Scott Fischman ran deep in The $100K Double Deuce

I picked Scott Fischman as my sacrificial lamb to put at the top of the Big Money Sunday writeup. He survived the big donkament to finish in 27th out of nearly 9,000 players.  It seems like no big deal that a red letter pro made it deep in a $20 buyin tournament but this event isn’t your average hourly small buyin game.  The action continues to be mind boggling but it seems Michael Craig has come up with a workable strategy against the field.

“…avoiding ace-paint except in late position for a big raise, not playing any strong starting hand without an over-bet raise, and limping in late position with any two cards. All these ideas were in response to four or five players limping into every pot. It was remarkable to me that so many people play that way. I definitely had to adjust to playing with so many players who limp.”

Fischman was high on the leaderboard as were dropping quickly, I actually considered we might have a red letter pro finally make a final table in the Double Deuce.  But as the field was reduced he seemed to find a bullseye on his back.  If he opened a pot, 9 out of 10 times he would get three-bet.  And not a small re-pop but most likely a big overshove that would take post-flop play out of his hands.

Certainly a valid strategy when going up against a superior opponent, but you could sense the frustration and he was eventually eliminated in 27th.

We had plenty of big names in the other games on Sunday.  Philip “USCphildo” Collins made the final table of the Sunday Brawl, Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen just missing the final table of the Sunday Mulligan, and “drunk mashimaro” making the third Sunday Mulligan final table in a month.

Big Money Sunday details after the jump.

Big Money Sunday brought out over 15,000 players (even more if you include the Extra Holiday $100K tournament) shooting for $1,600,000 in prize money.  It seems holiday time brought a bunch of players out to the tables looking to earn some money to knock out those credit card bills from gift shopping.  Every tournament made it’s guarantee so they had some big fields to negotiate.

- Philip “USCphildo” Collins was the big name at the final table of The Sunday Brawl, he has a Monday $1k win and this final table gets him near $900,000 in career tournament earning on Full Tilt alone.  He finished third this evening for just over $40,000. Ali Sarkeshik was the highest finishing red letter pro, finishing in 73rd for $637.

- The $100k Double Deuce has turned into a monster of it’s own.  Since the 7,000 max player limit was increased the field has been near 9,000 players.  Scott Fischman was the highest finishing FTP pro and Michael Craig also cashed.  I’d be surprised if the players didn’t turn off observer chat once the field was down to 3 or 4 tables.  As someone who’s job it is to spend time on the rails, it’s become disturbing at some of the comments I’m seeing.  God bless anyone who can get through this deep field on a regular basis.

- “TheTotalPkg” went to the final table of the $750,000 Guarantee with the biggest credentials amongst the players, having a $170,000 3rd place finish in FTOPS IX Main Event. Brandon Adams and Mike Gracz were the longest lasting pros.

- The Sunday Mulligan had two big online names going for the title.  “uuhhhicall” sported his FTOPS avatar at the final table as the winner of FTOPS VI Event 8. “drunk mashimaro” came in as the hot player in The Sunday Mulligan. He has a Sunday Mulligan win on November 23rd, a second place just a week later on November 30th. He added a third to his resume this evening.

Here are your final table chip counts and results:

The Sunday Brawl
Entrants: 2,057
Prizepool: $411,400
First place: $83,905.03

Griffendore – 2,218,480
USCphildo – 989,092
Kameleont – 886,482
KAFFEPUNCH – 720,675
jedsampson20 – 345,608
DG101 – 298,720
XavierCalcada – 297,193
joenguyenn – 249,050
luckyshades – 165,700

1st – Griffendore – $83,905
2nd – luckyshades – $54,304
3rd – USCphildo – $40,317
4th – DG101 – $30,443
5th – KAFFEPUNCH – $21,392
6th – Kameleont – $13,987
7th – jedsampson20 – $9,462
8th – XavierCalcada – $6,582
9th – joenguyenn – $4,936

The $100K Double Deuce
Entrants: 8,592
Prizepool: $171,840
First place: $29,645.84

jfoodstudio – 4,941,966
postbanken – 4,612,933
gsweetshot – ~4,100,000
dcsparky – ~3,900,000
DL HARLEY – 3,231,725
toporu – 2,754,693
dhutt24 – 2,269,789
smoggi111 – 1,066,255
harjag – 701,358

1st – toporu – $29,645
2nd – smoggi111 – $17,957
3rd – DL HARLEY – $11,547
4th – jfoodstudio – $9,021
5th – postbanken – $6,787
6th – dcsparky – $5,069
7th – gsweetshot – $3,952
8th – dhutt24 – $3,007
9th – harjag – $2,233

$750,000 Guarantee
Entrants: 3,905
Prizepool: $781,000
First place: $138,276

KipsterDK – 2,470,000
Tulsa Tony – 1,885,994
Jasonrisc – 1,767,772
NewBornBaby – 1,307,822
jochee – 1,288,914
Wonky – 1,056,232
mc4chess – 1,025,791
StarMaker – 549,755
TheTotalPkg – 362,720

1st – jochee – $138,276
2nd – KipsterDK – $83,567
3rd – Tulsa Tony – $54,670
4th – TheTotalPkg – $43,111
5th – Jasonrisc – $32,333
6th – Wonky – $23,976
7th – mc4chess – $17,963
8th – NewBornBaby – $14,058
9th – StarMaker – $10,465

The Sunday Mulligan
Entrants: 1,170
Prizepool: $234,000
First place: $52,650

DarkHorse19 – 727,515
drunk mashimaro – 620,745
Ezmann – 476,309
uuhhhicall – 426,773
CzarBushov – 336,328
Vortex2099 – 287,922
KUZZ11 – 258,914
PostflopAction – 224,115
this is punny – 151,379

1st – EZmann – $52,650
2nd – Vortex2099 – $33,345
3rd – drunk mashimaro – $24,687
4th – this is puny – $19,305
5th – DarkHorse19 – $14,625
6th – CzarBushov – $10,530
7th – PostflopAction – $7,020
8th – uuhhicall – $5,265
9th – KUZZ11 – $3,744

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Big Money Sunday – December 28th

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1. Big Money Sunday – November 30th
2. Big Money Sunday – December 21st
3. Big Money Sunday – December 7th

Scott Fischman makes WSoP-E Final Table

The dreams of a mostly Full Tilt pro final table at the World Series of Poker Europe went out the window quickly with Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow and Brandon Adams going out almost in succession. The final table table still shows a chance for an FTP WSoP-E Main Event champion with John Juanda leading the field and Scott Fischman making an outstanding showing.

Also at the final table will be Ivan Demidov who has probably set an unbeatable record. Demidov already had his seat at the big table for the WSoP Main Event scheduled to be played in November. Incredible feat as Scott Fischman kept reminding him throughout the day as the players continued to get knocked out around him.

Full Tilt pro finishing place and cash:

17th – Brandon Adams – £36,200
18th – Mike Matusow – £36,200
19th – Erik Seidel – £28,960
23rd – Andy Bloch – £28,960
33rd – Josh Arieh – £25,340

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Two Full Tilt pros make the final table

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1. 2008 World Series of Poker Europe – Day 3 Full Tilt Pros
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Why do a bunch of the pros waste their time playing the low limit games and tournaments on Full Tilt Poker? Are they broke and building their bankroll, or is there another explanation for these strange occurrences?

As far as I know (and any knowledge I have should be taken with a grain of salt), none of the pros playing the smaller-stakes games are doing it because they’re broke and trying to build a bankroll. You see a bunch of guys like Lee Watkinson, Scott Fischman and Aaron Bartley playing some of the smaller tournaments (as in $24 or less), but I’m pretty sure they’re playing them because they’re nice guys and it’s pretty cool for us small-stakes ballers to get to play at the same table as some of the pros. I’m told our slogan is “learn, chat and play with the pros,” so it really wouldn’t be fair if only the high-stakes players got to play with them. I’m sure Lee, Scott, and Aaron really aren’t playing those tourneys to increase their bankroll; it’s their way of giving back to all the players on the site who can’t afford to sit down at pro limits.

One exception to this rule might be one of our German pros, Chris Klecz. I see her playing the $24 + $2 tourneys all the time, way too often to just be “giving back” to the players on the site. I have absolutely no idea what her bankroll is at these days, but something tells me she’s grinding those tourneys for a reason (i.e. must feed her children?). If I’m wrong Chris and you’re doing this as a way to connect to the low-stakes players, then I apologize. But I don’t think I’m wrong…

Whatever happened to Sit & Go Madness? Will you guys be running that again sometime soon?

That’s a great question; I’m not really sure what happened to SNG Madness. As far as I know, we will be running it again someday. I inquired to minds greater than my own about this matter, but I was told to “shut up and return to your dungeon, slave.” So we see how much respect I get around here at the office. At any rate, my best guess is that you will see the return of SNG Madness sometime in the next few months, but don’t hold your breath in the meantime. If you prefer to hold your breath, there’s really nothing I can do to stop you, but I’m told a lack of oxygen can be bad for your health.

Personally, I’m not too sad about the recent lack of SNG Madnesses. The last time that promotion rolled around I wound up sinking about half of my bankroll into trying win as many $2 SNGs as possible. And yes, upon reading that statement I will now go cry my eyes out on my extra large pilla…

Who is this Bond18 guy, and why is he on Poker From The Rail?

For those of you not in the know, Bond18 is a fellow poker blogger we’ve contracted to travel around the world in 90 days, hit up as many live donkaments as possible, and write trip reports for us. So far he’s been to tourneys in Italy and France and he’s currently donking it up at the WSOP on a daily basis. Check out all his stuff here – it’s pretty good reading, especially if you like hearing about the horrifyingly painful beats laid upon an online guy trying his hand at the live scene.

That’s it for this week folks. Sorry to be so brief, but the madness here at the office is reaching a peak and I need to head back to my dungeon for another round on the rack. Pray for my soul people, I need all the help I can get. Until next week…

Post from: Poker From The Rail

Reader Mail: Low Limit and Beyond

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OK, now that my mandatory corporate duty is fulfilled for the day, let’s get on to the good stuff. On Monday I gave you an update for FTOPS events 1-9; today I’ll be covering 10-18. Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road:

To the winners of events 10-18, a hardy round of congratulations is in order. Winning a large donkament is no small task, so I give my salute to all of you. Of course, what I’m really doing is cursing you all under my breath because jealously has overwhelmed my system and turned me into some kind of raging hulk-like being. But nevertheless, congrats! Here are the winners and their winnings from events 10-18:

Event #10: lilkimmer77 – $51,165

Event #11: Halfrek – $342,495

Event #12: DaEvils – $104,696

Event #13: the aviator1 – $70,381.65

Event #14: dud711 – $87,290.60

Event #15: Siggen – $42,872

Event #16: stuckmyass – $236,188.80

Event #17: OUSOONERS24 – $45,290

Event #18: eagle1829 – $38,749.50 

Never mind winning one of these things, it’s hard enough just to make the final table of any FTOPS donkament. So it goes without saying that making two final tables during any FTOPS must be damn near impossible – think again. We’ve had four players make at least two final tables during FTOPS VIII, so they must be doing something right. Or just getting incredibly lucky (so says the jealousy and bitterness coursing through my veins). Here are those players who should have no problem paying their rent on time for at least the next few months:

whothedonk: Event #1 (for the win) and Event #10

xqsays: Event #9 and Event #16

Madame Maria: Event #10 and Event #12

hamazriya: Event #10 and Event #15

As you can see, the final table for Event #10 was loaded with three of the four multi final-table finishers. Whatever cereal those guys are eating for breakfast, I want in on it.

In a completely unrelated yet somehow relatable shout out, I feel the need to give some love to past FTOPS winners who found themselves at a final table during FTOPS VIII. So Klausen, SmokinOkun, mishiefofmagic, and Kavin86 – this one’s for you guys. Somebody once told me it’s better to run good at life and bad at poker, but screw that. I’d give up my job, my imaginary girlfriend, and my ’86 Honda Civic for the chance to make an FTOPS final table. OK, maybe not the Civic…

In a development as stunning as the weird growth bulging from the side of my neck, two (yes, two!) red Full Tilt Poker pros made the final table of Event #18, the Razz tourney. Both Jens Voertmann and Marco Traniello (aka, Mr. Jen Harman) low-balled their way to the final table, and then promptly were the first two players knocked out. Fear not though, as both players have even more piles of cash to bath in now, as Voertmann took home almost $2,500 and Traniello just over $3,500. Not mind blowing numbers by any means, but enough to get a nice haircut.

As for our other pros, Berry Johnston and Scott Fischman continue to lead the charge. Both have numerous FTOPS cashes and are ranked in the top 20 of the FTOPS VIII Leaderboard. Speaking of which…

They call it a Leaderboard, but I’ve never seen it lead…

The race is on for the top spot on the Leaderboard, and the competition is fierce heading down the homestretch. The top five players are all within 43 points of each other, with Tridynamo leading the way with 339 points. Not surprisingly, xqsays and whothedonk rank second and third and are only a few points behind Tridynamo. The winner will receive their very own personalized avatar, which is not as good as money, but perhaps slightly better than a swift kick to the crotch. I joke, I joke. Of course, some people actually pay money to get kicked in the crotch on a regular basis. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

That’s all for right now. It’s Friday and the only thing on my mind are a few nice pints at the pub and Event #19, a good old fashioned vanilla flavored $200 + $16 NLH tourney. Check back on Monday for my final FTOPS recap, which promises to be filled with large sums of astronomical figures and even more snide and untimely comments. Good luck to all the participants of the final six FTOPS events, have a great weekend…

Post from: Poker From The Rail

FTOPS Madness!

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