The finals of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship began airing on Saturday night on GSN. The $50,000 buy-in tournament had worked its way down to four teams, each vying for a $1 million top prize. Every team left standing is guaranteed to take home at least $100,000 for making the final table.
Allen Cunningham and Huck Seed began the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship finale with 600,000 in chips. Also holding 600,000 by virtue of winning a semifinal match were PartyPoker pro Tony G and David Benyamine. Coming armed to the action with 400,000 in chips were Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson, along with Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon. Teammates alternate action by street and each pair was given three 60-second timeouts to talk strategy away from the table.
Seed and Cunningham raised to 300,000 on a board reading K-10-J-3-7 holding A-7 of clubs for a pair and a busted flush draw. Lederer and Gordon held K-10 for two pair and promptly asked for time to discuss whether or not to call the massive bet. Gordon’s gut told him to call, while Lederer contended that they were beat. Nevertheless, Gordon made the call and scooped a massive 798,000-chip pot. Following the game-changing hand, they had more chips than the rest of the table combined.
Tony G and Benyamine were all-in with Q-J against the pocket tens of Cunningham and Seed. The flop came 2-J-Q, giving Tony G and Benyamine top two pair, and a running 7-5 awarded them the double up. Gordon actually folded pocket fives pre-flop in the hand and would have rivered a set, but Tony G and Benyamine doubled up to 217,000. While still on life support, the duo remained in the hunt for the seven-figure first place prize.
After Gordon put in a check-raise to 75,000 with air on a board of 4-7-Q-7, Cunningham called with Q-10 for top pair to see a nine on the river. Lederer checked, Seed bet 110,000, and Lederer shut it down by folding rather than continuing Gordon’s aggression. It was one of several instances in which Lederer and Gordon were not on the same page, leaving Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship host Brandon Adams to remark, “They seem to fumble the baton pretty often.”
Ivey raised to 30,000 before the flop with A-Q and Gordon made the call with 7-3 suited to clubs. The action flop came A-K-5 with two clubs, giving Ivey and Ferguson top pair and Lederer and Gordon a flush draw. Lederer checked, Ferguson fired out a bet of 35,000, and Lederer check-raised all-in for 248,000. Ferguson called for his team’s tournament life and the turn was the seven of diamonds. Lederer and Gordon were rooting for a club, seven, or three to hit on the river to trim the table to three teams, but a red nine hit to double up the always-dangerous Ivey and Ferguson to 561,000.
In the final hand of the night, Tony G raised to 30,000 with pocket nines and Seed popped it to 190,000 with A-9. Tony G responded by moving all-in for another 2,000 and Seed made the call. The board came 2-3-3-5-6 and Tony G and Benyamine doubled up after dodging an ace. Tony G proclaimed, “This will be the greatest comeback in television history” and the credits rolled.
Play remains four-handed in the finals of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship. Will Tony G’s proclamation come true? Catch the show on Saturday at 9:00pm ET on GSN.