On Saturday night, the finals of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship continued on GSN. The four-handed final table saw its first elimination and the show ended with three teams left standing. Teammates alternate action by street in the Doubles Poker Championship suite at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.
Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon were the chip leaders entering Saturday’s Doubles Poker Championship episode with a stack of 873,000, while Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey owned the second largest tally at 593,000. PartyPoker pro Tony G and cash game specialist David Benyamine entered in third place with 389,000 and Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham were the low men on the totem pole at 145,000. The top team receives $1 million, while, in a steep payout structure, the fourth place team walks away with just $100,000.
Seed and Cunningham doubled up to over 300,000 with A-K against K-J when the board ran out five cards eight or lower. Shortly thereafter, Lederer raised to 47,000 before the flop with A-9 and Seed re-raised to 86,000 with 5-4 of hearts. Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship commentator Brandon Adams speculated that Seed meant to call, but inadvertently raised. Either way, Lederer called and the flop came 7-A-4, giving each team a pair.
Cunningham bet 80,000 with bottom pair and Gordon raised all-in over the top with a pair of aces. Cunningham called for time to consult with Seed, who owns the best record in National Heads-Up Poker Championship history. Seed admitted that the call was “borderline” and Cunningham elected to call all-in. The turn was an eight and the river was a six, giving Seed and Cunningham a miracle straight for the win. Gordon stood up and paced around in dismay after seeing the gutshot straight draw hit on the river.
In a subsequent hand, Ivey raised to 40,000 pre-flop with pocket nines and the entire table folded. As a result, his team became the chip leaders and an elaborate reference to Ivey as “god-like” was made. Then, his partner, Ferguson, open-shoved all-in with pocket deuces and Tony G insta-called all-in with K-9. Tony G dubbed a king on the flop “The Butcher of Baghdad” and a running 10-J gave Tony G and Benyamine a double up.
However, their elation would be short-lived, as on the very next hand, Tony G called pre-flop with Q-J of diamonds and told Lederer, in the big blind with A-Q, “I am ready to call a significant raise.” Lederer raised and, true to his word, Tony G instantly moved all-in. Lederer called to put Tony G and Benyamine at risk. The board fell 5-8-K-8-6 and Tony G and Benyamine became the first casualties of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship final table. They earned $100,000 collectively, essentially getting their $50,000 buy-ins back.
Cunningham faced another tough decision to close out Saturday’s episode. He made a continuation bet with pocket fives on a 2-3-6 flop only to be met with an all-in from Gordon, who held A-Q. Cunningham tanked before releasing the best hand and would later move all-in over the top of a raise from Ivey, who sent A-3 into the muck.
The Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship continues next Saturday at 8:00pm ET on GSN. Check your local listings for more details.
