Full Tilt Poker Montreal: 136 Players Remain After a Crazy Bubble Bursts
During the second half of Level 19 (4,000/8,000/1,000) of Day 2 of the Full Tilt Poker Montreal Main Event at the Playground Poker Club, the bubble burst after a crazy sequence of events. Blake Tarbell finished the event in 172nd place, one away from the minimum payday of C$1,733.
At the start of hand-for-hand play, it looked as if local Sam Chartier was going to single-handedly bust the bubble, helping dozens of his countrymen to at least a min-cash. On the first hand, Chartier found himself three handed with George Caragiorgas and another player on a board of J♠4♥3♠10♣. Chartier fired out a hefty bet of 68,000, and Caragiorgas, who had around 130,000, tanked for well over three minutes before folding. The third player quickly folded.
The very next hand, Chartier opened to 16,000 from under the gun and Jordan Katzman moved all in for around 60,000. Katzman stood up after doing so, and when the action folded back to Chartier, Katzman started egging Chartier on. The French Canadian studied the all-in player, who sat back in his seat, stood up again, and began squirming.
“I don’t even think you can have ace-king here,” Chartier sighed.
Chartier squeezed his fist, noticeably upset at the spot he’d been put in, then finally found the fold button. Katzman shrugged, then tabled two kings face up.
On the third and final hand of hand-for-hand play, the aforementioned Tarbell opted to move all in for 80,000 from under the gun. Henri Balcazar called in middle position, and when the rest of the players folded, he turned over A♠A♦. Tarbell frowned then showed Q♠Q♦, and the board rolled out J♣4♠3♥4♦10♠. All the bubble boy could do was smile, and he quickly whipped out his phone to either text or tweet his demise.
Tarbell’s elimination was announced immediately, despite the fact that half of the tables were still playing the third hand. On one table there was an all in, and if the short-stacked player would’ve lost he would’ve split the 171st-place prize with Tarbell, but his aces held up against a player’s pocket jacks.
On another table, a dealer took the announcement as a green light to start dealing again, and pitched a fourth hand. It was a good thing for a short-stacked Marcello Iacovella — he doubled, turning a set of deuces against an over pair.
The floor was called over, but because the action was completed, nothing could be done. Iacovella is still short with around 70,000 chips.
The remaining 136 players went on dinner break after Level 19, and the prize pool was finally announced. The record-breaking field created a prize pool of C$1,576,249.98, the winner will receive C$260,581.66 to go along with a shiny new trophy, and each member of the final table is set to earn at least C$35,150.
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