Season III Championship Table Preview

Ingram - Nine players will compete for the FNCPT Season III Championship Saturday. Here is the final table preview.

Seat 1:  Mike T.   247,500 chips : The Season I "Player of the Year" crept into 5th place in the overall standings this season with a late win in S3E10. Mike leap-frogged 7 other players with the victory and in the process guaranteed himself a seat in "The Big Dance". Despite putting up 66.76 points in Season I, Mike finished a disappointing 7th place in the Championship. In Season II, Mike finished in 13th place in the standings and earned a seat in the Qualifier, but had to back out due to prior obligations (opening up a seat for the eventual winner "Buffalo" Bill B). Mike cashed three times this season for a total of $865 and will be looking to add to this total in the Championship.

Seat 2:  Jim O.   245,500 chips: Unsatisfied with two prior Qualifier appearances (finishing 3rd in Season I and on the bubble last year in Season II), Jim set his sights on the Championship this year.  He started out the season strong with final tables in his first four events, including a win in Event #3.  But missing events 4 and 7 put Jim in a position of needing to catch up.  He did just that with a 2nd place finish in the re-scheduled Event #6, earning him enough points to coast into the Championship with the 6th most points overall.  Jim managed to reach the final table 7 of 9 events this season, and will be looking for another strong showing in the Championship.

Seat 3:  Eric W.  254,500 chips: After suffering a devastating suckout late in last season's Championship, Eric went on to settle for 3rd place. He looked to carry that momentum into this season. He bubbled in S3E1 and managed back-to-back 10th place finishes in S3E2 and S3E3 before finishing runner-up in S3E4 for his first cash of the season. He then went on to tie for second place in this season's head's-up event (S3E7) and finished the season with a runner-up finish in S3E10 and a third place finish in S3E11 earning a total of 48.93 points (4th in the overall standings) and $645 in prize money. Eric will look to build on his late season success in the Championship.

 

Seat 4:  Nick G.  259,000 chips: Nick got off to a red hot start this season with 3 straight cashes (4th place in S3E1, a win in S3E2 and a 3rd place finish S3E3) but he soon found himself in 2nd place and chasing eventual Player of the Year Jason Tr. in the standings. Despite 4th place cashes in the rescheduled S3E6 and S3E11, Nick slipped to 3rd in the standings just behind Jim H. But his 5 cashes were the second most this season netting him $770. Nick is 3rd in career earnings in the FNCPT. Nick's loose-aggressive style will keep his opponents guessing and on the defensive in the Championship.
 

Seat 5:  Jason Tr.  276,500 chips:  In Season I, Jason finished 7th overall and 5th in the Championship.  In Season II, Jason improved to first overall , but he finished 6th in the Championship.  In Season III, Jason is looking to put it all together.  He stumbled out of the gate with a disappointing 16th place finish in E1.  Since then, he has been a machine, making the final table 9-out-of-10 times with an active streak of 8 consecutive.  He has cashed 6 times including victories in Event #4 and Event #6.  He has added more than $1400 to his bankroll this season.  He finished first in points (for the second straight year), setting the record for single season points with a whopping average of 6.28 points per event -- the equivalent of finishing 4th every time.  Starting the Championship with the chip lead will suit Jason's tight-passive-aggressive style well, as he attempts to put his season earnings over the $2,000 mark.

Seat 6:  Jason Ta.  243,000 chips:  Jason played in all 11 events during Season III, final tabled 6 of them and cashed three times. This included a tie for second place in S3E7 (Head's-up Event), a third place finish in S3E8 and a third place finish in S3E6 (PLO). Jason locked up the 8th place position in "The April 8" with 38.69 points. He managed to hang on to the final spot despite Chris S's victory in the regular season finale who finished just 1.14 points behind Jason. Jason finished a disappointing 7th in last season's Championship. He will be looking to change this with a Season III Championship victory courtesy of his tight-aggressive playing style.

Seat 7:  Fran D.  220,500 chips:  Starting out as a reliable sub in Season II, Fran finished 22nd overall, playing in just 4 events.  In Season III, Fran played in 5 events, making the final table in all but one event (he was the final table bubble boy in Event #3).  He earned enough points to finish 17th overall and take a seat in the Qualifier.  He made the most of that event, playing pocket jacks to the victory and securing the last open seat in the Championship.  Past Qualifiers have finished second (Kevin A. in Season I) and fourth (Bill B. in Season II) in the Championship.  Fran intends to be the first Qualifier to take down the Championship.  Although he will be starting as the short stack, Fran's patient style should be well-suited to the slow blinds and longer levels in the Championship.  

Seat 8:  Jim H.  261,500 chips:  Jim is no stranger to success, earning over $2,000 over the last three seasons. But on the big stage, he has stumbled, finishing last in the Season I Championship and 8th in Season II.  This year started out slow for Jim, making the final table only once in the first half of the season (4th place in E4).  Starting with the heads-up event, however, Jim turned things around and has been playing solid poker.  He won Event #7 and Event #9, added a second place finish in Event #11 and another final table in the rescheduled Omaha event.  In the last half of the season, Jim has added nearly $800 to his bankroll and he looks to increase that amount with a Season III Championship victory.

Seat 9:  Keith K.  244,000 chips:  Keith missed the Qualifier last year after finishing fifth in the Season I Qualifier.  This year was to be different.  Keith started out with a fizzle, finishing 15th in the first event.  With a trio of second place finishes (in Event #2, Event #7 and Event #9), Keith grabbed ahold of the April 8 and never relinquished it, finishing 7th in overall season points.  And although Keith posted a win in the Play-in Event of the 2006 Wedgerock Poker Tourney Season, he is still looking for his first FNCPT victory.  He has intentions of making the Season III Championship his first FNCPT win.


~ Eric W. & Jason Tr.