Another installment of the renowned online poker series from Full Tilt Poker is edging ever closer, kicking off on February 6th and spanning a couple of weeks.
Be sure to check out the FTOPS XIX schedule and get involved in one of the 45 championship events on offer.
Who knows, if you're good enough you could walk away with a gold jersey... not to mention the millions of dollars up for grabs!
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Erik Seidle opened to 28,000 from early position and was met with a call from Tony Bloom from the small blind before Sam Trickett three-bet to 100,000 from the big.
With the action on the rather subdued Seidel, he pushed in all his chocolate 25,000-denomination chips to amount to a four-bet of 275,000.
Bloom passed, as did Trickett before he stated, "I don't know why I played that like that. That was probably the worst hand I've played all tournament!"
"I just had a hand that I didn't know what I was doing!" Trickett continued to the ears of James Obst.
With that pot, Seidel climbs to 550,000 in chips.
David Benyamine kicked this one off with a raise to 30,000. Sam Trickett was on the button and three-bet to 83,000. After the blinds folded, action fell back on the original preflop raiser Benyamine. He thought for a bit, down to his last allotted second. Then, he stuck out a tall stack of chips. Trickett reraised him all in and Benyamine quickly called off the rest of it.
Benyamine tabled the 
, but in bad shape as Trickett's 
had him dominated. The flop came down 
and just about shut the door completely on Benyamine. The turn finished things off with the 
and the river completed the board with the 
.
Benyamine, a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro, picked up AUD$150,000 for his sixth-place finish. Trickett retook the chip lead with approximately 1.33 million in chips.
David Steicke opened to 36,000 and James Obst defended his big blind to see a 
flop fall.
Steicke fired out a half-pot continuation bet before Obst opted to check-raise to 90,000.
Steicke used his full time bank before eventually making the fold to Obst win another pot after beginning today in a slumber.
Obst is now up to 790,000 in chips.
Sam Trickett opened his hi-jack to 31,000 only to have James Obst three-bet the cutoff to 80,000.
Once the action returned back to Trickett, he eyed up Obst's stack before eventually choosing to muck while slipping to 820,000 in chips.
Tony Bloom raised to 28,000 before the flop and David Steicke called form the big blind. The flop came down 
and Steicke checked over to Bloom. He fired 32,000 and Steicke made the call.
The turn card was the 
and Steicke checked again to his opponent. Bloom checked behind him.
The river card was the and Steicke took his time before betting 66,000. Bloom stared at the board, thinking things over. He ran out of time and his hand was declared dead before he tossed it in. Steicke is up to about 430,000 now.
David Steicke limped in, as did David Benyamine while James Obst and Erik Seidel completed and checked their options respectively.
Obst took the lead on the 
flop by leading for 32,000 as only Benyamine made the call before the rolled off on the turn.
Obst tossed in a bet of 56,000 with Benyamine making the call before the repeating 
landed on the river.
"Starting the clock sir!" stated the dealer as Obst contemplated his decision.
"5, 4, 3, 2 . . . " the dealer continued before Obst tossed in his time-breaker button to extend his time bank by a further thirty-seconds.
After using nearly all of his second time bank, Obst tossed in five chocolate 25,000-denomination chips amounting to a bet of 125,000.
It was now Benyamine's turn to go into the tank, and after using the majority of his time bank, he pushed his cards towards the muck.
With that pot, Obst is now up to roughly 600,000 as Benyamine slips to 440,000 and change.
Sam Trickett raised to 26,000 and David Benyamine called from the big blind. After the flop came down 
, Benyamine check-folded to a bet of 34,000 from Trickett.
On the next hand, Trickett opened to 26,000 form under the gun. Tony Bloom called from the big blind and the flop came down . Bloom checked and Trickett bet 34,000, the same continuation bet as the last hand. Bloom folded and Trickett won this one as well.
With the elimination of Jeffrey Lisandro in seventh place, all of the remaining six players are guaranteed at least AUD$150,000. In case you're wondering what the payouts are, check out the table below.
| Place | Prize (AUD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $1,525,000 |
| 2nd | $975,000 |
| 3rd | $625,000 |
| 4th | $325,000 |
| 5th | $200,000 |
| 6th | $150,000 |
David Steicke opened to 35,000 from early position with Jeffrey Lisandro making the call from the big blind.
With the dealer spreading a 
flop, Lisandro instantly responded by moving all in with Steicke snap-calling him.
Lisandro: 
Steicke: 
With Lisandro needing to spike one of the two remaining tens in the deck, the on the turn wouldn't be what he was after.
Unfortunately for the five-time WSOP bracelet holder, the river would see the roll off to end his tournament in seventh place as Steicke moves up to under 400,000 in chips.
