Norborne - Season Six started out with a new kind of tournament. Each player was given one directive: Choose wisely. Players were allowed to pick their own starting stack and in turn, control the points for which they were playing. Buy-ins ranged from $30 to a T75,000 stack to $60 for a T150,000 in starting chips. Rebuys were allowed through the first five levels, but they had to be at the same level that players bought in at originally. All buy-in amounts were declared at the time the player reserved a seat.
Jim chose a $50 buy-in and a T125,000 starting stack. And despite losing about one-third of it on the first hand, he proved he made the right choice, outlasting the field and beating Jason Tr. (who also chose a T125,000 starting stack but had to rebuy in level five to keep playing) in heads-up play to claim the first event of Season Six.
Seats filled quickly as all 20 regulars locked up their seats in the inaugural Season Six event in the F&CPT. After a brief explanation of the Season Six side games and a heartfelt emotional speech by John, the Season Five Champ was escorted to his seat with Championship trophy in tow by his lovely wife and the first hand was dealt shortly after 7:00 p.m.
Already in for a rebuy, Kevin became the first elimination of the night in level 3 when he could not catch and his pocket jacks fell to John's pockets aces. Marc also rebought before being eliminated in level 3. With his stack dwindled down to about nine big blinds, Marc got his last 28,000 in the middle holding A-9 and he was eliminated by Bill's pocket 7's. Marc missed the K-Q-8 flop and did not improve on the turn or river. Level 3 also claimed Chris B. Anita min-raised to 6,000 pre-flop and Chris smooth called. After the 7-4-4 flop was checked to her, Anita bet out 15,000 and Chris shoved his last 27,000 in the middle; Anita called and showed Q-Q while Chris was way behind with 5-5. A deuce on the turn left Chris with only two outs and a river 6 wasn't one of them.
Through three blind levels, there were two rebuys and three eliminations. Before the break, Jim H. would set the mark for the season-long High Hand Jackpot, turning his pocket three's into quad three's with an ace kicker. If the hand hold up for the season, it'll be worth $180 -- but there are ten more events to go.
After the break, Jason busted out, but he took advantage of the extended rebuy period for Season Six and came back in on a rebuy. But before the level ended, Anita would make it back-to-back eliminations as Keith's A-Q could not overcome her A-K and ace-high took the hand (with the king playing).
Level six saw another player eliminated as Bill and Chris S. got it all in the middle pre-flop. Bill held the edge as he revealed AT and Chris showed A-7. Not to be outdrawn, Bill locked up the hand on the turn by hitting a 10.
Level seven has been dubbed "the level where champions are made" and for this event, it would be no different. As the rising blinds created more casualties, Mike and Fran took advantage of the situation and the two eliminated the next four players. The first three knockouts occurred in level seven where blinds rose to 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante. In the first elimination of the level, Jason Ta. raised to 25,000 and after Bill shoved in over the top, Jason called off his last 71,000. Bill made tens full on the river to take down the pot and claim his third elimination of the evening. In the same blind level, John and Mike T. got mixed up in a hand that saw both players put all their chips in preflop. John found out he was drawing thin when he showed his A-Q only to find out Mike was holding K-K. The board ran off 2-7-2-7-J and John was out in 14th place. Anita also wasn't able to make it out of the level. After losing 60,000 in chips to Jason Tr. the previous hand, she shoved her last 21,000 in preflop holding J-5. Fran was in the hand holding A-7 and after an ace hit the flop, Fran was out in the lead. The gap widened and another ace hit the river
As blinds climbed to 7,000/15,000 with a 2,000 ante in level eight, Nick planned on making a move. He checked his hole cards and found 9-9 under-the-gun. He made it 40,000 to go -- about one-fifth of his stack. Unintimidated, Mike T. re-raised to 100,000 and the table folded back to Nick who instantly shoved, was instantly called, and learned in an *instant* that he was way behind as Mike turned over A-A. The 3-4-2 board was dry but the 6 on the turn gave Nick four more outs to a chopped pot. His Season Five magic fizzled, however, and Nick was eliminated when not only did he miss his card, but Mike hit an ace to seal Nick's fate. Level eight also saw Mike M. sent to the rail unable to win any of three coin flips. The final flip was Mike's 3-3 against Fran's Ac-Kc. When a third club hit the river, Mike was out in 11th place. The final elimination of level eight also burst the final table bubble as Angie and Jim O. got tangled in a pot. Jim raised preflop to 30,000 and after asking for a count, Angie shoved her final 77,000 in the pot holding A-3. Jim called and tabled A-7 for the lead. His lead grew on the 7-8-9 flop and Angie was left drawing dead when a 7 hit the turn. The river 4 did not change the result and Angie was eliminated in tenth place.
The clock was paused briefly while seats were randomly assigned and each final table participant picked a card for the Final Table Showdown, to be held before event 11. Resuming play, action continued into level nine before the next elimination -- but then they started coming in bunches. Losing a coin flip on the prior hand left Bill with just 5,000 in chips after posting his ante; Bill was all-in blind. Action came around to Jason Tr. and he raised it up 75,000 with Eric calling for less by putting his last 69,000 in the pot. Jim called Jason's 75,000 to close out the pre-flop action. With 4 players in the hand (and two players all in), the board came out 8-9-?. Jim checked and Jason shoved. Jim reluctantly folded to Jason's overbet and Jason showed 8h-9h for two pair on the flop. Eric showed Kd-Qc and despite the rule to table your cards on an all-in, Bill belligerently refused. When a Q hit the turn, Eric picked up some outs, but the river missed and Eric couldn't beat Jason's two pair. Bill finally revealed Th-7c (which meant he flopped an OESD) and Jason scooped a good sized pot at a critical time for amassing chips. Still in level nine, Lolly, Jim H. and Fran were all-in preflop. Lolly was the shortest stack in the hand while Fran had them both covered. Lolly showed A-Q while Jim turned over pocket 8's and Fran showed K-K. The 2-7-7 flop didn't produce any draws, but a Q on the turn made it interesting for Lolly. Her hopes were dashed when a 6d hit the river and gave Fran a big pot and two more eliminations.
In level ten, the blinds climbed to 15,000/30,000 and the ante hit 5,000. With just five players remaining, an orbit of five hands cost each player 70,000 chips. Although that's nearly the amount that some players started with, everyone at the table was relatively chip-healthy. The level produced only one elimination. Jason Tr. raised 4X to 120,000 and when the action got around to Sean, he put his last 240,000 in the middle. Jason called holding A-A, way ahead of Sean's K-T. Any drama was quickly squashed as the flop came 3-A-5 putting Jason well in the lead. Needing running straight cards, the 7 on the turn sealed Sean's fate and he left in 5th place, bursting the money bubble.
Four-handed play continued into level eleven as the blinds reached 20,000/40,000 with a 6,000 ante. Previously, the players had asked to color out the T1000 chips, so the antes were reduced to T5000. Holding A-T and facing a raise to 145,000 from Jim, Fran pushed over the top for 310,000. Jim called and turned over 3-3. His hand held on the 6-2-9-7-5 board and Fran was sent home with fourth place prize money in his pocket; it was Fran's fifth cash in his last eight regular season tournaments. Still in the same blind level, the play continued three-handed until Jim and Mike tangled in a hand. Jim raised the action to 140,000 preflop and Mike called. The flop came 4c-9h-5h and Mike led out for 250,000. Jim shoved and Mike called, revealing Ah-2h for a flush draw and an inside straight draw. Jim showed A-Q and although he had only a backdoor draw, he was ahead. Jim's hand held up when the 8c hit the turn and the 4d hit the river.
Before heads up play began, the clock was paused so everyone could reset. Chip stacks were counted out (Jim held approximately 1.6m chips and Jason has approximately 620,000 in front of him); everything was checked and double-checked. The head-to-head combatants cleared their heads and play resumed. As it turns out, the break lasted longer than heads up play and just a few hands later, it was over.
The blinds had crept into level twelve (25,000/50,000 with a 7,000 ante which the players agreed to forgo). Jason had added about 100,000 to his stack and was slowly getting traction and moving his chip count in the right direction. That was until Jim raised preflop to 150,000 holding 4c-4d. While processing the raise, Jason woke up with As-Jh and put his last 720,000 in the middle. Jim called and it was a race! Jason stumbled out of the gate on the 5c-6s-9d flop. A three on the turn gave Jim a meaningless straight draw and a second three on the river gave Jim the victory!
Jim choose to go with a $50, T125k starting stack and did not rebuy. As a result, he receives 14.23 points for his win.
Thanks to everyone who participated in Event 1 and congrats again to Jim O.
~Eric W.
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