The lead up to the
UltimateBet Online Championships (UBOC) main event saw seven tournaments in a row go beyond their posted guaranteed with relative ease, which made it easy to assume that the remaining events would have similar attendance. However, such assumptions were dashed when the eighth and ninth events, the last two events before the main event, both required overlays of over $42,000. It was anybody's guess whether the big
UBOC finale would surge above its $1 million guarantee or offer entrants more bang for their buck with an overlay.
When it came down to it, the $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em main event lured 1,400 players. UltimateBet needed 2,000 entrants to avoid an overlay, thus the site paid out $300,000 in dead money to match the $1 million guarantee. That was great news for those who entered, as they were getting much better odds for their buy-in money.
Internet pro Carl "colson10" Olson made it deep into the money when he finished 44th ($3,300), with 140 paying spots. Bryan "bryanmicon" Micon also finished in the money in the event, coming in 64th for $2,300. Maria Nuccia, a notable Internet pro more widely known as "t soprano" on PokerStars, made it past the final-table bubble to sit down in eighth with $163,000 in chips.
As the final table began, Zmona had a respectable chip lead with $826,000 compared to A_theKevlar_2's $631,000 second-place stack. The other stacks at the table ran the gamut, with RMB31 in the short stack with $143,000. RMB31 doubled up a few times to give himself some breathing room. He furthered his comeback stack size when he eliminated the first player from the table. ThrillsnKills was all in preflop against RMB31 and showed A
Q
. RMB31 turned over pocket kings for a good lead and the board ran out 9
4
3
10
J
. RMB31's kings held up to eliminate ThrillsnKills in 10th ($10,000).
Phil Hellmuth was commentating on the live radio coverage of the table at the time and gave credence to the rumor that the current short stack, E Tyme, was actually pro Dan Harrington. Hellmuth quizzed the player with some Harrington-specific questions that the player answered correctly after some time. Hellmuth became convinced that the player was, in fact, Harrington, but lost some confidence when he realized that the answers to his questions could have been easily found on the Internet. Whether E Tyme is Dan Harrington is unconfirmed (and, frankly, unlikely).
Regardless, E Tyme was the next to go when he got all of his chips in preflop against A_theKevlar_2. E Tyme flipped over A
10
and was dominated against A_theKevlar_2's A
K
. The flop put E Tyme even further behind when it came K
J
6
, although he did now have a gutshot straight draw with any queen. The turn and river were blanks and E Tyme was sent to the virtual rail in ninth ($17,000).
A_theKevlar_2 may have eliminated E Tyme, but he lost a huge pot against Fred420 just three hands later, a pot that rocketed Fred420 into the chip lead. On a flop of K
4
2
, Fred420 got all of his chips in against A_theKevlar_2 and showed K
Q
. A_theKevlar_2 held K
J
and was dominated. The turn and river were blanks and Fred420 raked in the pot to put himself in the lead at $1.2 million.
Fred420 continued to build his stack by eliminating the next player. ToetagU was all in preflop against Fred420 and showed A
J
. Fred420 was behind with K
Q
, but the flop brought a king to pair him and the turn and river were blanks. ToetagU collected $22,500 for his eighth-place finish.
Eleven hands later, RMB31 was back down to the felt when he pushed his chips in preflop against Maria Nuccia. RMB31 revealed A
J
while Maria Nuccia turned over pocket kings for a good lead. The board bricked out and Maria Nuccia's kings held up for him to take down the pot and eliminate RMB31 in seventh ($32,000).
The next elimination came just three hands later when breitling996 pushed all in from the cutoff seat. Maria Nuccia reraised all in from the button, having all remaining active players well covered. A_theKevlar_2 quickly called all in from the small blind and showed pocket queens. Maria Nuccia showed pocket eights and breitling996 was well behind with Q
9
. The flop came Q
5
2
, giving A_theKevlar_2 a set but actually improving breitling996's chances of survival with a flush draw. Maria Nuccia was drawing dead to running eights. The turn was the 4
and the river the A
and A_theKevlar_2 raked in a huge pot to more than double up and eliminate breitling996 from the tournament. Breitling996 pocketed $42,000 for sixth place.
Maria Nuccia tried his luck with pocket eights again shortly thereafter when previous chip leader Zmona got all in preflop against him. Zmona held A
6
and needed help as the flop came 6
5
5
. The turn and river came K
and 10
respectively and Zmona's sixes weren't enough to keep him alive. He finished in fifth for $52,500.
The next elimination hand was a roller-coaster ride of sorts. On a flop of Q
7
4
, Fred420, still the chip leader, pushed all in and A_theKevlar_2 went into the tank. A_theKevlar_2 finally called all in and showed K
Q
for top pair while Fred420 flipped up pocket nines and was behind. The turn was the 9
, putting Fred420 into the lead but also giving A_theKevlar_2 some hope to re-draw out on Fred420 with any diamond that didn't pair the board. The river was the 5
and A_theKevlar_2 was sent home in fourth ($65,000).
Fred420 now had $2.2 million, with three players left. Maria Nuccia was in second with $662,000 and PMJackson was the short stack with $483,000. PMJackson21 held his own for 20 more hands before pushing all in preflop with pocket deuces. Fred420 called and showed A
J
for a coin-flip situation. The flop spiked an ace for Fred420 and the turn and river were blanks to bust PMJackson21 in third, earning $87,500.
Fred420 now had a very decent lead going into heads-up play. He sat with $2.9 million while Maria Nuccia had just $557,000. Maria Nuccia made short work of the chip difference with a few key hands until the two players were virtually tied. At this point, with the help of Phil Hellmuth on the radio, the two got hold of UltimateBet's support team to arrange for an even chop. The players split the money so they would each receive $168,450 and continued to play for the glory and the silver
UBOC winner's bracelet. Maria Nuccia's momentum continued until he managed to cripple Fred420 in a hand where he turned a better straight against Fred420's flopped queen-high straight. It wasn't long before the final hand.
Fred420 went down to the felt preflop and Maria Nuccia called and showed A
7
. Fred420 was dominated with the A
3
and the flop came 9
7
5
, to put him almost hopelessly behind. The turn and river were the 10
and the 5
, respectively, and Maria Nuccia took down the pot to win the coveted silver
UBOC bracelet and the title.
The final standings were:
*1) Maria Nuccia - $168,450
*2) Fred420 - $168,450
3) PMJackson21 - $87,500
4) A_theKevlar_2 - $65,000
5) Zmona - $52,500
6) breitling996 - $42,000
7) RMB31 - $32,000
8) toetagU - $22,500
9) E Tyme - $17,000
10) ThrillsnKills - $10,000
* Payouts reflect an even-chop deal with the eventual winner claiming the UBOC winner's bracelet.
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