Online Poker -- FTOPS Kicks Off Strong With Huge FieldDavid 'muckducks' Cairns Wins Full Tilt Online Poker Series Event No. 1 |
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The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) has always caused a mini-surge within the online community. The regular grinders set aside a chunk of their bankroll to endure the whole series, the low-stakes players hit up the non-stop satellites trying to get a shot at glory, and even the high-stakes cash-game players can't ignore the huge guarantees.
The FTOPS series has always played a major role in Card Player's Online Player of the Year race. The last series, FTOPS X, featured 25 events over 12 days and accounted for at least two of 2008's top 10 players. Laurence "whatariver1" Houghton finished the year in seventh place due to an outright win in event No. 8 for $137,154. Daniel "imabigkidnow" Kelly ended up in sixth place thanks to three final tables and a win in event No. 14 for $104,870.
As always, the series was highlighted by two major events to close it out. Event No. 22 was a two-day tournament with a $5,000 buy-in. Live and online superstar Amit "amak316" Makhija (pictured above left) came out on top of the 500-player field to grab the $550,000 payout, one of the largest amounts ever awarded online.
The main event boasted a $500 buy-in, and Va Shon "Julian Verse" Watkins (pictured right) was able to outlast the 5,225-player field. Watkins' bankroll was hurting when he decided to play in the event, and that paid off to the tune of $450,709.
The start of FTOPS XI is a welcome addition by those players currently looking to bridge the gap between the major live tournaments. On Wednesday, the series got off to a great start with a huge field in its opening event.
You can check out the entire FTOPS XI schedule by clicking here.
FTOPS XI -- Event No. 1
The event started at 9 p.m. EST and didn't wrap up until almost 13 hours later. A total of 6,275 entrants put up the $200 buy-in to create a prize pool worth $1,255,000.
The tournament was hosted by Full Tilt pro Howard Lederer (697th, pictured left) and was able to join the 738 players who made the money. Joining him and representing for the site were Esther Rossi (661st), Diego Cordovez (637th), Trond Erik Eidsvig (329th), Brandon Adams (229th), and Lee Watkinson (211th).
Other notables to make a serious run at the title were Tim "howl9k" Resnik (78th), Evan "NEONPILS99" Parkes (67th), Matt "MattSuspect" Molinari (50th), Mohsin "chicagocards1" Charania (48th), Jeremiah "Believer8219" Vinsant (37th), Chris "Cmoney3" Kline (19th), Dan "Wretchy" Martin (13th), and John "JNewcombe" Newcombe (third).
The tournament was eventually won by David "muckducks" Cairns, whose biggest previous OPOY cash was just for $787. Cairns pocketed $216,513 for the win.
Here were the final table results:
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