IBluffUOut4 simultaneously sits at the final tables of this weekend's two biggest tournaments.
Imagine the adrenaline rush you'd get if you had just survived 6,628 poker players to make the final table of the weekend's biggest online poker tournament as the chip leader. Now imagine you were already playing at the final table of the weekend's second biggest event when that happened. For IBluffUOut4, imagining is no longer necessary.
IBluffUOut4 had entered himself in the
PokerStars Sunday Million and was set to try and best the 6,637 entrants for a piece of the $1,327,400 prize pool. He'd also entered the Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament and stood to face 1,962 entrants there. IBluffUOut4 eventually found himself looking to snag one of the nine choicest chunks at both tournaments.
PokerStars Sunday Million
When the
Sunday Million final table began, IBluffUOut4 was in the lead with $17 million in chips compared to amichaiKK in second with $14.6 million. SuperTommy and toetagU were basically tied for last place with $1.73 million and $1.78 million, respectively, when the big blind was $250,000. True to his stack, SuperTommy was the first player eliminated 10 minutes into the final table action.
SuperTommy pushed all in from mid-position preflop and was called by amichaiKK. SuperTommy showed K
J
and was behind against amichaiKK's A
10
. The board bricked out and SuperTommy was sent to the rail with a ninth-place payday of $8,230.
ToetagU followed suit as the next player eliminated, less than two minutes later. Despite having added to his chip count, his stack had been decimated in the previous hand when he got all in preflop with Q-10 and ran into section2006's A-Q. ToetagU lost the hand and was left with less than an ante. He was anted all in in the next hand and was up against Stimpy444, who had raised preflop and folded the rest of the field. Stimpy444 held A
Q
and toetagU had 5
2
. The board ran out Q
8
4
A
7
and Stimpy444 made an unneeded two pair to eliminate toetagU in eighth place ($13,274).
In the next elimination hand, IBluffUOut4 raised to $1 million preflop, with the big blind at $400,000, and rdtedm called. AmichaiKK reraised all in from the big blind (having both players covered; IBluffUOut4 just barely so). IBluffUOut4 folded and rdtedm called all in for his last $7.7 million and showed A
Q
. AmichaiKK was dominating him with A
K
as the board ran out J
J
4
3
K
. AmichaiKK made an unnecessary pair of kings on the river to bust rdtedm out of the tournament in seventh place, for $21,902.
The hand put amichaiKK's stack at over $20 million for a relatively secure chip lead. BrainGuy, who had $5.6 million at the time the elimination occurred, saw his chip stack jump to a second-place-worthy $18.4 million in just five minutes before the next elimination hand.
Section2006 found himself down to the felt with just $1.5 million left in his stack. He open-pushed all in from mid-position preflop and was called by arulx in the big blind. Arulx showed K
9
versus section2006's 9
5
and was dominating. The board ran out 6
6
2
K
J
and arulx took down the pot with two pair. Section2006 finished the tournament in sixth place and earned $30,530.
IBluffUOut4 had recently finished in third place ($29,600) at the Full Tilt $400,000 guarantee and was now sitting with a fourth-place stack of $7.8 million here. He raised to $1 million preflop and amichaiKK pushed all in over the top from the big blind. IBluffUOut4 called all in and showed A
10
and was dominated by amichaiKK's A
Q
. When the flop came Q
4
2
, pairing amichaiKK's queen, IBluffUOut4 had just a 3 percent chance to survive. The turn brought the 6
and the river the 5
, both cards missing IBluffUOut4, and he was eliminated in fifth place. He made $42,610 for his finish, and combined with his finish at Full Tilt, his total winnings for the night came to more than $72,000. He survived longer than a total of 8,591 other entrants in the two tournaments combined.
Four minutes later, Stimpy444, the short-stacked player, hit the rail when he was reraised all in preflop by BrainGuy and he called. BrainGuy turned over A
Q
and was in very good shape versus Stimpy444's dominated Q
J
. The board came 10
8
4
2
A
, spiking an unneeded ace on the river for BrainGuy to take down the pot and eliminate Stimpy444 in fourth place ($55,751).
The elimination put Brainguy in the lead with $28.2 million as three-way play began. AmichaiKK was in second place with $21.6 million and arulx had a third-place-worthy stack of $16.6 million. The two chip leaders seemed receptive to discussing a chop deal, but arulx was defiant. Eight minutes later, Arulx was likely wishing he'd taken a deal when he became the next player eliminated.
BrainGuy raised to $1.5 million preflop, with the big blind at $500,000, and arulx reraised up to $4 million. BrainGuy reraised arulx all in and arulx called and showed A
7
. BrainGuy had a good lead with pocket nines (he was a 70 percent favorite to win the hand) as the board ran out J
J
5
Q
10
. The nines held up and arulx left the table $71,547 richer in third place.
BrainGuy now had a significant chip lead with $55.5 million compared to amichaiKK's $10.9 million. AmichaiKK again proposed a chop discussion, considering the heads-up match was worth a $90,000 difference in paydays. BrainGuy decided that, because of his newfound stack, he would rather wait to discuss a chop until he lost a big hand.
He did just that four minutes later. AmichaiKK limped preflop and BrainGuy raised to $1.5 million. AmichaiKK reraised all in for $9.5 million and BrainGuy called and revealed A
4
. He was ahead against amichaiKK's K
7
until the flop came K
3
3
, giving amichaiKK two pair. The turn was the K
, further improving amichaiKK's hand to a full house and BrainGuy was drawing dead. The hand doubled amichaiKK up to $19 million and left BrainGuy with $47.4 million
BrainGuy then agreed to discuss a chop and the tournament was paused. A slightly modified by-the-chips chop was agreed upon with amichaiKK getting a little less than $2,000 extra to guarantee himself $120,000. BrainGuy was guaranteed $140,302 and the two players would play for the $30,000 remaining in the prize pool, per the PokerStars chopping rules.
The final hand came just two hands after the deal was struck. BrainGuy raised to $1.6 million preflop, with the big blind now at $600,000, and amichaiKK reraised up to $4.2 million. BrainGuy called and the flop came 9
6
5
. AmichaiKK checked and BrainGuy pushed all in. AmichaiKK called and turned over pocket threes and BrainGuy flipped up 7
4
for an open-end straight draw with two overcards to amichaiKK's pair, which gave him a 46 percent chance to win the hand. The turn completed BrainGuy's straight with the 8
and amichaiKK needed one of the three remaining sevens to tie for the pot and stay alive. The river, however, was the 9
and amichaiKK walked away from the table in second place. BrainGuy collected the extra $30,000 to put his total winnings at $170,302 for his victory in the tournament.
The final results were:
*1) BrainGuy - $170,302.38
*2) amichaiKK - $120,000
3) arulx - $71,546.86
4) Stimpy444 - $55,750.80
5) IBluffUOut4 - $42,609.54
6) section2006 - $30,530.20
7) rdtedm - $21,902.10
8) toetagU - $13,274
9) SuperTommy - $8,229.88
* Payouts reflect a two-way, slightly-modified by-the-chips chop with $30,000 remaining for the eventual winner, per the PokerStars chopping rules.
Full Tilt $400,000 Guarantee
Attendance at the big
Full Tilt tournaments on Sundays always seem to take bigger nosedives than those of other sites as a result of real-world events (for instance, the
Super Bowl, New Years Eve, etc.). Apparently, Easter is no different. The $400,000-guaranteed tournament last night had 1,962 entrants - 223 entrants fewer than last weekend and 38 entrants shy of meeting its guarantee on buy-ins alone. The shortfall in entries meant Full Tilt had to fork over a $7,600 overlay to meet its posted guarantee, and Full Tilt tournaments rarely require overlays.
If you read the PokerStars
Sunday Million report, you already know what the big news was in this tournament, as well. IBluffUOut4 made was playing on the final table of the Full Tilt event as he made the final table of the
Sunday Million, meaning he'd made - and was simultaneously playing on - the final tables of the two biggest weekly online tournaments. He sat down at the final table in third place with $906,000 in chips, behind SirGutShot in first place with $1.1 million and Antoshka in second with $939,000.
By the time it was down to six players remaining, SirGutShot's stack had shrunk to less than half of what it once was. He eventually went out when he pushed all in on a flop of Q-9-8 and was called by Gaelic800. SirGutShot showed K-9 for a pair of nines and was up against Gaelic800's Q-10 for top pair and a gutshot-straight draw. The turn brought a 10 to give Gaelic800 top two pair and the river was a blank. After leading for much of the early portion of the final table, SirGutShot made his exit in sixth place with $12,880. Gaelic800 was the chip leader before the hand began, and the elimination put his stack at over $2 million.
When it was down to three-way play, Gaelic800 still had a massive chip lead with $4.1 million compared to Antoshka in second with $960,000 and IBluffUOut4 in third with $832,000. Considering IBluffUOut4 was also still playing in the
Sunday Million at the time, he was undoubtedly under a lot of pressure, as tens of thousands of dollars were on the line at both sites.
IBluffUOut4 pulled into second place before a big hand occurred. Antoshka raised to $120,000 preflop, with the big blind at $40,000, and IBluffUOut4 reraised up to $480,000. Antoshka pushed all in over the top for his remaining $880,000 and IBluffUOut4 called and showed pocket sevens. He was ahead against Antoshka's Q
9
until the flop came J
J
9
, pairing Antoshka's 9 to put him in the lead. The turn and river were blanks and Antoshka doubled up. IBluffUOut4 was left with just $96,000 after the hand.
IBluffUOut4 pushed all in under the gun in the very next hand and was called by both players. The two active players checked it down to the river until the board read 6
5
3
7
3
and Antoshka bet $160,000, folding Gaelic800. Antoshka showed K
Q
for a king-high flush and IBluffUOut4 mucked his hand and was eliminated in third place ($29,600). His total winnings for the night, along with his fifth-place finish in the
Sunday Million, came to more than $72,000 and he beat more than 8,591 other players to achieve his finishes.
The stacks were now $3.9 million for Gaelic800 and $2 million for Antoshka. It proved to be a close heads-up match, as Antoshka briefly took over the chip lead and then, once he had lost it back to Gaelic800, he kept his chip count very close to Gaelic800's. Nevertheless, eight minutes into the match, he found himself in second place before the final hand.
Gaelic800 open-raised to $3 million preflop, with the big blind at just $50,000, and Antoshka called all in and showed A
Q
. He was in the lead versus Gaelic800's K
J
. The flop came J
10
2
, putting Gaelic800 in the lead with a pair of jacks. The turn and river were blanks, the 8
and the 4
, and Gaelic800 won the hand, and the tournament, with a pair of jacks. Antoshka earned $45,200 for his second-place finish while Gaelic800 raked in $73,600 for his win.
The final results were:
1) Gaelic800 - $73,600
2) Antoshka - $45,200
3) IBluffUOut4 - $29,600
4) I_shivagit - $23,600
5) SDPOKERSTUD - $18,000
6) SirGutShot - $12,880
7) ChipSteela - $9,400
8) mcmarkrazz - $7,400
9) McShove - $5,600
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
Much like the other tournaments this Easter Sunday, the
UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament had very low attendance numbers last night. The 808 entrants generated just $161,600 for the prize pool, which left UltimateBet to pick up the $38,400 tab in overlays.
The final table had numerous Internet poker notables, including Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon, classyploppy (who took third place in this event on Feb. 25, 2007, for $18,500), wsu79 (who finished in eighth place at the PokerStars
Sunday Million anniversary tournament on March 11, 2007, for almost $18,000), and top-ranked Internet pro dlperrio. Each of these four had less than $200,000 in their stacks, and P0ker H0 was the short stack with just $115,000.
Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle (another notable player who won the third event in the 2006
UltimateBet Online Championship, earning $57,000 and a silver
UBOC bracelet) came into the final table in the chip lead with $368,000 in chips, followed closely behind by AussieTodd in second with $338,000.
As the short stack, P0ker H0 dropped out relatively soon in ninth place when his A-4 ran into AussieTodd's A-J preflop. The board paired, but otherwise improved neither player, and P0ker H0 left the tournament with $3,500.
Soon thereafter, wsu79 was sent to the rail. After aggressive betting on a flop of 8
7
2
, wsu79 finally called all in against classyploppy and showed 3
3
. Classyploppy revealed 8
7
for two pair, which was ultimately enough to take down the pot and eliminate wsu79 in eighth place ($5,000).
Classyploppy himself went out in fifth place when he pushed all in preflop with A-4 offsuit and was called by AussieTodd with pocket fours. The board missed classyploppy and he took home $11,000 for his finish.
AussieTodd had been dominating much of the latter half of the tournament, and when it was finally down to three players, he had $842,000 in the chip lead. Dlperrio was in second place with $665,000 and blur5f6 wasn't too far off with $514,000 in third place. Ten minutes into three-way play, blur5f6 played his final hand. After betting aggressively throughout the hand, blur5f6 finally check-raised himself all in against dlperrio on a board showing 8
7
5
2
. Dlperrio called and showed A
7
for a pair of sevens. He found that he was ahead against blur5f6's J
6
for a flush draw and an open-end straight draw with an overcard. Blur5f6 had a 41 percent chance to win the hand on the river. The river, however, was another 7, giving dlperrio trip sevens to win the hand and eliminate blur5f6 in third place ($18,500).
Dlperrio now had almost $1.1 million in the chip lead versus AussieTodd with $948,000 as heads up started. The stacks had basically switched players in the first 15 minutes of play (which isn't saying much, since they were so close, anyway). AussieTodd now had the chip lead going into the next big hand.
Dlperrio min-raised to $48,000 preflop and AussieTodd called. The flop came 5
4
3
and AussieTodd led out with a min-bet of $24,000. Dlperrio raised to $172,000 and AussieTodd reraised up to $320,000. Dlperrio pushed all in over the top and AussieTodd called and showed J
8
for two overcards and a flush draw. Dlperrio held 6
3
for bottom pair and an open-end straight draw, and the lead in the hand. The turn and river were the 4
and A
, respectively, and dlperrio raked in the monster pot with two pair to take the chip lead and put a huge dent in AussieTodd's stack. Dlperrio now had $1.9 million and AussieTodd was left with just $168,000.
Five hands later, AussieTodd pushed all in preflop and was called by dlperrio. AussieTodd turned over 6
5
and was in bad shape against dlperrio's pocket jacks. The board ran out K
8
3
6
J
and dlperrio snagged an unnecessary set of jacks to win the hand and the tournament. AussieTodd left the table $27,000 richer, while dlperrio earned the first-place prize of $45,000.
The final results were:
1) dlperrio - $45,000
2) AussieTodd - $27,000
3) Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle - $18,500
4) circuslover - $13,000
5) classyploppy - $11,000
6) Lobster Fork - $9,000
7) OaktownRaider - $7,000
8) wsu79 - $5,000
9) Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon - $3,500
10) skrue - $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The
Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament had just 729 entrants last night, the lowest attendance it has had for quite some time (lower even than the Sunday after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the NETELLER pullout, or
Super Bowl Sunday).
The dearth of entrants meant Bodog had to contribute $27,100 in overlays to match the guaranteed prize pool, a number that is possibly without precedent for Bodog. While it is a religious holiday (Easter), it is also a day that more people are guaranteed to have off (and thus, theoretically, more people would be able to play in the event). That begs the question of whether the holiday truly had that kind of impact or whether some other factors were at play.
In the first full hand of the final table, SlowrollinWorm had the chip lead with $421,000 in chips, followed by Quads420 in second place with $255,000. SlowrollinWorm was still the chip leader with five players remaining (although he had lost the lead at one point in the interim). His lead was slim, however, as his other four opponents had very similar chip stacks.
With such a small lead, it would only take one hand to severely cripple him, and crippled he was when he got into a big pot with flex674. SlowrollinWorm raised to $52,00 from under the gun, with the big blind at $16,000, and flex674 and mjm198211 called from the small and big blind, respectively. The flop came A
K
4
and both blinds checked to SlowrollinWorm, who bet $106,000. Flex674 immediately check-raised to $212,000, leaving himself with $87,000 behind and folding mjm198211. SlowrollinWorm reraised flex674 the rest of the way in and flex674 called all in and showed A
Q
for top pair. SlowrollinWorm held A
9
and needed help. The turn and river, however, were blanks and SlowrollinWorm was down to just $51,000 after losing the hand.
The hand vaulted flex674 into the chip lead and SlowrollinWorm was sent to the rail in fifth place ($5,500) in the very next hand when his Q-4 failed to improve against mjm198211's pocket jacks.
When three-way play began, flex674 was still in first place with $760,000. Mjm198211 was in second with $577,000 and Quads420 was still in it in third place with $486,000. Within seven minutes, mjm198211 had pulled into the chip lead and flex674 had fallen into third place, just a bit behind Quads420.
In the next big hand, flex674 raised to $60,000 from the button (with the big blind now at $20,000) and Quads420 pushed all in from the big blind for $500,000. Flex674 called all in for $448,000 and showed A
Q
and was behind against Quads420's pocket sixes. The flop was more bad news for flex674 when it came 5
4
3
, keeping Quads420 in the lead and giving him an open-end straight draw, as well. The turn, however, was the Q
and flex674 pulled into the lead. He took down the pot when the 3
came on the river, put himself back into a slight chip lead, and put Quads420 down close to the felt.
Flex674 called when Quads720 went all in in the very next hand. Flex674's 9
5
bested Quads420's 10
5
when a 9 came on the flop and Quads420 was out in third place ($9,200). Flex674 now had $966,000 compared to mjm198211's $857,000 when heads-up play began. The chip lead changed twice in the eight minutes before the final hand.
Mjm198211 min-raised to $60,000 preflop and flex674 called. The flop came Q
Q
2
and both players checked. The turn was the 10
and flex674 bet $100,000. Mjm198211 called to see the river of 4
. Flex674 now bet $200,000 and mjm198211 pushed all in over the top for $621,000. Flex674 called instantly and showed 10
5
for a rivered flush. Mjm198211 revealed 6
3
for a worse flush, meaning the river was a very unfortunate card for him. He left the table in second place, earning $14,300. Flex674 pocketed a $25,000 payday for his first-place finish in the tournament.
The final results were:
1) flex674 - $25,000
2) mjm198211 - $14,300
3) Quads420 - $9,200
4) RollinFish - $6,900
5) SlowrollinWorm - $5,500
6) Cletus - $4,500
7) crawlfish - $3,500
8) Poker907 - $2,500
9) chevyontherox - $1,600
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