Lost in the shuffle this week amid the conclusion of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) were the finals of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship, which aired on GSN. Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham battled to victory and earned an even $1 million.
PartyPoker pro Tony G and high-stakes cash game guru David Benyamine were ousted in fourth place from the final table in last week’s installment of the Doubles Poker Championship. Teammates in the $50,000 buy-in tournament alternate action by street and may not discuss strategy while seated with cards.
Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon began the conclusion of the final table with one million in chips, while Seed and Cunningham stood at 672,000. Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey rounded out the three surviving teams and had a stack of 324,000, or 16 big blinds. The latter pair hit the rails in third place after Ivey shipped his stack in with A-6. Gordon made the call with A-5 and was behind, but hit a wheel on the turn to make a straight. Ferguson told Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship host Lacey Jones, “We did a great job of avoiding confrontations. I thought we did a good job of surviving.”
Seed and Cunningham doubled up after the latter called all-in on a board of K-9-2-J and showed K-9 for two pair. Gordon showed K-4 for top pair and the river was a six. In an ensuing hand, Seed led out for a pot-sized bet on a board of 6-4-3-8 with A-4 for a pair of fours. Lederer moved all-in with Q-8 for top pair and Seed folded, telling Cunningham that he meant to bet 80,000 and accidentally made it twice that. Curiously, it marked the second betting mishap of the series for Seed, who owns the best record in National Heads-Up Poker Championship history.
Seed and Cunningham would then move all-in with A-5 and jut up against the 10-9 of Gordon and Lederer. With the future of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship hanging in the balance, the flop came A-3-Q, keeping Seed and Cunningham ahead with a pair of aces. The turn was another queen and, just like that, Lederer and Gordon were drawing dead to the river and down 2:1 in chips.
Seed admitted that he thought the next hand would be the last one of the tournament and, true to his word, it was. Cunningham slyly just called pre-flop with pocket jacks and Gordon raised it up to 160,000 with A-K of hearts. Cunningham came over the top all-in and Gordon insta-called all-in to set up a race situation. Despite Cunningham’s slick slow play, it seemed inevitable that the chips would find the middle.
The flop came 6-2-3, no help to either team, and the turn was an eight. Gordon and Lederer were rooting for an ace or king on the river to double up; otherwise, Seed and Cunningham would be crowned the first ever Doubles Poker Championship winners. The final card was a 10 and Seed and Cunningham walked away with $1 million. Meanwhile, Lederer and Gordon banked a $500,000 consolation prize.
Cunningham told Jones following his team’s win that Lederer and Gordon represented a formidable duo heads-up: “They played aggressively and just kept us from being able to chip away at them easily.” Here were the final results of the inaugural Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship:
1. Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham – $1,000,000
2. Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon – $500,000
3. Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson – $200,000
4. Tony G and David Benyamine – $100,000
GSN officials will now focus on taping the seventh season of “High Stakes Poker,” whose filming has been pushed back from November to December.
