Online Poker Weekend: Jordan 'iMsoLucky0' Morgan Takes Full Tilt $500K Guaranteed
It was a huge night for the big Sunday online tourneys, with players competing for nearly $2.7 million across the four major sites. After a successful 2007 WSOP that included four cashes and one final table, Jordan 'iMsoLucky0' Morgan made a resounding return to online play by taking down Full Tilt Poker's $500,000 Guaranteed. The night's biggest winners, however, were the final four finishers at the Poker Stars Sunday Million, each of whom pocketed more than the $120,000-plus won by Morgan.
Poker Stars Sunday Million
The monthly $500+$30 buy-in version of Poker Stars Sunday Million attracted 3,021 entrants, meaning a whopping $1,510,500 would be split among the top 486 finishers, with over a quarter million potentially due the winner (if no deal were struck). Nearly ten-and-a-half hours after the tourney began, nine players took their spots at the final table. Not among them but making a deep run anyway was Greg 'Fossilman' Raymer, who exited in 42nd.
As the final table began, the average chip stack was about 3.35 million, with 'plasticard' in front with over 8.4 million. The table's short stack with under 900,000, 'nazeehah66,' quickly pushed with 5?5? but unfortunately was up against 'Pehtoori''s pocket rockets. The board brought no five, and nazeehah66 was out in ninth. On the very next hand, 'fundmyaudi' was also dealt a pair of aces, and ended up all in against plasticard, who held 7?Q?. The board came 4?9?4?J?10?, giving plasticard a runner-runner flush to crack fundmyaudi's aces.
After losing a big portion of his stack with a badly-timed push with 5-4 offsuit (versus an opponent's pocket kings), 'asdf2000' moved all in for just over 2 million with A?K?. Perhaps remembering the 5-4 hand, 'GARBANZITO' made the call with Q?J?, and hit a queen on the flop to take out asdf2000 in seventh. 'Xaston', now on the short stack, was subsequently knocked out in sixth when his A-8 failed to improve versus Pehtoori's A-10.
With five players left, discussions began regarding a possible chop, but terms could not be reached and play continued. Pehtoori took a big chunk of plasticard's stack with a K-K over A-10 hand. Then came a hand where 'lb6121' — with nearly 7 million in chips — raised preflop and was called by plasticard who had about 3.7 million left. The flop came 3?10?7? and lb6121 immediately pushed all in. After a moment or two, plasticard called showing K?9? — not much of a match for lb6121's A?A?. The turn and river brought no miracles for plasticard, who finished in fifth place.
The remaining four players were then able to agree to a chop, and played on for the extra $30,000. GARBANZITO went out in fourth when his pocket sevens couldn't improve against Pehtoori's 10-10. Pehtoori, lb6121, and 'Zutzman' each took turns holding the chip lead over the next 70-plus hands. Finally lb6121 pushed with 2?A? and was called by Pehtoori who held Q?10?. The flop came A?J?4?, giving lb6121 the lead but Pehtoori plenty of outs. The turn was one of them — the 5? — and lb6121 was out in third place.
When heads-up play began, Pehtoori had an 18.7 million to 11.5 million chip advantage over Zutzman. However, Zutzman soon doubled up when his pocket nines won a race against Pehtoori's A-J. The end came when Pehtoori pushed all-in with 8?A? and was called by Zutzman who had picked up K?K?. The board of 2?5?5?6?7? gave Zutzman the hand and the extra $30,000 agreed upon following the four-way chop.
Final standings:
* 1st ($152,964): Zutzman
* 2nd ($134,484): Pehtoori
* 3rd ($157,964): lb6121
* 4th ($122,811): GARBANZITO
5th ($59,211.60): plasticard
6th ($43,804.50): Xaston
7th ($31,720.50): asdf2000
8th ($19,938.60): fundmyaudi
9th ($11,781.90): nazeehah66
* reflects four-way deal for remaining prize money; $30,000 to eventual winner
Full Tilt $500,000 Guaranteed
The Sunday tourney with the largest number of entries was Full Tilt's $500,000 Guaranteed, with 3,378 players ponying up $200+$16 apiece to create a prize pool of $675,600. The top 459 cashed, with first place netting just over $120,000. The final table started around 1:40 a.m. EDT, a little over seven-and-a-half hours after the first hand had been dealt.
When the final table began, two players held over half of the chips in play: 'MyagiDojo' had almost 3 million and 'iMsoLucky0' (a.k.a. Jordan Morgan) just under 2.8 million. Only one other player, 'carabello', had more than a million chips. 'bokpower' was the table's first victim after going all in with A?7? and failing to improve against the pocket tens of 'Skinken.' Next to go was 'USCphildo,' whose pocket sevens lost a race to iMsoLucky0's Big Slick. On the very next hand, 'somporn' pushed all 627,220 of his chips with J?J? and got called by MyagiDojo who held K?8?. The flop came K?Q?8?, and when no hand-saving jack came on the turn or river, somporn was gone in seventh place. "Sorry," typed MyagiDojo to somporn's empty seat.
iMsoLucky0 next took out 'ronniehood,' who had pushed his short stack with pocket fives. iMsoLucky0's J?10? actually made him a slight pre-flop favorite, and when the board came 9?3?3?Q?8? the rivered straight knocked ronniehood out in sixth. Morgan continued to play aggressively, taking a huge pot — over 2 million chips — from 'carabello,' then showing a bluff. By this point, iMsoLucky0 and MyagiDojo together had around 8.5 million chips, while the other three players held only a little over 1.5 million between them.
Finally 'professor plum' decided to make a move, curiously betting 159,574 of his 159,576 chips from under the gun. MyagiDojo called from the button, as did Skinken from the big blind. The flop came K?Q?9? and it was checked to MyagiDojo who pushed his 3+ million all in. Skinken quickly called all in (for 365,128) from the big blind, thus presenting an interesting dilemma for professor plum. Should the professor fold here and keep his remaining 2 chips? If MyagiDojo were to win the hand and knock out Skinken, professor plum would move up another spot. After a bit of deliberation, professor plum went ahead and chucked in his last chips, turning over A?10? for a gutshot straight draw. Unfortunately for him, Skinken had already flopped the straight with J?10?. MyagiDojo, meanwhile, had flopped two pair with 9?K?. The turn was the Q? and the river the A?, giving the hand to Skinken and sending professor plum to the rail in fifth place.
Skinken was next eliminated when iMsoLucky0 turned a pair of queens to top Skinken's ace-high. During three-handed play, carabello managed to double up through iMsoLucky0 by turning two pair. Eventually, carabello would assume a substantial chip lead over his opponents, holding over 5 million in chips while both iMsoLucky0 and MyagiDojo sat around 2.5 million. Finally iMsoLucky0 managed to put MyagiDojo all in on a hand where he held A?10? and MyagiDojo Q?K?. The board brought no help for MyagiDojo, and heads-up play began with iMsoLucky0 and carabello nearly even in chips.
Aggressive play and a couple of fortunate hands enabled Morgan to begin building a lead almost immediately, and eventually he assumed an over 6-to-1 chip advantage over carabello. The final hand saw carabello's A?Q? racing against Morgan's 10?10?. The flop came 7?Q?10?, giving Morgan a set and carabello a pair. The turn was the A?, affording carabello a bit of hope. The river was the 8?, however, and iMsoLucky0 was the victor.
Final standings:
1st ($120,966.18): iMsoLucky0
2nd ($73,640.40): carabello
3rd ($47,967.60): MyagiDojo
4th ($37,495.80): Skinken
5th ($28,037.40): professor plum
6th ($20,740.92): ronniehood
7th ($15,538.80): somporn
8th ($12,160.80): USCphildo
9th ($9.053.04): bokpower
Ultimate Bet $200,000 Guaranteed
1,048 players took part in Sunday's Ultimate Bet $200,000 Guaranteed tourney, adding up to a $209,600 prize pool. The top 110 spots paid, with first taking $46,112. It took a little over six hours to play down to the final ten-handed table. However, it would then take another two full hours for a winner to be determined.
The final table began with 'allinjompa' holding a slight chip lead over 'A_thekevlar_2', with 'MTTwelfare' and 'Faralone' not far behind. Faralone would soon use pocket rockets to eliminate 'thanks' who had pushed the short stack with A-9. A few hands later, 'DRTHPelagius' got it all in with J?J? against MTTwelfare's 10?J?. The flop came K?Q?3?, giving MTTwelfare the open-ended straight draw. The A? on the turn put MTTwelfare firmly in the lead, and another ace on the river meant DRTHPelagius was out in ninth.
'Time to Dance' then pushed all in from late position with 3?8? and unfortunately was looked up by MTTwelfare who had been dealt Big Slick in the small blind. Both an ace and king flopped, and by the turn Time to Dance was drawing dead. Next, 'mark1106' pushed all in from late position with Q?J?, and after some thought allinjompa decided to call with 3?A?. The board paired neither player, and mark1106 finished in seventh.
'KATHU79' was the next short stack to depart after pushing with a pair of threes, then losing after 'ParDoctor' called with J?A? and an ace flopped. With five players remaining, Faralone jammed pre-flop from late position with 6?A? only to be called by A_thekevalar_2, who had been dealt 9?9? in the small blind. At the time, A_thekevlar_2 had Faralone covered by about 40,000 chips. The 2?4?4? flop and Q? turn were good for A_thekevlar_2, but the A? on the river gave the hand to Faralone. A few hands more, and A_thekevlar_2 was out in fifth.
The four remaining players battled back and forth for the next 40 minutes, then came a huge hand involving the two chip leaders. With 20,000/40,000 blinds and a 4,000 ante, MTTwelfare raised to just over 100,000 from late position, and allinjompa went all in for over a million chips from the small blind. MTTwelfare made the call with the 630,000 he had left behind and showed 8?8? against allinjompa's A?10?. A ten on the turn was enough for allinjompa to eliminate MTTwelfare in fourth. Soon afterward, Faralone used A-3 to bump ParDoctor's K-10, and heads-up play began with allinjompa enjoying a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Faralone.
The pair battled for some time with neither gaining much ground, then Faralone rivered a flush to move close to even. A few hands later Faralone had taken a small lead, then decided to push all in with 5?5? and was called by allinjompa who held J?J?. The board came A?8?K?6?5?, and with a two-outer on the river Faralone had come out on top.
Final standings:
1st ($46,112): Faralone
2nd ($26,996.48): allinjompa
3rd ($18,654.40): ParDoctor
4th ($13,624): mttwelfare
5th ($11,004): A_thekevlar_2
6th ($8,803.20): KATHU79
7th ($6,707.20): mark1106
8th ($4,716): Time To Dance
9th ($3,563.20): DRTHPelagius
10th ($2,096): thanks
Party Poker $300,000 Guaranteed
1,515 runners entered yesterday's Party Poker $300,000 Guaranteed, making for a total prize pool of $303,000. The top 200 made the money, with the winner scheduled to take $60,600.
Once they played down to the ten-handed final table, a short-stacked 'motsi' pushed all-in with J?J? and was called by 'zanderfish' who held 4?4?. A four came on the flop, and motsi was out in tenth. 'LordLuckbox' then caught a rush of cards, quickly dispatching three players within a single orbit. After making kings full of queens to knock out 'Blagajnik,' LordLuckbox took K?A? to the races against the Q?Q? of 'Badevirus' and won when the board brought both a king and ace but no queen. 'TheCorner' was the next to go when LordLuckbox turned a king-high straight to best TheCorner's pocket eights. With six players remaining, LordLuckbox had built a stack of over 2.5 million in chips — over twice the table's average stack.
After zanderfish used pocket jacks to eliminate 'ded_moroz07' in sixth, a huge hand between LordLuckbox and 'min_spin' significantly altered the fate of the final table. LordLuckbox still held the chip lead with over 2.5 million, with min_spin's 1.5 million the second-best stack. LordLuckbox made a slightly less than 3x raise preflop from early position, min_spin pushed all in, and LordLuckbox quickly called. The players' cards were turned over, and min_spin's Q?Q? was dominated by LordLuckbox's A?A?. However, the flop of 2?Q?9? changed everything, and when the turn and river brought no ace, min_spin suddenly enjoyed a huge chip lead with over 3 million.
'It_Could_Hit' then pushed preflop with pocket eights only to be called by min_raise who held Q?Q?. It — an eight, that is — could have hit. But it didn't, and It_Could_Hit was out in fifth. A scheduled break occurred shortly thereafter, and after some negotiation the players agreed to a four-way chop of the remaining prize money.
Final standings:
* 1st ($52,435.50): min_spin
* 2nd ($35,000): LordLuckbox
* 3rd ($22,800): zanderfish
* 4th ($21,115): ONIONACE
5th ($13,938): It_Could_Hit
6th ($10,453.50): ded_moroz07
7th ($8,029.50): TheCorner
8th ($5,302.50): Badevirus
9th ($4,090.50): Bjagajnik
10th ($2,878.50): motsi
* reflects four-way deal for remaining prize money
