PartyPoker.com Quarter Million Guaranteed - May 8th, 2005

Patrick Jackson

May 8th, 2005

The Sunday Quarter Million Guaranteed tournament on PartyPoker.com had 1,435 players sign up for a total prize pool of $287,000. Perhaps because of Mother's Day, the field was over 400 less then the previous week, and the prize pool close to 100k less. After over six hours of poker, the field had been reduced to the following ten players with a shot at the $60,270 first prize (chip counts in parenthesis):

Seat 1: VcH1610 (153,529)
Seat 2: SackNuts (125,334)
Seat 3: richter_4 (149,538)
Seat 4: trueDEVIL (56,452)
Seat 5: monkey38 (124,243)
Seat 6: kewgardens (381,487)
Seat 7: Kazfoe (383,497)
Seat 8: Slowplay1979 (257,712)
Seat 9: FknDonkey (130,948)
Seat 10: JPRMTEnow (389,760)

Early on, monkey38 was able to double up through VcH1610, leaving VcH1610 with only a little over 7k left, which was not even enough to cover the small blind. Knowing that it wouldn't be long before VcH1610 would most likely be eliminated, trueDEVIL decided not to wait to climb up the pay ladder, and pushed all-in from the button with Ac4c. Unfortunately for trueDEVIL, monkey38 had a pair of nines in the small blind, and after the board offered no help to trueDEVIL, they were eliminated in tenth place with a pay out of $2,870.

Now with only 6,700 left, VcH1610 called off his remaining chips with Kd-Jd. The action was folded to FknDonkey in the big blind, and since the 15k big blind was more then VcH1610 had left, FknDonkey was able to play his K-3 off-suit without risking anymore of his chips. VcH1610 had FknDonkey dominated with his jack kicker, but the flop came down K-3-8, giving FknDonkey two pair, and all but ending VcH1610's night. After a harmless 2 on the turn, then a 10 on the river, VcH1610 had to settle for $4,305 and a ninth place finish.

With the blinds still at 7,500-15,000, richter_4 raised to 72k in early position. All folded to Slowplay1979 on the button, who re-raised all-in for over 140k. Both blinds folded, and richter_4 had a decision for all his chips since Slowplay1979 had him slightly covered. After not too much delay, richter_4 called and showed the dreaded pocket jacks, which would be in a classic race up against Slowplay1979's Ah-Kh. A flop of A-K-8 vaulted Slowplay1979 to the lead with top two pair, meaning richter_4 would need one of the two remaining jacks in the deck to stay alive. No such luck though, and richter_4 had to be satisfied with an eighth place showing and $5,740.

With the blinds now at 10k-20k, Slowplay1979 raised under the gun to 60k. All folded to monkey38 on the button, who re-raised to over 198k. After the blinds folded, Slowplay1979 decided to go all-in for a little over 65k more, which was quickly called by monkey38. Slowplay1979 turned over a pair of queens, but monkey38 trumped him by turning over a pair of kings, giving monkey38 a four-to-one advantage going to the flop. The flop brought no help for Slowplay1979, and when a king hit on the turn, he was drawing dead. A long day of poker paid off for Slowplay1979 though, with a nice $8,610 cash for his seventh place finish.

Lady luck finally frowned on monkey38 a few hands later, when his A-Q off-suit was drawn out on by kewgardens' K-Q off-suit when a king hit the flop. That 600k + pot gave kewgardens' the chip lead, and knocked monkey38 back into the pack.

A huge hand developed with the blinds at 10k-20k, when Kazfoe raised from the button to 60k. Immediately, FknDonkey went all-in for 280k from the small blind, and right behind him, JPRMTEnow went all-in for over 490k from the big blind. Kazfoe quickly folded, and FknDonkey was chagrined to see his A-J off-suit was in trouble up against JPRMTEnow's A-Q off-suit. The flop didn't help matters when it came A-Q-T, giving JPRMTEnow top two pair, meaning FknDonkey needed runner-runner jacks, or a king to win the pot. Both the turn and river were of no help to FknDonkey, and he finished the night in sixth place, which was good enough to earn him $11,480.

Down to five players and with the blinds at 15k-30k, the action was folded to Kazfoe in the small blind, and he elected to complete the blind. Seeing that as a sign of weakness, the chip leader JPRMTEnow raised to 70k total, which Kazfoe once again flat called. After both players saw a flop of 8d-2d-7h, Kazfoe led out with a 52k bet. JPRMTEnow immediately went all-in over the top of Kazfoe, which in fact would be putting him all-in. After a slight hesitation, Kazfoe called and showed Kd4d for the second nut flush draw. JPRMTEnow was ahead with pocket jacks, but any diamond or any king could change that in an instant. The turn was the 7c, and the ace of hearts fell on the river. For Kazfoe’s solid performance, Kazfoe was rewarded $14,350 for fifth place.

Next to go would be monkey38, when he pushed all-in under the gun for his last 180k with A-T off-suit, a strong holding four-handed. But SackNuts woke up in the big blind with pocket jacks. The board ended up showing four hearts, so SackNuts took the pot down with a jack high flush, and eliminated monkey38 in fourth place. For their efforts, monkey38 took in a nice $17,220 payday.

SackNuts was then able to double through JPRMTEnow, when his K-Q off-suit caught a king on the turn to beat the chip leader's pocket eights. Not too long after that hand, the two squared off in another big hand. With the blinds at 20k-40k, SackNuts raised to 80k from the button. kewgardens folded in the small blind, and JPRMTEnow called the minimum raise from the big blind. The flop came T-A-4, and JPRMTEnow led out and bet 43k, a very small amount in comparison to the pot size. SackNuts made a minimum raise to 86k, which JPRMTEnow quickly followed with an all-in bet. Since JPRMTEnow had him covered, SackNuts was faced with a decision for all his chips. SackNuts called the all-in bet, and showed K-T off suit, for second pair. JPRMTEnow was more then happy to see that, showing Ac-4c which was good for two pair and a huge advantage in the hand. The turn and river were no help to SackNuts, and he would have to settle for third place and $22,960.

Down to heads up action, JPRMTEnow had a large four-to-one chip advantage over kewgardens, which would make the going tough for the short stack. After calling JPRMTEnow's minimum raise in the big blind, both players saw a 6s-Ad-Ts flop. After kewgardens checked, JPRMTEnow fired out another small 44k bet. kewgardens well all-in over the top of JPRMTEnow for 380k in chips. JPRMTEnow quickly called, and once again had flopped two pair with A-6 off-suit. kewgardens wasn't dead in the water though, with 8s-7s for both a spade flush draw and an inside straight draw. The poker gods were in JPRMTEnow's corner though, and neither the turn nor the river game kewgardens one of his 12 outs. For the second consecutive week, kewgardens finished in second place, which is an amazing feat in a tournament of this size. For his outstanding performance, kewgardens raked in $30,709, which makes his two-week total a little over 70k.

JPRMTEnow came to the final table with a slight chip lead, and was able to navigate through all the pit falls to take down this week's tournament. A combination of great poker and a good run of cards paid off to the tune of $60,270.

1st - JPRMTEnow $60,270
2nd - kewgardens $30,709
3rd - SackNuts $22,960
4th - monkey38 $17,220
5th - Kazfoe $14,350
6th - FknDonkey $11,480
7th - Slowplay1979 $8,610
8th - richter_4 $5,740
9th - VcH1610 $4,305
10th - trueDEVIL $2,870