Full Tilt Poker held it’s annual $25,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship on Saturday, May 23rd. The 63-player field played down to the final four as the final two rounds took place on Sunday afternoon. Last year’s champion, David Singer, failed to repeat as he ended up busting in 12th place. With the top eight finishers cashing, “Past”, “Kadabra”, “IvanLendL”, and “Vaga_Lion” all took home $94,500 for finishing 5th through 8th.
The first of the two semi-final rounds to conclude took place on table 2 where “yogiblair” took on Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin. The final hand saw Griffin’s ladies hold up against his opponent’s pocket Fives. Around half-an-hour later, David Benefield would finish off “WinnerFish” when his overpair was too much for his opponent’s top pair on a Nine-high flop. Both losers received over $165K for their solid efforts.
And so it was Griffin versus Benefield in a final battle for the $551K+ top prize. The match would come to an end after 101 total hands of action. In the final hand, Griffin’s flopped trips proved to be too much for Benefield’s pair and open-ended straight draw. Benefield booked a sweet $315K win for his 2nd place finish while all the spoils went to the victor, Ashton Griffin. Those spoils consisted of $551,250 as Griffin was crowned the 2009 Full Tilt Poker $25K NLH Heads-Up Champion.
Semi-Final Match 2 – Final Hand
Full Tilt Poker Game #12409999402: $25K Heads-Up Championship (91289854)
Table 2 – 40/80 – No Limit Hold’em – 17:15:08 ET – 2009/05/24
Seat 1: yogiblair (1,562)
Seat 2: theASHMAN103 (8,438)
yogiblair posts the small blind of 40
theASHMAN103 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
yogiblair raises to 160
theASHMAN103 raises to 8,438, and is all in
yogiblair calls 1,402, and is all in
theASHMAN103 shows [Qh Qd]
yogiblair shows [5d 5s]
*** FLOP *** [3d 2c 9h]
*** TURN *** [3d 2c 9h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [3d 2c 9h 6s] [As]
theASHMAN103 shows a pair of Queens
yogiblair shows a pair of Fives
theASHMAN103 wins the pot (3,124) with a pair of Queens
Semi-Final Match 1 – Final Hand
Full Tilt Poker Game #12410560530: $25K Heads-Up Championship (91289854)
Table 1 – 80/160 – No Limit Hold’em – 17:44:33 ET – 2009/05/24
Seat 1: WinnerFish (2,386)
Seat 2: David Benefield (7,614)
David Benefield posts the small blind of 80
WinnerFish posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
David Benefield raises to 320
WinnerFish has requested TIME
WinnerFish calls 160
*** FLOP *** [9h 4s 7h]
WinnerFish has requested TIME
WinnerFish checks
David Benefield bets 375
WinnerFish has requested TIME
WinnerFish raises to 2,066, and is all in
David Benefield calls 1,691
WinnerFish shows [Qh 9c]
David Benefield shows [Jc Jh]
*** TURN *** [9h 4s 7h] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [9h 4s 7h 5c] [Tc]
WinnerFish shows a pair of Nines
David Benefield shows a pair of Jacks
David Benefield wins the pot (4,772) with a pair of Jacks
Championship Match – Final Hand
Full Tilt Poker Game #12411574163: $25K Heads-Up Championship (91289854)
Table 1 – 25/50 – No Limit Hold’em – 18:39:43 ET – 2009/05/24
Seat 1: theASHMAN103 (8,520)
Seat 2: David Benefield (1,480)
theASHMAN103 posts the small blind of 25
David Benefield posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
theASHMAN103 raises to 100
David Benefield calls 50
*** FLOP *** [7d 9h 9s]
David Benefield bets 125
theASHMAN103 calls 125
*** TURN *** [7d 9h 9s] [8d]
David Benefield bets 325
theASHMAN103 raises to 8,295, and is all in
David Benefield calls 930, and is all in
theASHMAN103 shows [9d 3h]
David Benefield shows [8s 6s]
*** RIVER *** [7d 9h 9s 8d] [Qs]
theASHMAN103 shows three of a kind, Nines
David Benefield shows two pair, Nines and Eights
theASHMAN103 wins the pot (2,960) with three of a kind, Nines
David Benefield: gg
