The 19th running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) wrapped up early Monday morning, setting records for the size of the field and paying out its first ever million-dollar prize.
Sunday’s Main Event, a $600 buy-in tournament hosted by Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, was expected to crack all previous records for a FTOPS event. Because of the recently introduced “multi-entry” format, players could pony up for as many as six entries into the prestigious online tournament. After the smoke had cleared, the FTOPS XIX Main Event became one of the largest major tournaments in history, live or online.
A total of 14,479 entries took to the virtual felt at Full Tilt for the FTOPS Main Event, building a prize pool of slightly over $8.8 million. It put the FTOPS XIX Main Event into 21st place in the pantheon of the 30 largest poker tournaments of all-time and was the fourth largest online tournament in history. It also showered over 10% of the field with cash, as 1,890 players walked away with at least $868 to show for their efforts.
After 14 hours of play, there were still 13 players who had a shot at taking home the $1.3 million first place prize. In the mix were 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Blair “blur5f6” Hinkle and Daniel “WiLDmAn75” Buzgon, the latter of whom reached his third FTOPS XIX final table. By the time the final table was determined, Hinkle had assumed the chip lead.
According to the Full Tilt Poker Twitter feed, of the nine-handed final table, only two of the combatants – “GIAMPP” and “beerocrat” – only used one $600 entry.
Buzgon was able to seize the lead from Hinkle, as “Colonel Mustard,” “beerocrat,” and “425wedabest” were the early casualties of the final table. Buzgon would be unable to hold on to his chip lead, however, as he departed in fifth place at the hands of “GIAMPP.” After the elimination of “Nayza” in fourth place, one of the most exciting deal discussions ever took place.
Early on Monday morning, the trio discussed chopping up the remaining prize pool, which totaled slightly over $2.8 million. Hinkle held firm and was able to broker a three-way deal that ensured him a payday of slight more than $1.1 million. After the group came to terms, play resumed for the FTOPS XIX Main Event title, which was eventually taken down by “GIAMPP.” The final table results were as such:
1. GIAMPP – $877,950
2. Blair “blur5f6” Hinkle – $1,162,950
3. SirMad – $805,440
4. Nayza – $451,745
5. Daniel “WiLDmAn75” Buzgon – $321,434
6. J NOCK – $230,216
7. 425wedabest – $165,061
8. beerocrat – $121,624
9. Colonel Mustard – $86,005
In addition to winning the title, “GIAMPP” didn’t pony up the full $600 buy-in, preferring to take the less expensive route through a $100 satellite on Full Tilt Poker. Visit Full Tilt for more details on FTOPS XIX.