Merely weeks after the close of FTOPS XII, Full Tilt Poker ran its annual and highly anticipated $25K Heads-Up World Championship. The event began on Saturday, May 23, and it was an exciting event from start to finish.
There were 63 players who bought in to the Full Tilt heads-up event, and once the prize pool was calculated, it was determined that the final eight would receive pieces of the prize pool. That Elite Eight group ended up finding WinnerFish defeating Vaga_Lion, David Benefield ousting IvanLendL, yogiblair taking down Kadabra, and theASHMAN103 (Ashton Griffin) eliminating Past.
When the final four returned the following day to play for the win, the first two matches saw theASHMAN103 defeating yogiblair and David Benefield eliminating WinnerFish. That left the final heads-up match was left to two strong players, Benefield having won rounds with Rafe Furst and DarkHorse19 to get to the final round, and Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin having taken out Isaac Haxton and David Singer to reach the last match.
Benefield took an early lead in the final round of play, but Griffin soon doubled up to leave Benefield in a short-stacked position. Soon after, the two went to see a 
flop, but it was after the 
turn that Griffin pushed all-in with 
versus the 
of Griffin. When a 
came on the river, it left Griffin with the set and the winning hand. David Benefield won an impressive $315,000 for second place, and Griffin took home $551,250 for the win.
Ashton Griffin became the latest $25K Heads-Up World Champion for playing on Full Tilt Poker, and he accomplished the feat and won over half a million dollars through the skill it took to beat so many accomplished players.
The feat is not out of the realm of possibility for any Full Tilt Poker player. Not only can players hone their skills in a variety of cash game and tournament scenarios, but they can choose an area of concentration - like heads-up play, for instance - and focus on only those games until their skills improve. Such was the way of many of the $25K Heads-Up World Championship competitors, some of whom didn’t even buy in to the event for the full $25,000, but rather played satellites for a fraction of the cost to win their seats.
Will you be in one of those seats next year?
That is up to you, but before you can get there, the first step is to download Full Tilt Poker. The second step is to use the bonus code “POKERWORKS” when making your first deposit to qualify for a 100% bonus on any amount up to $600.
Lastly, begin playing at any level and game selection. Take tips from the Full Tilt pros and improve your game. By this time next year, you could be the one counting your online dollars and declaring yourself the $25K Heads-Up World Champion.