John_McClane17 Wins FTOPS IV Main Event
Gus Hansen (Credit: Full Tilt Poker)
On Sunday, May 20, 2007 , Full Tilt Poker ended the fourth installment of its Full Tilt Online Poker Series with a fantastic Main Event. Heading up the festivities was one Gus Hansen. Perhaps you've heard of him?
3,798 players, including The Great Dane, paid $500 + 35 to play (or won their way in via the plethora of satellites FTP offered throughout the series). The prize pool was a juicy $1,899,000 and the first-place finisher earned over $335,000. Not bad, huh?
John_McClane17, the event's eventual winner, charged into the final table with a solid chip lead. He held about 3.1 mil. SN8WMAN went out on the first hand after moving all-in with a K,5. RastaAl took him out with a K,8. However, he'd be the next elimination after IdahoQueens made a Broadway with his A,J in the hole.
KingDan23 then knocked IdahoQueens out with—ironically—pocket queens that turned into a set on the flop. The elimination gave KingDan23 the chip lead at the table. He added to his lead by sending both boNeZee and amatos to the rail in quick succession.
CroqueMonsieur took some of the wind out of KingDan23's sails by doubling through him with pocket queens. Then, a three-way monster of a pot kicked sicklol to the curb in fourth place, netting him over $100k for the effort.
John_McClane17 then caught a lucky river card to make a queen-high straight against KingDan23's big slick in the hole. McClane sat back for a bit and let KingDan and CroqueMonsieur fight it out. It was a smart move.
KingDan knocked CroqueMonsieur out with an As,6s by spiking an ace on the turn. Going into heads-up play, KingDan had a bit of a lead over his opponent, but McClane, who is appropriately named after Bruce Willis' Die Hard character, didn't give up. He eventually doubled through with pocket ladies, or the Hilton Sisters as the WPT's Vince McMahon likes to call 'em. Then, he made a straight on the river after KingDan called his all-in.
However, KingDan wasn't ready to pack it in either. He caught two jacks, on the river, to stay ahead of McClane with his A,J. In the end, KingDan went all-in with an Ac,Jh. McClane called with an Ad,7s. He'd need help to knock out his pesky foe. Luckily, the flop brought a seven of clubs. KingDan didn't hit any of the twelve outs he needed to stay in the match, and that was all she wrote.
Here are the final standings in case you're keeping track:
1) John_McClane17 - $336,217.95 2) KingDan23 - $203,193 3) CroqueMonsieur - $132,930 4) sicklol - $104,824.80 5) amatos - $78,618.60 6) boNeZee - $58,299.30 7) IdahoQueens - $43,677 8) RastaAl - $34,182 9) SN8WMAN - $25,446.60