FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#963 – FTOPS XV, Event #1, Part I – Only the Winners

Posted by Editor | Filed under FTOPS

Like over 5,000 others on Wednesday night, I began my attempt to cash in on the FTOPS XV action. Because, unlike almost everybody else, I have to write about the experience (both as participant and reporter), I was taking frantic notes. (In fact, I jumped the gun by a couple of hours, carefully writing down my experiences in the satellites leading to Event #1 and opening the Pro Chat box so I could catch every cagey word of host Erik Seidel.) I am always at a loss on how to cover an online tournament.

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I started playing and taking notes at 5:30 PM. (All times are local, meaning Mountain Standard Time, two hours behind Server Time.) I busted from FTOPS #1 at 11:20 PM, exactly twenty minutes BEFORE the money. I was eliminated from my last tournament, the Turbo Hundo, at 1:55 AM. Especially because Chris Ferguson was near the chip lead, I stuck around to watch until he busted in 27^th at 4:02 AM. When I woke up this morning, I learned that the tournament ended at 7:18 AM, just 12:18 (including breaks) after it began. The final table was a 162-hand slugfest in which just 2 players busted in the first 70 hands.

There is so much to write about that I could conceivably skipped the rest of FTOPS and focus only on different perspectives on the first event. I’m not going to do that, of course. But I may provide greater coverage for some events than others, and this is one on which I definitely want to focus.

Where to start?

The most logical place is at the end. After all, everyone wants to see the baby but few want to hear about the labor.

After more than 12 hours, 161 final-table hands, and the combined efforts of 5,646 players, SolidGoldman24k (“Solid”) and PHHSKid99 (“PHH”) played the final hand of FTOPS XV Event #1, $200 + $16 NLHE-SS. With the elimination of MiltOnTilt (“Milt”) in third place, PHH held a huge chip lead of approximately 24 million to 4.2 million. In 19 hands heads-up at 120k-240k/30k ante, however, Solid took over the lead.

On the 20^th hand, Solid limped on the button and PHH raised to 720k; Solid called. After a flop of 6s-4h-Ah, PHH bet 500k into the 1.5 million pot. Solid pushed all-in for 16 million and PHH called with his remaining chips.

Solid had slowplayed A-4 from the start and flopped two-pair. PHH, obviously hoping to steal the pot by representing an ace, had just 4-2 for third-pair. An ace on the turn gave Solid an unbeatable full house and the victory.

But there were no losers here – other than me and nearly 5,000 others who paid for the party. Due to a negotiated split prior to heads-up play, PHH turned his huge chip lead into a guaranteed payout of $175,782.63. Solid received second-place money of $134,374.00 and they played for approximately $17,000, boosting Solid’s total take to $151,685.37.

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