Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS XI has come to a close, and with it several champions have been born. One of them is Chris “The Universe112” Leveroni, a 19-year-old whiz kid from Amherst, MA, who earned more than $270,000 during the series. Leveroni earned $140,358 by taking down Event #7 on February 7, and then two days later received a $130,400 payday by taking third in the second chance, $1,000 rebuy of Event #12.

With the success he achieved during FTOPS XI, Leveroni vaulted up to #52 on PocketFives.com’s World Wide Rankings (as of Feb. 23, 2009).

Leveroni took some time with Poker News Daily to go over a hand he played during the final table of his Event #7 win. With six players remaining, Leveroni got involved in a hand with chip leader Adam “bustin busters” Acosta that helped push The Universe112 closer toward the biggest cash of his poker career.

Hand Setup:
Seat 3 (bustin busters): 3,362,574 chips
Seat 4: 606,990 chips
Seat 6 (The Universe112): 2,196,636
Seat 7: 2,233,750 chips
Seat 8: 1,282,214 chips
Seat 9: 1,321,336 chips

Blinds are 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante

Poker News Daily: First, can you go into the dynamics of this final table a little bit? What image are you portraying at this stage of the tournament?

Chris Leveroni: This table was particularly solid for the final table of a major (event), but was also playing fairly tight at this particular stage. I would say that my immediate image had to be somewhat tight, mainly because I was being hit with the deck, though there were players at the table who know my general game pretty well so my image was my typical LAG (loose-aggressive) style to them.

Cards are dealt:
Seat 4 folds
The Universe112 raises to 102,000 with 2d 2h
Seat 7 folds
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 folds
bustin busters calls 62,000

PND: How often are you opening preflop and with what range of cards?

CL: I’d say I’m opening a fairly wide range here mostly because of the way the table was playing. I fold pairs much more often than most so if I’m opening 22 here I’m probably opening a lot of hands.

PND: Can you explain any history you’ve had playing with bustin busters? How do you feel about his game and what are your initial thoughts on him defending his big blind here?

CL: Bustin seemed like a fairly typical tournament player but I had noticed he would defend his blind a lot more frequently than most, possibly with a sub-optimal range.

FLOP: 7c 9c 8d
bustin busters checks
The Universe112 checks

PND: Is checking behind a safe play or do you have a plan drawn out depending on what falls on the turn?

CL: This is a really bad flop against what I perceive to be a fairly loose preflop calling range so I’m pretty well prepared to give up when I check behind.

TURN: 9h
bustin busters checks
The Universe112 bets 80,000
bustin busters raises to 215,000
The Universe112 calls 135,000

PND: Describe the action here. What does his check/raise mean and what is your plan of attack on the river?

CL: Once he checks the turn I am virtually certain he doesn’t have a hand so I’m betting for some value. I realize my hand looks very weak and I’m hoping he’ll call a bet with Ace-high or something. I also was prepared in case he wanted to spazz out a little. When he raised the turn I literally could not conceive of any hand he would do this with for value. I decided calling and calling all reasonable rivers was the way to maximize value.

RIVER: 8h
bustin busters bets 477,555
The Universe112 raises to 1,874,636, and is all in
bustin busters folds
The Universe112 shows 2d 2h (two pair, Nines and Eights)

PND: Your cards become worthless when the board pairs on the river. How often do you think you can get him to fold by moving all in with a bluff?

CL: The river is sort of an annoying card but seeing as I’m still confident he has no hand the shove is made very easy.

PND: You decide to show your cards after he lays his hand down. What kind of value is there in letting the table gain information about you? Did you use this to set up any plays later on in the tournament?

CL: I showed because I knew that those at the table who knew my game wouldn’t much alter their decisions and because it might tilt bustin busters or skew the play of any others at the table who did not know my game well.

PND: Finally, describe a little bit what it feels like to win an FTOPS event and take down your biggest online score to date.

CL: It felt great but I was tired and hungry and happened to have been really sick that day. So I rushed to the local CVS before it closed to get some Nyquil.

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