Home / Poker News August 2009 / Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch finishes 2nd in FTOPS event
Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch finishes 2nd in FTOPS event
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2009-08-11 06:50
With the 13th FTOPS in full swing, members of Full Tilt’s pro team are gunning closer and closer to the mark. Last Friday, Andy Bloch almost managed to secure the first prize of event #5, the $200+$16 Stud tourney. He eventually fell just short of the mark and took down “only” $17,081,60. Player Xsporean was responsible for his demise and by disposing of Bloch in second, he laid claim to the top prize of $25,785.60.
Bloch was on the ropes for most of the heads-up stage and he eventually decided he’d make a stand with (Ac,5h) in his pocket and a 3h face up, as his opponent held a 20-1 chip advantage on him. He had the early lead over Xsporean who had (Kd,7h) 3s, and he did proceed to hit a pair of Qs, but Xsporean proceeded to land 4,3,8,4 to make two pairs and to finish the Full Tilt pro off for good.
Player “I Intent” finished 3rd in the event, for $11,968, and “electron78” collected $7,398.4 for his 4th place.
Andy Bloch has been cursed with the runners up position lately. Not long ago, in the PL Holdem World Championship event of the 2008 WSOP, he found himself confined to second by Nenad Medic who ended up winning and denied him the glory yet again. Shortly before that, he had to settle for second place again in another prestigious event: the 2008 NBC National Heads-up Poker Championship, where Chris Ferguson got the better of him in the final.
The 2006 WSOP had him finishing second again, that time around in the $50,000 HORSE event, where Chip Reese beat him to the gold.
Bloch has himself said that a WSOP bracelet was indeed his ultimate goal. Many of the poker pros he plays against are surprised to hear that he cannot yet boast one of the precious pieces of jewelry, and that he feels he needs to gain the respect of his peers by acquiring the gold. Then again, the fact alone that everyone seems to think he’s already struck WSOP gold is a nice measure of just how respected he truly is in poker circles.
Despite the fact that he once again did everything in his power to reach the top and to grab a bracelet, the 2009 series denied him the opportunity again. He didn’t even make a final table, though he did cash in no fewer than 3 events.
When the prize-pools are WSOP-size ones, finishing second is not that bad a thing after all, and as long as he keeps piling up these second place finishes, Bloch can rest assured he will always have the respect of those who know what the game is about.
In other FTOPS XIII news: event #4 of the series, the $200+$16 NL Holdem one (with a rebuy and an add-on) drew a field of 1,415 registrants, who combined for a $679,400 prize-pool. The first prize of $102,382.28 went to player Jon Heath (known online as “TwistedEcho”). “YesImaHick” finished second for $103,811.37.
