Online Poker Roundup: 'caio_pimenta' Runs Gamut in Stars Super Tuesday
Monday and Tuesday brought the usual big early-week events at Full Tilt and PokerStars, respectively, with both major tournaments producing a rush of exciting action. A frenetic pace marked the conclusion of the Full Tilt Monday $1,000, where Ben "1Mastermind" Chen walked off with top honors, while "caio_pimenta" pulled off a rare sweep in the final of the Stars Super Tuesday, eliminating each of the other eight players. Here's a look at the action:
PokerStars Super Tuesday
The PokerStars Super Tuesday attracted 372 participants to its $400,000 guaranteed prize pool. Among the best finishes were Seth "SFisch4" Fischer in 10th place ($5,600), UH Big Tex in 13th ($4,800), BleedBlue33 in 15th ($4,800), and Jordan "scarface_79" Smith in 19th ($2,800). The final table saw one player dominate, pulling off a most impressive run to the win. The chip counts to start the final were as follows:
Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese - 204,820
Daniel "amichaiKK" Makowsky - 175,604
Phidias "ael1979" Georgiou - 131,424
Raja "tiger76" Kattamuri - 124,733
Mariklus - 117,866
Altrum Altus - 102,387
Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong - 99,928
caio_pimenta - 98,484
Jeff "JSchnett" Schnettler - 60,754
Exiting first was Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong. The blinds and antes were 1,500/3,000/300 when Armstrong ran Q?Q? into caio_pimenta's K?K? and could not improve, finishing ninth for $7,000. Jeff "JSchnett" Schnettler was the next to go. Altrum Altus raised to 7,444 from middle position and caio_pimenta called from the small blind. Schnettler, in the big blind, moved all in for 59,554 with 6?6?. Altrum Altus got out of the way but caio_pimenta called with 10?10?. The board rolled out 3?2?7?8?9? and Schnettler was sent packing in eighth for $10,000. At the 3,000/6,000/600 level, Caio_pimenta raised to 15,250 on the button and Mariklus moved over the top all in for 87,732 from the small blind. Caio_pimenta called and revealed A?9?, ahead of Mariklus' A?4?. The board came 10?5?A?3?6? and sent Mariklus to the rail in seventh for $14,000.
Eliminated in sixth was Raja "tiger76" Kattamuri. At 4,000/8,000/800, caio_pimenta raised to 20,500 from middle position and Kattamuri moved all in from the big blind for 106,346. A quick call revealed A?Q? for caio_pimenta, dominating Kattamuri's A?8?. The board did not help Raja as it came A?2?7?K?9?, ending his tournament for $18,000. Falling on the next hand was Phidias "ael1979" Georgiou. Down to 52,690, he moved all in from the button with K?5?, but ran into caio_pimenta's pocket jacks. No king would appear, eliminating Georgiou in fifth for $23,000. The 5,000/10,000/1,000 level saw the demise of Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese in fourth. From the cutoff he shoved for 95,250 with A?10? and was called by caio_pimenta on the button with 6?6?. The flop came K?K?9?, giving Marchese many ways to win. However the turn and river were the J? and 2?, sending him off with a $33,600 payday.
With blinds and antes moving to 6,000/12,000/1,200, these were the chip counts:
caio_pimenta - 418,925
Altrum Altus - 418,744
Daniel "amichaiKK" Makowsky - 278,331
Daniel "amichaiKK" Makowsky exited next. A series of raises preflop led to an all-in coin flip situation with Makowsky holding 8?8? against caio_pimenta's A?J?. The board paired caio_pimenta as it came 5?Q?A?9?3?, sending amichaiKK to the rail with $44,000. The next hand ended the tournament. Again, a series of preflop raises led to an all in showdown. This time, caio_pimenta was holding J?J? and was dominating Altrum Altus' 4?4?. The board came 7?Q?2?K?6?, busting Altrum Altus as runner-up for $59,000. The winner of the Super Tuesday and its first-place prize of $78,000 was caio_pimenta, who started the final table looking up the leader board, but ran the table and eliminated every opponent for a well-deserved victory.
Final Results:
1. caio_pimenta - $78,000
2. Altrum Altus - $59,000
3. Daniel "amichaiKK" Makowsky - $44,000
4. Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese - $33,600
5. Phidias "ael1979" Georgiou - $23,000
6. Raja "tiger76" Kattamuri - $18,000
7. Mariklus - $14,000
8. Jeff "JSchnett" Schnettler - $10,000
9. Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong - $7,000
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Full Tilt Monday $1,000
The Full Tilt Monday $1,000 drew a field of 343 for a total prize pool of $343,000. Among the highest finishers falling short of the final table were James "P0KERPR0" Campbell in 12th place ($4,288), Jeff "YellowSub86" Williams in 15th ($3,430), Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy in 22nd ($1,887), James "TheFatFISH" Obst in 23rd (1,887), Luke "IWEARGOGGLES" Staudenmaier in 24th ($1,887), and Justin "WPThero" Rollo in 27th ($1,886.50). The chip counts to start the final table were as follows:
Iridium - 241,615
THE_GOLDMINE - 146,374
tsk3434 - 140,089
Brady "vegan213" Shepard - 130,144
Ben "1Mastermind" Chen - 125,193
orangeman88 - 71,788
Tom "titantom32" Braband - 65,068
cool0813 - 60,084
solohomer - 48,645
With blinds at 2,500/5,000 and a 600 ante, Iridium was knocked out in ninth place. After entering the final table as the chip leader, a few tough hands brought his demise. It ended with Iridium moving all in from middle position with K?Q? and finding action from Ben "1Mastermind" Chen on the button with A?J?. The board rolled out 10?6?3?10?3? and Iridium took home $6,860. The next to go was solohomer. At 3,000/6,000/750, tsk3434 made it 18,000 to play from early position with 9?9? and solohomer called all in from the big blind with K?8?. The board came J?Q?K?10?8? and solohomer's two pair were second best to tsk3434's straight, felting solohomer in eighth for $8,575. Tsk3434's tournament life would end next. From middle position, tsk3434 raised to 24,000 and Ben Chen raised all in from the big blind. Tsk3434 called all in for 79,954 with 4?4?, but trailed Chen's J?J?. No four appeared, eliminating tsk3434 in seventh for $11,147.50.
Tom "titantom32" Braband bit the dust next after shoving all in from the cutoff for 65,892 with A?6?, and finding an opponent in the form of orangeman88's K?Q?. The {5c Qd Th 4d 2d board eliminated Braband in sixth for $17,150. The 4,000/8,000/1,000 level saw cool0813 bust in fifth place. On the button, cool0813 moved all in for 106,024 with 4?4? and was called by Ben "1Mastermind" Chen in the big blind with 8?8?. The board rolled out Q?3?7?5?10? and sent cool0813 to the rail with $24,010. Once the blinds and antes hit 5,000/10,000/1,000, a flurry of eliminations saw the tournament come to an end in a mere ten hands. From the small blind, THE_GOLDMINE moved all in for 151,027 with A?9?, but in the big blind Ben Chen woke up with A?Q?. The board came 9?7?Q?6?8? and sent THE_GOLDMINE to the rail in fourth for $31,727.50. Brady "Vegan213" Shepard bowed out in third after running K?10? into orangeman88's K?Q?. The board brought no ten and Shepard earned $41,160 for third.
The chip counts at the start of heads-up play were these:
Ben "1Mastermind" Chen: 719,079
orangeman88: 309,921
It took two hands and it was all over. A 3?2?A? board saw several bets before orangeman88's tournament life was on the line with A?6?, needing help against Chen's A?Q?. The turn and river were the J? and 8?, eliminating orangeman88 runner-up for $54,880. Ben "1Mastermind" Chen won the tournament and $85,750.
Final Results:
1. Ben "1Mastermind" Chen - $85,750
2. orangeman88 - $54,880
3. Brady "vegan213" Shepard - $41,160
4. THE_GOLDMINE - $31,727.50
5. cool0813 - $24,010
6. Tom "titantom32" Braband - $17,150
7. tsk3434 - $11,147.50
8. solohomer - $8,575
9. Iridium - $6,860
