'GARFIELD25' Captures FTOPS IX Opener

Mickey Doft Live Reporter

Aug 07, 2008 3 min read

'GARFIELD25' Captures FTOPS IX Opener 0001

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) IX kicked off Wednesday night with a bang. Event #1, a $200+16 no-limit hold'em event with $1,000,000 guaranteed, drew 5,779 players for a total prize pool of $1,155,800 and a first-place prize of $199,398.62. A plethora of stars played in the Allen Cunningham-hosted event, though Allen himself fell short of the money. Full Tilt pros Steve Brecher and 2008 WSOP bracelet winner Vitaly Lunkin put up notable showings, with Brecher finishing 111th ($1,040.22) and Lunkin an impressive 23rd place ($4,160.88).

Eight-plus hours of play brought 5,770 eliminations, leaving just nine to vie for the nearly $200,000 winner's share. The chip counts at the start of the final table were:

GARFIELD25 – 4,222,662

mpuskad3 – 2,053,692

dorinvandy – 1,925,683

monopolyguy845 – 1,893,406

Cryyss – 1,633,954

daisybyrd – 1,616,655

RiverJazz – 1,441,295

acedel15 – 1,414,087

Mr_Bond222 – 1,135,566

The first elimination came on just the ninth hand of the final table. With the blinds at 50,000/100,000 and an ante of 10,000, GARFIELD25 made it 254,090 to go and was reraised by mpuskad3 from the small blind to 650,000 total. Monopolyguy845 in the big blind bumped the pot up yet again, min-reraising to 1,045,910. After a few moments of deliberating, GARFIELD25 moved all in for over 4.8 million. Mpuskad3 folded but monopolyguy845 called showing 7♥7♠, up against GARFIELD25's A♠K♥. The 9♣3♥A♥ flop put GARFIELD25 ahead, and with the 6♥ and 9♥ completing the board, monopolyguy845 was the ninth-place finisher, taking home $15,025.40. Three hands later, GARFIELD25 added to his chip lead. After raising to 265,090 from early position, mpuskad3 moved all in for about 1.2 million. GARFIELD25 made the call, showing two red tens, and was up against mpuskad's K♥Q♣ that mpuskad held. The board ran out 2♦A♥4♣J♥5♦, making mpuskad3 the eighth-place finisher for $20,226.50.

Finally, somebody else got in on the battle. Acedel15 moved all in for 914,087 with K♣J♥ and found action from dorinvandy, who held Q♥Q♣. The board ran out jack high and Acedel15 was eliminated in seventh place, earning $26,583.49. Sixth place would soon be determined when the blinds were increased to 60,000/120,000 and an ante of 15,000. GARFIELD25 raised to 270,000 from the cutoff and was reraised all in by Mr_Bond222 for 700,566. The blinds folded and GARFIELD25 made the call with J♠9♣, slightly trailing the K♦10♠ he was up against. GARFIELD25 found help with a nine on the flop and Mr_Bond222 finished the tournament in sixth place, becoming $34,096.10 richer. RiverJazz would be out in fifth place a few hands later. On the button, RiverJazz moved all in for nearly 1.2 million with A♠9♦, but trailed the J♥J♦ daisybyrd held in the small blind. RiverJazz sang the blues when the board came out 7♥3♠3♥5♠8♥, but at least collected $45,654.10, more than a song. Cryyss would be next to go. Down to just 483,954 in chips, Cryyss moved all in from the small blind with 7♠5♠ and was called by GARFIELD25 with K♦4♣. The board missed both players and GARFIELD25's king high won the pot. Cryyss received $60,679.50 for the fourth-place showing.

Down to three players, and blinds and antes up to 80,000/160,000 and 20,000, the chip counts were:

GARFIELD25 – 8,489,445

daisybyrd – 5,467,785

dorinvandy – 3,379,770

Dorinvandy took the chip lead after winning two coin flips against daisybyrd. First, dorinvandy's A♠9♦ flopped an ace against daisybyrd's pocket sixes, and second, dorinvandy's 4♥4♦ held up against daisybyrd's K♥10♦ when the board came out 9♥3♥Q♥5♠3♦. This sent daisybyrd to the rail in third place for $77,669.76.

The heads-up match began with dorinvandy holding more than a 2:1 chip lead:

dorinvandy – 12,164,615

GARFIELD25 – 5,172,385

GARFIELD25 soon moved up when his A♠Q♥ dominated all-in preflop against dorinvandy's K♦Q♣. The 10♠7♣3♦J♣3♥ board vaulted GARFIELD25 to the lead, and he would soon win the tournament outright. GARFIELD25 made it 360,000 to play from the button and dorinvandy called, bringing out a flop of J♣10♥10♠. Dorinvandy check-called GARFIELD25's 440,000 bet and the turn landed the 2♠. Again, Dorinvandy check-called GARFIELD25's bet on the turn, this time for 880,000. The river was the 4♣ and once again dorinvandy checked. GARFIELD25 fired 2,999,999 and this time dorinvandy went all in for his remaining 3,762,230. GARFIELD25 called and showed 10♦2♣ for a turned full house, besting the 10♣9♦ that dorinvandy thought would be the winner. Second place earned dorinvandy $120,781.10.