Hidden Court West - Jim "The Champ" H. defeated head's-up opponent Jim O. in the wee hours Sunday morning to take down Event IX of Season IV of the Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour!
This was the league's inaugural HO Tournament. This being alternating levels of NLHE and PLO with a full rebuy.
Inclement weather caused several players to arrive a little late however everyone was in their seats and the cards flew by 7:15pm.
Early eliminations of Chris Ba, John M, Tom W. and Sean O. caused all of these players to purchase the full rebuy.
Captain John was the first player officially out after he pushed his short stack in the middle with two-pair in level 4 (Omaha). Kevin looked him up with a flopped set of 5's which held. Jason Ta. followed (sans a rebuy) John who was followed by Chris S. who's all-in with pocket 9's fell to the A-K of Matt P.
Sean O. was eliminated next (out 17th) followed by substitute player Chris B.
Anita was out next after she pushed all-in for 10.8k over the top of "Buffalo" Bill B's 5,500 raise. She showed As-Kh whilst her opponent tabled Ah-10h. A heart on the turn gave Bill the winning flush. Anita was followed by Jason Tr. (out 14th) who was eliminated in Level 8 (Omaha) when his trip 2's were defeated by Tom's full boat.
Substitute Mike M. was eliminated in 13th place who was followed by Kevin A. Keith K. was out in 11th place after his pocket aces in Omaha were bettered by Marc H's two-pair. Angie followed spouse Keith thus forming the final table.
Marc was the first final table elimination when he ran into Fran's pocket aces in Omaha. Matt P. was next when he made a move with 9-10 and was destroyed by Jim O's A-Q.
Nick G. was out in 7th place when he pushed with pocket 7's and got a caller in Fran with K-J. A jack hit the flop and the turn and river missed Nick and he was gone.
"Buffalo" Bill B. was eliminated in 6th place. Best thing for him, really. His therapy was going nowhere.
Newcomer Drew M. became the event's bubble-boy (out 5th) after his A-5 was bettered by Jim H's K-K.
4-handed play between Jim H, Jim O, Tom W. and Fran continued in level 15 of NLHE.
Just a few hands into 4-handed play, Fran made a move with A-Q and was called by Tom who held King Kong. The 5s-3s-7c-3h-2s board missed Fran and he was out in 4th place.
Despite rebuying, Tom managed to put himself in the position to win the tournament and was poised to double-up after finding himself all-in (and ahead) against Jim H. holding Kd-8c on a flop of Ah-4s-Kh. Jim called and showed 9h-7h drawing to a flush. The 4d turn kept Tom ahead, however the 5h river filled Jim's flush and Tom was out in 3rd place.
The Jim's battled back and forth with Jim H. holding a 3:1 chip advantage over his opponent through level 17 (NLHE) when the final hand of the tournament came up.
All the chips got into the middle with Jim H. holding 9s-8s and Jim O. holding Ac-6c. The 8c-2h-2d flop gave Jim H. the lead. The 5h turn brought no help for Jim O. The Kd river gave Jim H. his 4th career regular season victory!
With the victory, Jim has cracked the "April 8" in 4th place overall with 33.03 points.
Congrats again to Jim on his victory and thanks to all who attended S4E9!
~ Jason Tr.
April 8 Update
With his win early Sunday morning, Jim H. rocketed from 13th place in the standings to 4th. This caused Keith who was holding on to 8th place to drop to 9th and 2.21 points back from the April 8. The remaining 7 players in the April 8 all hold their positions through Event 9. The updated April 8 are:
1. John M.(42.59 points)
2. Eric W. (37.96 points)
3. Jason Ta. (33.18 points)
4. Jim H. (33.03 points)
5. Bill B. (32.90 points)
6. Marc H. (29.27 points)
7. Jason Tr. (28.38 points)
8. Tom W. (27.91 points)
Keith is just 2.21 from Tom in 8th place. Jim O. in 10th place is just 2.53 points back. The gap starts to widen a little with Fran in 11th place at 4.82 points back. Angie is 5.47 points back in 12th place.
There are still a lot of points up for grabs. With a full field in Event 10, first place will be worth 14.14 points. With a full field in Event 11, first place will be worth a whopping 17.32 points. With only 2 events remaining, any player in the standings could feasibly end up in the April 8.
