The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) is back with the FTOPS VIII, and it will feature a massive 24-event schedule, including three so-called mystery tournaments. Full Tilt is guaranteeing more than $10 million in prize pools over the course of the event, which will run from this Wednesday, May 7, to Sunday, May 18. There will be at least five events with guarantees of $1 million or more.
The first event takes place in just two days. Event No. 1 is a $200 buy-in sixhanded no-limit hold'em event with a $750,000-guaranteed prize pool. It is set to run on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. Satellites are currently running for this event, and they can be found easily by opening the event's lobby and looking in the bottom-right corner, where Full Tilt always displays qualifiers for the event being viewed.
The most anticipated events of the series have always been, and likely will continue to be, the $2,500 buy-in two-day no-limit hold'em event and, of course, the main event. The two-day event has a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million, and the first day of play will be held on Saturday, May 17. The main event has a $500 buy-in and features the biggest guarantee of the series at $2 million. It will take place on the final day of the series, Sunday, May 18. See the full schedule below.
The three “mystery” events are another matter entirely, and only time will tell whether the events become hits. Full Tilt promises that the tournaments will be “unlike anything FTOPS has ever seen before.”
Full Tilt is also holding a slew of additional promotions surrounding the FTOPS. The biggest promotion being held is the FTOPS Tournament of Champions, which will gather event winners from each event of the FTOPS V, VI, VII, and VIII to play a freeroll for a World Series of Poker main-event seat. Champions are automatically entered, and the tournament will be held on Saturday, May 24, after the FTOPS VIII is completed.
The normal FTOPS promotions also make a return, including the Bouncebackability freeroll and prizes for finalists and champions in every tournament. The Bouncebackability freeroll takes the bubble-boys (players who miss the money by one spot) from each tournament and automatically enters them in a tournament that awards an entry into the main event. The players at the final table of every event win a limited-edition FTOPS jacket, and the winner of each event additionally receives a gold FTOPS jersey and an FTOPS jersey avatar.
Here is the full schedule of events for the FTOPS VIII:
| Event | Date/Time (ET) | Buy-in | Game | Guarantee |
| 1 | Wed, May 7, 9 p.m. | $200+$16 | Sixhanded no-limit hold'em | $750,000 |
| 2 | Thu, May 8, 2 p.m. | $240+$16 | Pot-limit Omaha knockout (bounty) | $200,000 |
| 3 | Thu, May 8, 9 p.m. | TBD | Mystery event | TBD |
| 4 | Fri, May 9, 2 p.m. | $200+$16 | Pot-limit hold'em | $200,000 |
| 5 | Fri, May 9, 9 p.m. | $200+$16 | Seven-card stud eight-or-better | $100,000 |
| 6 | Sat, May 10, 2 p.m. | $500+$35 | Sixhanded pot-limit Omaha | $300,000 |
| 7 | Sat, May 10, 4:30 p.m. | $100+$9 | No-limit hold'em (rebuy) | $500,000 |
| 8 | Sun, May 11, 2 p.m. | TBD | Mystery event | TBD |
| 9 | Sun, May 11, 6 p.m. | $300+$22 | No-limit hold'em | $1.5 million |
| 10 | Mon, May 12, 2 p.m. | $200+$16 | Pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better | $200,000 |
| 11 | Mon, May 12, 9 p.m. | $1,000+$60 | No-limit hold'em | $1.5 million |
| 12 | Tue, May 13, 2 p.m. | $200+$16 | No-limit hold'em (one rebuy, one add-on) | $300,000 |
| 13 | Tue, May 13, 9 p.m. | $500+$35 | H.O.R.S.E. | $300,000 |
| 14 | Tue, May 13, 9 p.m. | $200+$16 | No-limit hold'em (turbo) | $200,000 |
| 15 | Wed, May 14, 2 p.m. | $200+$16 | HA (half pot-limit hold'em, half pot-limit Omaha) | $150,000 |
| 16 | Wed, May 14, 9 p.m. | $300+$22 | Sixhanded no-limit hold'em (rebuy) | $1 million |
| 17 | Thu, May 15, 2 p.m. | TBD | Mystery event | TBD |
| 18 | Thu, May 15, 9 p.m. | $300+$22 | Razz | $150,000 |
| 19 | Fri, May 16, 2 p.m. | $200+$16 | No-limit hold'em | $350,000 |
| 20 | Fri, May 16, 9 p.m. | $200+$16 | Sixhanded limit hold'em | $200,000 |
| 21 | Sat, May 17, 2 p.m. | $2,500+$120 | No-limit hold'em (two-day event) | $1.5 million |
| 22 | Sat, May 17, 4:30 p.m. | $100+$9 | Pot-limit Omaha (rebuy) | $350,000 |
| 23 | Sun, May 18, 2 p.m. | $240+$16 | Sixhanded no-limit hold'em knockout (bounty) | $500,000 |
| 24 | Sun, May 18, 6 p.m. | $500+$35 | No-limit hold'em main event | $2 million |
Satellites are currently running and will run every day of the series, and Full Tilt is also offering an extra incentive to win seats. In the FTOPS Satellite Challenge, for every extra seat won into an event after the first, Full Tilt will deposit cash into the player’s account for the exact amount of the seat. The player who wins the most extra entries into an event will find extra cash, in the amount of two buy-ins, in his account, courtesy of Full Tilt. Second place will receive a deposit of one buy-in.
To take advantage of a deposit bonus on Full Tilt through Card Player, click here.
