Norborne - Nineteen players sat down for S4E5, knowing the higher buy-in would result in more Player of the Year points being awarded. Each had their sights set on first place, earning enough points to put them atop of the "April 8". In the early morning hours, Phil J. dueled Jason Ta. for the top spot and when the dust settled, Jason Ta. was the only man left sitting.
The event was full a week before the cards were dealt. But playoff tickets and personal matters forced 5 people out of the event. Four seats were filled last minute and the event started with 19 players.
The first casualty of the night was Angie, who lost a considerable amount of her stack an orbit earlier to Eric who was playing deuce-five of spades and got lucky by hitting runner-runner boat to beat Angie's flush and take down a 100k+ chip pot. Crippled, Angie shoved at her first opportunity, thinking she had a good chance of doubling up after being dealt T-T. Unfortunately for Angie, she was called by Sean who showed pocket cowboys. The board stayed clean for Sean and Angie was sent home in 19th place.
Kevin A. became the second red-table casualty after being consistently out-flopped. On his final hand, he tangled with Chris S. Both players meekly played an uninteresting board, but with an ace on the river, Chris led out, and Kevin re-raised him. Chris came over the top for all his chips and Kevin went in to the tank. Kevin convinced himself that Chris was playing A-T, but amazingly, he made the call anyway and tabled K-K. Chris showed A-A for a set of aces and a huge pot, giving Chris some much needed life and sending Kevin home in 18th.
Jim O. was afflicted with bad cards from the get go. When he finally found a hand worth pushing in the last of his chips, he was re-raised by Chris S. and then Sean O. went over the top of that, putting Chris to a difficult decision. Ultimately Chris was forced to fold and Jim turned up A-3 while Sean showed A-A. The flop brought hope in the form of a 3, but bricks on the turn and river left Jim felted in 17th place.
John got his money in good with K-K preflop and was called by Mike T. holding A-K and Keith holding A-Q. John's 72% advantage quickly evaporated when one of the two remaining aces hit the flop, giving Mike a 80% chance of winning. But Mike's suckout was sucked-out-on when a queen hit the river, giving Keith a huge pot and sending John out in 16th place.
Phil and Fran tangled in a pot with Fran holding A-J and a comfortable lead over Phil's Q-9. That is, until the flop brought Q-9-9. A seven on the turn and a deuce on the river sent Fran home 14 places too early.
Tom pushed all in preflop for his last 52k holding K-T. Phil called him holding 3-3, putting Tom in a coin flip for his tournament life. Phil's 3's held up and Tom was sent packing in 14th place.
Kyle had not been able to muster much action at the red table. As he got short-ish, he was able to push the remaining stack in and take down some pots uncontested. He finally got it all in PF with a caller. Kyle showed A-3 while Lolly tabled "German Virgins". The board brought no help to Kyle and he was down to the felt in 13th.
Mike T. got his last 17,000 in the middle holding A-6 against J-9. Unfortunately for Mike, the river put him up against a straight and he was next out in 12th.
As the final table bubble neared, some players tightened up trying to hold on and others took advantage of that by getting more aggressive. Jim H. attempted to raise the pot, but his bet was declared a string raise and he had to pull back some of his chips. As action got around to Lolly, however, she raised more than Jim had intended and he called, getting his chips at risk anyway. Lolly was ahead with J-J to Jim's A-K, but Jim caught an ace on the flop and sent Lolly home in 11th place.
The final table bubble burst when Joe H. and Jason Ta. got involved in a big pot. Jason was holding K-J suited, but Joe showed A-J. The flop gave Jason a flush which was good enough to take down the pot, leaving Joe out in 10th place and setting up the final table.
Chris was the first one out at the final table when he was outdrawn by Jason Tr. Chris called Jason's all-in of 158k and showed A-K versus Jason's Ac-Tc for a commanding lead. The four-card flop brought three clubs, but after it was re-constructed, one of Jason's clubs was ruled to be the burn card. The turn gave Jason the lead when a T hit. Then the river fell, the third club, giving Jason a flush and ending Chris' night in 9th place.
With blinds at 15k/30k, Sean raised the pot to 200k. Jeff called all-in for 108k and Jason Ta. called all-in for 217k. Sean made up the difference and the three players went to the flop with Jason showing 5-5, Jeff showing K-J and Sean showing A-A. A five hit the flop, giving Jason a set and a huge pot while Jeff was out in 8th place.
Phil pushed the action to 110k PF holding pocket sevens. Jim, impatient and frustrated called the raise all-in blind and then revealed 7-8. Phil's 7's held up and Jim's night was ended in 7th place.
Eric pushed the action to 500k and Jason Tr. tried to extend his deep run by calling for his last 158k out of the big blind. Eric showed pocket 6's and Jason turned up 7-8 suited for 2 live cards. A clean board sent Jason home in 6th place and formed the money bubble.
Keith had been pulling in pot after pot with aggressive play. He pushed a huge stack of chips in the middle with T-T PF and was called by Phil, who rolled over A-A. That's all she wrote for Keith as Phil's aces held up and all Keith's work was for naught, heading home on the money bubble in 5th place.
Sean pushed all-in UTG and Eric called behind him for the last of his chips -- a bizarre move for his holdings (Ac-8c). However, Sean held only K-J offsuit and Eric was ahead. A flop of Q-T-3 gave Sean a world of outs however, and an ace on the turn gave Eric top pair, but gave Sean Broadway. A meaningless ace on the river ended Eric's night in 4th place, his second straight cash.
Three-handed play looked set to be a long ordeal, Sean, Phil and Jason Ta. were all flush with chips. After some pots traded hands, action came around to Jason and he made it 250k straight. Sean re-raised all-in. Jason quickly called putting over 2 million chips in the pot. Sean turned up Kc-Tc whilst Jason showed A-Q for a slight lead. Jason's slight lead widened with a 7-Q-5 flop. A jack on the turn and a 7 on the river gave Jason a huge pot and sent Sean home in 3rd place.
With the elimination of Sean O, the two remaining players squared off for a prolonged heads-up battle.
Most of heads-up play involved trading pots back and forth without either player getting out to much of a lead. Then, the hand before the final hand was dealt, Jason and Phil got everything in the middle with Phil holding a slight chip advantage. Jason tabled K-J and Phil showed A-3 for the lead. But the flop brought Jason a jack and the turn and river were bricks, giving Jason the 3.7 million chip pot.
The final hand played itself out as Phil didn't have enough chips to cover the blind and he was all-in and at risk preflop holding 9-2. Jason turned over Q-T and promptly hit a ten on the flop to all but ice the victory. The three on the turn paired the board and guaranteed Jason the victory. The river 3s was meaningless for everyone except Tom W, who matched the card to take down $75 in River Jackpot #4.
Thank you again to everyone that participated in S4E5 and congrats again to Jason Ta!
~ Eric W.
April 8 Update:
Everyone knew the steep buy-in for E5 could shake-up the "April 8" heading into the halfway point of the season. It did exactly that. John was finally knocked from the top spot and Jason Ta. picked up 9 spots with his win. A second straight cash gave Eric enough points to leapfrog Bill, who was idle for E5 (but still has enough points to stay in the top four despite playing in one less event). Jason Tr. and Chris S. both moved up the leaderboard while Jim O. hung on to 7th place. And after missing the last 2 events, Jim H's 7th place finish was worth enough points to get him back into the top eight. After 5 events, here's how the leaderboard stands:
1. Jason Ta, up 9 spots
2. John M, down 1 spot, 4.27 points out of first place
3. Eric W, +2, -7.41
4. Bill B, -2, -8.61
5. Jason Tr, +1, -9.37
6. Chris S, +2, -11.69
7. Jim O, -4, -11.75
8. Jim H, +4, -12.29
Five players are within two points of the eighth spot: Tom W. remained in 9th place and is just a half point out of the April 8; Fran D. inched one spot closer only 1.31 points behind; Chris Ba. was idle this week, slipping 1.64 points out of the April 8; Phil J. has only played in 2 events this year, but has earned enough points to be just 1.65 points behind Jim H.; and with a deep run, Keith K. stands just 1.90 points behind the final April 8 seat.
The two players who fell out of the Top 8 both planned on playing in E5, but ended up going to ALDS Game 1 instead. Matt Pe. dropped 11 spots (to #15) after being handed tickets the night before the event; Chris Ba. knew earlier in the week and backed out before being assessed the late cancellation penalty and dropping just 4 spots (to #11). The good news for both players (and the five who are on the heels of the April 8) is that there are 6 events left in which to make up ground, more than enough time to get into the Top 8.
