This was the league's 3rd annual "HO" (round-by-round NLHE and PLO) tournament. Regular's Mike T, Marc H. and Kevin A. were out and all three were replaced by substitutes Drew M, Kevin L. and Kyle H. which kept the field at 20 players. The tournament start time was slightly delayed and eventually got underway at 7:20pm.
Angie S. was the event's first elimination (no elimination information recorded). Anita followed Angie after she was all-in preflop (PLO) with blinds at 600/1,200/200 holding A-9-8-4 and got called by Kyle's 10-10-?-? which ended up making 10's full of 7's.
After rebuying, Fran was felted and eliminated in 18th place (no elimination information recorded). Keith K. was out next (17th) after getting "taken out by Drew".
Blinds reached 800/1,600/200 in a NLHE round when Jason Ta. was all-in holding K-Q. Mike M. made the call with A-10. The 10-9-3 flop put Mike in the lead. The 8 turn and 4 river missed Jason and he was out in 16th place.
Substitute Kevin L. was out in 15th place after moving all-in for 1,200 with blinds at 1k/2k/300 in PLO with 5-5-8-9. Nick's A-A-?-? held up. As fate would have it, Nick was out next in 14th place on a rebuy. Hand notes included "Bulls*%t all night. 50k double-up to drew than 50k lost through several two pairs".
Mike M. was dispatched in 13th place when his A-10 was "out beat by top 2" of the unknown opponent's A-Q on a board of A-Q-?-?-?. Eric W. was next after his pocket 8's were destroyed by Jim H's pocket queens.
Despite being a huge chip leader early in the tournament, Drew M. got whittled down and found himself all-in with J-5 on a flop of 5-8-A with blinds at 1,200/2,400/400 in NLHE. Chris Ba. called and tabled A-9 for top pair. The 4 turn and 10 river brought no assistance and Drew was out in 11th place.
Blinds increased to 1,600/3,200 with a 500 ante (PLO) when Sean moved all in for his last 11,900 with 5-4-4-3 and was quickly called by Chris Ba, holding A-A-K-6. An inconsequential board followed and Chris’ A-A held up thus forming the final table.
Having been blinded down to his final 4,900 chips, Jim O. had little choice but to move all-in in the same level. Unfortunately, John’s flopped straight had Jim heading for the exit.
The action continued to be fast and furious as blinds rose to 2,000/4,000 with a 600 ante. Jim H, having been relatively quiet at the final table, finally found some action when Kyle raised from early position to 14,000 and he woke up with Q-Q. The table folded to Jim as he moved all-in. Kyle called and, to Jim’s excitement, tabled A-Q. Shockingly, the door card was unkind to Jim as the flop came A-9-3. The turn was a J, leaving Jim’s hopes on a two-out river. As he noted on the elimination sheet, it “wasn’t a f*%king Queen,” and Jim was knocked out in 8th.
Meanwhile, Chris S. was busy amassing a table-leading stack without the benefit of an elimination. That would change as Kyle, fresh off his elimination of Jim H, decided to be aggressive and call himself all-in against Chris’ flop bet. Chris showed top-set against Kyle’s one pair. The board provided no improvement for Kyle and he was eliminated in 7th place as Chris raked a massive pot.
The final 6 played two full levels before seeing another all-in moment. During that time, chips traded hands at a relatively even pace and players jockeyed to make the final 4 and grab a payout. With blinds at 3,000/6,000 and with a 900 ante, Jason Tr. raised to 20,000 holding Q-10. The action folded to Chris Ba. (BB) who re-raised Jason all-in. Jason called, tabling his Q-10 but was behind to Chris’ J-J. The board ran out with no improvement for Jason and he was eliminated in 6th place.
The five remaining players would not have to wait long to make the money as Lolly found herself short-stacked and needing to double-up for a shot at cashing. Holding 3-5 on a 6-4-10 flop, Lolly moved all-in for her last 30,000. John called, tabling 6-4 for two pair. After the turn and river came up empty, Lolly was knocked out on the bubble in 5th place.
John followed her out the door in 4th place as he was eliminated by Chris Ba. (no elimination information recorded). Shortly after that elimination, the blinds moved up to 5,000/10,000 with a 1,500 ante and began to drive action between the final three players. Chris Ba. led out for 35,000 from under-the-gun holding A-10. Chris S. called from the BB and the two players saw a flop of 3-6-8. Both players checked through and saw a 10 on the turn. Chris S. led out for 40,000 and Chris Ba. raised to 110,000. After thinking for a moment, Chris S. called and the river was another 3. Both players checked, and Chris S. frustratingly mucked his hand to the tabled A-10 for top pair. After losing another major hand to Bill, Chris S. found himself all-in blind for his last 20k. Chris Ba. called and showed 7-8. Chris S. rolled his hand and exposed A-9, good for a small lead. The flop came out 10-J-Q and when the turn came a 2, Chris S. was looking good for a double-up. However, the river felled a 9 and Chris S. was eliminated in 3rd place.
The heads-up match featured Chris holding a stack of roughly 400k against a short-stack of 120k held by Bill. The players traded pots for the first 20 minutes, waiting for a major confrontation. Bill would provide that when he raised to 40,000 holding K-J. Chris re-raised all-in and Bill called, tabling his hand against the A-3 of Chris. When the board provided a K and nothing more, Bill had successfully doubled through and the match was almost even. Two hands later, Chris looked down at 9-9 and raised to 50,000. After a re-raise from Bill, Chris moved all-in and Bill called. Bill rolled Q-10 for the “classic coin flip”. The board exposed a Q on the flop and no improvement for Chris on the turn or river. After counting the stacks, Chris was left with only 10,700 chips against roughly 510,000 held by Bill: over and done, right? NOT so fast!
Chris proceeded to double up three times in a row increasing his stack to nearly 100,000. After giving some away through blinds, the FOURTH straight double-up provided Chris a stack of roughly 150,000. Bill was clearly flustered at this point as he could feel the victory beginning to slip away. He was able to secure a few small wins over the next few hands but took yet ANOTHER hit when Chris locked in his FIFTH consecutive double-up. Despite holding a 51:1 chip advantage not long before, Bill was confronted with a dead-heat for the win. The stage was set for a final showdown; First to act, Bill looked down at Ks-8s and moved all-in. Chris snap-called and tabled Ah-Qs. The flop came 2-4-A and Bill was down to needing runner-runner to stay alive. The turn….10d! After a SIXTH STRAIGHT double-up, Chris Ba had successfully recovered from a 51:1 chip disadvantage to capture his second Omaha-related F&CPT event win.
The tournament lasted to nearly 4am. There was nobody left/up to take the winner's photo so the board and winning chip stack were photographed instead.
Thanks again to all that played and congrats to Chris!
Oh, and these snazzy sunglasses were left behind by someone.
Oh, and these snazzy sunglasses were left behind by someone.
You can claim them at the next event.
~ Jason Tr.
~ Chris Ba.
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