Full Tilt Online Poker Series Event No. 5: $350,000-Guaranteed No-Limit Sixhanded
Another day, another unneeded guarantee. The fifth event in the Full Tilt Online Poker Series III (FTOPS III) easily surpassed the posted guarantee once again. The event was a $350,000-guaranteed six-handed no-limit tournament, but the 2,070 entrants made the actual prize pool come to $414,000.
After 2,064 players had bitten the dust, bigwinner02 sat down at the final table with $1.7 million and the chip lead. Two other players had broken into over $1 million in chips as well, Smokinokun with $1.6 million and ChesapeakeChubs with $1.2 million, while byosti was the table's short stack with just $317,000.
Despite byosti being the short stack, SwedePhenom wasn't too far ahead when the final table started, with $426,000, and he ended up being the first player eliminated just four minutes into the final table action. ChesapeakeChubs raised to $170,000, with the big blind at $34,000, and SwedePhenom, now with $257,000 in his stack, pushed all in. ChesapeakeChubs called and showed A
8
and was behind against SwedePhenom's pocket jacks. The board ran out 9 5 5 K 3 and neither of SwedePhenom's jacks was a spade, so ChesapeakeChubs' flush with the 8 was good enough to take down the pot. SwedePhenom collected $13,248 before exiting in sixth.
Byosti was still the short stack, but he avoided being the next player eliminated once again. In the next elimination hand, five minutes later, Mikey73 raised to $100,000 preflop. Smokinokun pushed all in for $1.7 million, having Mikey73 covered by over $700,000, and Mikey73 called and showed K J
. He was behind against Smokinokun's pocket eights as the board ran out 5 4 3
A A. Neither player improved, aside from the board pairing, and Mikey73 was eliminated in fifth ($19,665).
The next hand would secure a nice-sized chip lead for one player. Smokinokun raised to $85,000 preflop, with the big blind now at $40,000, and bigwinner02 reraised up to $275,000. Smokinokun pushed all in over the top for $2.6 million total and bigwinner02 called all in for $1.8 million and showed pocket queens. He was behind when Smokinokun turned over pocket kings. The flop was the best possible news for bigwinner02 when it came Q Q 10, giving him quad queens. With the A on the turn, the pot was his and he doubled up.
A little over 10 minutes later, it was ChesapeakeChubs in the short stack with $544,000. He raised to $120,000 preflop and byosti reraised to $640,000. ChesapeakeChubs called all in and showed pocket eights and was well behind against byosti's pocket queens. The flop all but sealed the deal when it came Q 10 4, giving byosti a set, and the turn and river finalized the elimination with the 7 and the 9. ChesapeakeChubs earned $27,531 for fourth place.
Bigwinner02 was still leading the stacks going into three-way play, with $3.7 million in chips. Byosti, the short stack entering the table, was now in second place with a very respectable $1.7 million. Smokinokun was in third with $815,000 and had some catching up to do. He did just that within five minutes of three-way play when he raised to $110,000 preflop and bigwinner02 reraised up to $300,000. Smokinokun pushed all in over the top for his now $855,000 in chips and bigwinner02 called and showed A K. Smokinokun held the lead with pocket tens as the board ran out 10 7 2 4 7, giving him an unneeded full house to double through the chip leader.
Smokinokun kept the ball rolling and pulled himself into the chip lead four minutes later. Byosti raised to $120,000, with the big blind at $50,000, and Smokinokun pushed all in over the top for $1.6 million. Byosti called all in, with just $96,000 less than Smokinokun, and showed pocket jacks. Smokinokun revealed A Q and needed help. That help came when the flop put out the K Q 3, giving him a pair of queens for the lead. The turn was the 7 and the river the 5 and Smokinokun raked in the pot to eliminate byosti in third ($36,639) and become the new chip leader with $3.3 million.
Bigwinner02 started the heads-up match close behind Smokinokun with $2.9 million in chips, but his stack was severely diminished over a series of hands early on until he was down to under $1 million. Nevertheless, the heads-up battle lasted over a half hour until the final hand, although bigwinner02 made little progress rebuilding his stack in that time. Smokinokun raised to $180,000 preflop, with the big blind at $80,000, and bigwinner02 pushed all in for $980,000. Smokinokun called and showed K Q and was dominating bigwinner02's Q 9. The board paired, but otherwise missed both players' hands, and Smokinokun took down the final pot to win the tournament. Bigwinner02 got a $52,371 payday for second place while Smokinokun earned $82,303 and an exclusive, gold FTOPS jersey avatar for his victory.
The final standings were:
1) Smokinokun – $82,303
2) bigwinner02 – $52,371
3) byosti – $36,639
4) ChesapeakeChubs – $27,531
5) Mikey73 – $19,665
6) SwedePhenom – $13,248
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