Team Full Tilt Storming Through 2005
With the multitude of tournaments that have started off the 2005 season, it is difficult for professional players to keep their "A" game going all the time. The members of Team Full Tilt, one of the greatest groups of players ever put together, have made the early going of this season their own personal playground.
Team Full Tilt is comprised of some of the finest players in the game who have also contributed their computer expertise to make up Full Tilt Poker. Among the group, which includes former World Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, "The Professor" Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, "Celebrity Poker Showdown" host Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, two-time WSOP bracelet holder Jennifer Harman and Clonie Gowen, they have amassed over twenty three WSOP bracelets, five World Poker Tour titles and many other worldwide championships. So far this year, Team Full Tilt is on fire!
In January, the Tilters came out at World Series of Poker Circuit's inaugural stop and made an immediate impact. Both Erick Lindgren (second) and Chris Ferguson (eighth) challenged for the first championship, wrapping up a cool half million dollars between the two of them. As January segued into February at the L. A. Poker Classic, Team Full Tilt continued to show their expertise at the tables. Four Tilters, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch and Victor Ramdin all cashed in the WPT Main Event, with Lindgren reaching the final table. In the World Poker Tour Invitational, "Jesus" was once again back as Chris Ferguson wrapped up a fourth place finish. To finish up their stay in Los Angeles, Erick Lindgren captured the second Professional Poker Tour championship and picking up $225,000 for his efforts.
March has become Chris Ferguson's favorite month of the year, to this point. As the players moved on for the next event in the World Series of Poker Circuit, Ferguson made the Harrah's Rincon tournament all his own as he picked up the victory at the tables in the second WSOP Circuit Main Event. He left San Diego and headed for Las Vegas and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, where he placed second after a stirring battle against eventual winner Phil Hellmuth.
As March continued, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harman and Phil Ivey picked up the Full Tilt banner. Andy, battling a momentary downturn in his game, seems to have righted his ship and won a preliminary Limit championship at the WSOP Circuit's Las Vegas stop. Jennifer Harman showed that she has fully recovered from her health problems of 2004 as she battled for the Main Event championship before taking the runner up prize of nearly $400,000.
Phil Ivey, a long silent member of the Tilters, seems to be finding his game at the right time, with two months to the World Series of Poker. He made the final table of the Las Vegas WSOP Circuit stop along with Harman, then moved on to Reno, NV and the World Poker Tour's World Poker Challenge. After leading the tournament after the second day, Phil suffered a few setbacks but was able to cruise into the final table, where he finished a respectable third place worth almost $164,000.
With only three months gone from the year, it is obvious that Team Full Tilt will be a major force as play continues down the road to the World Series in June and July. With Bloch, Ivey, and Harman all riding a hot streak, and the other members of Team Full Tilt in obvious championship form, it is extremely possible they may make the World Series their own private invitational! While they are setting the tables of the professional world on fire, Team Full Tilt is also bringing their championship play to the team's online site, Full Tilt Poker. Perhaps you can catch one of the multitude of champions that the team has by heading there to play now!
Please visit our online poker room directory to see the best bonuses on the web!
