Ashton 'theASHMAN103' Griffin Wins $25K Heads-Up Championship

One of the premier events in the world of online poker recently concluded after two days of action. A total of 63 players entered the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship on Full Tilt, creating a prize pool of $1,575,000.

First Round

Day one saw the field reach the money and trim down to just the final four. Though many on the rail were rooting for the notables in red, pros such as Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda and Andy Bloch were all sent home in the first round. In fact, recent FTOPS winner Gavin Smith and Phil Ivey were the first two players to hit the virtual rail.

Second Round

In the second round, notables Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Ilarii “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Brian Townsend, Scott Montgomery, Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton and Steve “stevebets” Jacobs all faltered, leaving the remaining 16 players to battle for a spot in the money.

Sweet Sixteen

Defending champion David Singer did all he could to try and repeat, but he fell just short of the money in 12th place, losing to Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin. Joining him on the bubble was David Pham, Luke “FullFlush1” Schwartz and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro.

Elite Eight

Once the final eight were set, one more match was played to determine the final four and who would return on day two to fight for the championship. Rob “Vaga_Lion” Akery, IvanLendL, Alex “Kadabra” Keating and Past all faltered, setting up the following matches below:

Final Four

David “Raptor” Benefield vs. James “WinnerFish” Kilarjian
Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin vs. Blair “yogiblair” Anderson

After a long break, play resumed and the final four quickly demanded the attention of many railbirds. Anderson was mounting a comeback until his pocket fives ran into Griffin’s pocket queens, putting him out in a tie for third place.

It didn’t take long for Griffin to find out who his opponent would be, when Kilarjian’s top pair of nines failed to catch up against Benefield’s overpair.

Championship Round

It wasn’t a long final either, as Benefield took a monster hit to his stack with top pair against Griffin’s flopped top and bottom pair. The board failed to connect with Benefield and he was suddenly down roughly 5-1. On the final hand, Benefield was all in holding an open-ended straight draw against Griffin’s trip nines. Benefield finished runner-up, banking $315,000. Griffin was crowned champion and left his monitor with an extra $551,250 in his account.

Final Results

1. Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin — $551,250
2. David Benefield — $315,000
3. James “WinnerFish” Kilarjian — $165,375
4. Blair “yogiblair” Anderson — $165,375
5. Past — $94,500
6. Alex “Kadabra” Keating — $94,500
7. IvanLendL — $94,500
8. Rob “Vaga_Lion” Akery — $94,500

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