| Game Type: | Limit |
| Buy-in: | £200 |
The Final of Thursday's £200 PLHE took place on Friday afternoon. For those who are only interested in the result, I suggest you go straight to the bottom of the page.
10 players had returned to try & book their place in the 9 seat Final, & the onerous distinction of being bubble-boy went to the unlucky J Ruppin, who earned £250 for his 10th place exit.
The Final proper began at 3.05pm, & the Luton Management, in an attempt to ensure plenty of "play", had wound the blinds back to 1k-2k, an initiative that was welcomed by most of the players. The line up comprised B Bravery, Sonny Osman, Tikay, Martin Farragher, D Lynch, Micky Jones, J Patel, Dave Copus, & chip leader Graham Pound.
The low blinds & slow clock suggested a lengthy Final, & it was over an hour before the first casualty. But that was not to say the action was slow - we had been playing barely 10 minutes before Micky Jones indulged in a spectacular play, RR-ing Martin Farragher, who, after a lengthy deliberation, passed his AQ suited - Micky then showing K-2 off! Clearly a deliberate attempt to unsettle the table, & it sure did that, but it also set Micky up to get paid later when he did have the goods. Micky continued to build his stack, R-ing time & time again, until Dave Copus in the BB decided to fight back when MIcky was in the SB. There was some pre-flop action, and with Micky holding 5-7, & Dave 8-4, the flop of 3-5-6 was as mischievous as it gets. Micky had middle pair & a gutshot straight draw, needing the 4, but Dave was open ended, and a 7 would give him the over straight & Micky two pair. Sure enough, Dave's dream card, the 7, hit, Micky moved in, & Copus scooped a nice pot.
Then, after 70 minutes of play, J Patel (8-10 hearts) exited a shade unluckily when he caught a flush draw on an A high flop, but Graham Pound's AJ hung on, Patel collecting £630 for his efforts.
By now battle had been joined between Codus, & Martin Farragher, the London based Limerick exile, & Codus had the better of it initially, deliberately RR-ing Martin time & time again. Then Martin (A-4) caught the wheel, but Codus hit the nut flush, & another tidy pot went the way of Codus.
Codus then repeated his party trick of RR-ing with 2-3 & forcing genuine hands to pass, before triumphantly showing the bluff - he did this no less than 3 times, though he got caught on a 4th occasion & had to let it go. Next, Dave Codus RR'd Martin yet again, Martin holding A-J & suspecting that Codus was dancing again, but he let it go & Codus had the goods this time, J-J.
Meanwhile, the curse of the chip leader had struck Graham Pound who had been doing his Jack Arama impression, getting involved in a lot of hands. But he caught a cold with Q-9 on a Q-T-8 flop, against Martin's AQ. Shortly after, it was Graham & Martin heads up again, Graham holding 77 & Martin AA. The board of 3-3-4-4-5 gave Graham no excuse to pass & he bet every street, but Martin had him covered all the way, & Graham was out in 8th place.(£750). Had some over's to the 7 fallen, Graham may have been able to get away from the hand, but it was not to be.
Dick Lynch (8-8) exited next, & again it was Martin (9-9) who delivered the killer blow. Not content with being just one spot ahead, a flop of 5-6-7 was as magical as it gets - & if either player hit his set, the other player would win, but turn & river blanks meant the 9-9 had it.
Now Martin took on Bruce Bravery, but it looked like the Irishman had gone a step too far with 5-5 against Bravery's 9-9, but Martin's luck was sizzling, & he four flushed it to leave Bravery aghast & out in 6th, collecting an even £1,000.
Tikay, sitting quietly, pinned between the classy Osman in seat 3 & Farragher in seat 5, was having problems finding a situation to exploit, but, in the SB & with no prior action, check-raised Martin hoping to force him off his hand & replenish his dwindling stack. Tikay looked dead & buried with his Q-4 when Martin, to Tikay's horror, called the RR with J-J, but the miracle 3 outer Q appeared first card, & Tikay had fluked a double up.
Dave Copus was next out, his lengthy battle with Farragher eventually depleting his one time chip lead, & he was now in intensive care. When Dave moved in on an obvious steal, Tikay copped what was left of Dave's chips when his 88 (his sole PP during 3 hours at the Final table) hung on against J-7.
4 handed now, & Martin Farragher had no less than 350,000 of the 500,000 chips in play, & the battle was on between Osman, Jones & Tikay for the minor placing's, Martin looking home & hosed. Sonny Osman, with nothing to work with, had gradually lost ground, but he was clearly outplaying Tikay when in the blinds. While Martin did not put a foot wrong all Final, & played his big stack to perfection, you had to wonder what Sonny would have done had he had some material to work with, he was undoubtedly the class act in the field.
Tikay, squeezed between these two, was having a mare of a Final, &, with the blinds starting to kill him, eventually moved in with T-2, & needed to get super lucky against Micky Jones's AQ. A flop of T-K-2 was just perfect, two pairs, but runner runner AQ ensured justice was done & the best hand going in took the chips, & Tikay was out in 4th for £2,130.
Sonny was next, enjoying no luck at all, & he collected £3,120.
It was now "no limit" between Martin & Micky Jones, but Micky refused to go quietly, & chipped away at Martin's lead, before a deal was made & a truce called, Micky Jones taking £6,600 for 2nd, & Martin £9,500 & the winners trophy & jacket.
Micky Jones was relatively unknown on the poker circuit until recently, but has secured wins in Festival Finals in Sheffield (£5,750), Blackpool (£9,620), & Walsall (£15,000) since October 1st, with another £6,500 today to add to his war chest.
Martin Farragher has also burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion, with a 6th in Dublin in late October, & an incredible win in the 220 runner £300 NLHE at The Vic in the European Classics earlier in the month, that win alone netting him a cool £22,500, so he has scooped over £34,000 in 2 months. Thoroughly deserved, too, this guy plays with beautiful tempo & great spirit, knows when to put a hand down, & is a perfect gent at the table.
Full Result
1st) Martin Farragher, £9,500
3rd) Sonny Osman, £3,120
5th) Dave Codus, £1,500
7th) R Lynch, £870
9th) J Patel, £630
2nd) Micky Jones, £6,500
4th) Tikay, £2,130
6th) B Bravery, £1,000
8th) Graham Pound, £750
10 players had returned to try & book their place in the 9 seat Final, & the onerous distinction of being bubble-boy went to the unlucky J Ruppin, who earned £250 for his 10th place exit.
The Final proper began at 3.05pm, & the Luton Management, in an attempt to ensure plenty of "play", had wound the blinds back to 1k-2k, an initiative that was welcomed by most of the players. The line up comprised B Bravery, Sonny Osman, Tikay, Martin Farragher, D Lynch, Micky Jones, J Patel, Dave Copus, & chip leader Graham Pound.
The low blinds & slow clock suggested a lengthy Final, & it was over an hour before the first casualty. But that was not to say the action was slow - we had been playing barely 10 minutes before Micky Jones indulged in a spectacular play, RR-ing Martin Farragher, who, after a lengthy deliberation, passed his AQ suited - Micky then showing K-2 off! Clearly a deliberate attempt to unsettle the table, & it sure did that, but it also set Micky up to get paid later when he did have the goods. Micky continued to build his stack, R-ing time & time again, until Dave Copus in the BB decided to fight back when MIcky was in the SB. There was some pre-flop action, and with Micky holding 5-7, & Dave 8-4, the flop of 3-5-6 was as mischievous as it gets. Micky had middle pair & a gutshot straight draw, needing the 4, but Dave was open ended, and a 7 would give him the over straight & Micky two pair. Sure enough, Dave's dream card, the 7, hit, Micky moved in, & Copus scooped a nice pot.
Then, after 70 minutes of play, J Patel (8-10 hearts) exited a shade unluckily when he caught a flush draw on an A high flop, but Graham Pound's AJ hung on, Patel collecting £630 for his efforts.
By now battle had been joined between Codus, & Martin Farragher, the London based Limerick exile, & Codus had the better of it initially, deliberately RR-ing Martin time & time again. Then Martin (A-4) caught the wheel, but Codus hit the nut flush, & another tidy pot went the way of Codus.
Codus then repeated his party trick of RR-ing with 2-3 & forcing genuine hands to pass, before triumphantly showing the bluff - he did this no less than 3 times, though he got caught on a 4th occasion & had to let it go. Next, Dave Codus RR'd Martin yet again, Martin holding A-J & suspecting that Codus was dancing again, but he let it go & Codus had the goods this time, J-J.
Meanwhile, the curse of the chip leader had struck Graham Pound who had been doing his Jack Arama impression, getting involved in a lot of hands. But he caught a cold with Q-9 on a Q-T-8 flop, against Martin's AQ. Shortly after, it was Graham & Martin heads up again, Graham holding 77 & Martin AA. The board of 3-3-4-4-5 gave Graham no excuse to pass & he bet every street, but Martin had him covered all the way, & Graham was out in 8th place.(£750). Had some over's to the 7 fallen, Graham may have been able to get away from the hand, but it was not to be.
Dick Lynch (8-8) exited next, & again it was Martin (9-9) who delivered the killer blow. Not content with being just one spot ahead, a flop of 5-6-7 was as magical as it gets - & if either player hit his set, the other player would win, but turn & river blanks meant the 9-9 had it.
Now Martin took on Bruce Bravery, but it looked like the Irishman had gone a step too far with 5-5 against Bravery's 9-9, but Martin's luck was sizzling, & he four flushed it to leave Bravery aghast & out in 6th, collecting an even £1,000.
Tikay, sitting quietly, pinned between the classy Osman in seat 3 & Farragher in seat 5, was having problems finding a situation to exploit, but, in the SB & with no prior action, check-raised Martin hoping to force him off his hand & replenish his dwindling stack. Tikay looked dead & buried with his Q-4 when Martin, to Tikay's horror, called the RR with J-J, but the miracle 3 outer Q appeared first card, & Tikay had fluked a double up.
Dave Copus was next out, his lengthy battle with Farragher eventually depleting his one time chip lead, & he was now in intensive care. When Dave moved in on an obvious steal, Tikay copped what was left of Dave's chips when his 88 (his sole PP during 3 hours at the Final table) hung on against J-7.
4 handed now, & Martin Farragher had no less than 350,000 of the 500,000 chips in play, & the battle was on between Osman, Jones & Tikay for the minor placing's, Martin looking home & hosed. Sonny Osman, with nothing to work with, had gradually lost ground, but he was clearly outplaying Tikay when in the blinds. While Martin did not put a foot wrong all Final, & played his big stack to perfection, you had to wonder what Sonny would have done had he had some material to work with, he was undoubtedly the class act in the field.
Tikay, squeezed between these two, was having a mare of a Final, &, with the blinds starting to kill him, eventually moved in with T-2, & needed to get super lucky against Micky Jones's AQ. A flop of T-K-2 was just perfect, two pairs, but runner runner AQ ensured justice was done & the best hand going in took the chips, & Tikay was out in 4th for £2,130.
Sonny was next, enjoying no luck at all, & he collected £3,120.
It was now "no limit" between Martin & Micky Jones, but Micky refused to go quietly, & chipped away at Martin's lead, before a deal was made & a truce called, Micky Jones taking £6,600 for 2nd, & Martin £9,500 & the winners trophy & jacket.
Micky Jones was relatively unknown on the poker circuit until recently, but has secured wins in Festival Finals in Sheffield (£5,750), Blackpool (£9,620), & Walsall (£15,000) since October 1st, with another £6,500 today to add to his war chest.
Martin Farragher has also burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion, with a 6th in Dublin in late October, & an incredible win in the 220 runner £300 NLHE at The Vic in the European Classics earlier in the month, that win alone netting him a cool £22,500, so he has scooped over £34,000 in 2 months. Thoroughly deserved, too, this guy plays with beautiful tempo & great spirit, knows when to put a hand down, & is a perfect gent at the table.
Full Result
1st) Martin Farragher, £9,500
3rd) Sonny Osman, £3,120
5th) Dave Codus, £1,500
7th) R Lynch, £870
9th) J Patel, £630
2nd) Micky Jones, £6,500
4th) Tikay, £2,130
6th) B Bravery, £1,000
8th) Graham Pound, £750