The 19th installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) kicked off Sunday with a $216 No Limit Hold’em event hosted by Full Tilt Poker pro Huck Seed. The event, which ran during Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, still managed to draw 6,607 entrants for a total prize pool of $1,321,400. The totals annihilated those of the same game and buy-in of FTOPS XVIII Event #1, which had 4,500 entrants on a Wednesday.
After just under 12 hours of play early Monday morning, David “OSUTexan” Walker walked away with the FTOPS jersey and more than $190,000 in cash after negotiating a heads-up deal with runner-up “Mattssons.” Walker, who had less than $5,000 in lifetime tournament earnings on Full Tilt Poker coming into the event, bested a final table packed with unknowns to pad his bankroll. “Matssons” earned $176,944 for second place following the chop and “Fonsemand” also picked up a six-figure payday of $109,676 for third place.
Nearly 50 Full Tilt Red Pros took part in the first event of the series and several were able to make deep runs. Maxi Mueller, a “Friend of Full Tilt” from Germany, finished in 20th place for $3,500, while Portugal’s Joao Barbosa took 45th place for $2,576. Other Red Pros placing in the money were Stuart Patterson (253rd), Allen Cunningham (337th), Jeff Madsen (510th), Somyung Sim (569th), Scott Clements (731st), and Seed (778th).
Other notable finishers included Billy “DurangoDan35” Kopp (27th), Corey “Comandr_Cool” Burbick (30th), Alex “mahoney3” Todd (40th), Phil “USCPhildo” Collins (52nd), Steve “gboro780” Gross (60th), and Scott “SCTrojans08” Freeman (90th).
Here’s a look at the final results of FTOPS XIX Event #1:
1. David “OSUTexan” Walker – $191,065
2. Mattssons – $176,944
3. Fonsemand – $109,676
4. halunited07 – $81,926
5. Drf1209 – $59,463
6. Ghiogghiero – $42,284
7. petit_bourgeois – $28,145
8. o mrBuBbLeS o – $19,556
9. RiverRuben – $13,742
FTOPS XIX continues on Monday with three events scattered throughout the day. At 2:00pm ET, Red Pro and 2010 World Series of Poker bracelet winner James Dempsey will host a $216 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event (#2) that has a $200,000 Guarantee. At 5:00pm ET, the aforementioned Mueller will host Event #3, a $322 No Limit Hold’em Rush Multi-Entry tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000. And at 9:00pm ET, Annette Obrestad will host a $1,060 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em event (#4), which will undoubtedly draw many of the top players in the game. That contest has a guarantee of $1 million.
In all, FTOPS XIX touts 45 events in just about every form of poker a player could ask for. The site added nine Multi-Entry tournaments to the schedule, which also includes an array of Rush Poker and Cashout tournaments. The biggest addition is a $10,300 Heads-Up Two-Day Event. The tournament, which will be capped at 128 players, kicks off on February 12th and features a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000.
Full Tilt Poker is guaranteeing $22 million in prize money for the series, including the $640 Main Event on February 20th. The event will be a Multi-Entry tournament for the first time, meaning players can buy in as many as six times. Erick Lindgren will host the event, which has a $3 million guaranteed prize pool.
Visit Full Tilt Poker for more details on FTOPS XIX.
