On the eve of the
FullTilt Online Poker Series (
FTOPS) main event, the pot-limit Omaha tournament just barely snuck by with a larger than guaranteed prize pool. The event, the eighth in the nine tournament series, gathered 517 Omaha players to vie for the $103,400 prize pool.
Only 81 entrants walked away with a piece of that prize pool, and none of them were FullTilt sponsored pros. In fact, a FullTilt pro didn't even make it within 100 places of the money bubble, Rafe Furst being the closest in 212th. Internet pro Jon "PearlJammed" Turner was the most notable player to make it deep into the money. Turner bubbled just before the final table in 10th place ($1,344).
Pycb was the big stack going into the final table with $296,000 but was followed very closely by both Furmans Kid ($284,000) and toreador1 ($259,000). The other six stacks encompassed a broad spectrum of counts with knotworkin the severe short stack at only $36,000. However, it was not knotworkin but rather mid-stack QR that became the first victim of the final table. QR raised preflop and was called by pycb to see a flop of A
7
2
. Pycb bet this flop and QR raised all in over the top for over twice pycb's bet. Pycb called and showed A
Q
5
2
for two pair while QR turned over A
A
10
6
for a set of aces and the lead. The turn was the K
, giving pycb a flush draw but allowing QR to retain his lead. The river was the 8
to complete pycb's backdoor flush and eliminate QR from the tournament in ninth ($1,758).
Slivy was next on the chopping block just five minutes later when he called all in on a flop of J
10
4
, again against pycb. Slivy revealed A
A
J
6
for a pair of aces and pycb flipped over K
Q
9
9
for a pair of nines with both straight and flush draws. He hit his flush on the turn with the 2
to give him the lead and the 8
on the river was no help to slivy. Slivy pocketed $2,275 for eighth place.
Another five minutes meant another elimination at this fast-paced final table. Furmans Kid raised preflop and oh hi reraised all in over the top for twice as much. Furmans Kid called and showed A
K
Q
4
while oh hi had K
J
8
5
. The flop came out 10
9
7
giving oh hi a straight but also giving Furmans Kid a flush draw. The turn was the 10
, no help to either player, and the river was the 2
, completing Furmans Kid's flush and eliminating oh hi from the tournament. Oh hi took home $2,792 for his seventh-place finish.
Furmans Kid didn't get to enjoy his newly enlarged stack very long at all when he went down to the felt just two minutes later. Pycb raised preflop and Furmans Kid called to see a flop of 7
6
5
. Furmans Kid checked and pycb led out with a bet. Furmans Kid now check-raised to almost three times pycb's bet. After some thought, pycb reraised enough to put Furmans Kid all in and Furmans Kid called. Pycb turned over 10
9
7
5
for two pair while Furmans Kid revealed J
9
8
4
for a straight with a flush draw. The turn put out the 10
, giving pycb a better two pair but putting Furmans Kid even further in the lead with a flush. The river killed Furmans Kid when it came 7
, filling up pycb's full house to eliminate him from the tournament in sixth ($3,826).
Knotworkin, the short stack entering the table, had been tightly clinging on over the 35 minutes the final table had been playing. He finally picked his spot and reraised all in against toreador1 preflop. Toreador1 called and showed A
A
Q
6
while knotworkin had K
K
6
4
. The flop came Q
Q
9
, giving toreador1 trip queens and leaving knotworkin behind with just two pair. The turn and river further improved neither player and the trip queens were enough to send knotworkin packing in fifth with $5,170.
Dpisciot had been quiet for much of the final table but finally spoke up with a preflop raise. KingDan23 reraised and dpisciot called, almost putting himself all in, to see a flop of J
7
4
. KingDan23 bet the minimum, enough to put dpisciot's few remaining chips at risk, and dpisciot called all in. Dpisciot showed A
K
Q
6
while KingDan23 turned over J
10
8
7
for two pair and a gutshot straight draw. KingDan23 hit his unneeded straight on the turn with the 9
and a queen on the river wasn't enough improvement to keep dpisciot alive. Dpisciot was sent to the rail in fourth, earning $6,721.
KingDan23 now had a rather large chip lead over his two opponents with almost double both of their stacks. KingDan23 sat with $770,000 while toreador1 had $396,000 and pycb, the previous chip leader, had $385,000. Just four minutes in, toreador1 and KingDan23 had basically swapped stacks, but KingDan23 would regain his lead in just one big hand. KingDan23 raised to $60,000 preflop and pycb reraised to $240,000. KingDan23 reraised all in for $370,000 and pycb called and showed A
A
J
2
. KingDan23 revealed A
J
10
7
before the flop came 10
7
3
, giving him two pair for the lead. The turn put out the 9
, no improvement for pycb and the river was the 8
, completing an unnecessary back-door straight for KingDan23 to severely cripple pycb.
Pycb's crippled stack all but forced him to take a stand just two minutes later. Pycb pushed all in preflop and KingDan23 called and showed K
K
10
6
. Pycb revealed Q
J
5
3
as the flop came 9
5
2
, giving him a pair of fives. Pycb was still behind as the turn and river put out the 3
and 9
. KingDan23's pocket kings held up to take down the pot and eliminate pycb in third ($8,789).
It was now heads up, and KingDan23 and toreador1 had fairly comparable stacks at $842,000 and $709,000 respectively. Seven minutes in, toreador1 took down a huge pot from KingDan23 to double up after pushing all in with a flopped full house. KingDan23 had only had toreador1 covered by $250,000 at that point and was thus left with that amount after the hand to attempt to rebuild his stack.
The rebuilding was not to be, however, as KingDan23 pushed all in on a flop of A
A
2
after some aggressive preflop betting. toreador1 called and showed K
K
10
7
for two pair while KingDan23 flipped over J
9
8
3
for just jack high. The turn put out another jack, still not enough for KingDan23 to take the lead, and a queen on the river completed a straight for toreador1 to take down the pot. The loss of the put eliminated KingDan23 from the tournament in second, earning him $12,667. Toreador1 claimed $20,163 for his victory in the tournament and also received a special-edition, gold
FTOPS avatar for the win.
The final standings were:
1) toreador1 - $20,163
2) KingDan23 - $12,666.50
3) pycb - $8,789
4) dpisciot - $6,721
5) knotworkin - $5,170
6) Furmans Kid - $3,825.80
7) oh hi - $2,791.80
8) slivy - $2,274.80
9) QR - $1,757.80
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