This weekend marked several historical tournaments held during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). Its $535 buy-in Main Event was won by csimmsux, while girlyhurly pocketed $144,000 for winning the largest FTOPS tournament ever held at 9,061 entrants.
Players on Full Tilt Poker had circled their calendars for February 15th, the date of the $535 buy-in $2.5 million Guaranteed Main Event, ever since the tournament series started 12 days ago. A total of 5,287 players turned out for the FTOPS XI Main Event, which was ultimately won by Adam “csimmsux” Geyer, who took eighth in a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event held during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Also making the final table and experiencing a sizable bankroll boost over the weekend were KA1SERfknS0ZE (second for $276,000), PartyPimp (third for $177,000), clubflush5 (fourth for $138,000), CHOOK2120 (fifth for $104,000), dump22 (sixth for $77,000), 23bigd23 (seventh for $60,000), supermanpunch (eighth for $46,000), and Luie Sojo (ninth for $34,000). A total of 738 players finished in the money.
Not surprisingly, the largest field for an FTOPS XI event turned out for one of its cheapest tournaments. The $129 No Limit Hold’em Knockout event attracted a record-setting 9,061 players, surpassing the mark of 7,000 set by the same tournament during FTOPS X. The field was paced by girlyhurly, who turned $129 into $144,000. Knockout tournaments are among some of the most popular online. Full Tilt holds a $256 buy-in Sunday Brawl weekly; Ultimate Bet offers a series of Sniper tournaments. With additional money in the prize pool for bounties, online poker players have come in droves to play them. Others at the final table of the largest FTOPS tournament ever included AAs to QQs (second for $90,000), Doglamina (third for $54,000), Akaperion (fourth for $40,000), hro1707 (fifth for $31,000), massicci (sixth for $24,000), Y2JohnK6 (seventh for $18,000), MantaRays (eighth for $13,000), and pongu06 (ninth for $9,000). The top 1,080 players finished in the money.
Beginning on Saturday and stretching into Sunday was the $5,200 buy-in Two Day Event, the richest tournament offered as part of the FTOPS. The 500 player field covered its $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool. At the end of the grueling two day spectacle, fyrtuk edged out Ultimate Bet Star Player Adam “Roothlus” Levy heads-up, winning $625,000 in the process. Levy’s Full Tilt Poker account was boosted by $387,000, his largest online tournament cash ever. Levy signed with Ultimate Bet last October, joining “Best Damn Poker Show Ever” Season 1 winner Tracy Scala, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Tiffany Michelle, and Michael Binger. Third place in the Two Day Event went to “the best woman,” who banked $281,000. Other top finishers included Wu_Wizard (fourth for $218,000), utreg (fifth for $162,000), donivan31 (sixth for $118,000), holla-athca-boy (seventh for $77,000), Egarim (eighth for $62,000), and gboro780 (ninth for $48,750).
Finally, the $109 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys tournament rounded out the festivities on Full Tilt Poker. The event attracted 1,066 entrants and boasted a total prize pool after rebuys of $403,900 (an average of four buy-ins per person). FinnishNightmre emerged as the champion of this tournament, which shelled out money to the top 108 players. Reaching the final table were quezzmaster (second for $57,000), pimpin_pens (third for $42,000), SpotLIGHT19 (fourth for $33,322), Money579 (fifth for $25,000), TheProtege3 (sixth for $18,000), jellycz (seventh for $12,000), MoormanI (eighth for $9,000), and bendeul (ninth for $6,000).