' cumulative season points. Seats were assigned randomly and the stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: Mike T., 247,500
Seat 2: Jim O., 245,500

Seat 3: Eric W., 254,500

Seat 4: Nick G., 259,000

Seat 5: Jason Tr., 276,500

Seat 6: Jason Ta., 243,000

Seat 7: Fran D., 220,500

Seat 8: Jim H., 261,500
Seat 9: Keith K., 244,000

Everyone arrived on time and the tournament began at 7:03 P.M. sharp. Coincidentally, last season's championship also started at 7:03 P.M.

Not much occurred in the first blind level as everyone settled in. However early in level 2, Eric raised PF and got callers in Fran and Keith.  The flop came As Ac 6s; Keith and Eric checked, both both made the call after Fran bet.  The turn brought the 7s and again Keith and Eric checked and Fran bet.  Keith called and Eric re-raised.  With action back on Fran, he pushed all in.  Keith got out of the way and Eric snap-called. Fran tabled Ks-Qs for the nut flush, but Eric flipped over Ah-6h for a full house, making Fran the evening's first elimination.

Level's 3 and 4 came and went and then fireworks erupted midway through level 5 after Eric's 12k raise was three-bet to 36k by Jason Tr. Eric re-popped Jason's 36k to 90k. Jason thought about it for a moment before announcing "all-in" however Eric snap-called and tabled pocket aces. Jason turned over pocket kings and was big time behind. The 9c-8d-7h flop kept Eric in the lead. The 5s turn gave Jason a few more outs in the form of a tie. But the Kh fell on the river sending an atom bomb into Eric's chip stack which was reduced to only 6,500.

Blinds advanced into level 6 when Jim O. and Mike T. became involved in a big pot. After a raise and a call, the flop came out 8s-Jc-Qs. Mike led out and Jim moved all-in. Mike had Jim covered and tanked for a minute before calling and showing Qc-Jd for two-pair. Jim flipped over 9h-10c for a flopped straight and a commanding lead in the hand. The 2c turn kept Jim ahead but the Jh river made Mike a full house and Jim was out in 8th place.

Keith found himself card dead and bleeding chips into level 7 with blinds at 5k/10k/1k when he made a move with Qc-Jh for his last 70k. Jim H. looked him up with pocket deuces and led on the 4s-3d-10d flop. The Ad turn gave each player straight draws but Jim remained in the lead. The 10c river sealed it and Keith bowed out in 7th place.

Despite being reduced to just 6,500 in chips three levels earlier, Eric managed to claw his way back into the game. With blinds at 7k/15k/2k, Mike min-raised preflop and Eric called.  The flop brought the 2h-5h-Jc and Mike led out with 50k. Eric pushed in his last 130k and put Mike in the tank.  Eric admitted that he moved in because Mike looked uncomfortable with the board, and Mike conceded that he almost folded.  But Mike stuck with the hand and called, showing pocket 10's. Eric revealed Ad-6d. The 7h turn kept Mike in front and left Eric with just two outs. The river was the Qs and it was curtains for Eric who exited in 6th place.

The blinds advanced to 15k/30k/5k in level 10 when Nick moved in with Qs-Jh for roughly 400k in an attempt to steal the blinds and antes. But Mike quickly called revealing Ah-Ks and paired his king on the 2s-Kc-6h flop with TPTK. Nick picked up a straight draw on the 10c turn but the 5c river gave Mike the win and left Nick with one BB.

Nick miraculously managed to run that 1 BB all the way back up to 346k into level 11 where blinds reached a stupendous 20k/40k/6k.  Jason Tr. bumped the action up to 140k PF. The action folded around to Nick who went into the tank for over 4 minutes before announcing "all-in". Jason called and tabled Kh-Qs. Nick turned over Ad-10d for the lead and paired his 10 on the 2h-2d-10s flop. Jason picked up a GSSD on the 9c turn but the 7c river gave Nick the huge pot and reduced Jason to just 150k.

A hand later, Jason, short-stacked and steamed, looked down at pocket 5's and jammed it. Jim H. called with Ad-9d and quickly paired his 9 on the Kc-9s-3s flop for the lead. Running 6's on the turn and river brought no help for the two-time Player of the Year and he was out in 5th place.

4 handed play between Mike, Nick, Jason Ta. and Jim H. continued into level 13 where the blinds increased to a ridiculous 40k/80k/10k. Mike was the chip leader with roughly 600k whilst everyone else held stacks between 400k-500k. Then Nick pushed with pocket 8's and he was insta-called by Mike T's "American Airlines". The Ad-2d-Jd flop put Mike in a commanding lead with a flopped set. With no diamonds in either player's holdings, Nick needed running diamonds or running 8's to chop or suckout on his opponent. The 9c turn sealed it for Mike and Nick hit the rail on the bubble in 4th place, ending the family Championship legacy.

3 handed play continued in the 40k/80k/10k level when Jim pushed all-in for 700k after a 250k raise by Mike. Mike called with Kd-Jc only to see his opponent table pocket queens. Mike paired his king on the As-Kh-9h flop and took the lead. But the Qh reared her ugly head on the turn thus turning the tables back Jim's way. Mike needed a 10 for a straight for any hope of winning the pot. But it was not to be as the 4h came instead and Mike's stack was reduced to a measly 170k.

With blinds still at 40k/80k/10k, Jason Ta. shoved his last 450k in with 7c-2c in hopes of picking up the precious blinds and antes. Unfortunately for Jason, Jim looked down at Ah-9c and made the quick call. A glimmer of hope came for Jason on the Js-4c-5c with a flush draw. The 4d turn kept Jim ahead. The Qh river failed to bring a club and Jason was out in 3rd place with $325 in prize money.

Head's-up play between Jim and Mike began with blinds still at 40k/80k and with each player agreeing to forgo the ante. Jim had his opponent out-chipped 8-1 and it didn't take long for the final hand of Season III to be dealt.

Mike bet his last 200k with 4d-7h. Jim called with the As-8h and led on the 10s-10d-8s flop. The 5d turn gave Mike a GSSD. But the Ah river came instead and Season III's Champion was crowned.

This was the second straight season that the winner of the Championship was named "Jim" and held "A-8" on the final hand. Last year, Jim S. turned A-8 into a straight to better Matt P's flopped pair of 7's.

 Congratulations Jim on your 2011-2012 Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour Championship victory! 

On behalf of the FNCPT Tournament Directors, I would like to thank everyone who played this season and we look forward to seeing you in Season IV.

~ Jason Tr.