At least $5.7 million will be on the line this weekend as part of the 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The $535 buy-in Main Event caps off the festivities and comes with a $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool.
The Main Event kicks off on Sunday at 6:00pm ET and will be hosted by Gus Hansen, one of the premier members of Team Full Tilt. Last time out, the FTOPS Main Event drew a whopping 4,581 runners and shelled out $432,400 to its winner, Pocketownage420. Others who made the final table included azzabentonaces (second place for $262,500), iDubDeuce (third place for $170,000), Hartwith (fourth place for $132,500), nickeltwenty (fifth place for $100,000), -NinG- (sixth place for $75,000), RonFezBuddy (seventh place for $57,500), baDONKaD0NK88 (eighth place for $43,750), and oiltrader (ninth place for $32,500). The top 648 players finished in the money, with 18 banking at least five-figures.
Kicking off this afternoon at 2:00pm ET is the $2,620 buy-in FTOPS Two-Day Event, which boasts a $2 million guaranteed purse. The challenging tournament is hosted by Patrik Antonius and will pause tonight when Level 17 has concluded or when the final two tables remain, whichever comes first. Then, the action resumes on Sunday at 2:00pm ET and will play down to a winner.
2007 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic winner Travis “TravestyFund” Rice grabbed the win in the FTOPS XII Two-Day Event, earning $460,000. Others in the top nine last time out included Claws of Gix (second place for $290,000), BickleAce (third place for $215,000), GnightMoon (fourth place for $165,000), CiegoBoY (fifth place for $125,000), marlin5555 (sixth place for $90,000), pzyclone (seventh place for $60,000), HaiducF (eighth place for $46,800), and phat_cat1 (ninth place for $34,000). The FTOPS XIII Two-Day Event will be played in a six-max format.
Kicking off today at 3:00pm ET is the first-ever FTOPS Ante Up for Africa event. The tournament, which is hosted by Ante Up for Africa Co-Founder Don Cheadle, will set players back $120. Full Tilt will donate the entire $20 entry fee to charity; Matt Damon and Mekhi Phifer are two of the celebrities scheduled to play. Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke and Norman Epstein also co-founded the organization, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. The Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament comes with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and features an ante from the start format.
The final event to play out this weekend is a $129 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament, the 24th on the FTOPS XIII schedule. Erica Schoenberg will host the high-stakes bounty contest, which kicks off tomorrow at 2:00pm ET and features at least $750,000 up for grabs. A $256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max event last Sunday drew a crowd of 4,644 runners, the second largest FTOPS XIII field. In the end, mikeyG16 walked away $177,000 richer for his efforts.
In September, the MiniFTOPS festivities will take place on the world’s second largest online poker site. The tournaments are similar to their high-stakes FTOPS counterparts, but come with one-tenth of the buy-in. The MiniFTOPS Main Event takes place on September 20th at 5:00pm ET and carries a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. During FTOPS XII, MiniFTOPS tournaments were held concurrently with traditional events, causing many players to gravitate towards the smaller buy-ins. Consequently, a bevy of overlays occurred in the high-stakes FTOPS tournaments.
Full Tilt Poker brings back Sit and Go Madness next weekend, August 21st to 23rd. More than $125,000 in cash and prizes, which includes a $50,000 freeroll, will be on the line during the 48 hour affair.