UltimateBet.com $120,000 Guaranteed - May 8th, 2005

Patrick Jackson

May 8th, 2005

A field of 606 players paid $215 for UltimateBet.com's weekly 120k Guarantee tournament. Once again, the tournament met the 600 entrants required to cover the 120k guarantee, so the total prize pool was $121,800. The top 70 places paid, but only the following ten players still had a shot at the $28,482 first prize (chip counts in parenthesis):

Seat 1: Rol Dog (61,950)
Seat 2: hamhock (67,900)
Seat 3: win89 (117,180)
Seat 4: Dirky66 (254,140)
Seat 5: Bill Chen (206,590)
Seat 6: SamENole (319,550)
Seat 7: JP186AND1 (101,060)
Seat 8: q-_-p (41,840)
Seat 9: perfectool (232,210)
Seat 10: foshio (112,580)

The first casualty of the final table occurred when one of the shorter stacks, hamhock, pushed his last 69k all-in from the button with Jd-8d. The small blind folded, but Dirky66 called in the big blind with Jc-Tc. Dirky66's ten kicker had hamhock dominated, and after no help came from the board, hamhock was out in tenth place. A disappointing early exit was still enough to earn a pay out of $1,212 however.

The other short stack at the table, q-_-p, had better luck when he risked his tournament life a few hands later. With only 40k in chips, and 8k already invested in the big blind, q-_-p was lucky enough to pick up pocket aces. After win89 had raised from middle position, q-_-p was more then happy to get the rest of his chips in the middle of the table with the aces, and was even more elated when he saw win89 was holding AQ off-suit. No miracles came for win89, and q-_-p had doubled up.

q-_-p's new found chip stack was short lived however, as a few hands later win89 would regain his lost chips. With the blinds at 4k-8k, the action was folded to q-_-p in middle position. Without much delay, q-_-p pushed his last 89k all-in with A-J off-suit. All folded to win89, who called the all-in quickly with his pocket kings. q-_-p would need one of the three remaining aces in the deck, but it didn’t come, and q-_-p was eliminated in ninth place for $2,121.

Crippled earlier when his pocket sevens were no match for JP186AND1's pocket jacks, perfectool was down to only 68k when this fatal hand came up. With the blinds up to 6k-12k, the action was folded to perfectool in the small blind, and he pushed all-in for his last 62k. foshio, fresh off a double up of his own through Bill Chen, called in the big blind, but saw his K-Q off-suit trailed perfectool's A-8 off-suit going to the flop. To perfectool's dismay though, the flop came 2-K-Q, giving foshio top two pairs. His hopes hanging by a thread, perfectool watched in disgust as the turn and river brought him no help. A long night of poker would end with a $3,030 cash and an eighth place finish for perfectool.

JP186AND1 had survived multiple all-ins with his short stack, the most impressive coming when he hit quad fours against two other players. Once again dwindling away and under 15k, JP186AND1 pushed all-in yet again, this time with K-9 off-suit. The blinds were 7.5k-15k at this point, so Dirky66 was returned a portion of his big blind, and was happy to see his A-K off-suit was well ahead of JP186AND1. A nine appeared on the flop, but so did an ace, and after the turn and river offered no help, JP186AND1 ended the tournament in seventh place with a $4,242 payday.

Dirky66 continued his role as the table's short stack terminator, when a few hands later he took out Rol Dog. Down to 47k and with the blinds at 7.5k-15k, Rol Dog pushed all in under the gun with Ac-7c. The action was folded to Dirky66 on the button, and he too pushed all-in for his last 104k. Both the blinds folded, and Rol Dog wasn't thrilled to see he was in big trouble against Dirky66's pocket queens. After no help on the flop or turn, Rol Dog needed an ace on the river to stay alive, but a harmless 4d brought his night to a crashing halt. A sixth place finish and $5,454 would have to be satisfaction enough for Rol Dog, and Dirky66 got a much needed boost to his chip stack.

SamENole came to the final table with an edge as both the chip leader, and as one of the more well-known online tournament players around. Any edge he might have had due to his reputation however, was negated by a serious case of becoming card dead. From the time the final table started, to up until this point, SamENole had been relatively quiet, with his chip stack falling from 360k to only 128k. Finally with the blinds at 10k-20k and sitting in the big blind, SamENole picked up a pair of queens. After foshio raised to 60k under-the-gun, the action was folded to SamENole and he quickly went all-in for his last 108k. foshio made the call and saw his pocket tens were in dire straits versus SamENole's queens. The flop came down 5d-4s-4c, offering no help for foshio, and after the 8d came on the turn, it looked like SamENole would become a force to be reckoned with after this double up. Lightning struck for foshio however, when the miracle Th hit on the river, ending SamENole's chance at the title in dramatic fashion. A player not used to such bitter disappointments, SamENole would have to settle for a fifth place finish and $6,666.

A key hand then took place with the blinds at 10k-20k, when Dirky66 went all-in from the small blind for a little over 165k with K-8. Perhaps seeing this as a steal, Bill Chen made a questionable play by calling off close to 75% of his chips with QhTh. A questionable play soon seemed to be genius, when the flop came 7c-Qc-8s, giving Bill Chen a pair of queens and putting him out in front in the hand. Dirky66 would need either another 8, or a king to stay alive, and when the 4c hit the turn, he was down to his final card. Much to the joy of Dirky66 and to the dismay of Bill Chen, the king of hearts miraculously appeared on the river, giving Dirky66 the pot and severely crippling Bill Chen in the process.

Bill Chen's bad luck continued a few hands later, when he pushed his last 120k into the middle with A-Q off-suit. win89 had previously raised the pot to try and steal, but only needed to call 30k more to attempt to knock Bill Chen out,and did so. Trailing in the hand with his Kh-9h up against Bill Chen's A-Q off-suit, win89 would need some help, and his wish was granted when the flop came down king high. The turn was a blank, and the queen on the river was not enough to save Bill Chen from elimination. A great tournament ended on a sour note for Bill Chen, but hopefully he found consolation in his fourth place showing and the $8,181 pay out.

Down to three-handed play, the remaining players all had relatively equal stacks. It didn't take long for that to change however, as foshio took a key pot off of win89 without showing his hand. win89 had bet the flop and turn, but folded to foshio's all-in on the river when the As hit. This hand gave foshio a commanding chip lead, and left win89 in a desperate state. A few hands later, win89 decided to push his last 163k into the pot from the small blind. Dirky66 thought for a few moments, before calling and showing Ks-8c. Not the best hand, but Dirky66 was relieved to see his king high was out ahead of win89's Qc-9s. The flop came down 3d-Kc-Ad, giving Dirky66 his pair of kings, and leaving win89's tournament chances all but dead. No miracle runner-runner came, and win89 finished the tournament in third place, with a well-deserved cash of $11,817.

Going into heads up play, both players were very close in chip count, but Dirky66 quickly vaulted into the lead by taking a few moderate-sized pots. His hard work to build that lead went down the tube however, when foshio slow played top pair of kings, and let Dirky66 bluff off close to half his stack with queen high. This hand gave foshio a commanding chip lead, and a few hands later it looked like he would finish Dirky66 off. With the blinds at 15k-30k, Dirky66 raised from the small blind to 96k, and foshio quickly re-raised to over 180k. With over a quarter of his chips already committed to the pot, Dirky66 decided it was now or never, and went all-in for 445k total. foshio called in a flash, and was delighted to see his pocket kings were a four-to-one favorite over Dirky66's pocket tens. With the tournament on the line, both players anxiously saw a flop of 7d-8d-As, which offered no immediate help to Dirky66. The 6h came on the turn though, which opened up another door for Dirky66, as it gave him an inside straight draw. Still a huge favorite, foshio could certainly taste victory, but the 9s on the river gave Dirky66 the miracle, runner-runner straight. Not only did this keep Dirky66 from being eliminated, it also gave him a 200k chip lead.

After that gut-wrenching hand and a few more small pots lost, foshio found himself up against the wall with only a bit over 300k left in chips. Not quite ready to give up yet, foshio fought his way bravely back by taking down a series of uncontested pots, always seeming to be aware of when Dirky66 was trying to bully him. Soon, he had scraped his way back to within 200k of Dirky66, when the final hand of the night took place. With the blinds still at 15k-30k, Dirky66 raised from the small blind to 60k. foshio flat called the raise, and both players saw a 8d-Th-Js flop. foshio checked, and Dirky66 quickly bet out 126k, but foshio answered by going all-in over the top of Dirky66 for his last 550k. Faced with a tough call, Dirky66 finally decided to risk a good majority of his chips and called with the Jd-7c for top pair of jacks, which was well ahead of foshio's Qc8s. Behind but not out, foshio needed a queen, another eight, or one of the four nines in the deck to make a straight, to avoid elimination. The 3c on the turn was no help to foshio, so his tournament life would come down to the river. When the meaningless Ts was dealt on the river, foshio was eliminated in second, and winning $17,877 in the process.

After coming in third place the previous week, Dirky66 out did himself and captured this week's tournament with a combination of skill and good luck. At one point down to a few outs going to the river, Dirky66 turned his good fortune into a win and $28,482.

Final Results:

1st - Dirky66 $28,482
2nd - foshio $17,877
3rd - win89 $11,817
4th - Bill Chen $8,181
5th - SamENole $6,666
6th - Rol Dog $5,454
7th - JP186AND1 $4,242
8th - perfectool $3,030
9th - q-_-p $2,121
10th - hamhock $1,212