FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#332 – FTOPS VII Event #1 – 118 Minutes to Live – Part A

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TedForrestFan outlasted me. I outlasted sammymorb. Sammy outlasted AMERICAN IDOL. And we all outlasted David Benyamine, who I busted by luring him into trying a giant bluff. It was a wild night of big hands, tough decisions, camaraderie, and strategy. And it lasted just one hour and fifty-eight minutes.

I’m putting this entry together throughout the day on Thursday, Feb. 7, the day after the event. Because I’m also running errands, picking up kids, watching Event #2 – PLO KO – and playing in Event #3, preparing a comprehensive narrative of the experience of Event #1 and posting it quickly is just impossible. And it’s going to be longer than a single post anyway, so I’d rather ship you as much as I can as fast as I can, compared with crafting the entire spellbinding story but not delivering it until a much later date. Also, I’m getting lots of requests for pictures of Theresa (TedForrestFan) who won one of my contest entries on the claim of a resemblance to the red-headed avatar and a promise to display that resemblance.

I’M A POKER PLAYER – WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

When I arrived home after a long afternoon of driving and errands, it was 6:55 PM, just five minutes before the start of the opening event of FTOPS VII, $200 + $16 NLHE. I needed to set up my computer for audio, video, instant message, sending and receiving e-mails, taking notes, etc. etc. etc. I needed to make contact with my two horses, the winners of “Michael Craig is Giving it Away,” who I (well, Uncle Tilty) staked in the opening event. I also wanted to check on a half-dozen other players who were in the event.

Oh, and I decided to play it too.

How could I not? Even though I barely had time to sit down in my office – which was piled with Val’s homework, overdue bills, notes and e-mails and drafts from “Michael Craig is Giving it Away”, questions about the French translation of the STRATEGY GUIDE, recently-bought books, and loads of other clutter – I saw tournament entries would reach 5,000. That’s $1 million. No way I could claim a piece of that cheese without entering, so I entered.

Fun Fact # 1 – Event #1 drew 5,319 entries for a prize pool of $1,063,800.

Fun Fact # 2 – The total entry money – buy-in plus entry fees – for Event #1 was $1,148,904. Full Tilt’s rake for the event was $85,104.

Fun Fact # 3 – It took the World Series of Poker fifteen years to field an event with a larger total entry pool than Event # 1. That was the Main Event in 1984, the fifteenth World Championship, which was won by Jack Keller.

Fun Fact #4 – That 1984 Main Event was won by Jack Keller. According to WorldSeriesofPoker.com, 4th place was taken by Full Tilt pro David Chiu. I haven’t had the means of contacting David but there’s a decent chance it’s not the same guy. According to the WSOP database, Chiu was born August 23, 1960. They have several cashes for him from 1981 to 1989 (including one on May 17, 1981, when he would have been three months shy of his 21st birthday) and then nothing until 1996, after which they have the impressive record that’s certain that of the Full Tilt pro – 4 bracelets, nearly $2 million in earnings. The Hendon Mob Database credits him with several 1980s cashes but not the 1984 final table. The Card Player database has his first WSOP cash as his 1996 win in $2,000 Limit Hold ‘Em. Whether it was the same guy or not, the 4th place finisher in 1984 received $66,000. Eppy1, who finished 4th in Event #1, took home nearly $56,000. And Full Tilt’s David Chiu, who played in Event #1, finished 4302nd, which was short of the money.

Fun Fact #5 – It was a spectacularly unsuccessful night for the Full Tilt pros. 38 red pros played, for a total entry cost of $8,208. Only 1 of 38 cashed, PearlJammed. He finished 160th, earning $694.47. The next highest red finish was TheWacoKidd, at 918th, still almost 200 from the money.

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