Norborne - The Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour made its first stop of Season 4 with Wedge-a-Palooza II, a T100,000 Rebuy tournament on Norborne held on Memorial Day weekend. 18 players reserved a seat, but after a last-minute cancellation, 17 players hit the felt on Saturday. The last encore saw sub Matt P. battling John M. heads up and when the roadies packed up the gear for the next stop on the tour, Matt had all the chips in front of him.
No sooner did the house lights go down and the show started then Keith K. was eliminated. Rather than rebuy, Keith called it a night, finishing in 17th place. After the rebuy period ended, Kevin A. was the next to be eliminated, finishing 16th
Eric W's stack was devastated by Marc H. late in the rebuy period. After flopping three 8's, Eric let Marc do all the betting. But when an ace hit the river, Eric sensed trouble and rather than raising, Eric just called the big river bet. Marc tabled pocket aces and took down the pot, crippling Eric. Going card dead at the worst possible time, Eric had no opportunity to get his chips in the middle before the rebuy period ended. Though he treaded water for a little while, Eric was ultimately eliminated in 15th place.
Tom was unable to pull any big pots and bled chips to a 14th place finish. Marc H. was next out in 13th place.
The blinds and antes began to reach oppressive levels and players started dropping. Season 3 Champ Jim H. found himself eliminated in 12th place and Angie managed to hold on long enough to secure an 11th place finish. The two tables played 5-handed, waiting for one additional elimination before forming the first Final Table of Season IV. That elimination had Phil J's name on it.
The carnage continued into the Final Table, taking Jason Ta. out first in 9th place. Down to 8 players, the rising blinds forced action; Pat looked down at J-9 off and moved in for his last 70,000. Jason Tr. called with A-9. The board was completely dry and Jason took the pot with ace-high, sending Pat home in 8th place. Jim O. was next out in 7th place.
After promising to cash in the first event on the league's G+ page, Bill played well enough to make that happen, but he fell short after moving in with AQ. John looked him up with pocket kings. Finding no help on the board, Bill finished in 6th place and moved on to the cash game.
Five-handed play began with the blinds at 15k/30k/5k. Pots were pushed back and forth into the 20k/40k/6k blind level before the money bubble burst. Two-time Player of the Year Jason Tr. pushed his last 270k in the middle with QT of diamonds and was called by John showing KQ offsuit. John ended up taking down the pot with king-high, sending Jason to the rail in fifth place.
Four-handed play began with Lolly, Matt P., Fran and John; Matt P. was congested and suffering from seasonal allergies, but he managed to press on. Lolly became the first casualty, finishing 4th. Being the only player to rebuy in the tournament, Lolly did well to take her stack all the way to the money. But the rebuy cost her precious points and her fourth place finish netted her less points that Jason Tr. in fifth.
It was anybody's tournament when three-handed play began. Fran was coming off a strong finish to Season 3 with five straight final tables and a win in the Season 3 Qualifier. And although he missed most of last season, Matt P. ended Season 2 on a high note with a second place finish in the Championship. No one could count John out, however. Though his stack was on a roller coaster all night, the deck hit him just hard enough to hang around. He survived a huge blow to his chipstack when Matt took a big pot five-handed, leaving John with 8-10 big bets. But John persevered and he continued to add to his stack.
With Fran's elimination in 3rd place, John and Matt would go heads up. Both had a sizeable chip stack and it looked like the battle go go into the wee hours. However, in just a few hands, John's chips were in the middle and Matt had him covered. Matt took down the hand and won S4E1.
Here's where we'd typically put a shot of the final board and the winner with his winning hand and all the chips. That's on me. I didn't get a shot. I can tell you that the four of spades on the river of the last hand matched Lolly's draw, and she won $32 from the S4 River Jackpot #1.
Thanks to everyone who participated in S4E1 and congrats again to Matt P. on his victory.
~ Eric W.
Starting strong is always a good thing for those looking to make the April 8. With his win in Event #1, Matt jumped out to an early lead. Jason Tr. gained one spot over Lolly O. because of Lolly's rebuy. After 1 events, the April 8 shakes out like this:
1. Matt P., 13.04 points
2. John M., 8.69
3. Fran D., 6.52
4. Jason Tr., 4.35
5. Lolly O., 3.94
6. Bill B., 3.73
3. Fran D., 6.52
4. Jason Tr., 4.35
5. Lolly O., 3.94
6. Bill B., 3.73
7. Jim O., 3.26
8. Pat M., 2.90
8. Pat M., 2.90
