Entry into the
FullTilt Online Poker Series (
FTOPS) H.O.R.S.E. event was lower than needed to cover the $150,000 guarantee, making for the second overlay tournament so far this series. The tournament gathered 706 players, which left a 44-person entry fee deficiency. That gap cost FullTilt $8,800 in overlay money to reach the guaranteed prize pool.
In the PokerStars
World Championship of Online Poker this past September, the two H.O.R.S.E. events' prize pools went far beyond their posted guarantees, making the lack of interest in this FullTilt event even more perplexing. Of the five tournaments thus far in the nine event series, only three have exceeded their guarantees, the other lackluster attendance being in the limit hold'em event on Monday.
Internet pro Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy almost made his second final table appearance in a row with this tournament after finishing second Tuesday night in the shorthanded no-limit event ($42,134). JohnnyBax's stack had surged to put him in second place with only 20 players remaining but his stack-size quickly plummeted until he busted out in 14th place ($1,500). A few other notables made the money, including FullTilt sponsored pros Steve Zolotow (42nd, $525) and David Singer (52nd, $435).
Raytre222 entered the final table as the chip leader with $568,000. Almost all of the remaining seven players had fairly comparable chip counts between $200,000 and $300,000, except Ormer in the short stack with only $83,000. With the limits at $12,000-$24,000 in the Omaha eight-or-better round, Ormer didn't have much room to maneuver. He was not, however, the first to go.
Derdings had lost much of his stack in a big pot earlier where he'd mucked. Now left with only $19,000, derdings pushed all in preflop just eight minutes into the final table, still within the Omaha eight-or-better round. AAAAJ called and showed A
5
2
2
while derdings flipped over A
J
9
4
. The flop came A
5
4
, giving AAAAJ two pair and a low draw and giving derdings a slightly worse two pair. The turn was the 7
, giving AAAAJ a low and the river was the K
, no help to either player and allowing AAAAJ to scoop the pot to eliminate derdings in eighth ($3,150).
Ormer's stack continuously shrunk throughout the final table until it was finally his time to go. In a razz round he called B_O_K_E's completion on third street with a 4 showing. B_O_K_E was showing an 8 and received a 9 on fourth street, while Ormer got a 5. Ormer decided the time was right to push all in for the few chips he had left and B_O_K_E called and revealed 5-4 in the pocket for 5-4-8-9. Ormer flipped over Q-A to make Q-A-4-5 (remember that aces are always played as low in razz). The remaining streets were dealt until B_O_K_E barely squeaked by with 8-5-4-3-A against Ormer's 9-5-4-3-A. Ormer was sent home in seventh with $3,900.
Raytre222, the previous chip leader, had been seeing some rough hands over the course of the final table. He was eventually down to just $49,000 in the seven-card stud eight-or-better portion of the tournament and was the bring-in with the 3
showing. B_O_K_E completed the bet up to $25,000 showing the A
and both John146 and bosoxx34 called showing the 7
and the 5
respectively. Raytre222 pushed all in over the top for his $49,000 and B_O_K_E reraised up to $70,000, prompting John146 to fold. Bosoxx34 called and both he and B_O_K_E played it down to seventh street with relatively light betting. B_O_K_E checked on seventh street, showing A
J
K
10
and bosoxx34 bet with 5
8
K
10
. B_O_K_E folded to this bet and it was heads up between bosoxx34 and raytre222, who was now showing 3
9
10
Q
. Bosoxx34 revealed 9
7
6
in the pocket for a 10-high straight and no low. Raytre222 mucked and was eliminated in sixth, earning $5,325.
B_O_K_E was sent to the rail just over five minutes later in the same round of play. With heavy betting throughout the hand between B_O_K_E and John146, B_O_K_E was finally able to push all if his chips in on fifth street, showing A
6
4
. John146 called with 8
9
A
showing and revealed A
K
in the pocket for a pair of aces. B_O_K_E turned over Q
6
in the pocket for just a pair of sixes and would need to improve. Neither player further improved on the remaining streets and B_O_K_E was taken out in fifth ($7,275).
Of the four remaining players, three of them had stacks between $600,000 and $700,000, but AAAAJ was severely trailing with only $100,000 to his name. Having to make a move soon, AAAAJ decided to raise to $60,000 preflop in a limit hold'em round. MrTompa called from the small blind to see the flop of K
Q
9
. MrTompa checked and AAAAJ bet $30,000. MrTompa raised enough to put AAAAJ all in and AAAAJ called with his remaining $14,000, showing pocket deuces. MrTompa flipped over K
J
for top pair and the lead. Neither the turn nor the river improved either player and AAAAJ was sent packing in fourth with a $9,525 payday.
While MrTompa had slightly increased his lead going into three-way play, none of the players was very disadvantaged by virtue of his stack size. It took only seven minutes for that to change, as John146's $693,000 stack was reduced to just $33,000, mainly at the hands of MrTompa, whose count had grown to $1.2 million. John146 called all in against bosoxx34's big blind in an Omaha eight-or-better round and MrTompa limped in from the small blind. Both MrTompa and bosoxx34 checked it down to the river where the board read A
Q
9
4
K
. MrTompa turned over 9
8
8
7
for a pair of nines while bosoxx34 flipped up 10
6
6
4
for a king-high flush to take the small side pot. John146 revealed A
Q
J
4
for only two pair, aces and queens, and he was eliminated in third ($12,375).
This elimination closed the chip gap a little between bosoxx34 ($973,000) and MrTompa ($1.2 million). The two took turns as chip leader over the next ten minutes until MrTompa finally got the edge and built his stack up to $1.4 million. In a heavily aggressive round of razz, there was a bet or raise on every street with both players acting the aggressor at various points. Bosoxx34 finally pushed in the last of his chips on seventh street while showing 6-A-6-K and MrTompa called with 10-6-2-A. Bosoxx34 revealed 7-5-2 in the pocket for 7-6-5-2-A while MrTompa flipped over 8-7-4 to give him 7-6-4-2-A and just barely beat out bosoxx34 for the elimination and the win. Bosoxx34 cashed in $17,850 for his second-place finish while MrTompa took home $28,800 and the special-edition, gold
FTOPS avatar for first place.
The final standings were:
1) MrTompa - $28,800
2) bosoxx34 - $17,850
3) John146 - $12,375
4) AAAAJ - $9,525
5) B_O_K_E - $7,275
6) raytre222 - $5,325
7) Ormer - $3,900
8) derdings - $3,150
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