The “French Connection” has a winner!

What a week – what a final…the players started really relaxed after a week of fun, beach time and a lot of sunny, hot  experiences. Every player got his 5.000 chips + the upgrades from morning poker (Antar 2.000 chips,  Nadi 1.000 chips).

Blinds starting at 20/40, levels raising every 20 minutes the action came sooner as expected: In the 3rd hand Charly won a quiet big pot of over 2000 chips against Hannes caught in a total bluff with nothing against QQ.

Now Hannes was feeling the pressure and Antar raised the next hand after a Flop of 429 and the river of Q – Hannes went all inn – showed his AQ, Antar called with K10, got the J on the River and took Hannes out with a straight….after exactly 14 minutes.

Still in blind level 20/40 after one player out the chip count was: Antar: 10.530, Charly: 8.040, Nadi: 5.390, Martin: 4.850.

 On top of that Antar got the  7/2 pot  with the next hand and collected 100 from each of his opponents.

Blinds were raised to 40/80 – and Antar played his role of the chip leader slowly but with enough pressure to keep the others out of the pots and let no showdowns happen in this level.

 After raising the blinds to 50/100 Martin entered the scene with winning a few small pots. Nadi hunted down the second 7/2 pot of this night with a great bet and the perfect pokerface. Seconds later Antar tried the same but got caught by Charly who took even more chips from Antar in the next two hands by reraising in the right moments.

All players decided to have a small dinner break before the next level of 100/200 did start and got back at the table with a chip count of: Antar 8.320, Charly 10.250, Nadi 4.330 and Martin with 5.100

 Maybe powered up by the great “chilli con carne” the action came right away:

Antar bet over pot after a flop of 32dK on Martin. Martin called. Turn showed 5d, checkcheck, River 4d – Antar took his pot size bet on the river, Martin got all inn, Antar called and showed his JK suited of Diamonds for his flush against Martins A3 straight.

 With that move Antar became the massive chip leader with 13.920 followed by Charly with 9.950 and Nadi with 4130.

From the observers view it seemed like Nadi felt a little trapped being so small stack in the claws of the “French connection.  After a flop of 9Q9, a turn of 8 and a river of 6 with Nadi and Charly in that hand – Nadi raised on every chance,  got called and went all inn directly after the river, got called by Charly who showed his 57 to a straight against Nadis K9.

 So, after exactly 72minutes and 36seconds two players entered an almost balanced heads up with a chip count of Antar with 13.420 and Charly with 14.580 chips.

 The two French guys reduced the extreme speed of the tournament so far by checking, folding and not taking high risks in the next blind levels of 100/200 and 200/400.

On blind level 300/600 Antar reraised massively after a min. bet of Charly on a flop of J33 – Charly answered with an all in, Antar called with KJ and had to face a pair of Queens…

 Blinds raised to 400/800 and Antar, down to 3.480 chips against a massive lead of Charly with 24.520 chips, Antar had to act: After a double pot raise by Antar, Charly answered with an all inn, Antar called and showed his K7 against Charlys “Blind mens Aces” (A4)

The table showed a furious full house for Charly with  42A54 and ended the game with a great victory, won the 3rd ticket for the BIG FINAL and got a very special price: the personally signed soccer ball by Luca Toni .

Congratulations Charly! 

3rd Morning Poker of week 3 – and the last chance to win a 1000 chip upgrade for tomorrows final. So far Antar and Nadi were able to gain one upgrade. Let’s see how Charly, Hannes and Martin acted today. It was a very calm and tight beginning. Till blinds rose up to 100/200 and all in a sudden, the first decision took place: Martin went all in 1600 with K/Q vs. Nadi who called with pocket 5. The board came down with 6/3/10/A/2 and Martin had to leave the table first. Again!

Same blind level, next bang. Hannes went all in 650 pre flop, Charly and Nadi called. The
flop showed 2/4/10, Charly and Nadi checked. Same on the turn 3. On the river J, Charly checked, Nadi bet 1000 and Charly folded – so showdown! Hannes with Q/10 but Nadi with A/5 hitting a straight on the river. Next man down. Goodbye Hannes.

By now, blinds were 300/600. This time, it was Charly going all in with K/J and Antar called with A/K. On the flop, A/8/J Antar hit the pair. Turn and river 2/7 finally ruined Charly’s hope for the chip upgrade.

Heads Up Nadi (7200) and Antar (7800) and blinds rose up to 500/1000. The game went back and forth for a while, till Antar raised pre flop 2000 and Nadi reraised all in. Antar called with 10d/Jd vs Nadi’s pocket 5. Lady Luck still was in love with the French as it seemed. Already on the flop J/3/6, Antar hit the over pair. Turn K and river 4 elevated Antar to Friday’s chipleader with two upgrades fort he final! Congratulations Antar and good luck to all of you.

Second Morning Poker of week 3 and second chance for the 1000 chips upgrade for Friday’s final. Hannes started quite strong earning some easy money stealing blinds, winning the first pot with trips A against Martin’s K trips (A/3/K/A/K). Meanwhile blinds were at 40/80 and Charly was the first this week winning a 7/2 pot. Let’s have a short look at this special PokerIsland rule: Whoever wins a hand – no matter how and what stage of game – with 7/2, he get’ s on top of the pot 100 extra by each player.

Blinds were 50/100 and we had the first decision. Nadi raised pre flop 300, Martin went all in with 1230 and Nadi called for the flop. So Nadi with J/Q vs a German Virgin (9/9) in Martin’s hand. Flop and turn came down with A/5/K/4. And on the river 10, Nadi hit the straight – and Martin went to bed again straight away.

Blinds at 100/200 and we had another 7/2 but this time with a quite big pot. Nadi raised pre flop 400 and Hannes called. On the flop 2/4/4 Nadi bet 400, Hannes raised 800 and Nadi called. So let’s see the turn: J – both checked. And the river: Q – again checked. Showdown: Hannes with A/10 but Nadi with 7/2!

Blinds 200/400. On the board we had 9/2/K/4 and Antar bet 500. Hannes raised 1000, Antar reraised all in and Hannes called with K/9 against Antar’s K/5. We got a 6 on the river and said goodbye to Antar! Next level 300/600 and the next decision took place. Charly went all in pre flop woth 1780, Nadi called, Hannes reraised all in and Nadi called again. Charly with pocket 10 vs Hannes ace-little A/2 and Nadi’s A/9. The board came down with 7/7/A/Q/3, Charly was kicked and the other’s splitted the pot.

Heads up Nadi (2700) Hannes (12300). Blinds by now 500/1000. Nadi came back and we had break even after a few hands. Then Hannes lost big time with pocket 8 against K/J by Nadi (3/K/3/4/A)  - but he was still alive with 200 left to play. And now it was on Hannes. He won 5 times in a row his all in. Again he went all in and Nadi called. Hannes with K/7 vs Nadi’s A/7. The board came down with J/7/A/Q/Q and we finally had a winner: Congratulations Nadi!