MiniFTOPS XVIII is winding down, but Full Tilt has saved some of the best events for last. Short handed experts had Event 26 to look forward to, a No Limit Hold’em 6 max tournament with $150,000 guaranteed. Players started with 5,000 chips, and as usual blinds started at 10 minutes and increased to 15 minutes by the late stages of the event.
The host of Event 26 was Gabriela Hill, the most recognized poker ambassador in Latin America. She started her career on television in Mexico where she hosted children’s programs. After moving to Texas, she became the first female Spanish-speaking sports reporter in the U.S. Since then, her career has taken off. She announced the WSOP Main Event final table in Latin America between 2004 and 2008, and then she was the host of Poker After Dark: Director’s Cut.
It comes as no surprise that this event surpassed the guarantee. 9,879 people participated, creating a prize pool of $197,580 with $31,751.11 for 1st place. Pascal Perrault was the highest finishing Full Tilt Pro. He placed 306th and received $86.94 for his efforts.
Here were the stacks going into the final table:
–ANAL_NATSHA– had almost 2/3 of the chips in play! And so the players faced the tough prospect of doubling up and hopefully wearing –ANAL_NATSHA– down in the process. It took a relatively long time for the first final table bust to occur. –ANAL_NATSHA– did a fair amount of blind stealing, although icyheat also won some pots and increased his chip stack.
Finally proplayer233 got down to less than 5bb and was forced to make a move. He pushed all-in with QJ and got called by blirreh in the big blind:
Proplayer233 flopped a flush draw but blirreh turned a boat, so he busted in 6th place for $4,149.18.
Play continued 5-handed and –ANAL_NATSHA– went back to his blind stealing ways. Blirreh managed to chip up a bit through him, winning a 2 million pot with the blinds at 100k/200k. The very next hand, though, –ANAL_NATSHA– got it all back. –ANAL_NATSHA– made his usual raise on the button with 88 and 4-bet jammed over blirreh when 3-bet. The two were off to the races!
–ANAL_NATSHA–‘s hand held and blirreh busted in 5th place for $6,332.56.
At this point Austin01010 was getting very short, and he was able to double up through dudefish23. Blind changes meant that he was still under 5bb, though, so the very next hand he shoved with AT:
Austin01010 was yet another victim to –ANAL_NATSHA–‘s huge stack despite getting it in as a favorite. He busted in 4th place for $9,879.00.
This latest win for –ANAL_NATSHA– meant that he had almost 80% of the chips in play! Icyheat decided that this could not stand, however, so he took matters into his own hands. The very next hand he 3-bet a steal blind versus blind and called a 4-bet shove:
One has to wonder why –ANAL_NATSHA– made that shove for it certainly seems unnecessary with a hand as weak as T7. Icyheat wasn’t complaining, though! This pot meant that dudefish23 was the obvious short stack 3-handed.
Play continued and icyheat’s stack grew. He won pots off –ANAL_NATSHA– both preflop and post flop, getting up to 70bb. Just as soon as it seemed like he was inching closer to –ANAL_NATSHA–‘s stack, though, –ANAL_NATSHA– got into a pot with dudefish23 and eliminated yet another player:
In the above pot, –ANAL_NATSHA– called a 3-bet preflop and dudefish pushed the flop. Unfortunately for dudefish –ANAL_NATSHA– hit top pair and busted him in 3rd place for an impressive consolation prize of $14,917.29.
And so heads-up play began with –ANAL_NATSHA– possessing 70% of the chips in play. Icyheat did ok at first, but soon –ANAL_NATSHA– wore him down and he got quite short. Never one to give up, he battled back and after a variety of 3-bet and 4-bet pots, he ended up doubling back up to pretty much his heads-up starting stack after 5-bet jamming with AK and beating –ANAL_NATSHA–‘s A2.
That was as far as icyheat would go, however. Icyheat called a raise preflop and ended up getting his stack in on the turn with a gutshot and flush draw, but he could not hit:
Icyheat busted in 2nd place for a cool $20,785.42. Congratulations to –ANAL_NATSHA– for winning Event 26 for $31,751.11! He absolutely dominated, entering the final table as the chip leader and emerging the winner when it was all said and done. His previous largest cash on Full Tilt was just last week for $3,496 in a $5 rebuy, so this should significantly boost his bankroll!
MiniFTOPS XVIII finishes up this weekend, but there are plenty more tournaments to play before then. Be sure to come back to FTR for more MiniFTOPS coverage in the days to come!