David Pham wins H.O.R.S.E. FTOPS XIV Event #14

FTOPS Event #14 was a $535 H.O.R.S.E. event. Only 552 players showed up for the event as the event failed to meet its guarantee. A $24,000 overlay was available for those that decided to come out to play. $69,570 was the top prize for first with 64 players making the money.
Royal_Clown was the unfortunate bubble boy for the event, finishing in 65th. Several red pros made strong showings. Marco Traniello finished in 28th, Brandon Adams in 17th, Justin Smith in 11th, and David “The Dragon” Pham made the final table of the event. Others making strong showings in this event were, Yuvee04 in 40th, Doc Sands in 38th, and THAY3R in 19th.

The final table of this event was headlined by Full Tilt Poker red pro and chip leader David Pham and WSOP bracelet winner Zac Fellows aka “Zacpacker”. This past weekend’s Sunday Night H.O.R.S.E champion POCKET FIVE, also made the final. This is how the final 8 players started final table play:
Zac Fellows screen name “Zacpacker” 217,571

Rumprammer 260,234

Grippolio 487,359

FatsoFat6969 52,001

Nuttynutt 107,840

David Pham 509,568

POCKET FIVE 253,672

Smokinokun 194,755

We lost our first player in the very first hand of final table action. Nuttynutt called bets on every street from Zac Fellows during a razz hand. The river bet put nuttynutt all-in and Fellows showed a seven-low. Nuttynutt could not beat it and finished in 8th place.
Zac Fellows continued on his tear as he knocked out the 7th place finisher. POCKET FIVE, Fellows, and FatsoFat6969 all were involved in a razz hand and FatsoFat6969 put in his last chips on fourth showing Q-6. POCKET FIVE and Fellows continued with Fellows betting on fifth and sixth and POCKET FIVE calling him down. Action was checked around at the river and Fellows showed a 10. POCKET FIVE couldn’t beat it and Fellows won the side pot.

FatsoFat6969 was showing two paint cards on his board and could not beat a 10 either, so he mucked and headed out in 7th place.

Grippolio three-bet on third street during the Stud Hi round Smokinokun made the call. Grippolio bet after being checked to on fourth, but on fifth, Smokinokun led out with K-Q-9 showing. Grippolio moved all-in and was called. Grippolio held a pair of buried kings and Smokinokun held a gutshot broadway draw, needing a jack. The turn gave Smokinokun a pair of nines and the river gave him queens-up. Grippolio could never improve over Kings-up and finished in 6th place.
POCKET FIVE has been on a helluva run this week, winning Sunday Night H.O.R.S.E. and making the final table of this event.

However, his run would finish in a 5th place finish. He got his last 116k in chips in pre-flop of Holdem with pocket fives. Smokinokun held pocket fours and off to the flop they went. The board spelled disaster for POCKET FIVE as a four hit the flop. Another five was not in the cards and POCKET FIVE went down in 5th place, taking home $12,600. For the week, POCKET FIVE has made $21,600 at HORSE. Not a bad return for around $800 invested.

At one point Zac Fellows had been challenging for the chip lead, but he steadily slipped to the point where he was the short stack four handed with 154k in chips. He got his stack in during Omaha on a flop of Jd-5c-4c. Fellows held Kh-10s-6h-4s for two pair and David Pham held As-3c-7c-4d for a made low, made low, and redraw to flush. The river fell a harmless 3s and Zac went packing in 4th place.

A huge pot during Razz between David Pham and Smokinokun resulted in both a massive chip leader and a 3rd place elimination. The betting was 50k – 100k and Smokinokun three-bet on third with a six showing and Pham called with a five showing. Smokinokun caught a nine on fourth and bet and Pham called after catching a 10. On fifth, Smokinokun caught a queen and bet his last 93,572. Pham caught a jack and made the easy call. Smokinokun had a made queen but with a redraw to a nine. Pham had a made jack and only had a redraw to a 10. Sixth street gave Smokinokun a 2 to make a 9 and a redraw to a seven. Pham caught a six to make his 10 and also a redraw to an eight. The river card fell a king for Smokinokun, leaving him with a nine, but Pham rivered a seven to make a rough eight. Pham took down a 667k pot and Smokinokun was eliminated in 3rd place.
Going into heads up play, David Pham had better than a 2 to 1 chip lead, holding 1.54 Million in chips to the 659,734 of rumprammer. Heads-up play lasted 80 hands but rumprammer never got above what he started with heads-up. The final hand of the event occurred during a stud round and rumprammer completed on third and then bet out on fourth and fifth. Pham just called on fourth, but on fifth street, he raised showing 2h-7c-Jh and put rumprammer all-in. Rumprammer made the call and revealed a pair of deuces with an ace.

Pham showed a pair of sevens and a four flush. Sixth street sealed the deal for Pham. He caught the 3h to complete his flush and rumprammer was drawing dead. David Pham is the champion of FTOPS Event #14. Rumprammer finished as the runner-up, taking home $45,570.

David Pham played a phenomenal game to take down this event. He entered as chip leader and really was never in danger. Once action got to three-handed, he turned on the afterburners and his aggression combined with good hands allowed him to take down the event. In addition to the FTOPS gold jersey, Pham won $69,570 and the admiration of his fellow Full Tilt pros.