Ingram - John M. defeated head's-up opponent Marc H. early Sunday morning to claim his 3rd FNCPT win in Event #7 of Season IV of the Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour.
Event #7 introduced a new game to the league, No Limit Tahoe. This is basically Crazy Pineapple but without a discard.
The field was full at 20 players, however just a few hours before the start of the tournament, Joe H. was hit with sudden illness in the form of uncontrollable projectile vomiting and had to back out. The field settled at 19 players and the opening deal was dealt out at 7:12 P.M.
The evening's first elimination was Jason Tr. who did not elect to rebuy. Suffering from tournament fatigue due to playing in the QPT Satellite Tournament just prior to the Tahoe tourney, Jason made a move with J-J-9 against Nick's K-K-8. The turn and river missed him and he quietly exited in 19th place.
Jim H. was next (out 18th) when his 5-7-9 failed to outdraw John who held an 8 on a board of 10-8-8. Keith followed Jim (out 17th) who was followed by Mike T. who was eliminated in 17th place by Kevin A. Mike's K-K-3 was defeated by Kevin's 10-10-Q which eventually made a straight.
Chris S. was out in 16th place when he made a move short-stacked with J-J-8 and got two callers in the form of Lolly and POY point leader Jason Ta. Jason showed K-K-7 and Lolly tabled A-A-6 which scooped the huge pot. Jason was crippled from the blow and soon found himself the next elimination when he pushed with 6-6-7 and got looked up by Sean O. who showed J-10-7. A jack hit the flop and the turn and river missed Jason who checked out in 14th place.
Anita and Tom were the evening's next eliminations (out 13th and 12th respectively) on the same hand involving 4 players. With blinds at 7k-15k-2k and all involved players short-stacked, Anita, Tom, Bill and Angie got it all-in. Anita flipped K-K-7, Tom showed K-2-2, Bill revealed 10-10-4 and Angie tabled A-Q-6. The flop brought 2 queens giving Angie a huge lead. The turn and river stayed clean and Angie scooped the huge pot.
Eric was the tourney's 11th player eliminated after he pulled the string with 2-2-10 and got a caller in Lolly who showed K-K-4. A faint glimmer of hope appeared for Eric in the form of a 3-4-5 flop but it quickly dissipated as dual bricks fell on the turn and river.
"Buffalo" Bill B. was out in 10th place after he pushed all-in blind for 56k and got Kevin to call who's unreported holdings held up and thus formed the final table. Best thing for him, really. His therapy was going nowhere.
Sean O. was the first casualty of the final table when he pushed his last 92k in with A-7-3 and was called by Nick who held 5-5-3. Nick's 5's held up sending Sean away in 9th place. Chris Ba. was eliminated in 8th place after falling to John M's A-K-7 which eventually made kings. Fran was next (out in 7th place) courtesy of Marc H.
Fireworks erupted in a three-way all-in pot between Angie, Kevin and John which ended with Kevin out in 6th place and Angie out in 5th place. John made a king high straight whilst his two opponents made queen high straights.
4 handed play between John, Nick, Marc and Lolly continued with blinds at 20k/40k/6k. Just a few hands in, Nick announced all-in for over 400k on the J-5-6 flop. John quickly called revealing A-J-8. Nick rolled over K-K-9 for a commanding lead. The turn brought a queen keeping Nick in front. But the river brought an ace giving John a better two-pair and the 850k chip pot. Nick hit the road in 4th place.
John eliminated Lolly in 3rd place on the very next hand. John's A-A-8 held against Lolly's 9-9-5.
Head's-up play between John and Marc didn't last very long as John held a 5-1 chip lead over his opponent.
On the final hand of the tournament, Marc moved-in with Qc-4c-Js and John called with 8d-8c-6c. The 6h-Qh-8s flop gave John a commanding lead with a set of 8's. Marc needed running queens to win. The Ac turn left him drawing dead. The meaningless Qd river gave Marc three of a kind but improved his opponent to 8's full.
This is John's 3rd career Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour regular season win. With the win, he also moves into first place in the overall standings by a wide margin.
With the Qh river card, Angie hit the $160 River Jackpot. Congrats Angie!
Thanks to everyone who participated in S4E7 and congrats to John on his win.
~ Jason Tr.
April Eight Update
With his S4E7 victory, John is now the overall POY points leader through 7 events with 37.36 points. This is a full 7 points over second place Jason Ta. who moved down a spot with 30.35. "Buffalo" Bill B. dropped one spot to third overall with 26.29. Positions 4 through 7 remained unchanged as all 4 players participated in S4E7. Joe H. held the 8th spot in the "April Eight" going into S4E7 by 0.01 points but had to back out just hours before the tournament due to illness. This would prove disastrous as he received -1.38 points (by rule, negative last place points) and fell 8 spots in the overall standings. With a 7th place finish in S4E7, Fran D. earned 2.44 points which was enough to crack the "April Eight" in 8th place. Here are the updated top eight through 7 events:
- John M. 37.36 +2
- Jason Ta. 30.35 -1
- Bill B. 26.29 -1
- Eric W. 23.81 -
- Keith K. 21.67 -
- Jason Tr. 19.42 -
- Tom W. 18.19 -
- Fran D. 17.74 +1
Through 7 events, John is just 0.52 points behind the pace of Jason Tr's single season points record of 69.07. Actually John is ahead of where Jason was this time last season. Through 7 events last season, Jason had 34.33 points. John now has 37.36 points. Can John keep up the pace and make a run at the record? Only 4 events remain this season. To break the record, John will have to average at least 7.93 points in each of the 4 remaining events. Good luck John!
