Hidden Court West - Sub Carl W. managed to outlast head's-up opponent Marc H. to claim the Fish & Chips Poker Tour's Season 5 regular season finale early Sunday morning.
For the second consecutive season, the final scheduled event was a triple-stack freeze-out with a first place 17.32 points up for grabs. All 20 regular players reserved their seat a week in advance.
Jim and Lolly O. had to back out a day before due to the loss of Jim's father. From all of us from the F&CPT, we are all deeply sorry to hear about the passing of Jim Sr. Our hearts go out to you in your time of sorrow.
The open seats were offered up to all the substitute players. Sean O. initially accepted a seat but then declined it the following morning due to sickness. Mum and crickets were the word from email. But just hours before the event, Nick's neighbor Jerry and old-time F&CPT sub Carl W. both signed-on to refill the tourney at 20 players.
At 1910 hours, everyone had arrived and the opening deals went out.
Jim H. was the tournament's first casualty after getting his wig split by Fran for most of his stack and then going all-in blind only to reveal 8-2 which miraculously made a flush. Unfortunately Carl made an ace high flush too.
Not long after Jim was dispatched in 20th place, a big hand came up at the black table between Eric W, Jason Ta, Jason Tr. and newcomer Jerry J. On a flop of Qc-8s-9c, Jason Ta. led out for a pot size bet of 25k. Eric pushed for 97k. Jerry called and Jason Tr. moved all-in for roughly 386k. Jason Ta. called and so did Jerry. Eric, Jason Ta. and Jason Tr. all revealed J-10 for a flopped straight whilst Jerry revealed Ac-6c for the nut flush draw. As fate would have it, the Kc appeared on the turn leaving Eric and the Jason's nearly drawing dead. Eric did hold the Jc which made the case 10c an out for him for a king-high straight flush. The river card was a blank red card and both Eric and Jason Ta. were eliminated on the hand in 19th and 18th place. Jason Tr. was left with about 135k as Jerry scooped the 800k+ pot. Eric wiped his blocked tear duct right eye, got up from the table, grabbed his black leather biker jacket and exited the premises in five seconds flat.
Mike T. was out in 17th place after his J-9 was bettered by Carl's Q-10 which made a straight. Angie followed in 16th place when her K-Q was beaten by Jerry's A-Q for ace high.
Mike M. was out in 15th place courtesy of Carl and Kevin. After misplaying bottom set, Mike went on to misplay pocket 10's on a flop of A-A-J where both Carl and Kevin held an ace for a chopped pot and his elimination. Mike noted it was a real suck-o-rama play he made.
Nick followed Mike to the rail after he donked-off most of his chips to Fran on a horrible play (his own words) and then moved-in with "junk" and got beat by Kevin's "junk" in the form of 9-2.
Anita bowed out in 13th place after her pocket 10's were out-flopped by Carl's set of 3's. Jerry exited behind Anita in 12th place after his paired ace was bettered by Jason Tr's turned straight.
Bill B. had a chance to break the league's single season points record with a 4th place finish or higher. Unfortunately he had to settle for 11th place after his pocket jacks were defeated by Carl's pocket rockets. With a season ending 66.09 points, Bill earns the Season Five Player of the Year honor. He also joins Jim H. to become only the 2nd player to earn both the POY honor and Season Champion.
Tom W. was eliminated in 10th place after going all-in against both Chris S. and Fran who checked their options to the river where Chris eventually revealed winning pocket jacks vs. Fran's A-J. Tom mucked his cards and Chris' jacks took the pot thus forming the final table.
Keith was the first elimination from the final table after his Q-J was defeated by Jason Tr's A-Q. Ironically Jason followed Keith to the rail in 8th place after getting rivered by Fran for most of his chips and then subsequently going all-in blind two hands later with 6-9 and getting called by Marc's J-7 which held up.
Chris Ba. found himself all-in for 148k in a four-way pot for roughly 650k holding J-7. The 8-5-A-4-8 board didn't hit him and Carl's 7-7 ended up taking the pot thus sending Chris out in 7th place.
Kevin A. needed a 2nd place finish or higher to crack the top eight. He would have to settle for 6th place after his A-Q failed to outdraw Chris S's Q-Q.
Fran was out in 5th place on the bubble courtesy of John. Fran's pocket 9's actually led against John's A-10 to the turn. Unfortunately for him, an ace fell on the river giving John the pot and elimination.
John followed Fran to the rail in 4th place in dramatic fashion after his pocket jacks were obliterated by Carl's quad deuces.
Three-handed play between Carl, Chris S. and Marc continued with blinds at 25k/50k/7k with Carl holding a majority of the chips in play and Marc on the short-stack.
Chris was eliminated in 3rd place after moving-in on the turn with a straight draw holding K-Q against Carl on a board of A-10-3-4 with 2 diamonds on board. Carl detected Chris was on a draw and made the call with 10d-2d for second pair and a flush draw. The river was a blank for both players and Carl scooped the huge pot with a pair of 10's. The tournament then advanced to head's-up play between Carl and Marc.
It wasn't long until Marc and Carl had all their chips in the middle for what would become the tournament's final hand.
Marc revealed As-9c and Carl flipped-over 10h-10d. The Kd-Jd-9d flop paired Marc's 9, however Carl's 10's stayed in the lead. The 10c turn gave Carl a set of 10's, however if a non-diamond queen fell on the river, Marc would win with a higher straight. But the 5c came instead giving Carl his first F&CPT win and Jason Tr. the season's final RJP worth a whopping $45!
Carl has previously played in only 2 F&CPT events. He cashed for 3rd place in S1E8 way, way back on 12/12/09 and was subsequently eliminated in 18th place in S2E2 on 06/18/10.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Season Five finale and congrats again to Carl on his win!
Good luck to the "April 8" and to those who earned a seat in this season's Championship Qualifier!
~Jason Tr.
April 8 Update
After the dust cleared early Sunday morning, the Season Five "April 8" was established. So without further ado, the A8 are:
1. Bill B. 66.09 POY Points
2. Sean O. 48.21 POY Points
3. Fran D. 47.75 POY Points
4. Chris S. 42.62 POY Points
5. Nick G. 41.97 POY Points
6. Jim H. 41.35 POY Points
7. Jason Ta. 40.86 POY Points
8. Keith K. 38.98 POY Points
Bill, Sean, Fran, Nick, Jason Ta. and Jim H. were all virtual locks for seats in this season's championship event going into E11. The 7th and 8th seats were up for grabs with the front runners being Chris S. and Jason Tr. who were just 0.47 and 1.27 points out of the 8th position going into the finale.
With a 3rd place finish Sunday morning, Chris S. cemented himself in the top 8 and is championship bound. Jason Tr. managed an 8th place finish, but with Keith finishing in 9th place right behind him and already having 2.36 more points in the standings, it was not enough to crack the 8th seat. For the third consecutive season, Keith earns a seat in the big dance.
Positions 9-17 have earned a seat in this season's Championship Qualifier. The winner of the qualifier will be awarded the 9th and final seat in the championship. This season's qualifiers are:
9. Jason Tr. 37.01 POY Points
10. Marc H. 36.51 POY Points
11. Jim O. 34.43 POY Points
12. Kevin A. 33.75 POY Points
13. Chris B. 27.19 POY Points
14. Eric W. 25.93 POY Points
15. Mike T. 25.41 POY Points
16. Mike M. 25.18 POY Points
17. John M. 25.07 POY Points
With missing E11, Jim O. fell to 11th place in the standings and will now have to acquire his championship seat with a qualifier win. Going into E11, John was 20th place in the standings and needed a deep run to just get into the qualifier. He achieved just that with a 4th place finish early Sunday morning and landed in the final qualifier spot bumping out Tom. Lolly also missed E11 and fell from 16th place in the standings to 20th place and out of the qualifier contention.
Mike M. has declined his seat in the qualifier due to vacationing in SC. Mike's seat was offered to Tom W. who is in 18th place and has since accepted.
If anyone else above cannot participate in the qualifier, their seat will be offered to 19th place in the standings. If that player declines, then it will move onto the next player in the standings.
Players participating in the qualifier will receive bonus chips based on the number of points they earned during the season. Starting this season, the starting stacks and bonus chips have been doubled. A total of T450,000 bonus chips will be distributed over the 9 starting T200,000 stacks.
2013-2014 Fish & Chips Poker Tour Player of the Year
Congrats to Bill who took down the season opener and never looked back earning a massive 66.09 POY points this season. From start to finish, Bill maintained the top spot in the standings all season long which totaled 5 cashes! His 3 wins this season is a new single season league record. Congrats Bill on your POY honors and good luck on a repeat in the championship.
