By
Dan |
Published
Aug 18 2008, 11:07 PM
If there’s one PocketFiver who is bummed about the Full Tilt Online Poker Series coming to a close, it’s Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve(#56) Saul. His string of cashes in FTOPS IX cleared the way for victories in both the singles and team events of the online tournament series’ contest on PocketFives.com. He also finished atop the FTOPS IX Leader Board, ending with 500 points, which was 61 more than the second place finisher, yuvee04. Don’t forget that yuvee04 also won two events on the same night. Saul is a beacon of consistency and, after one of the best FTOPS streaks ever, has solidified his name as among the elite of the online poker world. PocketFives.com sat down with Saul to get his thoughts on the week that was in the FTOPS.
In Event #12 of FTOPS IX, the $1,060 no limit hold’em six-max tournament, Saul finished fourth, pocketing $105,000. At one point, he held the majority of the chips in play. He told PocketFives that the event was definitely one in which he “left money on the table.” He commented, “The overall highlight of the FTOPS was being number one on the leader board. I’m still disappointed that I didn’t win an event. I guess that the fact that I won the singles and we won the team contests (and I also won the FTOPS leader board) makes up for the money that I left on the table.”
In Event #16, Saul, who plays as GetPWN3D on Full Tilt Poker, finished in 10th. His payday was $1,800 and, although it wasn’t as big as other cashes, it represented two top 10 finishes in the span of just five tournaments. The jackpot would come in Event #17, the $322 rebuy six-max tournament. Saul finished second and took home a healthy $167,842 payday. Although it seemed as if two massive six-figure cashes would be sufficient to put Saul’s team over the top, he knew it was far from over: “It was a lot closer than it looked. We were tracking it the whole way and there was never a point where I thought that we could relax. Our attitude was that if we took care of our own business, it would be all we can do. In the singles event, brainwash came out of nowhere. If he would have cashed in both events on Sunday, he would have passed me up.” Brainwash took home first in Event #23; Saul took 33rd in that tournament.
In the team competition, he partnered with mattg1983 and JCarver. He finished with 803.63 points, the only PocketFiver to crack the 800 point plateau. In fact, the next best finisher was brainwash, who wound up with 779.76 points. He comments on how his team was formed: “As soon as the announcement was made about an FTOPS contest, I went to AJKHoosier1 and he said that he already had a team. Mattg1983 came to me and asked if I wanted to do the contest with him. We started our search for a third person. No one kills Full Tilt Poker tournaments like JCarver. Plus, he was looking for motivation to play.”
In the singles event, he edged out brainwash. Saul finished with 803.63 points; brainwash racked up 779.76 points. Scott BigRiskky Clements finished third with 768.47 points, JCarver had 753.15 points, and PearlJammer had 753.00 points. The top three paid: Saul won $27,600, brainwash won $11,500, and Clements won $6,900.
Also last week, Saul won the $150 buy-in $40,000 Guarantee on Full Tilt for $15,937. He won the $50 rebuy earlier in the month on Full Tilt for $7,839 on the same day that he won the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $33,192. His play has taken a toll on him physically: “Over the past week and a half, I’ve been playing in the FTOPS every day. I feel exhausted. I haven’t had a history of having good FTOPS and good WCOOP series. The momentum might carry over to the WCOOP and it might not.” Saul has raked in an incredible $380,000 in August in tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings.
In live play, Saul has found considerable success as well. In the 2007 World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup III event, he defeated Mike Matusow heads up to win $1.3 million and his first WPT title. Also at that final table was Shane Shaniac Schleger. He also has three career World Series of Poker cashes to his name, which total $27,261 combined.
He’ll look to rack up more signature wins in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, which starts on September 5th. The 2008 WCOOP sports $30 million in guarantees, one-third of which is the $10 million guaranteed Main Event. It’s a $5,200 buy-in two-day tournament to determine the richest winner in online poker history. However, Saul is questioning the need for massive guarantees: “The WCOOP schedule is a little bit too expensive. I think you might see smaller fields after the WCOOP due to people hurting for money. There will be a lot of people who make some nice scores, but there will also be a lot of people who end up going broke by trying to play way above their bankroll.” There are two $10,300 buy-in events: a High Roller No Limit tournament and a HORSE event. In addition, there is a $25,500 buy-in High-Roller Heads Up tournament with a $1.6 million guarantee.
Congratulations from all of us to Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul, the winner of both the singles and team events on PocketFives.com as well as the FTOPS leader board champion.
