With the Full Tilt Online Poker Series looming, the attendance at the various $1,000 buy-ins increased, in some cases dramatically, making it one of the most successful weeks in recent memory.
Read the recaps for the $1K events on Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker below.
Full Tilt — $1K Monday
After a sluggish turnout the week prior, the $1K Monday rebounded in a big way this week, attracting a total of 420 players. That brought the total prize pool to $420,000.
The larger field paid out 45 places, and just missing the money was bubble boy Ryan "toetagu" Fair, who went out in 46th place. Among those fortunate enough to cash were Michael Michnak (41st), Brian "SN8WMAN" Hawkins (38th), Peter "number1PEN" Neff (34th), Josh "pbdrunks" Van Duyn (32nd), Greg "DuckU" Hobson (31st), Jason "BUBBLESftt" Gray (28th), Bryan "badbeatninja" Devonshire (27th), Christian "charder30" Harder (24th), phatchoy888 (17th), Scott "yaboystu" Stewart (15th), Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet (14th), Gordon "holla-athca-boy" Vayo (13th), David "GhettoFabolous" Randall (11th), and just missing out on the final table was PeachyMer (10th).
The final table featured a number of notables, including Card Player’s 2008 Online Player of the Year Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis (fourth, pictured above right) and others, such as Andrew "ALLOFIT29" Youngblood (ninth), Rayan "rkruok" Nathan (eighth), Philip "USCphildo" Collins (seventh), and Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong (first).
Kamberis was eliminated when his K-Q failed to catch up to Armstrong’s pocket fives. The extra chips gave Armstrong the push he needed to push through for the win. On the last hand, while holding a 2-1 chip lead, both Armstrong and mob6kid flopped top pair of aces, but Armstrong’s queen kicker easily held against his opponent’s 4 kicker.
This was Armstrong’s first major final table of the year, and he made it count by winning it all and banking $105,000.
Here were the final table results:
- Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong — $105,000
- mob6kid — $65,100
- Cappuccio816 — $48,300
- Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis — $37,800
- JayJay1 — $28,350
- sk the gun — $21,000
- Philip "USCphildo" Collins — $13,650
- Rayan "rkruok" Nathan — $10,500
- Andrew "ALLOFIT29" Youngblood — $8,400
PokerStars — Super Tuesday
The PokerStars Super Tuesday tournament dropped a bit this week from 425 entrants to 416, which was enough players to leave $416,000 up for grabs.
The unfortunate bubble boy in this tournament was Zachary "nofingclue11" Clark, who finished in 55th place. Those who made the money included Tom "SBRounder" West (50th), govshark2 (48th), Andre "aakkari" Akkari (46th), Todd "koolkeith13" Lewis (43rd), James "mig.com" Mackey (40th), Michael "inissint" Glasser (32nd), Carter "ckingusc" King (30th), Soren Kongsgaard (28th), Luke "LukeFromB13" Staudenmaier (26th), Jeff "jpapola" Papola (23rd), Jonathan "FatalError" Aguiar (20th), Evan "PURPLE"K"99" Parkes (19th), Anthony "D1rtyR1v3r" Nardi (17th), Adam "ASPoker8" Shuman (14th), Russell "rdcrsn" Carson (13th), Benjamin "xthesteinx" Zamani (12th), and Geoff "GeoffRas22" Rasmussen (11th).
The final table was stacked with pros, most notably featuring Chris "Money800" Moneymaker (seventh). Others at the table were Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka (ninth), James "BreakRibs" Kilarjian (fourth), Vivek "psyduck101" Rajkumar (third), Kevin "KevBoyStar" Stani (second), and Pat "TorontoToro" Pezzin (first, pictured above left).
Moneymaker got the rest of his chips in with middle pair against Stani’s two overs and a flush draw. One of the overs came, and the 2003 WSOP main event champion was eliminated.
Rajkumar, who was simultaneously at another final table in the $100 rebuy, had been having Internet connectivity issues throughout the night. The frustration of that, combined with running pocket kings into pocket aces, even caused him to misclick at one point.
Eventually, all four agreed to a chip chop, although not without some added pressure by Kilarjian, who held out for an additional $291. With just pride and OPOY points up for grabs, the players really opened up their games and gambled much more with their preflop starting hand requirements. Kilarjian went out and was followed by Rajkumar shortly after. Finally, Stani got it in with top two pair against Pezzin’s overpair. The turn and river came running queens, and Pezzin counterfeited his opponent to claim the top spot.
Here were the final table results:
- Pat "TorontoToro" Pezzin — $56,005*
- Kevin "KevBoyStar" Stani — $54,659*
- Vivek "psyduck101" Rajkumar — $53,178*
- James "BreakRibs" Kilarjian — $52,689*
- henchness244 — $23,296
- PedrinhoxX — $18,096
- Chris "Money800" Moneymaker — $13,936
- CPT CRUX aka Colonel Mustard — $9,776
- Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka — $7,072
*Based on a four-way deal at the final table.
Absolute Poker — $150,000 Guarantee
With a new guarantee of $150,000, the Absolute Poker $1,000 buy-in tournament was easily able to meet that mark with 216 entrants. Last week, the tournament only attracted 159 entrants which accounted for a nearly 36 percent increase.
A total of 27 places were paid to notables such as Shannon "BLUFFforRENT" Shorr (24th), Adam "Roothlus" Levy (23rd), Dan "Wretchy" Martin (21st), Tiltwheel (20th), Allen "Aawsnuts" Carter (19th), Tommy "Robot Piemel" Nguyen (13th), and Norcal83 (12th).
Nguyen has vaulted himself to the top of Card Player’s Online Player of the Year race thanks to three final tables and a win in the Sunday Warmup last Sunday. His top-20 finish in this tournament was enough to moved him from third place overall to second, just 18 points behind current leader Scott "stpauli111" Hall.
The final table boasted several pros, including Soren Kongsgaard (ninth), Ryan "RyanBluf" Karp (eighth), James "P0KERPR033" Campbell (seventh), Shawn "Phat_Cat" Luman (sixth), Mike "yngmanN4quiki" Postle (fourth), Greg "gregior" Howard (second), and Michael "MIKEIVEY" Meredith (first, pictured above left).
Meredith overcame Howard and took down the $56,160 first-place prize.
Here were the final table results:
- Michael "MIKEIVEY" Meredith aka mman_status — $56,160
- Greg "Gregoir" Howard — $33,480
- TRAILERACES — $23,760
- Mike "yngmanN4quiki" Postle — $17,280
- HEYIMDRO — $14,148
- Shawn "phat_cat" Luman — $11,880
- James "P0KERPR033" Campbell aka jcamby33 — $9,720
- Ryan "RyanBluf" Karp — $7,560
- Soren "Kongsgaard" Kongsgaard — $5,400
