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FTOPS Event #1 – No Limit Hold’em, What a Final Table!
After weeks of anticipation, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series kicked off last night with Event #1, a $200+$16 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament. 2,000 players started off with 3,000 chips and 12 minute levels, leaving plenty of ammunition for skilled players to navigate through the large field. Judging by some of the names at the final table, Event #1 did not disappoint.
The Final Table kicked off at 12:45 EST after almost six hours of play. The last nine players were guaranteed a good payday, but each had their eyes on $86,000 for first place and the number one spot on the FTOPS leaderboard. The final table featured two Full Tilt Pros, who were able to survive despite a $200 bounty on their heads.
Roland “the Sheep” de Wolfe has been no stranger to final tables during the last year. He won the WPT Grand Prix in Paris and quickly followed up with a 3rd place finish at the $25,000 WPT Championship at Bellagio. Most recently, De Wolfe had two cashes at the WSOP, including a third place finish in the $2,000 No-Limit Shootout. Essentially tied for the chip lead at the start of the final table, de Wolfe had to be the favorite to take home the first FTOPS Gold Jersey.
The other red name at the table needs no introduction. Howard Lederer, who sat down with an above average stack, had plenty of ammunition to contend for the title. The “Professor” of Poker has won two World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles, and has been a fixture in high stakes cash games for over 20 years. Lederer has historically been cold in the bigger Full Tilt tournaments, and was here to prove his online game is every bit as good as his live game.
Up against these two great poker pros were some of the best Full Tilt Players. Among them was raisenu. He started the final table as the short stack, but he also had the smallest investment. He won a $4 + $0.40 Sit & Go Tournament which awarded him a $26 Tournament Token. He then used that token for a $26 Satellite that got him into FTOPS Event #1, and he was still alive for a shot at $86,000.
LLPC was the only avatar race winner at the final table. By defeating 42 other players in a $69+$6 avatar race, he won a spot in all 8 FTOPS Events. With the skills he showed in making the final table, there’s a very good chance we will be seeing more of him this week.
Another great story was that of hoodini10, who played one Satellite, finishing third for $189. Paying the other $27 out of his pocket to enter the event turned out to be one of many good decisions he made on Sunday.
The final table picked up with blinds at 15,000/30,000 and a 4K ante. The average stack was a little over 660,000. Here’s how our competitors ranked as the final table began:
Seat 1: Howard Lederer (701,020)
Seat 2: raisenu (360,713)
Seat 3: hoodini10 (1,303,612)
Seat 4: thanks (395,518)
Seat 5: LLPC (471,012)
Seat 6: Roland de Wolfe (1,274,235)
Seat 7: LUVEMnLEAVUM (650,642)
Seat 8: CreekBottom1 (380,772)
Seat 9: P0KERPR0 (462,476)
The first few hands set the tone for a very aggressive final table. No one seemed satisfied to sit back and try to coast their way up in the money. The second hand of this table is a perfect example of the style of play that dominated much of the final table.
The table folded around to Roland de Wolfe, who made a steal attempt in the cutoff with a 70,000 bet. P0KERPR0 had none of it, and raised to 180,000 from the Big Blind. Roland folded, and P0KERPR0 flashed a meager A4o (and probably a smile too) to take down a sizeable 191,000 pot.
Roland wasn’t down for long, as he took a huge pot from Howard Lederer on the next hand. Once again, Roland opened for 70,000 from late position. Lederer called in the big blind to see a flop of Qs 5d 5s. Roland bet 101,101 after Howard checked. Lederer check raised to 250,000, and Roland called. After the turn brought the 3 of spades, a flush was possible. Howard checked and was forced to fold to Roland’s 230,000 bet. After this hand, de Wolfe and hoodini10 were in good position as the big stacks, with everyone else in danger of being the next out.
As de Wolfe slowed down, aggressive all-ins by CreekBottom1 and thanks boosted their stacks significantly. The chip count after approximately 10 minutes of final table play follows:
Seat 1: Howard Lederer (322,020)
Seat 2: raisenu (196,713)
Seat 3: hoodini10 (1,331,612)
Seat 4: thanks (669,518)
Seat 5: LLPC (382,012)
Seat 6: Roland de Wolfe (1,426,235)
Seat 7: LUVEMnLEAVUM (546,642)
Seat 8: CreekBottom1 (690,772)
Seat 9: P0KERPR0 (434,476)
Not surprisingly, de Wolfe was involved in the first big showdown at the final table. The table again folded around to de Wolfe who made it 98,020. P0KERPR0 decided to make a stand, and he moved all-in from the Big Blind. Roland called 330,000 more and flipped over KQo, which was a delight to P0KERPR0 when he showed his AQo. Unfortunately for P0KERPR0, the turn brought a King and the rich got richer. No doubt, P0KERPR0 spent the night thinking about what could have been, but he did have almost 6,000 reasons to be happy.
The action really heated up a round later, when Lederer moved in for his remaining 252,000 with pocket Kings. raisenu had no reason to think he was behind, when he called off his remaining 126,000 with pocket queens. With two short stacks already in, hoodini10 saw an opportunity to eliminate two players without much risk to his stack of 1.6 million, so he also made the call with pocket nines. Howard’s cowboys held up, and raisenu was eliminated in 8th place, turning his $4.40 into $8,400. The remaining players weren’t happy to see Lederer’s stack increase, but hoodini10 would soon get another chance to knock an opponent out.
CreekBottom1 showed no fear of elimination, moving in early and often. Blinds at this stage were up to 20,000/40,000 with 5,000 antes, so there was plenty of reward for players who took risks. CreekBottom1 opted to make a minimum raise which was called by Lederer and hoodini10 in the blinds. After a flop of Tc 2s As, Lederer represented the ace by firing 130,000 into a 280,000 pot. hoodini10 made the call, and CreekBottom1 came over the top all-in for a total bet of 580,000. With the squeeze on, Howard decided that discretion was the better part of valor (at least on this hand) and folded. hoodini10 hesitated, but made the call with 9s 7s for a flush draw. Once again, the short stack was in great shape to double up, as CreekBottom1 tabled a higher flush draw with Js 8s. When a lucky 7 came on the turn, hoodini10 had a pair but CreekBottom1 was plenty live, needing a spade, 8, 9, or Jack to stay alive. The Jack on the river moved CreekBottom1 into 2nd place.
After several rounds of mostly uncontested blind stealing, CreekBottom1 overtook de Wolfe and moved into the chip lead:
Seat 1: Howard Lederer (440,753)
Seat 3: hoodini10 (835,820)
Seat 4: thanks (349,876)
Seat 5: LLPC (237,012)
Seat 6: Roland de Wolfe (1,807,711)
Seat 7: LUVEMnLEAVUM (433,284)
Seat 8: CreekBottom1 (1,895,544)
CreekBottom1’s chip lead combined with de Wolfe’s aggressive table image would set up the key hand of the final table. CreekBottom1 raised under the gun to 175,000, and de Wolfe decided to call with a chance to take an overwhelming chip lead. The flop came 9c Jd 4d, which was a safe enough flop for CreekBottom1 to make a strong bet with his pocket Queens. However, the flop looked better for de Wolfe’s pocket 9’s, and he check raised. CreekBottom1 had seen de Wolfe play too many hands, and he re-raised all-in, drawing thin for a pot worth 3.6 million. De Wolfe’s set held up, and he now had more chips than the rest of the players combined. hoodini10 was in 2nd with a mere 880,000. The majority of the railbirds thought the tournament was over, but a few still thought Lederer could come back. As observer ‘NewSelfHigh’ put it, “when Chuck Norris goes to bed, he checks the closet for Howard Lederer.” And if Chuck Norris worries about Howard, maybe Roland de Wolfe should too.
CreekBottom1’s few remaining chips didn’t last long, and he was knocked out after being forced all-in by the blinds. It’s tough to complain about $11,600, but CreekBottom1 played very well at this final table until his untimely demise at the hands of de Wolfe. That’s poker, baby.
Roland de Wolfe wasn’t finished, and he chalked up another conquest when his pocket fives held up against thanks’s A3. With $18,000 in prize money for his 6th place finish, we know at least one player is thank-ful for the first ever FTOPS.
With five players remaining and the blinds at 25,000/50,000, LLPC and LUVEMnLEAVUM had managed to stay under the radar and move their way up the prize ladder. That’s not a bad strategy when you can make thousands of dollars by waiting an opponent out, but LLPC, LUVEMnLEAVUM, and Lederer would all be forced to make a move soon.
De Wolfe played the big stack well, pushing the table around and stealing blinds left and right. With over 65% of the chips in play, he could afford to. After a full round of constant stealing by Roland, Lederer was the first to defend his blind. His A2 held up over Roland’s 47, and Howard doubled his stack to 627,000.
This proved to be a minor setback for de Wolfe who continued to pressure the table. Soon afterwards, LLPC defended his blinds against another de Wolfe raise with A8, hoping de Wolfe had another trash hand. Luckily for de Wolfe, and probably for the first time in many rounds, Roland had a real hand. De Wolfe’s pocket tens knocked LLPC out of the tournament, giving LLPC $24,520 in winnings and making de Wolfe’s stack even stronger.
The final four took turns stealing blinds before hoodini10 managed to double up off LUVEMnLEAVUM, which left him crippled. Roland de Wolfe finished him off in a battle of the blinds, leaving the last three players in this chip position:
Seat 1: Howard Lederer (528,506)
Seat 3: hoodini10 (760,738)
Seat 6: Roland de Wolfe (4,710,756)
With the blinds still at 25,000/50,000, Lederer was the next to make a move, pushing all-in with K7. Roland was happy to look him up with pocket sevens, but it wasn’t quite Lederer’s time to go as a King emerged on the flop. Lederer was over the 1 million chip mark, with a little breathing room in second place.
Several hands later, Howard continued his rush by moving in over the top of a 140,000 raise by de Wolfe. Roland made the big call with his A5 and whiffed, doubling Lederer up to 2 million, and making the rail believe we were going to see two Full Tilt Pros battle it out for the title.
hoodini10 had other ideas. He was able to steal blinds while avoiding any real challenges from his more experienced opponents. Meanwhile, Lederer and de Wolfe continued to butt heads, with Roland showing he was not going to back down.
The blinds increased to 30,000/60,000, and de Wolfe tested The Professor’s big blind with a 180,000 bet. Lederer re-raised to half a million, and de Wolfe called in position. After a flop of Kh 9h Kd, Roland made another all-in check raise, after a 600,000 bet by Lederer. Despite the massive pot, Lederer could not call, and was on the ropes once again at 750,000. True to form, de Wolfe moved in for the kill once again.
Three hands later, de Wolfe raised to 180,000 and Lederer moved all-in. Lederer was ahead once again with his A6 against de Wolfe’s A5. hoodini10 was rooting for de Wolfe to lock up another $16,000 in cash, but all day it was Roland with the magic touch of his own. De Wolfe spiked a 5 and sent Lederer home with $40,500 in earnings.
De Wolfe started heads up play with a monster chip lead, but hoodini10 still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Roland thought he had the tournament locked up when he went all-in with pocket Queens, but hoodini10 was plenty live with his AK, and he connected to double up. hoodini10 faced a 4:1 chip disadvantage, but that is plenty in any heads-up match.
After this setback, de Wolfe began to offer an unofficial deal, and the details were worked out over the span of a few hands. The last men standing eventually agreed on hoodini10 receiving an additional $9,000 cash in addition to the 2nd place payout of $56,000. De Wolfe got $77,000 cash, and the Gold Jersey. The duo continued to play it out for FTOPS Leaderboard Points, though neither took the heads up portion very seriously, and hoodini10 prevailed after a few all-in hands.
The anti-climactic finish sparks debate over the effects of deal making to the prestige of an event. While players certainly shouldn’t be stopped from making a gentleman’s agreement to avoid being forced to play volatile tournaments for large sums of money, it does make you wonder whether deals like that should tend to leave enough money on the table to make the players try to win. It should be noted that Full Tilt Poker does not enforce dealmaking at this time, so the debate will remain an issue between the players. On the other hand, the finale of this tournament reminds us that big paydays are what keeps people coming to poker tournaments, and with over $130,000 between the two of them, Roland de Wolfe and hoodini10 learned that better than anyone.
With his pseudo victory in the first FTOPS event, hoodini10 has taken the early lead in the Race for an Avatar with nearly 5,400 points. De Wolfe is in second with 3,091, and Full Tilt Regular bleu329 is in third with 2,237 points after defeating over 500 players in the second chance tournament, FTOPS Event #1.5. The winner of this leaderboard after next Sunday’s Main Event will get a custom Full Tilt Avatar, wearing a Gold Jersey.
Here are the final table results for FTOPS Event #1:
1: Roland de Wolfe $77,000
2: hoodini10 $65,000
3: Howard Lederer $40,500
4: LUVEMnLEAVUM $32,500
5: LLPC $24,520
6: thanks $18,000
7: CreekBottom1 $11,600
8: raisenu $8,400
9: P0KERPR0 $5,948
