Posted by Big Donkey | Filed under The Week at FTP
Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the Interwebs, Big Donkey is back with another wrap up of all things FTP. Aren’t you lucky?
Considering the big news in the poker world is still centered on that little city in the desert, I figure we should start with a quick update from the WSOP. In short, the pros are kicking ass, and the FTP pros are kicking more ass than anyone else. The latest WSOP winner is none other than David Degenayamine Benyamine, who took down yet another loaded final table to claim his first career bracelet in the $10K World Championship Omaha Hi/Lo Split 8 or Better event.
If you think D-Ben had an easy time of it at the final table (he is an Omaha Hi/Lo specialist), check out the line-up he had to face:
- Tony Ma
- Jason Gray
- Ram Vaswani
- Toto Leonidas
- David Chiu
- Mike Matusow
- Greg Jamison
- Eugene Katchalov
While there are some folks there who you probably don’t recognize, consider this – Vaswani, Leonidas, Chiu and Matusow own a combined nine WSOP bracelets. That’s as many as our entire team of 1,000+ pros has won so far this year. So, Benyamine now has a WSOP bracelet, nearly $1 million in tournament winnings over the past three weeks, and Erica Schoenberg. Damn, I hate him – and not just because he’s French.
We’re not nearly as anal about keeping stats as our friends who follow baseball, but then again, we’re not nearly as geeky as they are either. Still, the FTP pros have put up some impressive numbers so far this year:
- 9 bracelets
- 41 final table appearances
- Nearly $9.5 million in combined prize money
Benyamine is leading the FTP pack with the most prize money won (still nearly $1 million) and the most final table appearances (3). Following close behind are Team Full Tilter’s Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, and Mike Matusow who have each reached two final tables so far this year. Also doubling up on final table appearances are David Singer and David Chiu. Hell… forget 2008 being the Year of the Pro… it’s the Year of the Pro Named David.
Yes, it’s true… we do have a few pros who aren’t named David. In fact, our most recent non-David addition is Robert Williamson III, a long-time friend of Full Tilt Poker who finally took the plunge and started playing as a red pro last week.
A WSOP bracelet winner and yet another Omaha specialist, Robert is one of the coolest cats in the game and always good for fun stories around the table. And hell, you’ve just gotta love a guy who drinks beer with hot sauce in it, don’t ya?
Phil Ivey may be best known for ruthlessly taking his opponent’s money at the poker tables (and on the golf course… and in huge prop bets), but now the Phenom is giving something back.
You can help support Phil’s Budding Ivey Foundation to provide educational opportunities to at-risk children by – you guessed it – playing poker. Phil is holding a charity tournament at the Golden Nugget on July 1st where a $1,000 donation and $500 “re-donations” throughout the first hour give you a chance to take down a first-place prize worth at least $10K and help some needy kids.
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