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It’s funny how much a seemingly inanimate object can
mean to a person…
Brian Perucki’s “lucky” card protector went missing
early on the first day of the NJ Free Poker Season IV
Finals. Although Lisa T. held on to the mystery
protector, in search of its rightful owner, her
announcements went unanswered, as Perucki was
obviously not in the vicinity at the time.
On the second day of the finals, Lisa decided to make
one more broadcast, hoping to find its owner. Perucki
leapt from his seat, and headed for the DJ booth,
exclaiming that this was, indeed, his lucky protector
and he felt lost without it.
Well, the luck of the protector certainly held true on
Sunday, July 27, as Brian Perucki would survive more
than 15 hours of grueling play and overcome 90 other
day-two finalists, to capture the 4th NJFP Finals win,
and the World Poker Tour Battle for the Season Pass,
sponsorship.
“Going into the finals I basically had a strategy of
playing a game of selective aggression,” Perucki said.
“I survived the first day, which was basically my main
goal. I had the idea that if I could get to the second
day with at least 30k that I had a chance to make the
final table.”
With the help of a couple of miracle river cards early
on, including the spiking of an ace against Chris Van
Cleve’s pocket kings, he would indeed make it to the
last ten. Joining Perucki at the final table were some
of NJFP’s elite, including Grif “The Mortgage Enigma”
Auld, Lee “Hair Gel Donk” Balestier, and two players
making their second consecutive appearance at the
final table, Herman “Big City” Belcher and Angel
“Spiderman” Serrano, Sr.
The Season IV changes, including playing the Finals
over a two-day period, and therefore a new blind
structure, proved successful, as it took close to 2
hours of unbridled drama to bring the finals table to
completion.
And of course, along the way, there were certainly
some memorable moments, most of which, were narrated
by, none other than, the “Voice of NJ Free Poker”, Ron
Phillips (among the top 20 finishers).
Hand of the match, part one: Jason Percoraro, who
started the final table with a dominant chip stack of
over $300,000, slowly lost all his momentum, to the
point where he felt the need to go all-in, on a pure
bluff, once the river card hit. Unfortunately for him,
John Murray caught his straight and, shockingly,
knocked Percoraro out, in 9th place.
Pecoraro was the second player to fall victim, at the
Final Table, behind 10th place finisher, Jerry Cifaldi.
The Bubble position went to none other, than Drew
Scala, who took the disappointment in stride.
Hand of the match, part two: Perucki, Balestier, and
Belcher were all in a hand that saw a queen hit on the
flop, along with two hearts. First to act, Belcher
would go all-in, and after careful consideration,
Balestier decided that his Q-10 was good, so he
called. Perucki took several minutes, of his own,
before deciding that this was the hand on which to
make his move, and he would make an, over the top
all-in play, with his combo flush/gut-shot draw.
Undoubtedly feeling priced in, Balestier finally
exclaimed “Let’s gamble”, and called. Belcher’s Q-6
would prove to be dominated by Balestier’s higher
kicker, but unfortunately for Lee, an 8 of hearts hit
on the turn, netting Perucki his winning flush, a
knockout of two prominent players, and a dominant chip
lead.
“I made the right move,” Balestier would later say; “I
was slightly favored when I risked all my chips, and
winning that pot would have meant tripling-up, and
putting myself in prime position to take this tourney
down. No regrets.”
Hand of the match, part three: With only a few players
left, Grif Auld was apparently feeling a little “blind
pressure”, and decided to continuously raise,
pre-flop, in an effort to build his stack. He was able
to take down several blinds with this strategy, but
once it got down to three players, he’d make a
pre-flop raise that John Murray chose to call. The
flop was ace-king-rag, and Grif went, immediately,
all-in.
A pained look came across Murray’s face, even though
he hit a king and thought that with Grif pushing as
much as he had, his mid-pair might be good. After a
few minutes, Murray decided to take a stand. Grif said
“Good call,” and showed his bluff hand of Q-9. Running
cards would not come, and Auld was knocked-out in 3rd
place, and a received a $150.00 sponsorship.
Finally, after 15 hours of poker, it was heads-up…Perucki
vs. Murray.
Although Perucki had nearly a 2-to-1 chip lead, Murray
would battle back with some impressive pre-flop
raises. A suddenly, card-dead Perucki, would watch his
chip stack dwindle, to the point where Murray now had
the lead. All of which would lead to the unquestioned
…
Hand of the match, part four: Perucki raised, pre-fop.
Murray went over the top, all-in. Perucki immediately
called with pocket 5s, and was happy to see that he
was basically, in a race against Murray’s Q-10 of
spades. Brian’s heart would sink as a 10 hit on the
flop, making him a 9-1 underdog. Only two cards in the
deck could now help him. Unless he hit a 5, John
Murray would become the champion. Then, all of a
sudden and seemingly out of nowhere, with Rose, the
Spanking/Flashing Dealer at the helm …BAM!
…a 5 (yes, a 5) on the turn! The crowd gasped as
Perucki hit his miracle set and crippled Murray.
Although John would valiantly soldier on and actually
doubled- up his now trivial stack, it was only a
matter of time. Perucki, with A-2, would be all-in,
against Murray’s K-J, and an Ace on the river, sealed
victory for Brian, as John Murray finished in a very
respectable 2nd place, and took home a $300.00 NJ Free
Poker sponsored seat.
“I just to thank everyone who ran the tourney,”
Perucki said…”as well as all of the players who came
to play. The final table all played a really, great
game of poker. I just was in shock after winning. My
road to the NJFP finals turned out to be a good one!”
You can say that again! And some advice: With Season V
underway, and another finals looming on the horizon;
hang on to your card-covers!
Thank you to all of the NJFP Dealers for another
outstanding job (yes, they work strictly for tips),
and without whom, this wouldn’t be possible. With a
special thanks to Jon and Rob for the seating, blinds
and the extra effort; George for the pictures;
Christina for the moral; and Rose and Terry for the
free show!
NJ Free Poker would also like to thank Tim and Chris
O’Donnell for their technical assistance, lighting and
filming, particularly, at the final table, which is
now in editing and will be available on the website
for your viewing pleasure; and Ron “E” Phillips for
his, always entertaining narration.
Congratulations to Brian Perucki on his NJFP Finals
win and thanks to everyone who played in what was,
unquestionably, the best finals yet! We will keep you
informed as to how Brian fairs in his WPT event, in
December.
Shuffle up and Deal
Lisa T.
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