Hidden Court West - Despite rebuying, Chris S. went on to defeat head's-up opponent Lolly O. early Sunday morning to claim Event 8 of Season 5 of the Fish 'N' Chips Poker Tour!
Regulars Jim H, Mike T. and Mike M. all canceled in advance of the event and were replaced by substitutes Sean O, Drew M. and Jim S. But Jim S. had to back out a few days before and no substitute was located. So the event stayed nearly filled at 19 players.
A large winter storm was forecasted the day of the tournament and was expected to bring as much as 3-6 inches of snow. The TD's anticipated this would cause a handful of players to cancel.
Early in the day, Drew M. bowed out due to a family member giving birth thus reducing the field to 18 players. As start time approached, Keith and Angie called off due to the driving conditions. But that was it. Everyone else arrived by the expiration of the first blind level solidifying the field at 16!
Marc H. was the evening's first elimination after his pocket 9's ran into Kevin's pocket rockets and he elected not to rebuy. John M. was next after he shoved with K-J and ran into Bill B's pocket rockets.
Jim O. found himself all-in in level 6 (PLO) with blinds at 600/1,200/200 holding A-A-10-5 and getting called by Bill B. who tabled A-A-10-7. The flop brought both a 10 and a 7 giving Bill the lead. Blanks on the turn and river sent Jim to the rail in 14th place.
Chris Ba. was sent packing in 13th place courtesy of Sean O's flopped set of 10's. Fran followed Chris when Lolly's pocket 6's held against his A-5.
For the second consecutive tournament, Jason Tr. took a leap of faith by going all-in blind, getting called and eliminated. With only 16k left, Jason attempted to take down the blinds by shoving in middle position. Unfortunately he was called by Eric's A-K in late position which held up. Jason was followed by Jason Ta. who was eliminated in 10th place thus forming the final table.
Nick was the first elimination from the final table after he was all-in PF for 15k with blinds at 1,200/2,400/200 holding A-J. He got a caller in Bill who tabled pocket 8's. Bill's 8's held on the dry board.
On a short stack, Sean saw an opportunity to pick up the blinds so he raised with 8c-9c but instead got re-raised by Kevin. Sean then pulled the trigger by going all-in hoping his opponent would fold. But Kevin called and showed A-K. The flop brought a king and the turn and river brought no help for Sean and he was out in 8th place.
Poised for a double-up, Tom got it in good holding A-A-10-4 versus Kevin's Q-Q-2-3 with blinds at 2,500/5,000/400 in PLO. Unfortunately for Tom, the 7-2-3 flop put Kevin in the lead. The turn and river were blanks and Tom was out 7th place.
Eric was next, out in 6th place, when he was all-in PF for his last 4k with K-K-5-5 in a 4-way pot which was eventually claimed by Anita's flopped set of 6's.
Bill became the event's bubble boy after he pushed with K-4 and got called by Lolly's A-5 which paired an ace on the flop and held up. But it was another 4.22 points to add to his commanding overall lead this season.
Four-handed play between Chris, Anita, Kevin and Lolly started with Chris holding a sizable chip lead over his opponents. The four players exchanged chips over two levels until a big hand between Anita and Kevin came up in NLHE.
On a 6-7-8-10 board and with a 9 in her holdings, Anita turned a T-high straight and moved-in. Unfortunately for her, Kevin called with J-9 giving him a higher straight to the jack. A river jack could tie the hand, but a blank fell instead and Anita exited the tournament in 4th place with her first cash in over a year.
Three-handed play between Chris, Kevin and Lolly continued as Chris' chip stack started to grow like an unstoppable rebel force. And it wasn't long when the tournament went head's-up after Chris eliminated Kevin with a broadway straight setting up a showdown with Lolly.
Chris held a 7-1 chip lead over his opponent at the start of head's-up play. But Lolly didn't relent and fought hand for hand. But eventually, an inevitable match-up came.
On the final hand of the tournament, all the chips were in the middle with Lolly holding As-9s and Chris holding Jd-Jc. The 9d-5h-Kd flop paired Lolly's 9, however Chris remained in the lead 80.7% to 19.3% with his jacks. The Qd turn increased Chris' lead to 90.0% to 9.09%. Lolly needed a non-diamond ace or 9 to continue. But it was not to be as the 3h came instead giving Chris his 3rd career FNCPT win.
With his win, Chris becomes just the 4th player in the history of the FNCPT who purchased a rebuy in a single-rebuy regular season event and went on to win that event. He joins David S., Tom W. and Joe H.
Congrats to Chris on his win and thanks to everyone who came out for S5E8.
~ Jason Tr.
April 8 Update
There was no shake-up in the top 4 spots, despite Jim H. taking Event 8 off. With his win, however, Chris S. jumped 8 spots to land in fifth place overall, dropping spots 5 through 7 down one place and Nick being bumped out of the top spots. Through 8 events, the April 8 looks like this:
1. Bill B. (60.44 Points)
2. Sean O. (46.33)
3. Jim H. (32.55)
4. Fran D. (32.08)
5. Chris S. (27.34)
6. Jason Ta. (27.25)
7. Jason Tr. (24.60)
8. Jim O. (23.65)
Nick opened the season in 7th place but quickly fell out of the top 8; he returned after Event 6 (in 8th place) and stayed there for two events, before falling again after Event 8. He remains on the outside looking in by a minuscule 0.16 points.
Marc H. started the season in 4th place and stayed there through two events. After missing Event 3, he dropped out of the top 8. But he fought back and after a second place finish in Event 5, he again found himself among the league leaders. He stayed for 2 more weeks until he missed Event 7 and dropped out again. He has three events left to build his points up and overcome the 1.83 points between himself and 8th place.
Kevin A. also started the season as part of the April 8 with a third place finish in Event 1. He held on to a top spot for three weeks despite a 16th place finish and 20th place finish in Events 2 and 3, respectively. But another 16th place finish in Event 4 dropped him out of the April 8 for good. Two final tables in the last four events, however, has Kevin back in contention and sitting just 2.08 points out of 8th place.
Lolly is as high as she's ever been this season, sitting in 12th place overall. But coming off her best finish of the season in Event 8, she has the momentum needed to overcome the 3.90 point deficit that is between her and 8th place.
Assuming Event 9 fills up, the average points awarded will be 3.74 points. With a good showing, Nick, Marc or Kevin could be back in the April 8 and Lolly could make her debut. The last three events are shaping up to be a nail-biter as the points-race tightens up at the bottom of the April 8.
