The fourth iteration of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) kicked off this past Friday and the two events that have already played out attracted very decent fields and built prize pools that handily beat out the their posted guarantees.
FTOPS IV Event No. 1: $300,000-Guaranteed No-Limit Hold'em
Friday's event was a $200 buy-in, $300,000-guaranteed no-limit hold'em tournament that had 2,573 entrants and a prize pool of $514,600, 70 percent more than guaranteed. Lynette Chan was the deepest-finishing red-named Full Tilt-sponsored pro in the tournament. She eventually busted out in 57th place (of 351 paying places), earning $1,029. Other deep-finishers included Tim "Tmay420" West (31st, for $1,595) and Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad (47th, for $1,029).
There were still a few particularly notable players remaining when it got down to the final table. The two most widely known players were Aaron "get_that" Kanter (best known for his fourth-place finish in the 2005 World Series of Poker main event) and Eric "sheets" Haber (one of the founding members of the poker training Web site PokerXFactor.com and good friend of online poker legend Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy). Also at the table were Klovnen, a player who had won the $300,000-guaranteed Sunday major at Full Tilt on Jan. 28, 2007, earning $77,832.
Sheets eventually left the table in sixth place, earning $16,467, and Klovnen finished in fourth place, for $30,258. Get_that was the eventual winner of the tournament. He made $94,403 for his accomplishment, along with the exclusive gold FTOPS jersey avatar given to each event's winner.
The final results were:
1) Aaron "get_that" Kanter – $94,403
2) mathiss – $57,944
3) TCarrico – $37,926
4) Klovnen – $30,258
5) Swami54 – $22,900
6) Eric "sheets" Haber – $16,467
7) nickcee – $12,093
8) ruwithme – $9,469
9) Quaternius – $7,204
FTOPS IV Event No. 2: $150,000-Guaranteed Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys
The $100 buy-in, $150,000-guaranteed pot-limit Omaha (with rebuys) event on Saturday had 746 entrants who rebought 1,128 times and ponied up for 340 add-ons. The prize pool came to $221,400 with the extra rebuy and add-on money. Ross Boatman was the longest-lasting red-named Full Tilt-sponsored pro. He busted out just before the final table in 13th place ($1,661). Eric Froehlich, the final table's live streaming Internet radio host for the event, just barely sneaked into the money in the tournament when he finished in 71st place (of 72 paying places). Froehlich earned $498 for his finish. Prominent Internet pro Chris "MarvinGarden" Birchby narrowly missed making the final table when he became the final table bubble boy with his 10th place elimination. He earned $2,214.
The final table still had some big names from the Internet poker world seated at it, including Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad and Grayson "The_Dean221" Nichols. Both players made relatively early exits from the table; Annette_15 was the first player eliminated, in ninth place ($3,985), and The_Dean221 finished in seventh place ($6,863). Terpfan2 took down the event and earned the $53,136 first-place prize and the exclusive gold FTOPS jersey avatar.
The final results were:
1) Terpfan2 – $53,136
2) SirWatts – $33,210
3) bigojimbo – $24,908
4) grgimpy – $18,819
5) HitUR2outer – $14,391
6) WinstonConnelly – $9,963
7) Grayson "The_Dean221" Nichols – $6,863
8) Emmet Fitz_Hume – $5,314
9) Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad – $3,985
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