zhivago2 wins FTOPS XIV Main Event

November 16th, 2009

The FTOPS XIV Main Event kicked off on Sunday with 5,471 players looking to take down this major online poker championship. A $2.5 Million guarantee was advertised and the prize pool beat the guarantee at $2,735,500. First place of this event was scheduled to make $467,770.50 with 720 places paid.
The Full Tilt red pros were out in force for this one, including new red pro and tournament host Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Tom Dwan played well, but finished short of the money in 949th place. Jeff Madsen was among the red poker pros to cash in the event, finishing in 377th. Dave Colclough was the high man on the red pro totem pole, finishing in 250th.
Pro Adam Junglen headlined the final table of this event. Also of note, dfunks222 made the final table of Sunday Night H.O.R.S.E. earlier in the day. He finished 4th in that event, but the top prize paled in comparison to what could be won here.

This is how the final nine players started final table action:

Adam Junglen 6,437,047

Dr Fill Good 2,809,815

kinheim 6,650,416

bankrollme87 6,205,370

ItsTime2Win 2,171,959

zhivago2 8,358,848

dfunks222 2,187,007

nuts7878 2,563,029

Valuechecking 3,649,009

Dr Fill Good was the first person knocked out of this final. Valuechecking raised to 255,434 pre-flop and Dr Fill Good moved all-in for 1.93 Million. Valuechecking made the call and found his Ah-Js racing the pocket eights of Dr Fill Good. The flop of 2c-5d-3h gave Valuechecking a wheel draw. The turn 7h missed both players, but the river Jd gave Valuechecking the win and sent Dr Fill Good out in 9th.

Valuechecking’s new found chips didn’t last him long. He raised to 341,544 and action was folded around to zhivago2, who moved all in for 10.7 Million. Valuechecking made the call for just over 3 Million and was in dominating shape with Ad-Kc against the As-10h of zhivago2. The flop and turn missed both players, but the river fell the 10d, giving zhivago2 a pair of tens and sending Valuechecking out in 8th.

Nuts7878 was the short stack at this point with 1.22 Million in chips. ItsTime2Win raised to 355,575 from the hijack position and nuts7878 moved all-in from the small blind. ItsTime2Win made the call and found his Qc-Jc behind the Ah-Qd of nuts7878. As had been the case at this final table, no lead was safe. The flop fell Js-3s-9c to put ItsTime2Win in the lead. The turn and river missed both players and nuts7878 headed out in 7th.

Bankrollme87 was the 6th place finisher. He raised pre-flop to 377,325 and got a call from ItsTime2Win. On a flop of 9s-8d-6s, bankrollme87 bet 444,444 and ItsTime2Win raised to 2.56 Million. Bankrollme87 made the call and flipped over 9d-3d for top pair. ItsTime2Win showed 9h-7h for top pair, better kicker, and a straight draw. The turn fell the Ad, and the river 4c, making ItsTime2Win’s kicker good and sending bankrollme87 out in 6th.

Kinheim was the short stack at 3.25 Million and shoved over top of a raise to 400,000 by Zhivago2. Zhivago2 made the call and his Ac-Jc had kinheim’s Js-10h dominated. The board missed both players and we were down to four.

Dfunks222 earlier in the day finished 4th in Sunday Night HORSE and was in the final four of this event. Down to around 3.8 Million in chips, he moved all-in under the gun with Ah-7c. Action was folded around to zhivago2 in the big blind, who called with pocket jacks. The flop put dfunks222 in an even bigger hole as zhivago2 hit a set of jacks on a 4c-Js-Qh flop. The turn gave dfunks222 a bit of hope for a suckout when the Kd hit the board. A suckout was not in the cards as the river fell the Qs, giving zhivago2 a full house and sending dfunks222 out in 4th. His payday for fourth was $175,042, which was quite a bit more than the $2,600 payday from his Sunday Night HORSE final table.

A deal was made between the three players, leaving $25,000 for the winner. Adam Junglen received $290,418.94 from the deal. ItsTime2Win received $316,554.40 from the deal, and zhivago2 received $393,839.16 from the deal.
It didn’t take long to get heads-up. A raising war occurred pre-flop between zhivago2 and Adam Junglen that resulted in Junglen being all-in for his tournament life. Junglen held pocket sixes and was racing the Qs-Jh of zhivago2. A jack on the flop put zhivago2 in the lead. Junglen picked up a gutshot draw on the turn, increasing his outs to six. However, the river fell the Kh, and play was heads-up.

Heads-up play started with zhivago2 holding a 2 to 1 chip lead. He held 27.56 Million in chips to the 13.46 Million of ItsTime2Win. Heads-up went back and forth with ItsTime2Win holding the chip lead for a while before Zhivago2 regaining it and nearly regaining his 2 to 1 chip lead.

The final hand between the two saw ItsTime2Win raise to 587,575 pre-flop and zhivago2 three-bet to 1.66 Million. ItsTime2Win made the call, and the flop fell 5c-2d-9h. Zhivago2 bet out 2.22 Million and ItsTime2Win shoved for 11.9 Million. Zhivago2 made the call and showed pocket jacks. ItsTime2Win held Ac-3c for a gutshot wheel draw. The turn gave ItsTime2Win outs to a flush when the 6c fell. The river fell the 3h, and zhivago2’s pocket jacks gave him the victory.
Zhivago2 is the champion of the FTOPS XIV Main Event. He received $418,839.16 and the championship gold jersey for his win. Zhivago2 entered the final table as the chip lead and was never in any real danger. He played masterfully and got lucky when he needed to. All the signs of a true poker champion.
Congratulations to zhivago2, FTOPS XIV Main Event Champion.