The 2012 Final Table brought the top 8 in points and the 9th seat lottery winner together to play for some big RPUs.
The RPTers were:
- Brian Ross
- Jason “Voldemort” Ostendorf
- Tony Huckestein
- Jason Trueman
- Rob Schilling
- Jim Wagner
- Dave “FedEx” Levin
- Quentin “Mr. Tinker” Moore
- Grover Sauter
As can be expected with a table full of excellent poker players, play was calculated. As I took too long to write up the results, I will have to cut to the Final Results and just note a few comments for each player.
Here are the players in the order they went out:
- Jim Wagner – this was Jims’s 6th Final Table. He was never able to get anything going and had an early exit. Jim won the Final Table last year and in his 6 Final Tables, this is only the second time he has not finished in the money… but both times he was the Final Table Beer Bitch (2010 and 2012).
- Grover Sauter – Grover got into a couple big hands early and had picked up some chips but the cards turned on him. He was happy to be there after winning the 9th seat lottery. This was the 3rd Final Table appearance for Grover and he has had not had much success with 2 Beer Bitch Finishes (2009 and 2011) and then this second-out in 2012.
- Rob Schilling – Mr. Volatile himself lived up to his name. He was a chip leader at one point until he lossed a couple big hands. This was Rob’s first Final Table and I have a feeling that he will be in more in years to come.
- Tony Huckestein – Tony did not get many cards to play and had a slow death at the table. This was Tony’s 3rd Final Table and the first where he did not at least have a money finish.
- Dave Levin – FedEx lost a big hand early and was struggling with a small chip count for most of the game. He was able to knock out Rob and Tony before finally getting knocked out himself by Trueman. This was FedEx’s 3rd Final Table and his 1st money finish.
- Jason Ostendorf – Voldemort played strong at the table but got caught with his hand in the cookie jar by Trueman early. He had a solid chip count and got into a big hand with Trueman which ended up with his exit and Trueman getting a big stack. This was Voldemort’s first Final Table as this was his first year. He is one of the up and coming players on the tour.
- Quentin Moore – Enough cannot be said about Mr. Tinker’s road to the Final Table. After missing the first 4 tournaments, he went on a roll in the remaining 7 tournaments to win the 3-way tie for 8th and make the Final Table. In his first Final Table ever, Mr. Tinker finished 3rd. He was the small stack with Brian and Jason having the bulk of the chips. Mr. Tinker hung in for a while though, winning some all-in hands to stay in but his luck ran out eventually, leaving Trueman and Brian heads-up.
- Jason Trueman – To start this: Trueman and Brian played heads-up for roughly 90 minutes. At the start, Trueman probably had a 3 to 1 chip stack lead. The back and forth was nerve-racking with each player drawing out against the other in several situations and some solid play on split pots where the two players had similar hands and bet effectively. It eventually ended after some of the best heads-up action I have ever been a part of. This was Trueman’s 4th Final Table appearance and his first appearance since 2009. He has finished in the money 3 of the 4 appearances with 2 of those appearances being top 3 finishes.
- Brian Ross – Brian pulled off the RPT POY and the Final Table victory. This is the first time this has happened since Charles Harris was the first to accomplish the feat in 2006. This is Brian’s 5th Final Table appearance and his first since 2008. This is Brian’s 2nd win at the RPT (2007) and his third top 3 finish (2007, 2008, 2012). Brian has finished in the money 4 of the 5 Final Tables he has played in.