"Buffalo" no more

Norborne - Bill B. defeated head's-up opponent Chris Ba. in the early morning hours on Sunday and became the fourth Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour Champion!

For the third consecutive season, each player started the tournament with T200,000 in chips and T450,000 chips were awarded as a bonus based on each players' cumulative season points. All blind levels were extended to 30 minutes in length. Seats were assigned randomly and the stacks looked like this:
 
Seat 1: Eric W., 250,000
Seat 2: Mike T., 242,000

Seat 3: Jim H., 264,500

Seat 4: John M., 260,500

Seat 5: Chris Ba., 237,500

Seat 6: Jason Ta., 251,000

Seat 7: Tom W., 246,500

Seat 8: Keith K., 244,500
Seat 9: Bill B., 256,000

For the first time in the history of the FNCPT, the Championship Event was to be held at another venue other than Ingram where the first three were hosted. The Norborne Solarium was awarded the honor this season.

With rain and chilly temperatures in the mid 50's all week, it was a concern the Solarium would get too cold for the event. Fortunately, it cleared up and temps got into the upper 60's with sun for both Friday and Saturday.

 

To go with this season's concert theme, official "Backstage Passes" were created for those playing in and attending the event.

The opening deal was dealt just after 7pm sans Chris Ba. who was about 10 minutes late.

The first three levels cruised by with nobody being eliminated. The overall play would be best described as tight and conservative. At the dinner break (the conclusion of level three), the chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: Eric W., 161,000
Seat 2: Mike T., 209,000

Seat 3: Jim H., 276,500

Seat 4: John M., 196,000

Seat 5: Chris Ba., 321,500

Seat 6: Jason Ta., 232,500

Seat 7: Tom W., 180,000

Seat 8: Keith K., 295,500
Seat 9: Bill B., 368,500

The tournament progressed into level 7 where blinds reached 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante when the evening's first elimination came.

Keith and Jason Ta. both saw the As-4d-7s flop. Jason checked and Keith bet 10k. Jason then check raised to 35k. Keith three-bet to 85k, Jason moved all-in and Keith called showing Ad-Jc for top pair. Jason revealed Ah-4s for two-pair. The Qc turn and Ks river brought no help for Keith and he was out.

Level 7 expired and brought the evenings second break with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: Eric W., 278,000
Seat 2: Mike T., 290,000

Seat 3: Jim H., 350,000

Seat 4: John M., 258,000

Seat 5: Chris Ba., 115,000

Seat 6: Jason Ta., 460,000

Seat 7: Tom W., 120,000

Seat 8: Bill B., 383,000

Mike T. was the next player eliminated when blinds reached 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante in level 9. Mike raised to 50k only to be re-raised by Jim H. to 150k. Mike then three-bet all-in for 184k more and Jim called tabling pocket ten's (10s-10c). Mike showed As-10h. The 7d-Qh-Kd-2s-7c board stayed clean for Jim and Mike hit the rail in 8th place.

A short time later, a short-stacked John was all-in for his last 130k with the Ah-10s. Jim looked him up with the Ac-5s and John was poised for a double-up. Unfortunately the Kc-7s-5d flop put Jim in the lead. The 3c turn and 8c river cards offered no assistance for John and he was out in 7th.

The remaining six players included Eric, Jim, Chris, Jason, Tom and Bill who all played through level 11 where blinds reached 20,000/40,000 with a 6,000 ante. At the conclusion of level 11, the six players went on break with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: Eric W., 325,000
Seat 2: Jim H., 511,000  

Seat 3: Chris Ba, 555,000

Seat 4: Jason Ta., 182,000

Seat 5: Tom W., 376,000

Seat 6: Bill B., 305,000

 

A few hands into level 12 (25,000/50,000/7,000), Jason re-raised Chris' 160k bet for 175k all-in. Chris made the call and showed Kd-7c whilst Jason revealed As-3s for a 62.2% to 37.8% advantage. The Ks-10s-6d put Chris in front with top pair, however with two flopped spades, Jason picked up several outs in the form of a flush draw. The Kc turn card gave Chris trip kings and a big lead in the hand: 84.1% to 15.9%. The 7s fell on the river giving Jason an ace-high flush and for a split second he thought, the winning hand. But then he realized Chris had made kings-full. Jason congratulated Chris on the winning hand, wished everyone luck and quickly exited the Solarium in 6th place.

Tom managed to nurse a very small stack back to health into the 25,000/50,000/7,000 level but the blinds kept coming around and ate his stack away. He took a stand with Kd-Qh but was quickly called by Bill's pocket kings (Ks-Kh). The 4d-3h-7h-2d-Ad board stayed clean for Bill and Tom exited in 5th place.

When the field was reduced to four players, everyone unanimously agreed to adjust the prize pool so 4th place could get their buy-in back.

A short while later, Chris (UTG) bet 175k. It folded to Jim in the BB who pushed for 301k on top. Chris called and showed Ah-Qh while Jim revealed 7d-7h and the race was on. The 10c-Kc-Jh flop gave Chris broadway and a 96.7% to 3.28% lead. The 4h turn left Jim drawing dead. The meaningless 5c river was dealt and the Season IV Player of the Year collected his buy-in back and exited in 4th place.

The three remaining players played through level 12 and into level 13 where blinds reached 40,000/80,000 with an ante of 10,000.

Chips stacks had evened out with Bill and Chris both holding about 700k and Eric sitting as the chip leader with 800k.  On the button, Bill looked down at Q6 of hearts and decided to steal the blinds.  After Bill's all-in, Eric woke up with AK and re-popped it.  Chris went in the tank before finally folding and Bill and Eric went to the flop.  Despite being a 3:2 dog with all of his chips in the middle, Bill hit a 6 on the flop to take the lead.  With no help on the turn and river, Eric went from chip-leader to crippled and Bill held two-thirds of the chips in play.

On the next hand, Bill raised the action to 350k.  Holding just 100k, Eric found a face card and put the last of his chips in the middle, knowing a fold would have only given him enough chips to play one more hand.  Eric tabled Qs-2h while Bill showed Ah-5s. The 3d-9d-6s flop kept Bill ahead. The 5h turn kept Bill in front with 3rd pair but gave Eric a GSSD. But the Kh river offered Eric no help and he exited the tournament with 3rd place money.

Head's-up play between Chris and Bill started with Bill having a 1.9 million to 350k chip advantage over his opponent. Just a few hands were dealt when the final hand of the season came up.

At nearly 3:00am and 8 hours into the tournament, Chris moved all-in with pocket 3's and Bill made the call with 8d-10d. The 7s-10h-7c flop gave Bill the better two-pair. The 8h turn gave him still, the better two-pair. Chris needed a 3 on the river to stay alive. But it was the Qs that came instead and Season IV had it's Champion!

For the 4th consecutive season, an 8 has appeared in the Championship winner's final holdings. What is even more incredible is that all four suits of the 8 have appeared over the 4 Championship Seasons.

In the Season I Championship, the 8c was in Anita's winning hand. In the Season II Championship, the 8s appeared in Jim S's winning hand. Last season the 8h was in Jim H's winning hand. And this season the circle completes with the 8d in Bill's winning hand. To add to the incredibleness, the colors matched black, black, red and red.

  

Congratulations Bill on your 2012-2013 Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour Championship!

Also, thanks to Angie, Kevin and Jason Tr. for dealing the tournament. The players really appreciated it!

On behalf of the FNCPT Tournament Directors, I would like to thank everyone who played this season and we look forward to seeing you in Season 5.

~ Jason Tr.

Season Four Championship Table Preview

Norborne - Nine players will compete for the Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour's Season Four Championship. Here is the final table preview.

Seat 1: Eric W.  250,000 chips:  Despite missing two regular season events this season, Eric managed three cashes which included a 2nd place finish in S4E4, a 4th place finish in S4E5 and 1st place finish in S4E8. This earned him enough points to secure a 5th overall placing in the standings and a 4th straight appearance in the league championship event. He managed to conjure up a 3rd place finish in the Season II Championship after a dismal 9th place finish in Season I. In his 3rd trip to the big dance last season, Eric disappointed with a 6th place showing. The Championship has changed venues for the first time in league history. It will be at the Solarium. Will home field advantage be all Eric needs to capture his first Championship title?

Seat 2: Mike T.  242,000 chips:  Mike T. is no stranger to success in the FNCPT. He earned the POTY title in Season I with an unprecedented 66.76 points from his five, count them five, cashes. He followed up an off year in Season II with a runner-up 2nd place finish in last season's Championship. Heading into this season's final regular season event, Mike had not cashed a single time and only played in 6 of the 10 events. He needed a win to crack the final spot in the "April 8". And he did just that in dramatic fashion by overcoming a 10:1 chip deficit head's-up to claim S4E11. Mike will be a formidable force and one of the favorites to take this season's top prize.

Seat 3: Jim H.  264,500 chips:  Last season's Champ Jim H. followed up his championship season with the POTY honor this season. With a 2nd place cash in S4E2 and back-to-back wins in S4E9 & S4E10, Jim managed to put up 51.39 points which was enough for the top spot. This was also with him missing 3 of the 11 regular season events. Jim leads the league in regular season wins with 5 and career earnings with $4,085. Will he become the first player to earn both the POTY honor and Champion in the same season? He will most certainly be the the odds-on favorite for the win.

Seat 4: John M.  260,500 chips:  "Captain" John was undoubtedly the favorite to capture the POTY title heading into the final 3 events of this season after a 2nd place finish in S4E1, a 3rd place finish in S4E2, a win in S4E7 and a 4th place finish in S4E8. But he fell short to the late surge of eventual winner Jim H. and settled for runner-up. This has been John's best season so far in the FNCPT. With his loose-aggressive style of play, he'll be a force to be reckoned with at the Championship table.

Seat 5: Chris Ba.  237,500 chips:  Chris burst onto the FNCPT scene with a win in his debut in S4E4. He missed the next two events but appeared in S4E7-S4E10. During this time, his highest finish was 7th place and he remained low in the standings. Chris needed a win to crack the "April 8" heading into the regular season finale. He settled for a 4th place finish and a Qualifier seat. But he made the most of that seat going on to win the Season Four Qualifier in a thrilling finish. Chris will look to be the first Qualifier to take down a FNCPT Championship.

Seat 6: Jason Ta.  251,000 chips:  With three cashes to his credit this season which includes a win in S4E5 and 4th place finishes in S4E3 & S4E10, Jason had a shot at the POTY title going into the regular season finale. That dream was quickly dashed when he was the event's first elimination. But he earned enough points to take 4th place in the final standings and a 3rd straight "April 8" honor. Jason's 40.53 points this season are a career high. He finished 3rd in last season's Championship. He will be looking to improve upon this season's success in the Championship.

Seat 7: Tom W.  246,500:  Tom's three cashes this season included a win in S4E2 and late success in the form of back-to-back 3rd place finishes in S4E9 and S4E10 which earned him a seat in his first Championship. This was despite missing 2 events. His 36.85 points this season is a career high and was good enough for 6th place overall in the final standings. Tom even had a shot at the coveted Player of the Year honor heading into the regular season finale but fell short with a disappointing 17th place finish. Tom will be look to build on his late season success in the Championship.

Seat 8: Keith K.  244,500 chips:  Keith played in all eleven regular season events this season but managed only one cash: a 2nd place finish in S4E6. Ironically, he received more points for finishing 2nd than the winner "Buffalo" Bill B. did due to rebuys. Keith went on to earn enough points to secure the 7th overall spot in the final standings with two bubble finishes in S4E5 and S4E11. This is Keith's second consecutive Championship appearance. Last season he finished 7th. This season he will be looking to make the Championship his first FNCPT victory.

Seat 9: "Buffalo" Bill B.  256,000:  Bill's nickname was given to him because of his two 2nd place finishes in the Championship games of the WPT Season 3 and ORPL Season 1 which was similiar to the Buffalo Bills finishing runner-up in Super Bowl's XXV through XXVIII. Despite finishing 3rd in the FNCPT Season I Championship, Bill went 9 straight events without a cash. Then he won the Season 2 Qualifier but only managed a 4th place finish in the Championship. He then went 12 straight events without a cash which led into this season. But he strung three straight cashes together with back-to-back 3rd place finishes in S4E3 & S4E4, a win in S4E6 and a 2nd place finish in S4E10 which was enough for him to finish 3rd overall in the final standings with 44.58 points; a career high. Bill will be looking to lose the "Buffalo" moniker with a Championship victory.

~ Jason Tr.


 

A Cinderella story

Ingram - Chris Ba. defeated opponent Nick G. in an intense head's-up battle to claim victory in this season's Qualifier Saturday night and secured the 9th and final seat in this season's Championship event!

The cards flew just after 7:30 P.M. with the following players, positions and chip stacks:

1. Chris Ba. (Dealer)  128,000
2. Lolly O.  121,500
   
3. Jason Tr.  129,500
   
4. Sean O.  121,500
   
5. Fran D.  131,000
   
6. Angie S.  128,000
   
7. Jim O.  125,500
   
8. Anita G.  113,500
   
9. Nick G.  128,000

The players played through the first 3 levels and into the dinner break without anyone being eliminated. This continued through level 7 where blinds reached 5k/10k/1k.

Ironically, last season's Qualifier winner Fran was the first player to hit the rail after he moved his short stack all-in with K-J with blinds at 7k/15k/2k. Anita made the call with A-7. A king and a 7 both appeared on the flop which put Fran in the lead. Unfortunately for Fran, another 7 turned putting Anita in the lead with trip 7's. The river missed and Fran was out.

Jim O. followed Fran in the same level when he called Chris' all-in with pocket deuces. Chris showed A-Q and Jim was ahead by a slim margin. The double-king flop gave Jim two-pair however a river 10 double-paired the board with kings and tens counterfeiting his holdings. Chris' ace played and Jim was out.

Last season's POTY Jason Tr. was out next after failing to find the answer to his recent card deadness in the form of Old Milwaukee Light. After action folded to him in the SB with blinds at 10k/20k/3k, he pushed his short stack all-in blind praying Sean in the BB would fold. Unfortunately for Jason, Sean looked down at A-J and made the quick call. Jason revealed Kd-4d and prayed for diamonds. An ace hit the flop, not enough diamonds came and Jason was gone.

Angie was eliminated in 6th place after calling Nick's PF all-in with Jh-8h. Nick's ace-high took the hand. Anita followed Angie (both victim's of the huge blinds and dwindling M) after moving with Q-7 and running into Lolly's A-K.

Sean O. managed to build up his stack and actually held the chip lead for a brief amount of time before going card dead and bleeding chips. Short-stacked and desperate, Sean made a move with pocket deuces and got a caller in Chris who tabled A-4. Sean lead until the river brought an ace sending him out in 4th place.

Lolly was out next after calling Nick's all-in with A-9 and initially leading after Nick showed J-10. The flop brought both a jack and a ten giving Nick a leading two-pair. The turn and river brought no help for her and she was out in 3rd place.

Head's-up play between Chris and Nick started in the 20k/40k blind level with Nick having a 4:1 chip advantage over his opponent. Over the course of several hands, Chris was able to chip away (pun intended) at his opponent's giant stack.

But the tables turned on the most pivotal hand of the tournament after Chris raised in the BB with the 8d-3c. Nick called and the flop brought the 3d-Jd-9h. Chris bet and Nick announced all-in. Chris called and Nick turned over 9c-10s for middle pair for a 77.4% to 22.6% lead. The 7d came on the turn keeping Nick in front 70.5% to 29.5% and on the brink to a Championship berth. But the 2d fell on the river giving Chris the winning flush and crippling his opponent.

Just a few hands later, the final hand of the tournament was dealt. With blinds at 25k/50k, Nick was all-in and Chris called. Chris revealed Ks-9d and Nick showed the Kd-Jc which dominated his opponent and poised him for a much needed double-up. But tragedy struck in the form of the 9c on the 3d-7c-9c flop giving Chris the lead. The Qc turn gave Nick a straight and flush draw but kept Chris ahead. But it was not to be for Nick (again) as the river brought the 4d and gave Chris the 9th and final seat in this season's Championship!

For the second consecutive event, Nick lost a substantial head's-up chip lead and fell to his opponent.

He will have to wait until next season to get another shot at the league's top honour.

Congratulations to Chris and good luck to him in the Championship!

~Jason Tr.