UltimateBet.com $120,000 Guaranteed - April 24th, 2005

Patrick Jackson

April 25th, 2005

A field of 616 players paid $215 for UltimateBet.com's weekly 120k Guarantee tournament. For the first time in 3 weeks, the tournament met the 600 entrants required to cover the 120k guarantee, so the total prize pool was $123,200. The top 60 places paid, but only the following ten players still had a shot at the $35,728 first prize (chip counts in parenthesis):

Seat 1: Jareds mom (57,365)
Seat 2: bignick78 (423,505)
Seat 3: AmsterdamMan (69,000)
Seat 4: Big_Dogg (109,545)
Seat 5: 123xyz (74,300)
Seat 6: Mullen1099 (46,540)
Seat 7: shattus (393,965)
Seat 8: YodaBear (155,680)
Seat 9: golfer7111 (112,180)
Seat 10: urodoc (97,920)

For the second time in the first seven hands of the final table, YodaBear was fortunate enough to be dealt pocket aces. The first time won him a small pot, the second time he was lucky enough for another player to have a hand as well. Big_Dogg called YodaBear's all-in raise with A-K offsuit, and was drawing dead after the case ace appeared on the flop. Big_Dogg finished the tournament in tenth place and won $1,232.

With only 36k left and in the small blind, golfer7111 decided to make a stand with pocket fives against Jareds mom's Ah-Qh. A queen came on the flop, and after no 5 came on the turn or the river, Big_Dogg was eliminated in ninth place with a pay out of $1,478.

After raising in early position, urodoc was faced with an all-in re-raise by bignick78. Pot committed, urodoc made the call and saw his A-6 offsuit was in trouble against bignick78's pocket kings. The ace he needed never came and urodoc was eliminated in eighth place, but not before collecting $1,724.

AmsterdamMan was the next desperate short stack to take the plunge, going all-in under the gun with A-8 offsuit. 123xyz woke up with A-Q offsuit, and he too went all-in. The flop came 8h-5h-As, giving AmsterdamMan two pairs and a huge lead. The turn was a blank, but justice on the river for 123xyz as he caught his needed queen, giving him a higher two pair then AmsterdamMan. A tough beat to take after thinking he was going to double up, Amsterdamnman had to be content with $2,217 and a seventh place finish.

A big hand then developed with the blinds at 6k-12k, when YodaBear raised in early position to 24k. Jareds mom called, but bignick78 then went all-in for over 520k which had both players easily covered. YodaBear called, and Jareds mom decided to get out of the way and quickly folded. When the cards were shown, once again bignick78 had pocket kings, which were a substantial favorite over YodaBear's AK offsuit. The board offered no help to YodaBear, and he was eliminated in sixth place with a well deserved $3,449.

With only 60k left and the blinds creeping towards him, Mullen1099 went all-in with K-J offsuit. Jareds mom however woke up in the small blind with pocket jacks, and after no king came on the board, Mullen1099 became the fifth place finisher and earned $5,420 for his efforts.

123xyz was able to double up through bignick78 when they both flopped a pair of aces, but 123xyz had the better kicker. A few hands later and with the blinds at 8k-16k, 123xyz raised under the gun to 45k total. Jareds mom came back over the top all-in for 128k total, which 123xyz quickly called. Once again, 123xyz found himself in good shape as his A-K offsuit had Jareds mom's Ks-Qs dominated. A king on the river gave both players top pair, but 123xyz's ace kicker won the pot for him, and eliminated Jareds mom in fourth place with a nice pay out of $8,870.

Soon after play became three handed, 123xyz was once again able to double up when he went all-in and was called by shattus in the big blind. 123xyz had A-5 offsuit, which was ahead of shattus's Q-T offsuit. An ace on the flop gave 123xyz the much needed pot, and took a significant chunk out of shattus's stack.

A few hands later, shattus once again showed his fondness for Q-T offsuit when he called 123xyz's button raise in the small blind with the hand. Both players saw an ace high flop, and shattus made a move by check-raising 123xyz for the rest of his chips. Unfortunately for shattus 123xyz called and show A-5 offsuit, and didn't need the third ace on the turn to eliminate shattus in third place. A long night of poker paid $14,537 for their efforts.

Only a few hands into heads up play, bignick78 slipped up and allowed 123xyz to take control of the match. After bignick78 raised to 75k from the small blind and 123xyz called, both players saw a Kd-5c-4s flop. 123xyz checked, and bignick78 bet out 100k. Showing some strength, 123xyz made the miminum rais to 200k, and after a brief pause bignick78 went all-in. 123xyz hesitated before calling with his K-Q offsuit, but when he did he saw he had caught bignick78 in a complete bluff with T-9 offsuit. Needing runner-runner, the board bricked off and bignick78 found himself with only 49k in chips.

bignick78 was able to double up a few times and was back up to 356k when the last hand of the night took place. From the small blind, 123xyz raised to 140k with A-8 offsuit. bignick78 had A-J offsuit and went all-in for his last 356k, which 123xyz quickly called. Unfortunately for bignick78, the flop came down 8s-Ts-6c, giving 123xyz a pair of eights and leaving bignick78 on thin ice. The jack he needed never came, and bignick finished in second place and won himself $22,915.

After hanging on for much of the final table, and then an impressive climb from short stack to winner, 123xyz won $35,728 for taking home the title this week.

Final Results:

1st - 123xyz $35,728
2nd - bignick78 $22,915.20
3rd - shattus $14,537.60
4th - Jareds mom $8,870.40
5th - Mullen1099 $5,420.80
6th - YodaBear $3,449.60
7th - AmsterdamMan $2,217.60
8th - urodoc $1,724.80
9th - golfer7111 $1,478.40
10th - Big_Dogg $1,232