An amateur no longer. November Niner Soi Nguyen, who took ninth place at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, won his first major online tournament at the 18th installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). Nguyen, who was hosting his first FTOPS event as a Full Tilt Red Pro, won the $207 Rush No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo tournament to collect $78,503 and an FTOPS jersey.
The Vietnam-born Nguyen was a self-proclaimed amateur going into the WSOP Main Event final table, telling ESPN that he didn’t even know what implied odds were. Whether he’s learned the terminology or not, the 37 year old has now made a name for himself in the online arena as well as the live circuit. He joins Greg “FBT” Mueller and Erick Lindgren as the only Full Tilt Pros to win an FTOPS event that they hosted, an achievement that still seems unthinkable to this poker enthusiast and player. He is the seventh Full Tilt Pro overall to win an FTOPS event; the most recent was Brandon Adams in FTOPS XVII.
Nguyen wasn’t the only notable player to pick up an FTOPS jersey since the series began last week. Ami “UhhMee” Barer, Kory “s00tedj0kers89” Kilpatrick, and Brent “BHanks11” Hanks all won events, each collecting a monster payday. Sebastian “sebbau” Bauer was the biggest earner through Wednesday, taking home $274,234 by winning Event #16 ($1,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em).
Aside from Nguyen, three Full Tilt Red Pros have made FTOPS final tables so far. Cyndy Violette took fifth in Event #7 for $4,200, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby finished third in Event #19 for $36,450, and Caio Pimenta placed third in Event #22 for $100,000. Hamby’s final table was quite possibly the toughest we’ve seen so far in the series; it included eventual champion “extassyman”, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy (8th place), 2009 Bluff Magazine Online Player of the Year Jeremy “daisyxoxo” Fitzpatrick (4th place), and “RichieRichZH” (2nd place), who won the largest PokerStars Sunday Million ever in February for more than $1.1 million.
FTOPS XVIII continues on Thursday with Event #23, a $322 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up tournament hosted by Dave Colclough. The series concludes this Sunday with the $640 Main Event with a $3 million guaranteed prize pool.
Here’s a look at the FTOPS XVIII winners through Wednesday:
Event #1: $200 No Limit Hold’em – Page “Pageh656” Harris ($117,434)*
Event #2: $240 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout – TUTANKHAMEN ($56,188)
Event #3: $300 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Shootout – James “BigGamesJames” Whittet ($60,795)
Event #4: $200 Rush HORSE – Deron Good ($33,295)
Event #5: $200 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Cubed – Ami “UhhMee” Barer ($122,700)
Event #6: $310 No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo – SlevinRO ($71,000)*
Event #7: $200 Stud Hi-Lo – pokerlogic1 ($23,700)
Event #8: $500 Six-Handed Pot Limit Omaha – Bart89 ($86,000)
Event #9: $100 No Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys – Jason “Mr Perfekt” Deutsch ($138,696)
Event #10: $200 No Limit Hold’em Turbo – Steve “TheHesse” Hesse ($75,553)
Event #11: $120 Knockout No Limit Hold’em – Kory “s00tedj0kers89” Kilpatrick ($155,488)
Event #12: $500 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em – Kopek3 ($89,088)
Event #13: $300 No Limit Hold’em – not_ya_friend ($227,574)
Event #14: $200 Pot Limit Five Card Draw – demetrius ($13,986)*
Event #15: $200 Rush Limit Hold’em – mordi20 ($30,234)*
Event #16: $1,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em – Sebastian “sebbau” Bauer ($274,234)
Event #17: $200 Pot Limit HA – Brent “BHanks11” Hanks ($47,745)
Event #18: $207 Rush No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo – Soi Nguyen ($78,503)
Event #19: $500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout – extassyman ($69,620)
Event #20: $200 Six-Handed 10-Game – DrawLive ($26,195)*
Event #21: $300 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Rush Turbo – samfarhaJR ($51,696)
Event #22: $300 Six-Handed No Limit Hold ’em w/ Rebuys – Private ATM ($213,500)
*denotes a deal was made at final table
