FTOPS XI, Event #1: Unlucky Queens Make David 'muckducks' Cairns a Winner

Mickey Doft Live Reporter

Feb 05, 2009 3 min read

FTOPS XI, Event #1: Unlucky Queens Make David 'muckducks' Cairns a Winner 0001

The eleventh Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS XI) kicked off with a $200+$16 no-limit hold'em poker featuring a million-dollar guarantee. Event #1 drew a crowd of 6,275 for a total prize pool of $1,255,000 and a first-place prize of $216,512.60. The top 738 spots paid. Among the best finishes from notable players were Dan "Wretchy" Martin in 13th place ($8,722.25), Chris "Cmoney3" Kline in 19th ($4,518), Josh "professorpeanut" Will in 21st ($4,518), Jeremiah "Believer8219" Vinsant in 37th ($2,761), Jagz7 in 42nd ($2,761), Mohsin "chicagocards1�� Charania in 48th ($2,196.25) and Matt "MattSuspect" Molinari in 50th ($2,196.25). Nearly eleven hours after the cards were dealt to 6,275, just nine remained. The chip counts to start the final table were as follows:

David "muckducks" Cairns - 8,847,150

sticky seat - 8,542,663

John "John Newcombe" Newcombe - 3,679,525

amster_ATX - 2,037,866

headbang - 1,846,196

two8off - 1,805,256

song1234 - 1,566,232

Almerud - 1,529,339

ich_bin_pro - 1,520,773

The first to be sent home from the final table was amster_ATX at 80,000/160,000/20,000. From the cutoff, amster_ATX shoved for 977,054 with AsTs, but ran into headbang's K?K? in the big blind. The board came Q?3?3?K?6? and amster_ATX was out in ninth place for $16,315. Next to bust was ich_bin_pro. David "muckducks" Cairns opened for 400,000 in early position and ich_bin_pro raised all in for 780,773 with J?J?. Cairns called with A?Q? and took down the pot when the board rolled out K?2?A?A?6?. A total of $21,962.50 went to ich_bin_pro for the eighth-place finish.

Song1234 left on a low note at 100,000/200,000/25,000. From the cutoff, sticky seat raised to 525,555 and song1234 went all in from the small blind for 2,018,129, backing 10?10?. Sticky seat called and revealed K?K? and when the board ran out A?9?4?J?3?, song1234 was eliminated in seventh place for $28,865. Almerud departed a few hands later after losing a race to two8off. Almerud held A?10? to two8off's 9?9? and the board brought neither an ace nor a ten. The sixth-place finish earned Almerud a $37,022.50 payday. Late in the level, headbang's tournament ended as well. In the cutoff, sticky seat raised to 600,000 and headbang went all in for 1,198,250 from the small blind with A?K?. Pot-committed, sticky seat called with J?9?. The board rolled out 5?8?2?6?J? as sticky seat paired up on the river to send headbang to the rail in fifth place for $49,572.50.

At 120,000/240,000/30,000 two8off was felted. From the small blind, two8off shoved for 1,751,690 with A?4?, but ran into chip leader sticky seat's 7?7?. The board came J?Q?Q?3?5? as two8off went out in fourth place for $65,887.50. John Newcombe went out in third at 140,000/280,000/35,000. From the small blind Newcombe raised to 660,000 and sticky seat called out of the big blind. The flop came 2?9?4? and John Newcombe check-raised all in for 4,921,492 holding J?J?. Sticky seat called with 9?6? and trailed, but the turn and river came 8h and 9d as sticky seat rivered trips to win. John Newcombe earned $84,336 for the third-place showing. The chip counts at the start of heads-up play:

sticky seat - 23,901,715

David "muckducks" Cairns - 7,473,285

The counts became nearly even when Cairns was fortunate with A?6? against sticky seat's Q?Q?. An ace fell on the flop and Cairns closed the gap significantly. The heads-up battle lasted for almost two levels before the key hands occurred. David Cairns was in dire straits at 170,000/340,000/40,000. After a series of raises preflop, Cairns was all in with 7?7? against sticky seat's Q?Q?. The flop and turn came 9?A?K?8? and things looked bleak, but the 7? hit the river and Cairns took a big lead with the two-outer, again leaving sticky seat's pocket queens a loser. He won the match a while later at 200,000/400,000/50,000. Sticky seat opened to 1,111,111 and David Cairns shoved with the big stack. Sticky seat wasted little time and called all in for 9,692,357 with A?K?. It led Cairns' J?10?, but the flop came 8?9?Q? to give Cairn the then-nut straight. The turn and river came Q? and 5? as sticky seat bowed out as the runner-up for $131,147.50. David "muckducks" Cairns' triumph in FTOPS XI Event #1 at <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.021couriers.com/download/244">Full Tilt</a> was worth $216,512.60.