Ingram - Jim O. defeated head's-up opponent Mike T. to claim the F&CPT's Season Five Qualifier and in the process earn the 9th and final seat in this season's Championship Event late Saturday night!
The tournament commenced with the following seating positions and chip stacks:
- Eric W. 243,000
- John M. 242,000
- Mike T. 242,500
- Marc H. 261,000
- Chris B. 245,500
- Tom W. 241,000
- Jim O. 257,500
- Kevin A. 256,000
- Jason Tr. 261,500
Chris B. was the tourney's first elimination after his pocket 9's were outdrawn by John M's pocket 2's which flopped a set.
Kevin followed Chris to the rail when his flopped king-high flush was bettered by John M's turned ace-high flush.
Marc H. bowed out in 7th place after his jack-high straight was bettered by John M's queen-high straight.
After eliminating Marc, John was the chip leader by a wide margin. Ironically, he got tangled up in a hand with Jim O. a short time later when he misread his cards.
On a flop of 7-J-2, John bet and Jim called. A queen appeared on the turn and John bet 60k. Jim then shoved for 281k and John instantly called. Jim revealed Q-J for top two-pair and John showed what he thought was pocket 2's. Much to his dismay, he did not have pocket 2's, but instead pocket 3's. The river card was a blank and John shipped 280k to Jim.
Jason Tr. was out next after looking down at pocket aces and calling Mike T's raise of 25k. The 2-K-7 flop was dealt and Jason bet 75k. Mike paused for a moment and then announced "all-in". Jason called fearing the worst which was confirmed when Mike announced "pocket kings". The turn and river cards were quickly dealt and proved to be blanks for Jason who exited in 6th place.
Tom was eliminated next after he shoved on a flop of A-4-Q and Jim called tabling A-9. The turn and river cards were dealt and Tom mucked his holdings and bowed out in 5th place.
Eric had been fairly card dead after the dinner break, but once the blinds hit the 7k/15k/2k level, he started picking up hands, raising and getting the blinds to fold. Indeed, when John and Mike folded to Jim in the small blind, Jim considered his hand but folded the walk to Eric with the comment, "If I call, you'll just raise and I'll have to fold." The next orbit, Mike folded and Jim called. From the small blind, Eric raised to 37k. John called and Jim re-raised to 100k. With the action back to Eric, he pushed for 137k total. John folded and Jim made the call for 37,000 more. Jim revealed Ac-Kc and Eric showed pocket 6's. The Kh-Ts-9d flop put Jim in the lead. The 7h turn did not help Eric. And the Ks river gave Jim the elimination with trip kings.
Three-handed play between Jim, John and Mike T. began with each player having comparable chip stacks. Over the course of two levels, Jim whittled down Mike and John's stacks. Then, a big pot developed between Jim and John. On a flop of 5-5-4, Jim bet and John shoved. Jim thought about it for a minute before calling and showing 10-4 for two-pair, 5's and 4's. John grunted in disgust as the 10 turn and 3 river cards were dealt and mucked his holdings. Jim scooped the huge pot and the tournament was reduced to head's-up play.
At the start of head's-up play, Jim held an approximate 4-1 chip lead over his opponent. Both players raised and re-raised back and forth over several hands which always resulted in a pre-flop fold. During this time, Mike managed to pick up some much needed chips to narrow the gap a little until the final hand of the tournament was dealt.
With blinds at 15k/30k, Mike raised to 100k pre-flop and Jim called. The 2d-10d-10h flop was dealt. Jim bet out 75k and Mike raised to 250k. Jim moved all-in and Mike called showing Ac-2c for two-pair, 2's and 10's. Jim turned over Qc-10c for trip 10's and a 99% to 1% lead in the hand. Mike's only hope was running aces or deuces. The Jh turn card sealed the win for Jim. The meaningless 4s river card was dealt and the Season Five Championship had it's 9th and final player.
Jim is the fifth different player to win the qualifier in as many seasons.
Thanks to Angie for dealing and thanks to everyone who participated in the Season Five Qualifier. And good luck to Jim in the Championship!
~Jason Tr.
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