A total of 5,645 players entered the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Main Event on Sunday. In the end, the $535 No Limit Hold’em tournament featured a seven-way chop, with JackQKA ultimately coming out on top for $237,000.
The FTOPS XIV Main Event attracted a field of 5,471 players, meaning that attendance in the quarterly tournament series’ finale was up by 3%. Additionally, the field marked the largest FTOPS Main Event in history and the second largest of FTOPS XV. A colossal seven-way chop ended matters, as each player ultimately took home at least $172,000. According to coverage found on Bluff, $72,000 was set aside for the tournament’s winner – still a substantial chunk of change – and the seven players pressed on with the gold jersey also at stake.
In the end, JackQKA defeated PageUpV for the title, earning $237,000. For PageUpV, second place was actually worth more, as his bankroll was boosted by $239,000. PageUpV, whose real name is Andrew Buechner, hails from Pennsylvania and previously has notched wins in the Full Tilt Poker $38,000 Guaranteed and $75,000 Guaranteed for a combined total of $42,000. Additionally, he won the PokerStars $3.30 rebuy in November for $13,000. In the FTOPS tournament’s final hand, PageUpV was all-in with K-6 against JackQKA’s pocket aces. No bad beat was delivered as the better hand held for the title.
Booted in third place was dfhijk, who collected $261,000, the largest payday at the FTOPS XV Main Event final table. dfhijk came out on the short end of a race with pocket eights against JackQKA’s K-10 in his final hand, as the flop of K-Q-10 gave JackQKA two pair. The turn and river both blanked for dfhijk, setting up a massive chip lead for JackQKA entering heads-up play.
The drop in prize money between seventh and eighth places was dramatic. The Fluke1200 finished in seventh place for $172,000, while vice67 grabbed eighth place and $42,000, or one-fourth as much money. Rounding out the nine-handed final table of the FTOPS XV Main Event was trojancountry, who cashed for $29,000. Here’s a look at the final table payouts reflecting the seven-handed deal:
1. JackQKA – $237,644
2. PageUpV – $239,485
3. dfhijk – $261,077
4. ReloadPlz – $186,531
5. SurferKel – $236,865
6. TheJunkie – $194,050
7. The Fluke1200 – $172,591
8. vice67 – $42,338
9. trojancountry – $29,636
A bevy of brand name players made it deep in Sunday’s FTOPS XV Main Event. Joe Cassidy, who took 13th in the $50,000 HORSE Championship during the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP), finished 12th yesterday for $20,000. Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek, who sits at #7 worldwide in the prestigious PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings, took 22nd for $7,600. Meanwhile, Full Tilt Poker sponsored pro Michael Tureniec finished in the 33rd spot on the leaderboard for $5,600.
Wrapping up on Sunday was the second day of the FTOPS XV Two-Day Event, which attracted a field of 794 players. The top 84 split the $2 million prize pool, with BadcardsAA taking down the gold jersey and $430,000 top prize, the largest payday awarded during the 15th FTOPS. Coming in second place was Ace18, who earned $282,000. High-stakes cash game player UgotaBanana, who has tangled with Swedish online poker sensation Isildur1, finished in third place and pocketed $202,000. The Two-Day Event had a price tag of $2,620, the most expensive of FTOPS XV.
Other notable names making it deep in the Two-Day Event included newly minted Full Tilt Poker pro Caio Pimenta, who landed in ninth place for $32,000. Steve Yea, a South Korean Full Tilt sponsored pro, took $24,000 for 11th place, just ahead of Steve “gboro780” Gross, whose 13th place effort was worth $18,000. Dan “Wretchy” Martin and Shawn “phat_cat1” Luhman each received $11,000 for taking 20th and 23rd, respectively.
Next on tap for Full Tilt Poker is the MiniFTOPS XV, which kicks off on March 10th. The tournament series will mirror the schedule of FTOPS XV, but feature buy-ins that are one-tenth as large.