On Saturday night, the first of two semifinal matches of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship played out on GSN. Eight players took to the felt for the hour-long program and the top two teams advanced to the finals. In the semifinals, each team received two 30-second timeouts to talk strategy and players who advanced to the finals kept their teammates.
David Tuchman and Brandon Adams had the call of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship, while Lacey Jones conducted interviews and provided commentary from the sideline.
Teammates alternate action by street and each pair received 5,000 in chips per point earned during the regular season. Consequently, Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon began with a stack of 550,000, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar and Greg “FBT” Mueller began with a stack of 510,000, Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Nick Schulman began with 460,000, and Allen Cunningham and Huck Seed were the low men on the totem pole at 395,000.
In one of the first major pots of the night, Schulman raised it up to 35,000 with pocket queens and Gordon moved all-in with a scant 8-6 of clubs. Low on chips, Schulman called all-in and his team flopped a set. Lichtenberger and Schulman became the chip leaders with a stack of 672,000 despite entering the match with just the third largest tally.
Rajkumar and Mueller eventually met their demise in brutal fashion. Cunningham raised to 45,000 pre-flop with A-Q and Rajkumar pushed with K-Q. Cunningham called the all-in and the first four cards ran out 10-9-K-K, giving Rajkumar and Mueller trip kings. However, Cunningham and Seed hit a jack on the river to make Broadway and send their opponents packing as the first casualty of the semifinals. Seed and Cunningham crossed the one million chip mark as a result of delivering the four-outer.
Three-handed, Schulman shoved before the flop with A-2 and Cunningham woke up with pocket queens. The board bricked out for Schulman and Lichtenberger, who were eliminated. Lederer, Gordon, Seed, and Cunningham all officially made the finals. However, the match was not over, as the first place team in each semifinal would start the finals with 600,000 in chips, while the runner-ups would start with 400,000. Consequently, the quartet played on to a winner.
In the first major hand of heads-up play, Lederer moved all-in with Q-J and Seed made the call after much deliberation with K-10. The board ran out 6-4-6-J-A, giving Lederer and Gordon a pair of jacks and a 2:1 chip lead.
Then, Seed made it 100,000 before the flop with A-4 and Lederer called behind with K-Q of spades. The flop came A-J-5 and Gordon led out for 100,000 with a straight draw. Cunningham min-raised to 200,000 and Gordon pushed all-in over the top. Cunningham called all-in and the board ran out A-2 to secure the double up for Seed and Cunningham. Gordon and Lederer were crippled to one big blind as a result.
Gordon ultimately moved all-in blind with J-6 of hearts and Cunningham made the call with A-2. With a 50% chip advantage in the Doubles Poker Championship finals hanging in the balance, Cunningham and Seed flopped three aces, leaving Gordon and Lederer drawing dead to the turn. Cunningham and Seed, who entered the semifinals in last place, will start the finals with 600,000 in chips, while Gordon and Lederer will come armed with 400,000. Two more teams will join them.
Next week, the second semifinal match will play out during the course of the one-hour episode. Catch the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship every Saturday at 9:00pm ET on GSN.