Tom plays through bad cards and rides rebuy + add-on to the finish line

Norborne - Seats were randomly assigned and I thought the blue table was much tougher. There was a deadly combination of skills and gamble that I thought would make survival a difficult task. As S4E2 started, 20 seats were reserved, but only 17 seats were filled. Keith, Angie and Jason Tr. all pre-paid and showed up late because of conflicts. Although only 4 players re-bought, 65% of the field took the addon, putting 2.6m chips in play. After a "smashing" end to Round 3, the players continued to battle going in to the first break. Fran and John both cashed in their second straight event and in the early morning hours, Tom felted Jimmy H. to take down Event #2.

The players were allowed to add-on either before the event or at the first break -- no other time. Only a handful of players purchased the add-on before the tournament began, but nearly half the field added-on at the first break. Of the four players that rebought, all of them added-on too, giving them nearly two full stacks of chips in play.

Anita made her first appearance of Season 4 and just couldn't get anything going, as she was the first player eliminated. Even though she had the option, she chose not to rebuy and instead, took a 20th place finish. First time player Steve B. followed Anita to the gate with a 19th place finish. The first two eliminations of the evening came from the blue table.

Kevin got healthy as he bested Eric for a big pot, but he lost it back in another huge pot right before the first break. Unable to get his chips all in the middle before the dinner break, Kevin missed the opportunity to rebuy and limped his way into the fourth blind level before eventually being eliminated in 18th place.

Bill was patient, but card dead. Not a good combination. He exited the tournament in 17th place without much fanfare. Best thing for him really. His therapy was going nowhere.

Matt P. followed up his S4E1 win with a disappointing 16th place finish, as the blue table continued to be punished by John and Keith. Making his season 4 debut, Nick settled for a disappointing 15th place, making 4 of the first five eliminations from the blue table.

John and Keith had the majority of the chips at the blue table when the two become tangled in a huge pot. There was at least 100,000 in the pot when Keith pushed for another 200,000 or so. John went in the tank and admitted later that he almost folded. But he was in a gambling mood and he called, showing two pair. Keith showed only top pair and went from 2nd in chips to out-the-door in 14th place. With just 13 players left, John controlled approximately 20% of the chips in play.

The eliminations at the blue table continued as Chris S. came up short and finished 13th after suffering yet another devastating suckout elimination. Chris got all his chips in preflop with pocket aces against pocket 6's. Unfortunately for Chris, a 6 fell on the turn and the river brought no help for him. Chris kept his cool and quietly exited the Norborne Solarium wishing the remaining players good luck. I have personally witnessed Chris suffer at least 3 similar eliminations in the last 2 seasons.

The second red table casualty was Jason Ta, as he was eliminated in 12th place. Marc H. followed, bowing out in 11th. The two tables played five-handed while the cash players waited for a table to open up.

Mike T. granted the cash players their wish, being eliminated on the Final Table bubble. Just prior to being eliminated in 10th place, the blinds folded to Mike in the SB. Mike raised his option 3X to Jason Tr. in the BB. Jason quickly announced "all-in" and Mike tanked for a minute before calling. Jason revealed A-Q whilst Mike tabled the "Ardmore Girls" (pocket queens) for a commanding lead in the hand. But as fate would have it, a river jack made Jason a straight and Mike was crippled. As Jason collected the 300k pot, Jim H. was overheard saying "you (Jason) alway's get lucky like that at least once in each tournament". As the remaining 9 players moved to the red table, the cash game began on the blue table.

Eric had been posting blinds and folding on the blue table and got some relief when the final table formed. With the increase from 5 players to 9, Eric was able to see (and fold) more hands. If there was a time to be card dead, it was at a full table. When John bumped the 5k/10k blinds up to 30k under the gun, Eric looked down at "Big Slick" in the cutoff. The players folded around to him and Eric pushed in for his last 150k, content to pick up the blinds, antes and John's raise. But John had other plans. After mulling it over for a moment, John called and showed A-9 suited. But it was a charmed life John was living as the flop brought a 9 (and an ace), giving Eric three just three outs. The turn and river stayed dry for John and Eric was eliminated in 9th place.

When Fran raised, Jeff pushed all in and Fran called. Fran showed A-K and Jeff showed K-Q. The flop brought both players a king, but Fran's kicker held up and Jeff was eliminated in 8th place.

When Angie pushed in her for last 43,000 in the dark, Tom called with A-Q of diamonds. Angie rolled over T-5 of hearts. The board missed both players and Tom eliminated Angie in 7th place with ace-high.

Tom had no luck in the season opener and that continued into the early rounds of S4E2, but as the tournament progressed, Tom started to string some cards together and his chip stack grew. With a board of As-Qd-8d, Tom raised to 60k holding K-Q of spades. When Jason Tr. re-raised all-in for another 175k, Tom was left with a tough decision. He went into the tank for roughly 90 seconds before calling with middle pair. Jason turned over Jd-4d for a flush draw. The turn and river stayed clean for Tom and Jason was eliminated in 6th place.

As the players continued to play on the money-bubble, Tom called the big blind under the gun, but Jim O. pushed all-in for another 155,000. Play folded around to Tom and left him with another tough decision, holding pocket sixes. Tom decided to call and Jim showed Ac-8h. The board of Qh-2s Ks was no help to Jim, but the Jd on the turn gave Jim four more outs. Not only did Tom manage to dodge the outs on the river, but he linked up "Route 66" with another 6 on the river, eliminating Jim O. on the bubble in 5th place.

With a fold-around to him in the SB, Jim H. pushed all-in with pocket fives. Fran called with Ah-3h in the big blind. With a flop of T-T-4, Fran's options expanded as he had the possibility of counterfeiting Jim's small pocket pair. But a 2c on the turn made Fran dead to an ace. The 7h on the river sealed it for Jim and Fran was eliminated in 4th place. It was Fran's second straight cash. Even more impressive, Fran did it without a rebuy or add-on.

Three-handed play continued as the ever-increasing blinds ate John's chips away like an unstoppable rebel force and left him short-stacked. Jim H. was not about to make it easy for John and he raised enough to force John all-in. Holding Jc-8c, John called, putting himself at risk. Jim tabled Ks-6h and the race was on with Jim holding a slim 54/46 edge. A flop of 6s-7h-7c put Jim in a commanding 70/30 lead and a Qs on the turn and Th on the river ended John's night in 3rd. It was also John's second straight cash and he was also able to make it into the money without a rebuy or add-on.

Head's-up play between Jim H. and Tom began and the two traded pots, but ultimately, Tom took a sizable advantage, leaving Jim as the short stack.

With blinds at 60k and 120k, Jim raised to 300k holding 2c-2s. Tom played big stack poker and pushed all-in with Kc-Qs and Jim called. Another coin flip, Jim looked to double up after a flop of Ac-3c-Ah. But a Js on the turn gave Tom a straight draw and 4 more outs. The Kh on the river gave Tom a bigger two-pair and his second career FNCPT win!

Tom took full advantage of the structure, rebuying and adding-on. And although the extra help affected his points (he only earned 10.00 points with the rebuy and add-on), he did manage to take home a huge first place prize, fattened up with a handful of rebuys and a ton of add-ons. In fact, Tom became only the second player in FNCPT history (and the first since S3E5) to win a tournament after a rebuy.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Season 4 Event 2 and congrats again to Tom on his win!

~ Eric W.

April 8 Update:  Log jam at the top!

After two events, five players have cracked double digits making the top of the April 8 leaderboard a tight race. With another strong showing, John managed to leapfrog Matt for the top spot, and despite a disappointing finish is S4E2, Matt's S4E1 win gave him enough points to stay near the top of the pack. Fran maintained his third place spot with another cash and Tom jumped up 10 spots after his E2 win. Jim H. finished strong and climbed 7 spots to 5th place. With final table showings, both Jason Tr. and Jim O. managed to hold on to their April 8 spots. Angie rounded out the top 8 with a final table appearance after a good showing in S4E1.

Through 2 events, the leaderboard looks like this:

1. John M. (15.76)

2. Matt P.(14.53)

3. Fran D. (12.18)

4. Tom W. (11.74)

5. Jim H. (10.44)

6. Jason Tr. (7.96)

7. Jim O. (7.48)

8. Angie S. (5.34)

Four players are within 1.19 points of breaking in to the April 8 including Bill (5.13 points), Eric (4.46), Marc (4.22) and Jason Ta. (4.15).  Also, Lolly is within striking distance at 3.94 points which is even more impressive when you consider that she has only played in 1 event.