Online Poker Roundup: Rice Tops Obst in Stars Super Tuesday

Mickey Doft Live Reporter

Dec 24, 2008 6 min read

Online Poker Roundup: Rice Tops Obst in Stars Super Tuesday 0001

The early-week majors in online poker featured plenty of big names making deep runs. At PokerStars on Tuesday, Craig Rice bested James Obst at a tough final table that also included Alex Smith and Shane Schleger. On Monday at Full Tilt, "duke027" won out in a final that included Keven Stammen, Ram Vaswani and Randy Haddox. Here are the highlights from the final tables:

PokerStars Super Tuesday

The PokerStars Super Tuesday attracted a field of 337 this week. Among the best finishers that missed the final table were ADZ124 in 10th place ($4,900), Sir_winalot9 in 11th place ($4,900), Paul "uclabruinz" Smith in 15th place ($4,200) and Brandon "any2cantu" Cantu in 16th place ($3,500). These were the chip counts to start the final table:

James "Andy McLEOD" Obst - 206,640

Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong - 150,185

Craig "crice25" Rice - 141,809

W Snipes - 129,189

Pist0nH0nda - 93,793

Nicolas "PKaiser" Fierro - 84,882

Shane "shaniac" Schleger - 82,586

Alex "PrinceTendee" Smith -79,878

hray - 42,038

Alex "PrinceTendee" Smith was first to leave the final table, at the 1,250/2,500/250 level. In a battle of the blinds, Smith limped from the small and Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong checked from the big. The flop came 10♠7♥2♠ and the betting went wild, ending with Smith calling all in after Armstrong's four-bet. Smith showed A♠7♦ and needed help to catch up to Armstrong's 10♣7♠. The turn and river were no help to Smith as he finished in ninth place for $6,125. Hray busted a few hands later. James "Andy McLEOD" Obst opened to 5,625 from early position and hray called from middle position, leading to a 2♦7♥4♥ flop. Obst led out for 10,650 and hray shoved for 78,210 with A♦7♦. Unfortunately for hray, Obst called and tabled A♣A♠. A third seven failed to appear and hray was out in eighth place for $8,750.

W Snipes hit the road at the 1,500/3,000/300 level. Under the gun, James "Andy McLEOD" Obst raised to 7,025 and W Snipes smooth-called on the button. The flop came 10♥2♣Q♣ and Obst bet 14,925. W Snipes then popped it up to 33,775 and Obst responded by shoving with the big stack. W Snipes called all in for 81,739 with K♦J♦ for the open-ended straight draw while Obst showed K♣10♣ for middle pair and a flush draw. The 9♣ on the turn gave W Snipes a straight, but left him drawing dead to Obst's made flush. The 4♣ river card was merely a formality as W Snipes finished in seventh place for $12,250. Shane "shaniac" Schleger busted next after shoving from middle position for 45,198 with A♦9♥. He received action from Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong in the small blind, who held 9♣9♦. The board ran out J♦6♠10♥K♣2♥ and Schleger was out in sixth for $15,750.

At 3,000/6,000/600, Nicolas "PKaiser" Fierro exited. He lost much of his stack when his A♣10♠ didn't improve against Craig "crice25" Rice's A♦Q♦. He was eliminated the next hand in fifth place for $20,125. He was soon followed to the rail by Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong. Armstrong shoved with 3♣3♠ from the cutoff for 130,108 and Craig Rice looked him up from the button with A♥K♥. The board rolled out 2♥9♦Q♣10♥K♣ and Armstrong was out in fourth place for $29,400. Pist0nH0nda succumbed in third at 4,000/8,000/800. Craig Rice raised to 20,000 on the button and Pist0nH0nda pushed all in for 81,829 with 8♠8♣ from the small blind. Rice called with A♥Q♥ and won the hand when the board ran out J♠4♦5♠7♥Q♣. Pist0nH0nda won $38,500 for the third-place showing.

The chip counts to begin heads-up play were these:

James "Andy McLEOD" Obst - 624,357

Craig "crice25" Rice - 386,643

Rice reeled in Obst, then put the tournament away. On the final hand, Rice opened to 24,000 and Obst reraised to 68,500. Rice shoved with the big stack and Obst called all in for 336,132 with A♠J♥. Rice tabled 5♣5♦ and it was off to the races. The board came 6♦3♦6♠7♣Q♦ and the tournament was over. James "Andy McLEOD" Obst finished as runner-up for $51,625. The winner of the PokerStars Super Tuesday and $68,250 was Craig "crice25" Rice.

Final Results:

1. Craig "crice25" Rice - $68,250

2. James "Andy McLEOD" Obst - $51,625

3. Pist0nH0nda - $38,500

4. Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong - $29,400

5. Nicolas "PKaiser" Fierro - $20,125

6. Shane "shaniac" Schleger - $15,750

7. W Snipes - $12,250

8. hray - $8,750

9. Alex "PrinceTendee" Smith - $6,125

Online Poker Roundup: Rice Tops Obst in Stars Super Tuesday 101

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Full Tilt Monday $1K

The Full Tilt $1K Monday drew a field of 366 with first place awarding $91,500. Notable players just missing the final table included Randall "TwinMSU" Brooks in 11th place ($4,575) and Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy in 13th place ($3,660). The chip counts to start the final table were as follows:

duke027 - 597,760

djlizard66 - 353,996

Jason "BUBBLESftt" Gray - 192,412

Scott "NestOfSalt" Wyler - 161,000

Ram Vaswani - 146,681

Randy "Randers" Haddox - 115,552

Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen - 114,755

swd805 - 92,976

Binkozee - 54,868

Eliminated first at the 4,000/8,000/1,000 level was Binkozee. From middle position djlizrd66 raised to 24,000 and duke027 called on the button. Binkozee was in the big blind and raised all in for 44,368. Both top stacks came along to see a 3♥3♣6♠ flop. Each checked and when the A♠ came on the turn, duke027 isolated the action, then showed 4♦3♦ for trips. Binkozee tabled 10♦10♥ and was eliminated when the J♦ on the river failed to improve his hand. Ninth place paid Binkozee $7,320. Ram Vaswani was sent to the rail toward the end of the level. Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen raised from the cutoff to to 21,000 and Vaswani made it 64,000 total from the big blind. Stammen then shoved with the bigger stack and Vaswani called all in for 85,931 with A♠K♥, which led Stammen's A♥J♠. Unfortunately for Vaswani, the board rolled out 2♠8♠8♣J♦Q♣ and he was eliminated in eighth for $9,150.

At 5,000/10,000/1,000, swd805 was all in for 117,202 with A♦Q♣ and was up against chip leader duke027's 6♣6♠. A third six fell on the flop and it was enough to eliminate swd805 in seventh place for $11,895. Jason "BUBBLESftt" Gray was the next to go after shipping it in from under the gun for 104,662 with 10♦10♥ and running into Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen's K♦K♠. The board ran out 4♥5♠3♦9♣5♥ and Gray was out in sixth place for $18,300. Djlizard66 fell shortly thereafter, losing a good amount of chips with 8♣8♦ against Randy "Randers" Haddox's Q♦Q♥ and coming out on the losing end. A few hands later djlizard66 busted in fifth for $25,620.

At 8,000/16,000/2,000, the chips flew before Randy "Randers" Haddox was felted in fourth place. Randers moved all in under the gun for 162,588 with A♣6♣, but Keven Stammen isolated the action from the button with A♦9♥. The board came 4♥7♣9♦K♥K♣ and Haddox was out in fourth place for $33,855. Those newfound chips for Stammen would go quickly as he was the next to bust. Duke027 raised to 48,000 from the small blind and Stammen called out of the big blind. The flop came J♥2♣10♣ and duke027 led out 80,000, which Stamdogg responded to by shoving for 362,694 total. A fairly quick call by duke027 revealed Q♥10♥, which was ahead of Stammen's 10♦8♦. The turn and river came A♥ and 5♥, bringing no help to Stammen, who finished third for $43,920.

Heads-up play began with the following chip counts:

duke027 - 1,188,000

Scott "NestOfSalt" Wyler - 642,000

It lasted just a couple of hands before duke027 took it down. The chips made it into the middle with the board reading 7♠9♥K♦5♣. Duke027's K♣Q♠ led Wyler's 9♣6♥ and when the Q♥ hit the river, Scott "NestOfSalt" Wyler was eliminated as runner-up for $58,560, while duke027 had captured the Full Tilt Monday $1K for $91,500.