Full Tilt Poker Million IX next week: RESULT SPOILERS

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Press release guff

FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX goes triple stack
Antonius, Matusow and Seidel all included in July's opening match-ups

The FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX begins with the opening three heats at the end of July and some of the biggest names in poker are coming to London gunning for the $500,000 winner's cheque - with the sponsors Full Tilt Poker adding $125,000 to make a total prize pool of $1,565,000.

The first three eight-handed heats take place at Sky Sports Studios on July 26-28, with the winners of each heat making December's live final on Sky Sports. The runners-up from each heat will meet in a runners-up heat in October after the second run of heats begins on October 12.

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner and Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer kicks off proceedings in the opening heat, with Hendon Mob man Ross Boatman, Chris Ferguson, Stuart Rutter and Greg Mueller also confirmed for the first heat.

Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius leads the field in the second heat alongside 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Gavin Smith, Neil Channing and Boatman's older brother Barny. The third and final heat of the opening trio should be a lively encounter as Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Tony G take to the felt, alongside Erik Seidel, Roberto Romanello, Tony Bloom and new Full Tilt Poker signing Annette Obrestad. Further names to be added soon as the battle to claim the trophy won by James Akenhead in December begins (pictured).

The ninth edition of Poker Million sees the competition go triple stack for the first time and each heat will see an online qualifier mixing it with the big names after getting through one of a number of online satellites running at FullTiltPoker.com. A player will also be parachuted straight into the final through freerolls on FullTiltPoker.com, starting with 150k in chips - with the seven other players (six heat winners and winner of the runners-up heat) starting with 300k. Qualifying for the second round of heats in October is still open at FullTiltPoker.com.

"The change in format for this year's FullTiltPoker.com Million IX is great news for poker," said Matchroom Sport managing director Eddie Hearn. "You only have to read the forums and the poker media to understand what the viewers want to see and that is the World's best players battling it out in a format that promotes skill and allows them to showcase every facet of their talent. The line up is will be the event's strongest yet and this news helps secure Poker Million as one of the World's leading poker tournaments."

[action man]

the dr is playing

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REPORT ON HEAT ONE OF THE FULLTILTPOKER.COM POKER MILLION IX -

Howard Lederer overcame a three-to-one chip deficit heads-up against Richard "Chufty" Ashby to win the first heat of the FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX at Sky Sports in London - where $1million goes to the winner of December's live final.

The two-time WSOP bracelet holder held 540,000 chips against fellow Full Tilt Poker Pro Ashby's 1,860,000 stack but his patient approach to the heat that Chufty had been running over paid off in their first hand heads up as Ashby bet with king-six of spades and Lederer flat calling with pocket kings - the flop came , Lederer bet 60k, Ashby moved all-in and Lederer called and the kings held to change the dynamic straight away.

The American turned the tables within thirty minutes of heads-up action to take a two-to-one chip lead until Ashby won a 1,660,000 pot after Lederer shoved from the button with eight-deuce off and Ashby calling with king-four and taking the pot. But Lederer's brilliant comeback was not to be denied as he wrestled the advantage back and moved all-in with jacks after Ashby had raised to 200k holding king-three of spades after 200 hands of action. Lederer moved all-in and Ashby called, Lederer making trips on the flop to make it to the final and win the first triple-stack Poker Million heat - with Ashby getting a second crack in October's runners-up heat.

"Sometimes you just have to stick around and be patient to progress in a tournament," said Lederer on his performance.

The winner of the tournament will now pocket a cheque for $1million, with each of the heat winners - and the runner-up heat winner - claiming $90,000, a total prize pool of $1,630,000 with Full Tilt Poker adding $190,000 to the total tournament prize fund.

Thomas Maxwell qualified online at FullTiltPoker.com and held his own against the high class opposition, but he was the first man to fall as the blinds hit 7/15k. Mueller raised with AJ of hearts and Maxwell picked up 10s and moved all-in - Greg thought for a good length of time before calling - with the qualifier failing to hit a ten to save his tournament.

Mueller held over 700,000 in chips at this point but quickly found himself down close to his starting stack after losing pots with Dempsey and Ashby in quick succession - but he got out of the way of the next big pot, which saw Rutter pick up kings and raise, getting a call from Lederer with Q9 who called. The flop came J7Q, Rutter bet 50k, Lederer moved all-in and Rutter snapped him of. But the form man Rutter, fresh from two WSOP final tables, was dismayed by the queen on the turn and the river couldn't prevent a cruel knock out.

At six-handed, the lead became a hot-potato, with all the players left in laying claim to it before surrendering. James Dempsey was the next man to fall as the man who recorded a bracelet win and runner-up finish in the WSOP, but that form deserted him briefly when he raised in the small blind with AD JS and Ashby moved all-in with K8 of clubs - flopping top-pair and turning two pair to take a big chip lead with 830k.

Ashby was nudging one million in chips as the blinds moved past 15/30k and he inflicted the next knockout blow, ending Ross Boatman's fourth Poker Million appearance in fifth spot. Ashby raised it up with AH 7S on the button and Boatman moved all-in with the red nines, "Chufty" snapping him off and hitting an ace on the flop to knock the Hendon Mob man out and pass the million mark.

Chris Ferguson found himself in deep trouble in the final hand of the first level, calling in the big blind with after Dempsey led out with pocket jacks. James made trips on the flop and Chris check-raised him - and getting an ace on the turn. Chris checked, Dempsey bet 32k and Chris called - checking the nine of hearts on the river then folding to James 73k bet to stay alive.

Ferguson's impressive display came to an end several hours after that fine fold - again at the hands of the rampant Ashby. A flop was checked by Ferguson with 10c, and Ashby bet 125k with - Lederer kicked the pot off limping with Q 10 and he folded, leaving Ferguson to call and hit the road in fourth with 7 and 9 on the turn and river.

The knockouts continued to fly and it was Ashby doing the damage again to get heads-up with Lederer. Mueller moved all-in with on the button and Lederer flat-called with As , letting Ashby in the hand with jack-ten of diamonds - and he called too. The flop smacked Richard in the face - 10s - and he moved all-in, Lederer folded and the jack of spades on the turn saw Richard go into the heads-up with 1,860,000 in chips.

Tuesday's second heat sees new Full Tilt Poker pro and recent WSOP bracelet winner Gavin Smith, Full Tilt Poker stable mates and Nick Schulman and Erik Cajelais - 2009 WSOP and WSOPE winners respectively. Hendon Mob duo Barny Boatman and Ram Vaswani follow Ross into the tournament and know plenty about fellow UK big guns Neil Channing and Andrew Feldman who complete the field with online qualifier Darren Elias.

HEAT ONE RESULT

1 HOWARD LEDERER, 2 Richard Ashby, 3 Greg Mueller, 4 Chris Ferguson, 5 Ross Boatman, 6 James Dempsey, 7 Stuart Rutter, 8 Thomas Maxwell.

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Barny Boatman will be in December's final of the FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX after defeating fellow Hendon Mob man Ram Vaswani heads-up to win the second heat of the at Sky Sports studios in London ten years after reaching the first ever final.

The pair hold a wealth of Poker Million appearances behind them and took centre-stage after a superb action packed heat, with Vaswani dominating the heat from as early as the second hand before Boatman knocked out the impressive Nick Schulman to take a two to one chip lead against his good friend and stable mate.

Vaswani struck an early blow, besting Boatman's K6 with his K9 after a King dropped on the river to all but level matters, but from then on it was all Boatman, and he delivered the decisive blow. Ram bet out with KH 5S and Barny reraised with AH QC, getting a call from Vaswani. The flop came QH 2H 7H, Barny checked, Ram bet 100k, Boatman moved all-in and Vaswani called - 3C and 8S followed to see Boatman join heat one winner Howard Lederer in December's final, with Vaswani getting a second crack in October's runners-up heat.

"I played OK and got lucky which is an unbeatable combo in this game," said Boatman, who also enjoyed the new triple-stack format. "I think that the structure is great, we all like to think that deep stacked we can play the game better and today I could carry on without cards and just hang in there.
Boatman already claims $90,000 for winning the heat but he has designs on the cool million up for grabs to the winner after finishing in sixth spot in the first final back in 2000: "I was in the very first final and missed out three times since then so it's been a long time coming to get another shot and I'm delighted."

Erik Cajelais was the chip leader at one time but he ended up leaving the table first, picking up pocket tens and running into Vaswani's jacks just after the Hendon Mob man had taken the chip lead when his tens held against Schulman's AK. The tens didn't have the same effect for Cajelais though with Ram hitting a jack on the flop to knock Cajelais out and move to over one million in chips.

Vaswani's chip lead was a dominant one now and he used his surplus of chips to dismiss Gavin Smith in second spot. Smith was super-short and moved all-in holding K9 after Ram had raised with nine-seven and a seven on the flop was enough to make it two in a row for Vaswani.

We had a bit of a wait for the third exit as Andrew Feldman, Neil Channing and Nick Schulman found themselves battling hard with short stacks. It was the card-dead Feldman that bit the dust though, shoving with ace-six and getting called by Barny Boatman's pocket fives - three clubs on the flop were no help to Andrew with Barny holding a club for good measure, and a five on the turn was the end of the road for Feldman.

Barny's fives were at it again soon after as we had to say goodbye to Neil Channing, he raised on the cut-off with K 9 and Boatman called with the pair - and made trips again on the flop to make the tow Hendon Mob guys one-and-two at the table.

Darren Elias qualified online at FullTiltPoker.com but with a number of WSOP tournament cashes to his name, he was far from out of his depth in this company and looked like a real danger man, before he failed to make another great laydown at a key time. Schulman raised with pocket tens and Elias called with eight-nine of hearts - Darren checked a pair of nines on the 9C JC JS flop, Nick bet 55k, Darren raised it up to 175k and all the money went in, a queen and an ace failed to bail Elias out and we were four handed.

Schulman was eyeing up a heads-up spot with either Hendon Mobster, but he lost a massive hand with Boatman - raising with sevens but losing to Barny's AD 9C after Boatman flopped an ace. That left Nick with around 200k in chips and although he battled manfully with them, ultimately he couldn't climb his way back into the equation and when he moved all-in with KD 3H, Barny called with KS 9C and hit a nine on the flop to go heads-up with Ram holding a two-to-one chip lead.

The third heat of the FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX takes place on Wednesday with eight time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel joined by fellow Full Tilt Poker pros Mike Matusow, Annette Obrestad and Roberto Romanello in what promises to be an explosive heat with Tony G, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot, Tony Bloom and online qualifier Steven Merrifield.

HEAT TWO:
1 BARNY BOATMAN, 2 Ram Vaswani, 3 Nick Schulman, 4 Darren Elias, 5 Neil Channing, 6 Andrew Feldman, 7 Gavin Smith, 8 Erik Cajelais

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The Lizard overcomes legend Seidel to get hat-trick final

Tony Bloom reached his third Poker Million final after a stunning performance saw him overcome WSOP legend Erik Seidel heads-up in heat three to reach December's live Sky Sports final.

Bloom's name is already etched in Poker Million history having made the first two finals and the Brighton and Hove Albion chairman will take part in his third final having sat down at the opening two tournaments.
The man affectionately named "The Lizard" never held a chip lead in the star-studded heat but showed incredible grit and no little skill in grinding down eight-time WSOP bracelet holder and Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel - the class act at the table.

Seidel held a huge chip advantage heads up and at one point Bloom was close to his starting stack with Erik holding over two million in chips. But Tony all but restored parity when he shoved with Q 10 after hitting a queen on the flop and Erik took a shot at reaching the final with J 10, Tony hitting one million in chips as the Queen held.

But with plenty of determination and no little amount of patience, Bloom took the chip lead in the 180th hand and began to sense a dramatic victory and so it proved when Seidel hit his lowest stack of 600k and shoved with JD 9H and Bloom called with A 6. It looked like we might be even-steven as a Queen came on the flop but an Ace on the turn saw Bloom through to December's final table.

"It was a real quality field and Erik is a world class act so I'm delighted," said Bloom. "I hope its third time lucky though - it's bound to be a tough heat because of the quality players in the line up but I hope to do well and I don't think it can be as strong as this field though."

Eight time WSOP bracelet holder Seidel never dropped below his starting stack in a performance that commentary duo Jesse May and Neil Channing called "masterful" but he was magnanimous in defeat and looking forward to returning in October's runners-up heat: "Losing a chip lead heads-up can happen pretty quickly so it's not a massive chip lead in that sense, he played well though," said Seidel.

An under the weather Mike Matusow was the first to leave the action, getting low after his aces were cracked by Steven's jack-ten of clubs making a straight on the turn. It was another pair that spelt the end, with Romanello's pocket queens holding as he called Mike's all-in with pocket nines.

Tony G was the second player to go, and like Mike he never really got going. Steven did the damage, raising with A 10 and getting reraised to 40k by G's pocket nines, Bloom folded his pocket eights, Steven shoved and Tony called - an Ace on the flop was the end of G's challenge for the million dollar cheque.
Roberto Romanello has been dogged by bad luck in previous Poker Million tournaments and the ninth edition was no exception - he raised with five-six of hearts and Seidel called with ten-Jack offsuit. The flop was a monster 7D 9H 8C and the money went in, Romanello taking the cooler gracefully as he left in fifth.

Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot was back in Poker Million action after missing last year's action and he was at his ebullient best at the table, with his tongue as sharp as his suit. Unfortunately though he was unable to reach his third final of the competition, finding himself short and shoving with A J and getting a call from Merrifield with pocket Jacks, no ace for Devilfish who had to go.

Merrifield qualified online but is certainly no novice - an online pro with a number of WSOP cashes to his name and he will consider himself unfortunate to run into Obrestad and Seidel in such good form - his exit hand was case in point as he shoved on the button with pocket sevens and ran into Annette's nines, getting no joy from the deck.

It seemed that taking a player out was becoming a bad omen as it was Obrestad who departed next. The Norwegian star played some superb poker, winning six hands in a row at one point and often tormenting the rest of the table with her foot seemingly permanently on the accelerator and playing her hands with the same as her premium hands, but when Bloom's ace-queen beat her ace-king - with Obrestad a big heads-up chip leader should she win - Annette found herself the short stack and she shoved with Q J on Erik's button raise and ran into his pocket aces, a jack popped first on the flop but there was an ace there too and Obrestad was gone after the blank turn.

Each heat is split into two two-hour shows on Tuesday nights on Sky Sports, with the first heat shown on September 7 and 14, the second on 21 and 28 and the third on October 5 and 12. The second trio of heats take place in October along with the runners-up heat and the live final takes place on Friday December 10.

HEAT THREE

1 TONY BLOOM, 2 Erik Seidel, 3 Annette Obrestad, 4 Steven Merrifield, 5 Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot, 6 Roberto Romanello, 7 Tony G, 8 Mike Matusow.