In mid-December, Gerald Geraldo22Cochlan (pictured) came away with a final table in one of the richest tournaments of 2012, the 21st Full Tilt Online Poker Series Main Event. The tournament drew nearly 4,800 players and ended with a two-way deal in which both finishers booked paydays of over $400,000. Making the final table and landing in fifth place was Cochlan, who walked away with $140,000.

Cochlan had an epic rail down the stretch that included the likes of PocketFives Elite member wackyJaxon. “It was awesome,” Cochlan said of the rail. “Having so many friends on the rail helped me play my best and stay focused. I was trying to win it for them as much as me.”

We think having a boisterous rail could increase the pressure a person faces, or maybe it just gets their juices flowing even more. Cochlan gave us his take on the influence of his rail: “I think having an epic rail almost forces you to play your best. You don’t want to nit it up in front of your peers, but you also don’t want to do anything really stupid.”

The top five finishers in the FTOPS Main Event landed five-figure bankroll boosts. Cochlan, who plays on Full Tilt under the user name Aberdonian85, said he was thrilled to come away a deep run even though it wasn’t a win: “Normally, I would be very unsatisfied with any place other than a win, but with such a tough field, I’m ecstatic. $140,000 is obviously huge for anyone.”

Cochlan will be keeping half of the money and he already has several major targets for its use: “I’m going to spoil my five-year-old daughter Skye rotten at Christmas. Then, I have a trip to Florida and a schoolmate’s stag to do in Amsterdam early in the year, which will be so much better after this score. I’m hoping to meet a bunch of online friends at UKIPT Edinburgh in January also.”

Cochlan is 27, a little bit older than other players we’ve interviewed here on PocketFives, so we asked if his seniority has contributed to his success in poker: “Being older doesn’t really affect me at all. It has given me a lot of experience. I’m not scared playing at any table on the account that I probably am older than most players, but with that comes more experience. I try to learn from all of the young sickos as much as possible anyway.”

The FTOPS Main Event was a $640 buy-in Multi-Entry tournament that featured some of the game’s top pros. We asked Cochlan to describe the most challenging spot he faced in it: “There was a pot at the final table against Imper1um. We were chip leaders at the time and I think it was seven-handed. He opened with a standard raise in early position and I had K-Q suited in the small blind. I flatted and the flop came J-X-X.”

He continued, “I reverse floated the flop knowing he will always put me on an 8-8 type of hand there, and if a king or queen comes on the turn, he will 100% bluff these cards.”

Sure enough, a king came on the turn and Cochlan check-called a bet from Imper1um. Then, “an ace came on the river and he time bank bet big, which confused me. Calling there and losing would have crippled me, but he was repping so little by the river that I had to make the call. He tabled 4-4 and I regained the chip lead.”

Imper1um is better known as Sorel Mizzi and Cochlan told us he expected his adversary to show a bluff or two pair. Apart from the hand against Mizzi, Cochlan felt that he didn’t encounter much resistance at the final table: “I don’t think anyone gave me any trouble. I didn’t really play too many pots at the final table, just steals and a few 3bets, but no big ones other than the one against Sorel and my bust out hand.”

Speaking of his exit from the FTOPS Main Event, his rail watched as Cochlan was involved in a situation in which an active player whom Cochlan had gotten the best of opened and Cochlan shoved with 7-7 for 28 big blinds. The other player, who had opened the action from the small blind, had kings. Cochlan lost out, was crippled, and was eliminated on the next hand.

He wanted to send shout outs to BenFazand YouKnwMyName, who after tearing it up for weeks, both scored big with wins on recent Sundays. Cochlan called the pair “little crushers.”

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