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FTOPS Event #5 -HORSE, Your Terrible Pun About Horses or Horse Racing Here

Posted by mystery | Filed under Uncategorized

The HORSE event of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series was a very prestigious event to the Full Tilt Community. Full Tilt was one of the first sites to offer HORSE, so the regulars have a lot of experience in the game, from Sit & Go’s to daily tournaments to the weekly $200+$16 Sunday Night HORSE Tournament. For those that don’t know, HORSE is a mixed limit game, where Hold’em, Omaha hi/lo, Razz, Stud high only, and Stud hi/lo (Eight or better, which is where the ‘E’ is derived) are played in rotation. The game changes every time the blinds go up, which was every 12 minutes tonight.

Since more and more hold’em specialists seem to saturate tournament fields these days, HORSE has become a hot game for professional players. The World Series of Poker created its biggest event ever this year, a $50,000 HORSE Tournament, which many pros consider to be the new World Championship. Navigating through the Main Event involves a lot of luck, but making the final table of the HORSE Tournament in a field full of elite players where a variety of games are tested shows a lot of skill. It’s hard to argue with the names who made the final table this year: Chip Reese, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, T.J Cloutier, David Singer, Dewey Tomko, Doyle Brunson, and internet superstar Patrick Antonius.

While Event #5 wasn’t likely to draw that many superstars, one red named pro did survive the 580 entrants to make the final table. Internet pro Aaron Bartley was the first Full Tilt player to make a splash in the Poker World. Bartley, known as “GambleAB” in the poker community, played a $200+$16 qualifier on Full Tilt to make it to the first ever World Series of Poker Circuit Event, held in Atlantic City in 2005. Bartley finished an impressive 5th place, earning him a 6-figure payout and a featured spot on ESPN’s coverage. The finish gave Bartley enough confidence to move to Las Vegas, where he has proven that he is no one-hit wonder. After a strong showing in the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions, Bartley cashed three times in the 2006 WSOP, including a top 150 finish in the Main Event.

Unlike the HORSE Event at the World Series, which switched to an all No-Limit Hold’em final table, FTOPS Event #5 was HORSE the whole way through. The final table started with 10,000/20,0000 limits, and Hold’em as the game. The average stack was 217,500, and while Bartley was in the chip lead, everyone was still in contention:

Seat 1: Aaron Bartley (318,333)
Seat 2: TEX7711 (131,245)
Seat 3: Blueyed (140,253)
Seat 4: Jomar60 (334,450)
Seat 5: aztbird (217,384)
Seat 6: LWALKER (182,983)
Seat 7: d_waldstein (101,726)
Seat 8: davancind (313,626)

The first level was very uneventful, as few chips changed hands. The action got going when the game switched to Omaha Hi/Lo, with 12,000/24,000 limits. Davincind and Blueyed immediately got involved in a 200,000 chip pot, with Davincind spiking both a pair of aces and a 6 4 low on the river to scoop. Blueyed mucked and was down to his last 35,000.

Several hands later, the table lost its first player. d_waldstein raised from under the gun and was called by LWALKER in the big blind. LWALKER was a favorite in the hand, holding Kc Ks Ah 6h, but d_waldstein held a great low hand with 4c 4s As 2c. The 4d 8s Jd flop gave d_waldstein bottom set, always a hard hand to play in Omaha. LWALKER decided to check and then call d_waldstein‘s bet. After an unlucky King on the turn, d_waldstein was now facing a superior set. The action was capped and d_waldstein was all-in with only one out for the high, but plenty of opportunities to split the pot with a low hand. The river brought a deuce, and left d_waldstein unable to make a qualifying low. d_waldstein finished in a respectable 8th place, winning over $1,500.

With seven players remaining, Blueyed had less than two big bets left in his stack. He posted what was likely to be his final big blind after two hands when he woke up with double suited kings with an ace AND a potential low. He raised Aaron Bartley‘s big blind and was soon all-in. Bartley held 9d 4s 8s Js and looked to be in poor shape against Blueyed‘s Ac Kc Ks 5s, but there’s no such as a huge underdog in Omaha. The Qc 6c Th flop gave Bartley a big straight draw, and suddenly Blueyed no longer wanted to hit a King. One of the two remaining kings did hit on the turn, giving Bartley a straight. Blueyed was far from dead, with a flush draw, a straight draw, and outs to hit a full house or quads. Blueyed missed all of his outs on the river, and the former Full Tilt WSOP Seat Winner finished the tournament in 7th place.

This round of Omaha hi/lo continued to have no sympathy for the short stacks, as TEX7711 would be the next to go. Left with 90,000, TEX7711 made his move with a respectable Ks 5d Qs Ac. Aaron Bartley raised from the button and TEX7711 re-raised. Jomar60 called two bets cold with As Jd 2s 8d and Aaron opted to see the flop in position. Jomar60 led out on the 6h Qc Th flop and both players behind him called. The 9d gave Jomar60 the nut straight. TEX7711 led out for 24,000 and Jomar60 raised. Aaron Bartley wisely mucked, and TEX7711 was forced to call his last 15,000, needing a miracle jack. The river brought a 6 and TEX7711 left the table in 6th place with over $3,000 in winnings, impressive considering it was his first ever tournament on Full Tilt. Here is how the rest of the table looked:

Seat 1: Aaron Bartley (250,586)
Seat 4: Jomar60 (356,695)
Seat 5: aztbird (187,384)
Seat 6: LWALKER (541,709)
Seat 8: davancind (403,626)

davancind had been sitting fairly comfortably for the duration of the final table, but the next few hands proved to be his unraveling. Aaron Bartley won over 100,000 with a nut flush and Jomar60 used a wheel to scoop the pot and grab an additional 170,000 from him. When the game switched to 15,000/30,000 Razz with a 2,500 ante, Davincind was down to a mere 88,000. Davincind stayed afloat for a while until Aaron Bartley made a great call to send him packing.

Bartley was the bring-in for 5,000 with an eight showing. Davincind completed to 15,000 showing an Ace. Bartley made the call and was dealt a ten on fourth street, while Davincind caught a scary looking deuce. Bartley decided his hand was still worth a call, and fifth street dealt paint cards to both players. Davincind led out for 30,000 with an A2Q showing. Bartley looked like he was beat with 8TK, but decided to raise and take a chance to eliminate the pesky Davincind. With only 25,000 remaining, Davincind was forced to call and the cards revealed Bartley was, in fact, ahead in the hand. Bartley held 348TK to davancind‘s A29QK. Bartley’s hand improved to a 9 high and Davincind exited with a Jack high and the 5th place prize of $4,176. This pot left aztbird as the clear short stack, and evened the stacks of the top three players:

Seat 1: Aaron Bartley (455,212)
Seat 4: Jomar60 (524,195)
Seat 5: aztbird (213,384)
Seat 6: LWALKER (547,209)

The big difference between flop games and stud games in tournaments is that your hand is defined much better early on in flop games. 5/7th of your hand is complete after the first betting round, meaning a good player can make small investments, make sure he is the favorite in a hand before continuing, and keep his chance of busting low until he has a sure thing. In stud games, it’s not so easy. You can start with monster hands, get heavily invested, and then get hit by bricks while your opponents catch good cards. When you pay for one card at a time, this can lead to some big swings.

Aaron Bartley was a perfect example, losing two monster Razz pots to LWALKER and aztbird and dropping him to 160,000 when the game rotated to 20,000/40,000 Stud with a 3,000 ante. Bartley did not fare much better in, folding his cards on 6th street when LWALKER paired his door card, a king. His fold gave LWALKER a 218,000 pot and Bartley was down to his last 48,000.

LWALKER would be the one to finish Bartley off several hands later. LWALKER had a meager 3 of diamonds showing and was forced to bring in. Aaron completed to 20,000 with a J of clubs showing. aztbird, knowing that Bartly would soon be all-in, called with the 8 of spades and LWALKER also made the call. Aaron still had the best hand showing 4th street with a Qc Jc and bet his last 8,000. Both opponents called looking to eliminate the last remaining red pro. Bartley caught a promising club on 5th street, as LWALKER and aztbird checked it down. By the river, but it was LWALKER dragging the pot, after showing down a diamond flush. Bartley’s two pair was second best. Bartley won $6,728, while LWALKER collected a $200 bounty and a free full tilt T-shirt for busting the only pro at the final table. Bartley added another final table to his resume, and as a former champion of the Sunday Night HORSE Tournament, he added evidence to show that he’s not just another No-Limit Hold’em player.

LWALKER now held a solid lead with over 1 million in chips. Jomar90 and aztbird had their work cut out for them.

Seat 4: Jomar60 (308,695)
Seat 5: aztbird (396,172
Seat 6: LWALKER (1,035,133)

LWALKER started off well, hitting a straight on fourth street against aztbird to win a 409,000 pot. Jomar60 then caught the wrath of LWALKER, after bringing in for 6,000 with the 3h showing. aztbird folded showing a 5c, but LWALKER completed to 20,000 showing 5d. LWALKER fired again after catching a 6d on 4th street, but Jomar60 raised showing 3h 5h. Jomar60 caught the case 5 on fifth street and fired again. LWALKER called showing 5d 6d Qd. On sixth street, Jomar60 checked after catching the Qc, after LWALKER caught another diamond showing four to the flush. LWALKER already had the diamond flush, but checked as well. This play may have worked perfectly, as LWALKER was able to fire a 40,000 bet on the river, and get a call. Jomar60 was down to 40,000 chips, and LWALKER looked poised to take home the gold Jersey.

With Jomar60 struggling to survive, aztbird picked up a full house against LWALKER‘s trip jacks, nearly doubling up to 440,000. The game changed to Stud Hi/Lo, possibly to Jomar60‘s advantage. As a short stack, he had a better chance to stay alive in a split pot game, and Stud Hi/Lo is an easy game to build a big pot in, so if aztbird got involved in a big pot with LWALKER, he might find his way in second place.

His wish almost came true on the first hand of Stud Hi/Lo, with action on every street between LWALKER and aztbird. The 412,000 pot got split after aztbird made a seven low, and LWALKER made 9′s up to take the high. aztbird was forced to pick a spot on his own, and he got his chance on the very next hand.

Jomar60‘s started with the 2d showing, and opted to complete for 25,000 instead of bringing in. This was because he had an As and 3d in the hole, a great starting hand in Stud Hi/Lo. Jomar60 had half his stack in the pot, and LWALKER had plenty of chips to gamble. LWALKER started with 2s 8c Td, which was about a 2:1 underdog. LWALKER caught an Ace on fourth street taking the lead, but Jomar60 caught a 4, giving him four to the wheel and making him a bigger favorite in the hand. Jomar60 caught an ugly 9 on 5th street, and a 4 on 6th street to make a pair of fours. LWALKER countered with an 8 on sixth street, and was ahead with a pair of eights. Jomar60 needed help for the high and the low to stay alive, and got it after 7th street brought another 9, making two pair. LWALKER could scoop with an Ace, ten or eight, but instead caught a 3, making an 8 low. After all that, Jomar60 was right back where he started.

Jomar60 got revenge on the next hand, getting all in on fourth street with a pair of eights against LWALKER‘s deuces. He was up to 125,000 after that hand, and earned some chips on the next hand by taking it down on 3rd street. A few hands later, Jomar60 again started with an A 2 3, but LWALKER started with a pair of eights. The money went in again on fourth street, and Jomar60 managed to complete a 6 low to chop the pot again.

The comeback effort stalled when Jomar60 lost 2/3rds of his chips against LWALKER. After calling Jomar60‘s bets on 3rd and 4th street, LWALKER re-raised on 5th street showing 9s 5h Th. Jomar60 had 8d Kh 3s, and had a decision to call for all his chips. The pot was laying him over 4:1, but he decided to lay it down, leaving himself only one big bet.

A few hands later, Jomar60 was involved in a three way all-in, showing 8c 8h on fourth street. aztbird made the call with 7d 7c showing, and LWALKER called with a 6s 3c up. aztbird and LWALKER checked it down, trying to get rid of the resilient Jomar60. Jomar60 caught an Ace on 6th street, to give him Aces and eights. Known to poker player’s as the dead man’s hand, Jomar60 should have known he was in trouble. aztbird caught 9′s on both 5th and 6th street, and revealed another nine at showdown for nines full of sevens. LWALKER was unable to make a low, and aztbird scooped the pot. Jomar60 played two satellites into this event, and lost them both. He luckily decided to buy in, which turned out to be an $11,600 decision. Well played sir.

LWALKER started with about a three to one advantage over aztbird, but both were guaranteed to leave the tournament happy. aztbird won an avatar race, satellite in to every FTOPS Event. LWALKER also won a satellite to the event, meaning the two players who would leave with almost $50,000 between them hadn’t even paid full price to get in!

If aztbird had been reading the Full Tilt blog, he would have actually liked his position. Several times already, the player starting with a big deficit was able to come back and take home the title. LWALKER was playing well and running well, but aztbird was showing no signs of backing down.

The heads up match began with aztbird striking the first blow. aztbird brought in for 8,000 showing the 4h, and LWALKER completed showing 8d. aztbird built the pot, making a re-raise, which LWALKER called. The board kept getting better for aztbird, who showed 4h 2c 5h 6s on 6th street. LWALKER had a hand as well, showing 8d 7s Ah 3d, and calling down every street. aztbird scooped the 450,000 pot, having a three for the straight, as well as an Ace for the nut low wheel.

aztbird took the chip lead in another Stud Hi/Lo pot, betting the whole way showing Ks Ah Tc 3d, and making two pair, tens and fives. LWALKER couldn’t stop the bleeding, as the next hand aztbird won another 300,000 pot with a pair of Aces. LWALKER was probably happy to see the game move to 30,000/60,000 Limit Hold’em, while facing a deficit of 1 million chips to 775,000.

However, aztbird was able to keep the momentum, winning a pot with Q2 after flopping a Queen. LWALKER finally won a big hand to even the score, after the final board showed 2h Qs 8s 2s 2c. aztbird bet, LWALKER made a raise, and aztbird folded on the river, giving LWALKER an uncontested pot worth almost half a million. The two continued to take turns winning big pots, as the game moved to 40,000/80,000 Omaha Hi/Lo and then 50,000/100,000 Razz. In an FTOPS full of great heads up battles, this was the best by far, with the chip lead literally changing dozens of times. Observer KewlTeddy noted he wasn’t sure if this event would end before FTOPS Event #6. When the game changed to 60,000/120,000 Stud with an ante of 10,000, the players stood in a dead heat.

The crippling hand came when LWALKER was the bring-in with a 3h showing, and aztbird completed showing 4c. LWALKER re-raised and the pot was already a big one. Both players caught an eight on 4th street, and LWALKER made the bet. aztbird caught a King of clubs on 5th street, and checked once again. LWALKER bet, but aztbird check-raised 120,000 more. LWALKER had to decide here whether to stay with the hand, and made the call. LWALKER caught on Ace on 6th street and both players checked. LWALKER made two pair, 4′s and 3′s on the river, and made a value bet. aztbird called, but turned over Kings and Eights, good for a pot of 1.1 million.

It was over on the next hand, as LWALKER got all-in on third street showing a Qs 3h Jd, and somehow managed to finish the hand with just Queen high. aztbird had 5c Ac Jh and made trips, to put an end to an impressive display of skill and endurance by both players.

LWALKER is a Full Tilt veteran, having numerous cashes in daily guarantee tournaments and the $200K Guarantee. After winning a $24+$2 satellite into Event #5, LWALKER walked away with $19,140, and the respect of all who witnessed the final table.

aztbird was another success story, becoming the first avatar race winner to win an FTOPS event. For just $26, he won a 99 player tournament to gain entry into all 8 FTOPS Events. He won $29,000 today, and is a name we’ll no doubt see of more on Full Tilt Poker. Here are the final standings for Event #5:

1. aztbird $29,000
2. LWALKER $19,140
3. Jomar60 $11,600
4. Aaron Bartley $6,728
5. davancind $4,176
6. TEX7711 $3,132
7. Blueyed $2,262
8. d_waldstein $1,682