UltimateBet.com $120,000 Guaranteed - May 22nd, 2005

Patrick Jackson

May 22nd, 2005

A field of 597 players paid $215 for UltimateBet.com's weekly 120k Guarantee tournament. For the second consecutive week, the tournament failed to me the 600 entrants required to cover the 120k guarantee, so there was a small overlay to the benefit of the players. The top 60 places paid, but only the following ten players still had a shot at the $29,400 first prize (chip counts in parenthesis):

Seat 1 - Big Slack (181,600)
Seat 2 - Elkyholic (83,535)
Seat 3 - TrishTheFish (160,365)
Seat 4 - Minime (265,395)
Seat 5 - magicman (78,030)
Seat 6 - G S X R (237,480)
Seat 7 - sandogsimp (166,080)
Seat 8 - poolboy1 (53,120)
Seat 9 - Benefit (118,540)
Seat 10 - JBmoney99 (148,355)

With blinds of 6k-12k and 1200 antes, the final table started out fairly slowly, with most pots being won with pre flop raises. Then, after sandogsimp raised to 54k in early position, JBmoney99 re-raised all-in for a little over 130k total. The rest of the table folded back to sandogsimp, who made the call with his A-Q off-suit and saw he was in good shape up against JBmoney99's A-T off-suit going to the flop. Unfortunately for JBmoney99, the board offered him no help, and sandogsimp's queen kicker won the pot. For his tenth place finish, JBmoney99 took in $1,440.

Before he had time to get settled after JBmoney99's exit, sandogsimp once again found himself in the middle of a big pot. Under the gun, sandogsimp raised to 24k, and the action was folded to Elkyholic, who pushed all-in for a little over 84k. The rest of the table quickly got out of the way, and sandogsimp called the all-in with a pocket pair of eights, which had a slight edge over Elkyholic's A-Q off-suit. The flop came Ts-9d-3c, keeping sandogsimp in the lead, but the Jd on the turn gave Elkyholic a few more outs with the straight draw. The river was the 2h however, and sandogsimp's pair of eights held up, giving him the pot and in the process eliminating his second consecutive player. Unable to hit the cards he needed, Elkyholic received $2,160 for his ninth place finish.

Sitting on a measly 19k in chips, poolboy1 ended up putting the rest of his stack in after Minime raised to 28k under the gun. After poolboy1 called, the rest of the table folded to Big Slack in the small blind, who called the raise, and then TrishTheFish called in the big blind as well. The flop came Qd-7d-Td, and all three players quickly checked as poolboy1 sweated it out. The turn brought the 4c, and after Big Slack checked, TrishTheFish made a minimum bet of 12k. Both Minime and Big Slack folded, and TrishTheFish was happy to see her pocket eights were in the lead against poolboy1's A-K off-suit. Since neither player had a diamond, poolboy1 would need an ace or a king to give him a higher pair, or a jack to complete his straight. It wasn't meant to be however, as the river brought the meaningless 4s, and poolboy1 was eliminated in eighth place with a pay out of $3,000.

The next short stack to take the plunge was magicman, who pushed his last 52k in from the small blind after Minime had raised to 24k in middle position. G S X R then pushed all-in for 260k from the big blind, prompting Minime to fold, but G S X R was disappointed to see his A-8 off-suit was in trouble versus magicman's A-9 off-suit. After a flop of Ts-3h-Qd, magicman's hand was still in the lead, and after the 4s came on the turn, G S X R would need an eight on the river to eliminate magicman. Showing the first sign that perhaps it might be his night, the 8h came on the river, giving G S X R the hand and breaking the heart of magicman. A great tournament ended on a tough beat for magicman, but hopefully the $4,200 earned for his seventh place finish would help dull the pain.

Another big hand soon developed when G S X R raised to 49k from the cutoff position, and Benefit immediately went all-in for 190k from the big blind. Showing his willingness to gamble, G S X R called the all-in and saw his Qh-Th was trailing Benefit's Ad-Kd going to the flop, but much to the dismay of Benefit the flop came Td-Ts-7s, vaulting G S X R way out in front in the hand. Needing some sort of runner-runner miracle to stay alive, Benefit watched as the turn and river brought him no help, and had to settle for sixth place and $5,400.

Now with the chip lead, G S X R had no intentions of slowing down his loose play, as a few hands later he called Minime's 130k all-in from the button with Q-J off-suit. Minime had pocket sevens, which put him slightly ahead as they went to the flop, but G S X R once again got help from the deck as the Jc was the first card out. Needing one of the two remaining sevens in the deck to stay alive, Minime's miracle card did not come, and he was eliminated in fifth place with a nice payday of $6,900.

With the blinds now at 8k-16k, Big Slack decided it was time to put his last 80k into the pot with A-K off-suit. All folded to G S X R, who decided to call the extra 63k with T-7 off-suit, and hope to get lucky and eliminate another player. After seeing G S X R draw out on multiple players already, it couldn't have surprised Big Slack much when the flop came ten high. The 7h on the turn gave G S X R two pair, and left Big Slack drawing dead, as G S X R once again had eliminated a player with the lesser hand. A tough beat to take after playing for so long, Big Slack would have to settle for fourth place and $8,400.

Down to three players, TrishTheFish was the short stack with only 180k left in chips in comparison to 380k for sandogsimp, and over 925k for G S X R. Luckily for her, TrishTheFish was able to double up through sandogsimp though, when her A-Q off-suit hit a queen on the flop and held up over sandogsimp's Kd-9d.

Now sitting in second place with a little over 300k, TrishTheFish had another turn of good fortune, when she raised to 60k from the button. The chip leader G S X R immediately went all-in over the top of her, but it was an easy call to make for TrishTheFish with pocket kings. G S X R's aggressive play had finally backfired, as all he could muster was K-Q off-suit. No miracle flops for G S X R this time, and suddenly TrishTheFish had a small chip lead.

Then, with the blinds raised to 10k-20k, sandogsimp raised to 40k from the button, and both players called from the blinds. The flop came Th-3s-4d, and TrishTheFish quickly bet out 126k, which was the size of the pot. G S X R got out of the way, but sandogsimp moved all-in for 153k total, making it an easy call for TrishTheFish. After the cards were turned over, sandogsimp was in the lead with his K-T off-suit for top pair of tens, but TrishTheFish had some outs with her A-5 off-suit. Any deuce gave her the wheel straight, and she still had the ace as an over card, but sandogsimp was in a good spot to double up. The best made plans often go to waste however, as the Ad on the turn vaulted TrishTheFish into the lead. The river was the irrelevant 8c, offering no help to sandogsimp, and he was eliminated in third place with a pay out of $12,300.

Going into heads up play, TrishTheFish had a comfortable two-to-one chip advantage, but that changed early on. After G S X R raised to 64k, TrishTheFish went all-in over the top of him, putting the decision to G S X R for all his chips. Unfortunately for TrishTheFish, there was very little chance that G S X R would ever fold A-Q off-suit in this situation, and he called, and was elated to see TrishTheFish's A-T off-suit. The flop came ace high, so TrishTheFish still was in need of a ten to eliminate G S X R, but the Qd on the turn sealed the deal and G S X R had doubled up.

Now with over a two-to-one chip lead himself, G S X R hoped he could finish off TrishTheFish without letting her back into the match. After TrishTheFish raised to 40k from the button, G S X R pushed all-in over the top of her, which TrishTheFish quickly called. Going to the flop, G S X R was in the lead with his pocket sevens up against TrishTheFish's A-Q off-suit, but it would be a classic race that could possibly decide the tournament. The flop came Jd-4c-8s, offering no help to TrishTheFish, and when the 6h hit on the turn, she was down to her last card. Needing an ace or a queen, TrishTheFish watched as the Tc came on the river, not giving her the help she was in such desperate need of. A well-played tournament would end with a second place finish and $18,000 for TrishTheFish.

Taking advantage of a great string of luck combined with some power poker, G S X R was able to survive a tough field and take down this week's Sunday tournament, and won $29,400 for his outstanding performance.

Final Results:

1st - G S X R $29,400
2nd - TrishTheFish $18,000
3rd - sandogsimp $12,300
4th - Big Slack $8,400
5th - Minime $6,900
6th - Benefit $5,400
7th - magicman $4,200
8th - poolboy1 $3,000
9th - Elkyholic $2,160
10th - JBmoney99 $1,440