David Singer Wins Full Tilt $25K

The internet pros had the most success overall in Full Tilt Poker’s first $25K Heads-Up World Championship, but in the end, it was a player best known for his live tournament resume who emerged triumphant.  With thirteen of the final sixteen being primarily internet players, it was up to Singer, Andy Bloch, and Howard Lederer to carry the flag for the “live” pros.  Bloch and Singer made the final four, but only Singer was in the final pairing. 

Andy Bloch faced off against Emil “whitelime” Patel in the semi-finals, eventually seeing his stack whittled down to the point where he had no choice but to find a hand and move in.  He did suck-out with dominated hands on more than one occasion, but eventually, his A-T fell to Patel’s pocket 7’s. 

On the other side of the bracket, Singer got by Hastings when an arguably questionable call paid off.  Facing a pre-flop raise, Singer re-raised holding pocket 5’s.  Hastings dipped into his timebank and then re-popped all-in.  Singer called quickly, only to see he was nailed, as Hastings had pocket 9’s.  Singer flopped a set, however, and went on to the finals. 

In the finals, Patel simply had a tough time gaining any traction.  Facing a situation where he was severely out-chipped, yet a double-up away from being back in the game, he decided to make a bold move.  Limping in with only T-3, he was greeted with a raise from Singer.  Patel then moved all-in, showing tremendous strength.  Singer thought for quite some time, finally pulling the trigger with 8-8.  Patel was not able to hit his card(s) and Singer walked away as the champ. 

Final Standings 

1. David Singer - $560,000
2. whitelime - $320,000
3. Andy Bloch - $168,000
4. Brian Hastings - $168,000
5. FinddaGrind - $96,000
6. Ansky451 - $96,000
7. mischiefofmagic - $96,000
8. mastrblastr - $96,000