Last week online poker room Full Tilt Poker held a high roller event for those who enjoy the thrill of playing in high stakes tournaments. The $25,000 Heads Up Championship featured sixty three players competing which created a prize pool of $1, 575,000 which was divided in a NCAA style bracket system which is used in most heads up play tournaments. 

The top eight players would be the only ones to earn a pay day so everyone was trying hard to stay on to the quarter finals of the tournament. The tournament lasted two days with the finals taking place early Sunday evening. 

Players began the tournament playing heads up against another competitor and then the first to lose all their chips was knocked out of the competition. The winner would move on to the next round of heads up play. 

Several poker pros from Full Tilt competed in the tournament though they were unable to finish in the money. Phil Ivey, Andy Block, Tom Dwan, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, Ziigmund, Tony G and Gavin Smith were among those who could not make it to the final rounds of play.

David Benefield and Ashton Griffin, both in their early twenties, made it to the final round of heads up play. both had eliminated many players to make it to the last match and only had to defeat the other to win the large first place prize. Ashton Griffin calls himself a heads up No Limit Hold’em specialist and apparently he is right because he was able to knock out Benefield to take the title win earning $551,250.

Benefield earned $315,000 for second place while WinnerFish and yogiblair earned $165,375 and the other four players, Past, Kadabra, IvanLendL and Vaga_Lion earned $94,500 for their finish. 

Every major poker site hosts tournaments during the weekend especially on Sundays and this week even though many were watching Lebron James, the events managed to see a good turnout. However, several of the online poker tournaments could not make their guarantees and overlays ensued. But with the NBA Championships coming down to the wire and people cooking out and celebrating the Memorial Day holiday it is no wonder there was a shortage of players.  

Absolute Poker saw a good turnout of 187 players to compete in their $100,000 guaranteed tournament. With a buy-in of $500 plus $30 the top twenty seven players would earn a payout and the top position would take home $26,000. All players begin the tournament with 3,000 chips with the hopes of knocking players out to gain more chips and hopefully make the final table. 

When it came down to final table play it would not be long before a winner would be named. Players were fighting to win the tournament or at least make it to the top three places as they paid out in the tens of thousands. When it came down to three handed play, online players DOES888, XXCELTICFCXX and MARIO_BASLER began the battle for first place. 

MARIO_BASLER would be unable to hold on to make it heads up play as he was knocked out in third, which left DOES888 and XXCELTICFCXX to begin heads up play. Once DOES888 held the chip lead he was ready to take down the win and on the final hand he would knock XXCELTICFCXX out and claim the $26,000 first place prize. 

Final Results:

DOES888 – $26,000 

XXCELTICFCXX – $15,500 

MARIO_BASLER – $11,000

PHILIBORT – $8,000

SKIMMYSCAM – $6,550

AJKHOOSIER1 – $5,500 

BOZONE_BUM – $4,500 

WU_WIZARD – $3,500 

BASEBALDY – $2,500

As the 2009 World Series of Poker draws near, online poker rooms are adding new and exciting ways to win WSOP prize packages. UltimateBet recently announced they have partnered with Rounders Radio to offer special WSOP packages to the radio listeners that play at Ultimate Bet. 

Two packages will be given away to the WSOP that will include a seat to the WSOP Academy on June 29th and $1,000 for accommodations and travel. To gain access to the tournaments players must use a secret code that will only be given on Rounders Radio. The code will give player’s access to the $5 buy-in Tournaments.

Each Sunday the $5 buy-in tournaments will take place and the new secret password for the private tournament will be announced on the Rounders Radio Ultimate Poker Show each Sunday. Mark Kroon of UltimateBet is the host of the radio show. 

During each Sunday tournament the top nine players will move on to compete in the Main Event on June 22nd. The Main Event will then give two packages away to the top players to attend the Academy. Players can also use Ultimate Points (5000) or enter satellites for 500 points to gain entry into the Main Event. 

Annie Duke commented on the new promotion stating: “We’re thrilled to be doing another WSOP Academy promotion just for Rounders Radio listeners. The Ultimate Poker Show attracts poker players who really want to take their game to the next level so a promotion that offers seats in the WSOP Academy couldn’t be more fitting.”

UltimateBet gives players many ways to enter the tournament and possibly win the WSOP Academy package. How awesome would it be to have a seat at a WSOP event and be in the presence of some of the best poker players in the world?