FTOPS XII Event #22: Travis Rice Prevails
FTOPS Event #22 began on Saturday with 795 runners, and when the tournament was finally over on Sunday, they had all made donations to Travis “TravestyFund” Rice, who came to the final table with the chip lead and hung on until he was the last man standing. For his victory, Rice earned a robust payday of close to half a million.
The conclusion of FTOPS Event #22, a $2,500+120 no-limit hold'em event, kicked off a huge Sunday for online poker as Day 2 play saw 87 players returning to action at Full Tilt Poker. Notable finishes falling short of the final table included Bobby “SantabarbaraBob” Firestone in 12th ($19,000), Jason “treysfull21” Mercier in 13th ($14,000), fyrtuk in 16th ($10,000), Jon “TwistedEcho” Heath in 17th($10,000), Zach “CrazyZachary” Clark in 18th ($10,000), Steve “StevoL_7” Leonard in 26th ($7,800), and Shawn “jordankickz” Busse in 27th ($7,800). The chip counts at the start of the final table were the following:
Travis “TravestyFund” Rice – 1,072,727
BickleAce – 930,631
HaiducF – 614,242
CiegoBoY – 528,160
Claws of Gix – 456,375
Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller – 445,824
marlin5555 – 269,125
pzyclone – 237,916
Shawn “phat_cat1” Luman – 215,000
Shawn “phat_cat1” Luman was the first to depart the final table, at the 6,000/12,000/1,500 level. BickleAce raised to 30,000 on the button and Luman pushed all in from the big blind for 180,500. BickleAce called with K♠Q♦ and the race was on against Luman’s 3♦3♣. The board fell 2♥K♥A♠10♣6♦ as Shawn “phat_cat1” Luman left in ninth place for $34,000. HaiducF was felted next, at 8,000/16,000/2,000. Travis “TravestyFund” Rice made it 37,000 to play on the button and HaiducF called out of the big blind. The flop came 4♦J♦10♦ and HaiducF check-raised all in for 167,062. Rice called with 7♦6♦ and had HaiducF’s J♣9♥ drawing painfully thin. The turn and river came K♦ and 10♣ as HaiducF bowed out in eighth place for $46,800.
Later in the level, pzyclone’s tournament came to an end. From the cutoff, marlin5555 raised to 39,555 and pzyclone responded by going all in for 167,416 on the button. Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller re-shoved in the small blind for over 300,000, prompting a fold from marlin5555. Fuller tabled A♦Q♥, blowing away pzyclone’s A♣10♠. No relief for pzyclone as the board ran out 9♥8♦8♣J♥2♠ and pzyclone headed out in seventh place for $60,000.
Marlin5555 busted next, during the 10,000/20,000/2,500 level. Travis “TravestyFund” Rice made it 46,000 to play from the cutoff and marlin5555 shoved from the big blind for 204,864 with K♥J♦. Rice called with 10♥10♠ and dragged in the pot after the board ran out A♦9♣5♠Q♥A♣. For the sixth-place showing marlin5555 pocketed $90,000. CiegoBoY took down the first six-figure payday with a fifth-place finish. BickleAce raised to 50,000 under the gun and CiegoBoY countered with a shove all in for 568,710 from the cutoff. Action folded back to BickleAce, who insta-called with A♠A♥, in very good shape against CiegoBoY’s Q♥J♥. The board rolled out 7♥Q♠9♣9♥3♦ as the bullets held up. CiegoBoY collected $125,000.
Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller was eclipsed at 12,000/24,000/3,000. Travis Rice opened to 53,000 on the button and Fuller called from the big blind. The flop came 9♠J♠8♦ and Fuller led out for 87,952. Rice called to see the 5♥ land on the turn. Fuller checked to Rice, who fired 176,000. Fuller check-raised all in for 814,770 and Rice insta-called with Q♦10♠ for the flopped straight. Fuller tabled 9♥9♦ and needed the board to pair on the river. It did not happen as the K♣ fell. Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller took fourth place for $165,000. BickleAce was eliminated just a few hands later. Travis Rice did the deed with A♣K♣, flipping against BickleAce’s 7♦7♣. The board ran out 9♣2♣5♦K♥Q♥ and BickleAce was the third-place finisher for $215,000.
Heads-up play began with the chip counts as follows:
Travis “TravestyFund” Rice: 4,116,896
Claws of Gix: 653,104
It didn’t take long for Rice to close it out. After increasing his lead, he shoved with 10♣5♣ and Claws of Gix woke up with 9♦9♠, calling all in for 253,208. The board ran out 7♣A♦10♦Q♥7♦ as Claws of Gix finished as runner-up, earning $290,000. Travis “TravestyFund” Rice was the winner of FTOPS XII Event #22, good for $460,000.
Final Results:
1. Travis “TravestyFund” Rice - $460,000
2. Claws of Gix - $290,000
3. BickleAce - $215,000
4. Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller - $165,000
5. CiegoBoY - $125,000
6. marlin5555 - $90,000
7. pzyclone - $60,000
8. HaiducF - $46,800
9. Shawn “phat_cat1” Luman - $34,000
