Full Tilt’s Rush Poker, where players are rushed to a new table the second they fold a hand, makes for exciting, fast-paced tournaments. And MiniFTOPS XIX Event #26, one of Full Tilt’s exciting Rush Poker tournaments, did not disappoint! The Rush Poker tournament attracted 7,837 players from all over the world, the action coming thick and fast from the very first hand. With a $156,740 prize pool, the players battled their opponents as hard as they played fast. The leader board spun like a carousel, with players hopping on and off at top speed.
Event #26 was hosted by poker pro Andrea Benelli. Benelli learned poker from his father in Italy at a young age, and began a professional poker career at 18. In 2008, Benelli hit the EPT circuit with a splash, performing well through 2010, where he regularly earned tournament prizes $100k and up.
Few professionals competed in Event #26. Red Pro Roy Winston finished the highest of the pros, in 2,757th place. Winston has earned more than $2.5 million in tournament poker. The closest pro behind him was Gabriella Hill, finishing in 2,981st.
One of the most consistent players during the tournament was player nieezz. Down to the last 400 players, nieezz could be seen bouncing around in the top ten, one of the only consistent names in the leader board for almost half the tournament. He took several large hits, but each time bounced back, regularly surpassing the players who briefly held the chip lead. Nieezz, along with eight other players, made it to a final table where the action might have slowed, but the strategic play intensified.
The first four players to be knocked out at the final table, KGBORLOW, LightWeightBB, borrel, and ADNYSY, were sent to the rail in classic fashion: AJ vs. AK, small pocket trips vs. top pair, pocket aces taking out the suited connectors, and the like. All four knock outs occurred before the first final table break. For the remaining final five, it was a grinding showdown, starkly contrasted to the rapid pace of the 7,832 players eliminated before them.
Igyfrombxl was, for a long time, the short stack. However, after enduring the grind, igyfrombxl survived two all-ins to leap from last to second place. On poker “life support,” igyfrombxl won a classic all-in race (pocket pair to over cards) and doubled up from 700k to 1.4 million in chips. His most impressive all-in, however, occurred deep into the final table when his A9 was called by Foxy1885’s AK. The ace hit the flop, and Foxy1885 began celebrating his extremely dominant position. However, one card later, Igyfrombxl hit a 9, made two pair, and found himself in a solid second place.
Soon after, Nieezz, our consistent, solid performer for the majority of the tournament, ran afoul of igyfrombxl’s luck. Nieezz’s A3 stood no chance to igyfrombxl’s AK, and he finished in fifth place, though earning a nice payday of $6,739.82. Five hands later, Foxxy1885 was knocked out by blazer rudy, and the three-handed table went to battle with mostly even stacks of 3.6, 5.6, and 5.9 million chips. A 20 minute grind later, and DonkyNumber42’s QA backed into KK, and he made a third place exit to the tune of $13,166.16.
Though discussing a deal several times, the last two competitors played the tournament out like professionals. Complimentary of each other’s play in the chat box, but absolutely brutal with their chips, the sharks played to the end, ultimately refusing to cut their opponent any slack. Like a World Series of Poker finish, the final heads up contest between igyfrombxl and blazer rudy went hand after hand, fold after fold, until each player woke up to a big hand…
On hand 16 of heads up play, igyfrombxl looked down at pocket jacks and pushed all-in. Blazer rudy had little decision to make, with bullets in the hole. His pocket aces, moments later, placed him in first place for a whopping $30,489.07 prize, and left igyfrombxl in second for a more-than-respectable $18,652.06, drawing to a dramatic close the successful MiniFTOPS XIX Event #26.
7,837 players betting cards at breakneck speed, knocking down opponents faster than you can fold, and a final table with ESPN-style drama, Event #26 of MiniFTOPS XIX was an exciting success. A big part of the event’s fun was that final table, where a host of players remained to observe what was a more subtle and strategic drama than the main event. Full of good-natured players, fast-action, and big payouts, the MiniFTOPS Event #26 was a great success with the players. With many more events to go, there is still plenty of time to get in on the action!
The final table standings and payouts:
1. blazer rudy – $30,489.07
2. igyfrombxl – $18,652.06
3. DonkyNumber42 – $13,166.16
4. Foxy1885 – $9,404.40
5. nieezz – $6,739.82
6. ADNYSY – $4,545.46
7. KGBORLOW – $3,134.80
8. LightWeightBB – $2,194.36
9. borrel – $1,567.40