The
FullTilt Online Poker Series (
FTOPS) kicked off this weekend with its first two events, a $100,000 guaranteed pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament and a $500,000 guaranteed no-limit Texas hold'em tournament.
The entire nine-event series promises over $2.5 million in guaranteed prize pools, culminating in the $1 million guaranteed no-limit hold'em Main Event on Nov. 19. However, the series has a ways to go before it can truly compete with the reigning champ, the
PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, which boasted a $3 million guaranteed prize pool for its Main Event alone. All nine
FTOPS event winners will also receive a special edition
FTOPS avatar, a gold football jersey with "
FTOPS" lettering and football helmet topper. The all-around best player of the series will qualify to have a completely customized avatar in his likeness, similar to those of Team FullTilt pros.
FTOPS Event No. 2: $500,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Texas Hold'em
While the pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament was technically the first event in the
FTOPS series, it was the $500,000 guaranteed no-limit hold'em tournament on Sunday night that was the real door-buster. The $500,000 guaranteed prize pool rose to $602,000 before the event's start with 3,010 players vying for a piece of the prize. A total of 459 players would get a chunk of that cash and first place would take home a whopping $107,788.
The pace of the final table was set when the first hand also amounted to the first elimination. MayorMcShipIT pushed all in on a board showing 7
5
3
2
and was called by the then-chip leader joskins. MayorMcShipIT flipped over top pair but discovered he had been trapped by joskins' flopped straight with 6-4 in the pocket. It was an early final table for MayorMcShipIT as he left in ninth with $8,066.80.
Action rushed along as arsenal46 was eliminated six minutes later in eighth ($10,836). Arsenal46 put all of his chips in with 10
9
preflop as a 4-to-1 dog against set888s' pocket kings. A turned 10 wasn't enough to keep arsenal46 alive and set888s took down the pot.
One more minute meant one more elimination. Three players, set888s, The Reaper4, and SuburbanSpade, limped preflop to see a flop of 10
8
5
. SuburbanSpade checked and set888s led out with a bet of two-thirds the pot. The Reaper4 pushed all in for over twice the bet and SuburbanSpade re-raised to seven times the original bet. SuburbanSpade's bet forced set888s out of the hand and SuburbanSpade flipped over 10
5
for two pair. The Reaper4 was behind with Q
10
for only top pair. The turn and river brought no improvement for The Reaper4 and he was eliminated in seventh, earning $13,846.
The pace continued as three minutes later meant two more bust-outs. First came JazzyCFC in sixth ($18,481) when his pocket tens failed to hold up against Squirrely1's A
J
. Mere seconds later, Can You Tell called all in with 10
4
on a board of J
10
4
. He was against set888s, who flipped up K
10
. Neither the turn nor the river brought a king for set888s, but they did bring the 9
and the Q
to give him a straight. Can You Tell was run out by runner-runner in fifth, netting him $24,983.
Things finally began to slow as the final four players duked it out with relatively comparable chip stacks. SuburbanSpade was in second, but had half of his stack chipped away over the next eight minutes. SuburbanSpade finally found all of his chips in the middle after some aggressive preflop action against set888s. Set888s turned over K
Q
and SuburbanSpade showed that he was in the lead with a dominating A
K
. Set888s was less than 25 percent to win when the flop spiked a much needed queen for him. Another queen on the turn all but sealed the deal and the 7
on the river sent SuburbanSpade home in fourth ($33,411).
Set888s catapulted from third to first with that elimination, but joskins would pull the same maneuver minutes later when his pocket tens held up against set888s K
10
to double him up and put him in the chip lead. It was a full half hour before set888s pushed all in preflop with A
K
. Joskins called instantly with A
Q
and was well behind. Well behind, that is, until the flop spiked a queen, putting joskins in the lead and in prime position to eliminate set888s. He did just that when the turn and river brought no flush or king for set888s, and set888s walked away with $42,742 in third.
Joskins made short work of Squirrley1 in heads up as he halved Squirrley1's stack over just three minutes before dealing the fatal blow. The final hand seemed relatively harmless. The action was limped preflop and the flop came Q
Q
10
. Joskins bet the pot and Squirrely1 called. The turn put out the Q
and joskins put out the same bet, now a third of the pot. Again Squirrley1 called and the river brought the 8
. Joskins pushed all in for over 11 times the pot and Squirrely1 called. Joskins flipped over 10
6
for a full house, queens full of tens, and Squirrely1 mucked his cards to be knocked out in second for $65,618. Joskins took down the tournament to earn $107,788 and the special
FTOPS avatar.
The final standings were:
1) joskins - $107,788.10
2) Squirrely1 - $65,618
3) set888s - $42,742
4) SuburbanSpade - $33,411
5) Can You Tell - $24,983
6) JazzyCFC - $18,481.40
7) TheReaper4 - $13,846
8) arsenal46 - $10,836
9) MayorMcShipIT - $8,066.80
FTOPS Event No. 1: $100,000 Guaranteed Pot-Limit Omaha 8/OB
Pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better officially kicked off the
FTOPS bonanza on Saturday with 624 players entering to build a prize pool of $124,800. The prize pool amounted to almost a quarter more than the $100,000 guarantee. Clown god beat out the field to earn over $24,000 and the exclusive golden FTOPS avatar.
The final standings were:
1) clown god - $24,024
2) cpfactor - $14,976
3) jhizzle24 - $10,296
4) troyomac - $7,987.20
5) AAAAJ - $6,115.20
6) gottabpostve - $4,492.80
7) SHLDBFISHING - $3,307.20
8) AofHearts - $2,683.20
9) mmmadd - $2,059.20
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