This weekend marked the running of the eighth, ninth, and tenth events of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). A heralded online poker player made waves during Event 10, as Steve “gboro780” Gross took down the 5,325 player tournament for $275,000. Gross is one of the world’s best internet poker players, defeating BUSTYOU79 heads-up in the $322 buy-in Hold’em event.
In addition to a plethora of success in the online poker world, Gross has carried over his talents to the live arena. In 2008, he finished eighth in a $1,000 rebuy No Limit Hold’em tournament held during the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He cashed for $57,000 in the event, which was ultimately won by Michael Banducci, known as “worldsgrtest” online. The final table also included Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, Ultimate Bet Star Player Michael Binger, and Alan Jaffray. Gross finished 55th in a $5,000 No Limit tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $10,000. He took second in a $2,800 buy-in preliminary event during the 2007 World Poker Finals for $96,000 and finished 117th in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure one year ago for $16,000.
Online, he’s fresh off a second place showing in the Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guaranteed in January for $126,000. In November, he took down the $100 rebuy on PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, adding $71,000 to his bankroll. Also in November, he won the $100,000 Pro Bounty Guaranteed on CEREUS network site Absolute Poker for $34,000, one month after capturing victory in the tournament for the first time. Three months ago, he took third in the $100 rebuy on PokerStars for $18,000. All told, he’s one of the most successful online poker players in the industry.
Here were the final results of the Event 10, a $322 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with $1.5 million guaranteed:
First Place: gboro780, $275,601
Second Place: BUSTYOU79, $166,939
Third Place: Shoomie, $107,352
Fourth Place: Jerms13, $83,869
Fifth Place: nevermo, $63,101
Sixth Place: ilovemypuppy, $47,126
Seventh Place: TorontoToro, $36,743
Eighth Place: J4d3dr4g0n, $27,956
Ninth Place: Drow, $20,768
Also taking place on Sunday as part of the FTOPS festivities was a $535 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up tournament. The field topped out at 1,332 entrants, creating a prize pool of $666,000. After the final cards were dealt, Luie Sojo defeated Plz_Stop_Lookin in the featured heads-up match. The former took home $115,000, while the latter banked $69,000 for his efforts. The top 128 players made the money in one of the largest heads-up tournaments ever held.
A $256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament also transpired on Sunday, the first of three events that kicked off on the popular site. The finale saw Chancew defeat RSGII heads-up, with the winner taking home $168,000 as spoils. The runner up received $103,000 as a consolation prize and the top 492 players took home cash. Other Full Tilt Poker members who reached the final table were USCphildo (third place for $71,000), Michael1123 (fourth place for $52,000), Alfa Alex (fifth place for $38,000), and TPEHEP (sixth place for $26,000). There were 4,411 entrants in total, creating a prize pool of $882,000.
Tournament officials and players from around the world are gearing up for the $535 buy-in Main Event which begins on Sunday. The $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool tournament attracted 5,225 players last time around, with Julian Verse taking home $450,000 for the win. The top five players in the FTOPS X Main Event, which was held late last year, earned at least $100,000; the top 18 banked at least $10,000, with Full Tilt Poker sponsored pro Peter “Nordberg” Feldman landing in 17th place for $12,000.
On Saturday, which is Valentine’s Day in the United States, FTOPS XI will feature Day 1 of the $5,200 buy-in Two Day event, its richest tournament. The spectacle will crown a winner on Sunday, the same day as the Main Event kicks off. We’ll have full details for you right here on Poker News Daily.
