Return of the King

Huntington Drive - Season 6 Champion Jason Ta. defeated head's-up opponent John M. to claim the second event of the seventh season of the F&CPT early Sunday morning, June 14th.

For the last two season's, Huntington Drive has hosted the infamous Unlimited Rebuy Event. After changes in the blind structures opening levels last season, the event didn't play like it previously did. So it was left off the schedule this season. Instead, Huntington Drive would be host to a NLHE freeze-out tournament instead.

Heading into Saturday afternoon, the event remained full at 20 players with regulars Fran and Kevin A. out. They were replaced by sub's Drew M. and newcomer Paulo C. However just a few hours before the opening deals went out, Nick and Anita had to cancel due to thinking the tournament was the following Saturday. And then Lolly had to cancel due to a family emergency. Sub Brian M. filled one of the three open seats, however nobody else could be located on short notice.

The field settled at 18 players and the opening deals went out just after 7 o'clock.

Surprisingly, the first player to hit the bricks was none other than Mike T. He was eliminated holding pocket 8's versus Paulo's pocket jacks.

Next out was sub Brian M. who made a move on an ace-high flop holding A-J. Unfortunately for him, Jason Tr. held A-Q and made the quick call.

Jim H. was dispatched in 16th place with blinds at 2k/4k/500 after his K-Q failed to outdraw Eric's A-10. Mike M. followed Jim to the rail (out in 15th place) after Keith's paired 10 on the turn held.

Tom was out in 14th place after he shoved all-in with A-6, got called by Sean O's pocket 10's and failed to outdraw them.

With blinds increasing to 5k/10k/1k (the level where Champions are made), Chris S. found himself all-in for 62.5k holding 10-8. He was called by Jason Tr. who tabled A-J. The Q-6-2-6-4 board was dealt and Jason took the pot and elimination with ace-high.

Bill was eliminated in 12th place by an unknown antagonist with blinds still at 5k/10k/1k. To no one's surprise, no elimination info was recorded. The only notes listed were "Who the f&¢k cares!".

With blinds still at 5k/10k/1k, the action limped to Drew in late position. He looked down at K-8 and shoved. Action folded back around to Jason Tr. who had limped with pocket ace's and made the quick call. The 8-5-10-3-4  board was dealt and Drew was out in 11th place.

Again, with blinds remaining at the dreaded 5k/10k/1k level, Jim O. moved all-in for 99k with pocket 3's ahead of a raise of 30k by Jason Ta. Jason made the call and showed pocket 8's. The 10-K-K-K-8 board gave Jason the bigger boat, the elimination and the forming of the final table.

Blinds increased to 7k/15k/2k when on a limped pot between Keith and Jason Tr, a flop of 4-5-7 (2 hearts) was dealt. Keith made a bold move and announced all-in holding 10-5. Jason revealed 6h-7h for a trifecta of top pair, an OESD and a flush draw. The 2h on the turn filled Jason's flush and left Keith drawing dead.

Play continued into the 15k/30k/3k level when Chris B. and Sean O. saw a flop of 7-J-7. Chris bet out 40k and Sean quickly moved all-in for 51k. Chris called and showed A-J. Sean tabled 5-6. The turn was a 5 which gave Sean some hope. But a 3 on the river sealed it and Sean was out in 8th place.

Marc bowed out in 7th place after he was AIPF holding 8-8 and getting called by Chris B. who revealed A-K. The K-2-2 flop put Chris ahead. Blanks on the turn and river brought no help for Marc and he was out in 7th place.

Paulo was the next player out after he moved all-in ahead of a Jason Tr. raise who subsequently called. Paulo showed 3-7 whilst Jason revealed Q-8. The Q-A-7 flop hit both players, however Jason was in front with a pair of aces. A turn 9 and river king failed to improve Paulo and he was out 6th place.

The money bubble loomed as the tournament was reduced to just 5 players. The blinds increased to 15k/30k/5k when a hand was limped by Jason Tr. in the SB and Chris B. in the BB. A flop of Ks-3d-4d was dealt and Jason announced all-in. Chris snap-called revealing K-3 for two-pair.  Jason showed Ad-4d for a flush draw. The turn was the Jh keeping Chris in front. But the 8d river filled Jason's flush giving him the elimination and bursting the money bubble.

The final 4 players included Jason Tr, John M, Eric W. and Jason Ta.

With blinds still at 15k/30k/5k, Eric went all-in PF with K-7. Jason Ta. called with 5-2. The 9-7-2-2-? board gave Jason trip 2's and the elimination. However, through two events this season, Eric has two cashes which include a 2nd place finish in this season's first event and a 4th place cash in this event. Not a bad start!

Jason Tr. was on fire throughout the tournament with his big-stack aggressive play and was poised to win the event. But that fire was abruptly extinguished when he executed an ill-timed bluff against adversary Jason Ta. with blinds at 20k/40k/6k which crippled him. On the very next hand, on a flop of 5-7-3, Jason moved all-in blind. John called and revealed Q-10. Jason showed 8-2. A queen on the turn kept John in front with a pair of queens. An ace on the river dispatched Jason in 3rd place and brought the tournament to it's two final players.

Head's-up play between Jason and John started with Jason having an approximate 2-1 chip advantage over his opponent. Both players agreed to forgo the ante. Not many hands into head's-up, the final hand of the tournament was dealt.

With blinds at 25k/50k, John raised to 150k and Jason called. A flop of 8h-Qd-10d was brought out. Jason checked, John announced all-in and Jason called revealing Qs-5d for top pair. John showed Jh-10h for second pair and a GSSD. The turn was the 3c which brought no help for John. And the 4c river didn't help either and S7E2 had it's winner!

Last season's Champ has returned!

Thanks to everyone who came out for S7E2 and congrats to Jason on his win!

~ Jason Tr.