Jmsmith799 Wins FTOPS $200,000 Limit Poker Event

Both of the first two events in the FullTilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) exceeded their guarantees, promising a run similar to the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) that would leave the posted guarantees relatively meaningless. Promises, however, are meant to be broken as Monday night's FTOPS $200,000 guaranteed limit hold'em event illustrated.

Turnout for the event could most accurately be described as "disappointing," with just 879 players entering the fray for the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool. The entry numbers left a deficit of 121 players from the 1,000 needed to fulfill the guarantee on the merits of entry fees alone, resulting in a $24,200 overlay from FullTilt. Of the 879 entrants, 153 cashed in the event and the first-place finisher stood to snag a $38,220 payday.

Some notable money finishers in the event included Internet star Jon "PearlJammed" Turner (21st for $1,040), poker pro Steve Zolotow (27th for $1,040), and two-time WCOOP bracelet winner Kyle "Kwob20" Bowker (35th for $840).

The top seven players entering the final table had relatively evenly spaced stacks, with bigdogpckt5s on top at $541,000. SteakandShrimp and carounder weren't looking too hot in eighth and ninth respectively, both hovering around $50,000 when the big blind was up to $12,000. Despite how short their stacks were, both SteakandShrimp and carounder managed to hang on for a bit while shipitb forfeited his chips to golfertran. Shipitb raised preflop and golfertran called to see a flop of A K 4. Golfertran led out with a bet and shipitb raised. Golfertran reraised enough to put shipitb all in and shipitb obliged by shoving in his remaining chips. Shipitb flipped over A 10 and realized he was in a dominated position against golfertran's A Q. The turn was a blank and the river brought an unneeded queen for golfertran to send shipitb to the virtual rail in ninth ($3,100).

By now, SteakandShrimp had almost doubled up and carounder had nearly quintupled up and they both held steady while yet another player was sent packing. IamTeddyGinn, sitting in third place, raised preflop and was called by both Hakilah, the current short stack, in the small blind and carounder in the big blind. The flop came 5 3 2 and both Hakilah and carounder checked. IamTeddyGinn bet out and Hakilah check-raised. Carounder check-reraised, prompting IamTeddyGinn to fold. Hakilah called all in and showed J 10 for two over cards and a flush draw while carounder flipped over 6 4 for a flopped straight. No hearts, jacks, or tens came on the turn or river and Hakilah was sent home in eighth, earning $4,100.

With the big blind at $20,000, SteakandShrimp could no longer hold steady and opted to push his remaining $54,000 in preflop. Both carounder and golfertran called and the flop came 10 9 2. Both active players checked to see a turn of A and golfertran checked. Carounder put out a bet and golfertran folded, putting carounder heads up against SteakandShrimp. Carounder revealed A K in the pocket and SteakandShrimp was behind with A 6 and would need to improve on the river. The river 10 paired the board but was no help to SteakandShrimp who was eliminated in seventh ($5,100).

Golfertran's stack was severely chopped away at over the next 10 minutes before he finally had to call all in on a board of J J 9 9 against IamTeddyGinn who had him well covered. Golfertran turned over 10 8 for an open-ended straight draw and IamTeddyGinn flipped up Q 4 for queen high. The river was a blank and IamTeddyGinn was able to eliminate golfertran with an unimproved queen high. Golfertran netted $7,000 for his sixth-place finish.

Gobboboy, who had taken first place at the UltimateBet $200,000 Guaranteed ($45,000) just three weeks ago, was next to bust out in fifth. It was a battle of the short stacks as both gobboboy and bigdogpckt5s made raises preflop. Gobboboy called bigdogpckt5s' preflop reraise to see a flop of J 4 2 and bigdogpckt5s continued his aggression by leading out with a bet. Gobboboy raised all in for a little more and bigdogpckt5s called and showed A 4. Gobboboy was dominated and hurting with A 2. The ace on the turn gave him some outs to chop the pot with a river jack and he could still take the hand with a deuce. The 9 on the river dashed his hopes and he cashed out for $9,600. With this cash, gobboboy's winnings for the month exceed $54,000.

Despite the win, bigdogpckt5s wasn't far behind gobboboy on the way out the door when he called all in against both jmsmith799 and IamTeddyGinn on a flop of 10 4 3. IamTeddyGinn checked the turn of 3 and jmsmith799 put out a bet. IamTeddyGinn called and the river came 6, prompting both players to check. Jmsmith799 showed A 3 for trip threes and IamTeddyGinn mucked. Bigdogpckt5s revealed pocket nines for only two pair and he was eliminated in fourth ($12,600).

With only three players left, carounder was still in it, despite being an early short stack. Carounder was still the short stack here, with only $479,000 compared to IamTeddyGinn in second with $981,000 and jmsmith799 in the lead at $1.2 million. Carounder's stack slowly withered away until he finally called all in against jmsmith799 on a board of 9 4 3 A. Carounder showed K 8 for a flush draw and jmsmith799 flipped over A J for top pair and the lead. The turn failed to produce carounder's much-needed diamond and he was ousted in third place, earning $16,400.

Jmsmith799 now had a hefty lead going into heads-up play, holding $2.2 million compared to IamTeddyGinn's $487,000. IamTeddyGinn's stack only managed to last four minutes against jmsmith799. In the final hand, IamTeddyGinn raised preflop and jmsmith799 called. The flop came 9 6 2 and jmsmith799 checked. IamTeddyGinn bet and jmsmith799 called to see the 8 on the turn. Jmsmith799 now opened the betting and IamTeddyGinn raised all in for a little more. Jmsmith799 called and showed Q 8 for a pair of eights and he found he was in the lead as IamTeddyGinn flipped over J 10 for a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. It was almost a coin-flip situation going to the river, with jmsmith799 having less than a 5 percent edge to win. The 4 hit on the river to secure the hand and the tournament for jmsmith799. IamTeddyGinn finished in second place ($23,600) and jmsmith799 earned a $38,220 payday and a special-edition FTOPS avatar for his first place finish.

The final standings were as follows:

1) jmsmith799 - $38,220
2) IamTeddyGinn - $23,600
3) carounder - $16,400
4) bigdogpckt5s - $12,600
5) gobboboy - $9,600
6) golfertran - $7,000
7) SteakandShrimp - $5,100
8) Hakilah - $4,100
9) shipitb - $3,100

Card Player is working with several sites that continue to serve U.S. players to provide deposit bonuses to our readers. Click on the following names to receive bonuses: UltimateBet, Bodog, Absolute, and Full Tilt.

Most Viewed Articles

 

1	Winning Bets Costing Sportsbooks Millions Of Dollars
2	Jonathan Little: When Should You Turn Pro?
3	Eelis Parssinen Proves PLO Dominance At Triton
4	Yunis Wins WPT bestbet Scramble Championship
5	WSOP Online: Zinno, Engel, and Yaginuma Win
6	Maria Ho Wins Celebrity Poker Tour Championship
7	Wolfgang Poker Vlog Tops 1 Billion YouTube Views
8	PGT Texas PLO Roundup Set For November
9	Prosecutors Decline To Charge Nelly After Casino Arrest
10	Bleznick Wins High Stakes Duel 5 Round 2

1	WSOP Bracelet Winner Disqualified, $1.1M Confiscated
2	Winning Bets Costing Sportsbooks Millions Of Dollars
3	Erik Seidel: ‘Bracelets Handed Out Like Candy’
4	Sahara Becomes Latest Vegas Casino To Close Poker Room
5	Foxen Wins Online WSOP Event For Second Bracelet
6	Alex Foxen's Hot Streak Continues With Triton Title
7	Full Of Slot – Woman Doused In Feces While Gambling
8	WATCH: Jennifer Tilly Finds Dream Spot For $300K
9	WSOP Journeyman Secures Bracelet After 253 Cashes
10	Patrik Antonius Earns Career-Best $5.1 Million At Triton