FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#129 – FTOPS #1A – It’s an FTOPS explosion … and I blew up

Posted by Editor | Filed under Uncategorized

FTOPS is going to be very, very big. Tonight’s $200 +$16 NLHE had a $300,000 Guarantee, meaning they expected around 1,500 to play. They got 2,573 for a prize pool of over half a million dollars. I contributed my share and grabbed myself a primo seat on the rail to watch almost all of it.

Here are the numbers:

2,573 players. 351 will be paid. First place pays $94,000. Second, $58,000. Third, $38,000. Final table makes at least $7,000. Bottom dollar is $308.76.

At the first break:

1,991 still standing, with average chips of 3,876. The leader, Sitremba, has 15,822. There are a lot of players in close pursuit. Huckleberry Seed leads with pros with over 7,900. Huck went deep in several events at the last FTOPS and I swear he’s primed for a big WSOP this year. Karina Jett is right behind with 7,880.

Berry Johnston, 6,200; Toto Leonidas, 5,400;

Mike Matusow has 4,800. I started watching him after I busted. He had 6,200 and played almost every hand to the break. He’s not in hanging-around-for-my-rush mode. I expect him to be around the top or the bottom by the next break.

Lynette Chan, 4,700; Jim McManus, 4,400.

Rafe Furst has 3,600. He is two seats to the right of Lynette Chan. David Chiu, 3,300. Chip Jett, 2,500.

Kristy Gazes, the host of tonight’s event, has 2,100. I was trying to arrange a last-longer bet between us. We discussed it briefly at the WPT Championship but nothing specific. I had a cool bet set up with Clonie Gowen for her event, #9, but she had to pull out of that event due to a schedule conflict. If she lasted longer, I would have to take care of all her laundry one day at the WSOP. If I lasted longer, she’d have to give me a neck massage at the table at the start of the of the WSOP events.

Kristy probably would have been game for something unusual. She and Clonie Gowen bet a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes at the Heads-Up Championship. She had some kind of bet in her match with Scott Fischmann that involved a lap dance.

But I don’t know Kristy that well and don’t have her cell number. I was stuck e-mailing her while traveling to Detroit for my Dad’s 70th birthday celebration and Mother’s Day weekend with my Mom and mother-in-law Elaine. Kristy’s been slow accumulating chips, but I never heard back from her so I told in from the rail just after 9:30 PM (EST) that it’s a good thing she didn’t take me up on the bet.

David Singer is hanging on with 1,600. At least he HAS chips at the first break. Aaron Bartley finished 2155th. Paul Sexton went out 2290th. But I get the red collar for event number 1, going out 2330th.

I lasted just a half hour and suffered death by a thousand cuts, most of them self-inflicted. Seated to the left of Annette_15, one of the most successful online tournament players in the world, I lost a load calling her raise in the big blind, hitting top pair, calling bets on the flop and turn, and folding to a bet on the river when an ace hit. I lost a bunch of chips raising with pocket pairs, getting called, and eventually getting raised off the my pocket pairs when I didn’t improve and overcards hit the board. On another hand, I raised with my draw, got called, and eventually had my opponent push all-in.

After a half hour, down to less than 900 chips, I reraised all-in with 7-7. The player behind me on the button pushed all-in with kings and I was done.

Played bad, felt crummy about it. I played some very good poker and some mediocre poker during the last FTOPS and went zero for $2,000. This was a mediocre poker night.

I’ll check in on the FTOPS later this evening, though I have to pick up my son Barry from the airport. We all flew from Arizona to Detroit but Barry had a test in school he had to take so he doesn’t get in until after midnight. I was hoping that I could make Jo Anne drive the streets of Detroit in the middle of the night because “I’m in a tournament babe, sorry.” But there are still other tournaments so let me see if I can find something to play where I WON’T bust in 27 seconds.

I’ll try to give you some more stuff later, if I have any. My attendance will be sporadic on Saturday and Sunday, but I’ll try to follow the tourneys a little and report. I mean, my Dad will always have other 70th birthdays, right?

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