Yuvee04 Wins Back to Back FTOPS Events

The online poker world was buzzing on Tuesday night after yuvee04 took down both events held earlier in the day as part of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series: it marked the first time that any player has won two FTOPS events in the same night. Yuvee04 won both Event 14 – a $535 buy-in HORSE tournament – and Event 15, a $216 buy-in turbo no limit tournament. It was a remarkable feat given that the two tournaments combined had over 4,000 entrants. His accomplishment has become one of the top news stories of the online poker world in 2008.

It’s hard enough to win one Full Tilt Online Poker Series tournament: with thousands of the world’s top poker pros flocking to the online poker room chasing after the millions of dollars in guaranteed prize money, FTOPS events are among the most grueling in existence. Event 14 was a $535 HORSE tournament, the first HORSE event played in FTOPS IX. There were 655 entrants and, in the end, yuvee04 emerged victorious. According to news surfacing on several online poker forums today, his real name is Yuval Bronshtein. He’s primarily a mixed-game player, which makes him a force to be reckoned with in games like HORSE, which includes rotating rounds of Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eight or Better.

Yuvee04’s HORSE win was worth $70,412.50. Also at the final table were spadez67 (second for $48,470.00), HTBJabroni64 (third for $32,913.75), NiceJB (fourth for $21,287.50), and MoormanI (fifth for $13,427.50). Full Tilt Poker pro Steve Zolotow finished 16th, the best among Full Tilt pros. Zolotow is the owner of a pair of WSOP bracelets.

Next on the docket for yuvee04 was Event 15, a $216 turbo No Limit tournament that started at the same time as the HORSE event. The $500,000 guaranteed tournament brought in a healthy field of 3,472 players. Sure enough, back at the top of the leader board when the smoke cleared was yuvee04. This time around, he took home $101,975, besting ANIMAL5050 heads up. The runner up pocketed $66,000 as a consolation prize.

Also at the final table of Event 15 were DHM0219 (third for $49,000), xRIPCURLx (fourth for $37,000), 20542 (fifth for $26,000), newhizzle (sixth for $17,000), gambeta_perrins (seventh for $11,500), DammaD (eighth for $8,000), and vm1124 (ninth for $6,000). WSOP bracelet holder Robert Williamson III finished 14th to pace the Team Full Tilt contingent.

At the end of the night, yuvee04 had earned over $170,000 and a pair of FTOPS victories. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, a World Poker Tour champion, told Poker News Daily, “That has to be the sickest single-day accomplishment ever in online poker.” Saul added that yuvee04 excels at stud, which is part of the HORSE event.

These aren’t the first FTOPS events that yuvee04 has won. In FTOPS VI, he muscled through a field of 806 players en route to an $80,600 payday in a $109 buy-in Stud Hi-Low event, meaning he’s taken down three FTOPS tournaments during his career in three different varieties of poker.

The FTOPS continues through Sunday, when the $535 Main Event kicks off. Here is a look at the remaining schedule:

Event #16: Wednesday, August 13th at14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Omaha/8
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: Wednesday, August 13th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 NL Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: Thursday, August 14th at 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Hold’em 3 x Shootout
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #19: Thursday, August 14th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Mixed Hold’em 6-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #20: Friday, August 15th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 NL Hold’em 6-Max
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #21: Friday, August 15th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #22: Saturday, August 16th at 14:00 ET
$2,500 + $120 NL Hold’em Two Day Event
$2,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #23: Saturday, August 16th at 16:30 ET
$100 + $9 PL Omaha Rebuy
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #24: Sunday, August 17th at 14:00 ET
$120 + $9 NL Hold’em Knockout
$400,000 Guaranteed

Main Event: Sunday, August 17th at 18:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Hold’em
$2,500,000 Guaranteed