The
FullTilt Online Poker Series (
FTOPS) razz event went well beyond expectations last night. The event, the seventh of FullTilt's nine-tournament series, promised a prize pool of $75,000 but actually delivered almost $100,000. Busting this guarantee made the razz event the fifth to do so thus far in the series. A total of 493 players bucked up the $215 entry fee for a chance at the $24,650 top prize.
Andy Bloch, the longest-lasting red-named FullTilt pro, finished in 82nd with only 56 paying places. Internet star Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirikas finished in the money and got so close to the final table he could taste it. He eventually busted in 11th ($1,085). The really interesting story is that two previous final tablists in this
FTOPS series made their second final table with this event. Both mike jo (fifth in the pot-limit hold'em event No. 6 for $9,648) and SteakandShrimp (seventh in the limit hold'em event No. 3 for $5,100) made it through 485 other players to take their seats among the final eight.
However, mike jo's second final table appearance was to be short as he had a very small stack compared to the rest of the table. He sat with $26,000 while the rest of the table had an average of around $220,000 and the chip leader, Droog567, was holding over $360,000. Mike jo was the first to go when he pushed all in on fourth street showing 4-Q. Badbob54 called with 5-10 and revealed 4-3 in the pocket. Mike jo showed A-6 and needed to improve. By seventh street, mike jo had made a jack low while badbob54 retained his 10 low to take the hand and eliminate mike jo. Mike jo took home $1,430 for his eighth-place finish, putting his
FTOPS winnings at over $11,000.
Both CbrCmmndr and chuckybrown were put in the same position as mike jo when they found themselves hovering at $43,000 and $53,000, respectively. With stakes at $12,000-$24,000, they would both have to take a stand soon. CbrCmmndr was the first to put his chips in when he pushed on fifth street after betting aggressively throughout. He was showing 6-9-5 and was called by SteakandShrimp with 8-K-K. CbrCmmndr revealed 5-4 for 9-6-5-5-4 and SteakandShrimp couldn't help but be behind when he flipped A-7 to make K-K-8-7-A. SteakandShrimp hit runner-runner to make an 8 low while CbrCmmndr only managed a 10 low and was eliminated in seventh ($1,923).Chuckybrown may have outlasted CbrCmmndr, but only barely. He joined CbrCmmndr on the rail just five minutes later when he pushed in on fifth street and was called by gallagej. Gallagej revealed A-8 to go with his board of 7-10-3 for a 10 low and chuckybrown turned over A-4, with a board of 7-2-J, for jack low. Gallagej snagged a 9 on the river to further his lead and chuckybrown failed to improve. Chuckybrown earned $2,662 for sixth.Fbnews was next to go when he went down to the felt on sixth street showing a pair of queens. Badbob54 called with a jack-low board and revealed his pocket to show that he had a 10 low. Fbnews paired a second card on the river to force him to play a queen low and he was eliminated in fifth with $3,550. Badbob54 took the lead with this hand and now held almost $500,000 chips.SteakandShrimp's second final table came to an end when he pushed all in on fifth street against the previous chip leader, Droog567. Droog567 was showing 3-7-K and had 6-2 in the pocket, while SteakandShrimp turned up 3-2 in the pocket to make Q-8-3-2-A with his board. Droog567 got an ace on sixth street to give him a 7 low and SteakandShrimp got a 10 to make a 10 low and would need to improve. The river improved neither and SteakandShrimp busted out in fourth for a $5,719 payday. With this cash, SteakandShrimp's total
FTOPS earnings exceed $10,800.
Droog567 retook the chip lead with this elimination hand, with $732,000, pushing badbob54 back to second at $545,000. Gallagej was pulling up the rear with $201,000 and was feeling the effects of the $40,000-$80,000 limits. Despite the pressure of the limits, gallagej held steady for over 30 minutes. In fact, none of the three stacks had changed much after a half hour. Finally, after aggressively betting at every street of a hand, gallagej pushed all in on fifth street showing A-7-4. Droog567 called with 8-4-A and showed 7-6 in the pocket for an 8 low while gallagej turned over 6-4 for a pair of fours and would need to improve. Sixth street paired gallagej's 6 and the river brought only a jack to give him a jack low, not enough to stay alive. Gallagej cashed in $9,860 for his third-place finish.Droog567 had further increased his lead going into heads up with that elimination. He now sat with $918,000 compared to badbob54's $561,000. Droog567 asserted his big stack and continuously hacked away at badbob54's stack until badbob54 found himself all in after just nine minutes of heads-up play. Badbob54 got his chips in on fifth street, showing A-5-K and Droog567 called him with a board of 6-A-7. Droog567 revealed a 9 low with 9-8 in the pocket and badbob54 showed J-2 for a king low and would need to improve. Sixth street paired badbob54 and the 4 on the river only improved his hand to jack low. Droog567's 9 low held up unimproved for him to take the pot and win the tournament. Badbob54 took in $16,269 for second place while Droog567 netted $24,650 and a special-edition
FTOPS avatar for his first-place finish.
The final standings were:
1) Droog567 - $24,650
2) badbob54 - $16,269
3) gallagej - $9,860
4) SteakandShrimp - $5,718.80
5) fbnews - $3,549.60
6) chuckybrown - $2,662.20
7) CbrCmmndr - $1,922.70
8) mike jo - $1,429.70
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