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FTOPS II – Event I – Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

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Leaves on the ground, football on TV, and large sums of money up for grabs on Full Tilt Poker can only mean one thing – it’s time for this fall’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). FTOPS II kicked off on Saturday with a new event and an earlier start time to cater to a growing number of European participants.

Six hundred and twenty-four players entered the $200+$16 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Event, creating a prize pool of nearly $125,000. After more than five-and-a-half hours of play, the field was whittled down to the final table. One of nine remaining players was going to take home $24,000, an FTOPS gold jersey, and the new FTOPS gold jersey avatar given to all FTOPS Winners.

Player	Chips
jhizzle24	494,964
cpfactor	287,897
SHLDBFISHING	275,412
mmmadd	234,849
clown god	146,280
gottabpostve	145,753
AAAAJ	135,569
troyomac	78,204
AofHearts	73,072

Jhizzle24 had a comfortable chip lead going in, but he had plenty of capable players willing to relieve him of it. Four of the players won satellites into the event and were going for the ultimate parlay. AAAAJ and AofHearts have both won the Sunday Night HORSE Tournament on Full Tilt, showing their ability to play all games well. Clown god is a regular in the PL and NL Omaha Hi/Lo cash games on Full Tilt. And cpfactor is a rising star in the tournament world, both live and online. He cashed in two events during FTOPS I and won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event seat and a trip to the 2007 Aussie Millions on Full Tilt. He also has three WSOP cashes, and two World Poker Tour final table finishes in the last two years. Cpfactor had to be a favorite going in, starting second in chips.

The blinds started at 4,000-8,000, and jhizzle24 wasted no time adding to his chip lead. On the second hand of the final table, SHLDBFISHING raised to 24,000 pre-flop, and got a call from jhizzle24 and mmmadd. The flop came Jh 2h 6c, and jhizzle24 checked. SHLDBFISHING bet another 24,000, which was called by mmmadd. Jhizzle24 check-raised to 172,000, putting both players to the test. SHLDBFISHING didn’t want to be the first player out, but mmmadd called, leaving himself 40,000 chips.

After a Ks on the turn, the money went in. jhizzle24 showed 9d Ah Qh Jc, and mmmadd was in great shape with 4s Kh 3d Ad. Needing to dodge a Queen, Jack or Nine to take the chip lead, it was not in the cards for mmmadd. A Jd hit the river, giving jhizzle24 a huge chip lead and sending mmmadd to the rail. Mmmadd made an FTOPS final table and won $2,000 in his first ever tournament on Full Tilt. Not bad for your first day.

After a few split pots, it was time for a short stack to go. AofHearts called a raise with 9h 9s Ah 4s in a three way pot. The flop came 5s 3s 5c and AAAAJ bet the pot. AofHearts had a lot of potential, but after a 5h and 3h came, his low didn’t materialize and his high was no match for AAAAJ’s quad fives. AofHearts cashed for more than $2,600 after winning a $26 satellite into the event.

With seven players remaining, who would step up to challenge jhizzle24?

Player	Chips
jhizzle24	791,813
cpfactor	272,397
AAAAJ	211,141
SHLDBFISHING	202,412
gottabpostve	183,753
clown god	136,280
troyomac	74,204

Troyomac was forced to make a move and found a good spot with 3d Ac 2s As. He got it in against jhizzle24’s Kd Ad Jc 9c, and the Aces held up for 150,000 pot.

Clown god was the second to chip away at jhizzle24. In yet another three-way pot, clown god got most of his chips in on a flop of Jd Ad 8h. jhizzle24 made the call with a flush draw, Kh Kd 6d 6s, but clown god’s Ac 5h 2c 9d was good enough for a scoop, moving him into second place:

Player	Chips
jhizzle24	586,329
clown god	326,560
cpfactor	258,397
gottabpostve	233,753
AAAAJ	171,141
troyomac	148,408
SHLDBFISHING	147,412

SHLDBFISHING had a frustrating final table. After starting virtually tied for second place, he had raised several pots pre-flop and been forced to lay down on the flop. His final hand was equally frustrating, as he bluffed his chips on a Th 6s 6d flop. AAAAJ was happy to go to war with 6c 6h 2c Ac, having hit four-of-a-kind for the second time at the final table. SHLDBFISHING was another happy satellite story, managing a $3,300 payday from a $26 satellite win.

Jhizzle24 managed to regain some momentum in a very strange hand with AAAAJ. In another three-way pot, all players checked the flop of 2s Jc Ts. Jhizzle24 bet the pot on the 7h turn. He was hoping for a fold with his 3c Ac Qh 4c, but he did have some outs each way. AAAAJ made the call for a quarter of his stack. A 6d hit the river, and jhizzle24 bet the pot again with just the nut low. AAAAJ made the call with 8d Ah 5d 3h, also just the nut low. Jhizzle24’s AQ was good for the high, giving him 3/4ths of a massive pot.

A few hands later, gottabpostve made his last stand with Kh Ad 3d Kc. Troyomac, with many fans on the rail, had already raised, and threw the rest of his chips in with Ac 9c 2d 4h. Much to the rail’s delight, troyomac hit a wheel, scooping gottabpostve. Cpfactor polished off gottabpostve on the next hand with As 4s Ac 2s, ending his title run in sixth place. Gottabpostve earned almost $4,500 for his sixth-place finish, once again stemming from a $26 satellite win.

Jhizzle24 still held a strong chip lead, but he had looked vulnerable at times. Clearly, he was willing to bully shorter stacks, and play a lot of hands if he had a chance to eliminate a player. Having caught on to this, cpfactor was the first to take advantage.

With the blinds up to 6,000-12,000, cpfactor raised to 38,000 with Kh 4s Js As. Jhizzle24 defended his big blind with Kd Qc 7c 9h. The flop came Td Ks 6h, giving jhizzle24 top pair and a double-gut shot straight draw. Jhizzle24 checked, and cpfactor bet 62,000. jhizzle24 check-raised, essentially putting cpfactor all-in. cpfactor made a good call with one pair, having a lot of jhizzle24’s outs blocked. Cpfactor’s hand held, giving him a 560,000 pot, and moving him into the chip lead:

Player	Chips
cpfactor	559,484
jhizzle24	441,587
clown god	361,560
troyomac	336,816
AAAAJ	172,553

After a few rounds without a showdown, troyomac lost half his stack by getting quartered. With the board showing 8h Ts 2s 7h, troyomac had the nut straight with Jd 9h 2h Ad, but jhizzle24 had a good freeroll with Tc 5c Jh Ah, giving him a flush draw and a gutshot for the high. The river brought the 5h, giving the high to jhizzle24 and giving both players the same low.

AAAAJ hadn’t won a big hand since making quads twice. With blinds at 8,000-16,000, he limped in the small blind with Qh 6h 6s Ac. Cpfactor raised from the big blind with 6d 2c 2h As, and AAAAJ made the call for 40% of his chips. The flop came 2d Qs 6c, giving both players a set. But the tables turned on AAAAJ. The case 2 hit the board, giving cpfactor four deuces, and leaving AAAAJ drawing dead. After a rollercoaster final table, he managed to add $6,000 to his lifetime winnings on Full Tilt Poker.

The pot gave cpfactor a narrow chip lead, and left us with two short stacks fighting for survival:

Player	Chips
cpfactor	759,037
jhizzle24	717,995
clown god	197,560
troyomac	197,408

Cpfactor stayed hot, scooping the next hand against jhizzle24 for a 200,000 pot, and winning the next few hands uncontested. Not wanting to blind away in order to move up one spot, the short stacks managed to get all-in against each other twice. The first time resulted in a chop, but the second would be the end for troyomac, and the beginning of something big for clown god.

With the blinds up to 8,000-16,000, clown god raised to 48,000 with Ac Ad 7c Kd. Troyomac found a good enough hand with 2d As 6c 8d, making him a 3:2 underdog. The rest of the hand is pretty well summed up by a member of troyomac’s fan club:

pocketrockets11 (Observer): low

*** FLOP *** [Jc 9d Qh]

pocketrockets11 (Observer): sigh

troyomac was down to 30,000 after the hand, but managed to double up twice with scooped pots. Back up to 100,000, he got all-in again with 8h 2s Kh Ad, and flopped an Ace to scoop clown god’s Ac 5c Td Ts.

With the blinds up to 10,000-20,000, troyomac raised once again. Cpfactor called from the small blind, and checked after the Ks As 5h flop. Troyomac moved all with a good hand, Ad 4h 8c Qh, but cpfactor had set a good trap with 6s 5s 2d Ac, giving him two pair, a flush draw, and a better low draw. Cpfactor scooped, and troyomac, who started in a $24+$2 Sit & Go Satellite, ended up fourth in FTOPS Event #1 – collecting almost $8,000. His fans should be proud.

With three players left, cpfactor was in the driver’s seat:

Player	Chips
cpfactor	1,196,125
jhizzle24	508,147
clown god	167,728

It looked like it would come down to cpfactor and jhizzle24 for the title, but jhizzle24 had shown a tendency to play big pots at this final table. Three handed would be no exception.

With blinds at 10,000-20,000, jhizzle24 limped in on the small blind. Cpfactor raised the pot with Ac 9s Ah 6h, and jhizzle24 made the call. Cpfactor caught a decent flop, with 7h Jd 8h. jhizzle24 checked, cpfactor bet the pot, and jhizzle24 check-raised like he had done all day. Cpfactor moved all-in, and jhizzle24 made the call with Tc 9c Jh Ts, giving him the nut straight. However, Cpfactor was in good shape with a live low draw and flush draw, and the 9h on the turn sealed the deal.

Jhizzle24 showed a lot of aggression and willingness to gamble at the final table, but unfortunately the nut straight just didn’t hold up in his last hand. This event gave jhizzle24 $10,296, and also gave Full Tilt a new tournament player to watch out for.

Heads-up play pitted the red-hot tournament player against the Omaha cash-game specialist. With an 8:1 chip lead, it was hard to bet against cpfactor. But as we’ve seen in past FTOPS events, having the chip lead heads up is no guarantee of winning.

Clown god got lucky early when his Ah 3d Kd 8s cracked cpfactor’s 9s Ac Ad 3h. The next two hands, clown god made big re-raises on the flop and got cpfactor to lay down. With the early momentum, clown god was one double-up away from pulling even.

Clown god got his chance when he raised with Ts 2d Ks Ac heads up. Cpfactor called with 5d Jh Ad 6d, and called off two big bets on the flop and turn with the board showing Ah Qh 8c 8s. cpfactor was drawing dead to a low, which missed when another Q hit the river. The chips were even, and the momentum was heavily in favor of clown god.

Play was very tentative once the stacks were equal, as no showdowns were seen for several hands. Cpfactor was getting the best of the small exchanges early, but clown god started winning some bigger pots later, still without a showdown.

Clown god was ahead 1.1 million to 800,000 when the last hand was dealt. As tight as play had been heads up, and as well as both these players had played at the final table, it was no surprise they both had premium hands when the money went in pre-flop. Cpfactor had a great hand, As Ad Jh Th, but was extremely unlucky to get in against clown god’s 2c 5h Ah Ac, making him about a 2:1 underdog.

The flop left cpfactor nearly dead: 2h 2d 8h. clown god had trips and the better flush draw. And in a fitting end, the turn card brought the 2s. For the fourth time at the final table, in a big pot, someone had made quads.

Cpfactor’s wonderful play at the final table adds more credentials to his resume as a rising poker superstar. He left the tournament with $15,000 and an increased hunger for his first FTOPS victory.

However, it was clown god who played a textbook final table. He played solid poker throughout, let the bigger stacks bust each other, and waited until he was heads up to make his move. He took home $24,000 in cash, an FTOPS gold jersey, the new FTOPS avatar, and he owns the biggest Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo cash in Full Tilt tournament history.

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