The
UltimateBet Online Championships (UBOC) continued its guarantee-breaking streak last night with event No. 7, the pot-limit Omaha with rebuys tournament. The event had a 175 entrants who purchased 168 rebuys and 151 add-ons to bring the prize pool up to $98,800. That was a hefty sum considering the posted guarantee was only $75,000. The prize pool was distributed among the top 20 places, with first place receiving $26,676 and a shiny silver
UBOC bracelet.
Among the final table participants was superstar Internet pro Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy. He entered the table in ninth place with $74,000 in chips. Also at the table was rps5000, the current frontrunner on the
UBOC leader board, sitting as the short stack with $69,000. This final table constituted his fourth cash thus far in the series, with his highest finish occurring when he placed fourth ($8,775) in the first
UBOC event, a no-limit hold'em tournament. Regardless of where rps5000 finished at this final table, simply having gotten this far meant he was the odds-on favorite to win the leader board contest for the opportunity to play Phil Hellmuth in a $10,000 heads-up match.
Arbianight was in first place at the start of the final table with $255,000. He went up against rps5000 in the first elimination hand, just six hands into the final-table action. Arbianight raised preflop and rps5000 reraised all in for almost three times as much. Arbianight called and showed A
A
K
10
while rps5000 had K
K
J
9
. The board ran out J
9
4
8
4
, giving both players two pair, but arbianight a better two pair with his aces up. Rps5000 was eliminated in 10th, earning $1,976 and even more leader board points toward the Hellmuth heads-up match.
JohnnyBax was the new short stack at the table, but he managed to nurse his short stack for the next 30 minutes to avoid being the next elimination. Tony Pisser moved into the short stack when he lost a few key hands to leave himself with only $9,000 in chips with the big blind at $10,000. He called all in preflop and me4504 also called. JohnnyBax pushed all in for $36,000 and everyone folded, including me4505, leaving JohnnyBax heads up with Tony Pisser. JohnnyBax showed A
A
8
4
and Tony Pisser flipped up A
Q
J
2
. The flop came out A
7
6
, giving JohnnyBax trip aces and a gutshot straight draw and leaving Tony Pisser with just a pair of aces. The 5
came on the turn to complete JohnnyBax's straight and send Tony Pisser home in ninth ($2,964).
The $9,000 in extra chips wasn't much for bolstering JohnnyBax's stack and he was the next to go. PiMaster raised preflop and JohnnyBax reraised all in over the top for less than twice as much. PiMaster called and showed A
Q
Q
J
. JohnnyBax was in the lead with K
K
8
4
as the flop came J
10
9
. JohnnyBax was still in the lead with his kings but PiMaster had some straight draws. The turn was the K
to give JohnnyBax a set of kings but to also complete a Broadway straight for PiMaster for the lead. The river was a blank, the 5
, and JohnnyBax was eliminated in eighth for a $3,952 payday.
Mecu met his end after he called all in amidst very aggressive preflop action. PiMaster, arbianight, me4504, and eatschips all limped preflop for $15,000. Mecu raised up to $105,000 and WINTERS1 pushed all in for $185,000. PiMaster folded, Arbianight called, me4504 folded, and eatschips folded. Mecu called all in for less than WINTERS1 and showed K
K
6
5
. WINTERS1 turned up A
A
10
7
and arbianight showed Q
J
10
8
. The board ran out A
4
3
7
A
, giving WINTERS1 quad aces to trounce both players and eliminate mecu in seventh ($4,940).
That hand rocketed WINTERS1 into the chip lead with $585,000 in chips and PiMaster was in second with $434,000. None of the other players had even half as many chips as PiMaster's second-place stack at that point. Seven minutes later, eatschips pushed all in preflop for $62,000 and was called by classyploppy, who was all in for $52,000. Classyploppy revealed J
10
10
5
while eatschips held A
K
9
2
. The flop came A
2
2
, landing a full house for eatschips. One of the two remaining tens could still save classyploppy by giving him a better full house. However, the turn and river were the 8
and the Q
and classyploppy was sent packing in sixth with $5,928.
Eatschips almost doubled up with classyploppy's elimination, but he would only get to enjoy his newly doubled stack for four minutes before his own bustout hand. Eatschips raised to $70,000 preflop and PiMaster reraised enough to put him all in. Eatschips called and showed K
8
8
5
while PiMaster flipped up A
10
9
8
. The flop came K
J
10
to give both a pair, but eatschips retained the lead with a pair of kings. The turn was a blank with the 4
and the river was the 10
to give PiMaster trip tens to take down the pot and eliminate eatschips in fifth. Eatschips pocketed $6,916 for his finish.
Me4504 had been nursing his short stack since before eatschips' elimination and, with four players left, he finally lost hold of his remaining chips. PiMaster raised to $80,000 preflop and me4504 called all in with $69,000 and showed 8
8
4
3
. PiMaster turned up K
Q
J
3
as the flop came A
K
5
, giving PiMaster a pair of kings and a gutshot straight draw for the lead over me4504's pocket eights. The turn was the 7
and the river the 10
to complete PiMaster's unneeded straight to take out me4504 in fourth ($8,398).
PiMaster had a significant chip lead with three players remaining, sitting with $1 million. WINTERS1 was in second with $335,000 and arbianight in third at $229,000. Arbianight's short stack lasted just two hands into three-way play. He raised to $105,000 preflop and PiMaster reraised enough to put him all in. Arbianight called and showed A
Q
10
9
and PiMaster held A
K
K
K
for the lead. The board ran out 4
4
2
2
9
, giving both two pair but leaving PiMaster in the lead with his kings up. Arbianight cashed in $11,362 for his third-place finish.
PiMaster's stack was now at $1.2 million compared to WINTERS1's $400,000. WINTERS1 was on a roller coaster during the 20-minute heads-up match. His stack surged to $750,000 early on in the match, putting their stacks very close to even. A few big hands occurred and WINTERS1 was down to just $23,000 in chips. He managed to double his stack several times until he was back up above $700,000. His stack then diminished again to below $200,000 before his final hand.
PiMaster raised to $120,000 preflop and WINTERS1 pushed all in for $195,000. PiMaster called and showed 7
7
5
2
while WINTERS1 had Q
6
5
5
. The board ran out K
10
2
4
K
and both player played their pocket pairs. PiMaster's sevens held up to eliminate WINTERS1 in second ($15,808). PiMaster won $26,676 and the silver
UBOC bracelet for his victory in the tournament.
The final standings were:
1) PiMaster - $26,676
2) WINTERS1 - $15,808
3) arbianight - $11,362
4) me4504 - $8,398
5) eatschips - $6,916
6) classyploppy - $5,928
7) mecu - $4,940
8) JohnnyBax - $3,952
9) Tony Pisser - $2,964
10) rps5000 - $1,976
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