FTOPS IX weekend recap

By: Arthur Crowson

Over 10,000 poker players got in on the poker action at FTOPS IX over the weekend, and well over $4 million in prize money was awarded.

Full Tilt pros Ram Vaswani, Thomas Wahlroos and Stefan Rapp all did exceptionally well, each making the final table in various events, while James "POKERPRO" Campbell took down a very impressive $157,500 for coming in second in Event 10 and Ben "bmf823" Fineman won $300,000 for winning Event 12.

Ryan seemed like the best name to have, with the similarly named ryanghall and ryanbluf taking down huge events for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Here's a closer look at FTOPS IX results from Friday (Aug. 8) to Monday (Aug. 11):

Event 4 $300+$22 No-Limit Hold'em one rebuy and one add-on (Aug. 8)

Dag Mikkelsen hosted Event 4 and a total 970 players waded into the fray looking to score some serious dough. Team Full Tilt was shut out of Event 4 but that didn't stop Fineman from making the final table and finishing seventh for $20,835. Carter "ckingusc" King also put in a good effort, finishing 12th for $6,597.

No one placed better than ryanghall, who won $159,735 for first place. Here's a look at the other final-table finishers at Event 4:

1. ryanghall	$159,735
2. jeansasson	$100,702
3. thakilla	$74,658
4. greezhool	$57,296
5. Uwannabone	$43,406
6. benvo123	$31,252
7. bmf823	$20,835
8. DJ_Ponytale	$16,251
9. Tomif gsd	$11,806

Event 5 $200+$16 Seven-Card Stud (Aug. 8)

Event 5 was hosted by the always-classy Cyndy Violette, and 581 players joined her for some stud poker action. Friend of Full Tilt Michael Craig managed to outlast all his Full Tilt peers by finishing 39th for $627. Not a lot, but still some bragging rights for the author of The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King.

Meanwhile Justin Smith, aka Boosted J, finished in 45th for a meager - by his standards, anyway - $557.76.

The overall winner was dread noughts, who managed to beat FellKnight in heads-up play to scoop $26,946 for first place.

Here's a look at the other final-table finishers from Event 5:

1. dread noughts	$26,946
2. FellKnight	$17,720
3. destiny7	$12,317
4. rounders281	$7,901
5. Madness	$4,880
6. OWiseOne83	$3,369
7. InvisibleEnigma	$2,556
8. ryddler13	$1,743

Event 6 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Max (Aug. 9)

The Omaha junkies were out in full force on Friday so it was fitting that Mr. Omaha himself - Robert Williamson III - hosted Event 6. Unfortunately, Williamson III didn't make the money but another Full Tilt Omaha master - Scott Clements - became the Full Tilt pro of the hour by finishing 16th for $2,898.

Mike "SowersUNCC" Sowers nearly made the final table but eventually bowed out in eight place for $8,734.

It was a kind of magic for chipwizard1 who took down first place for a total of $85,355.

The final table stacked up as follows:

1. chipwizard1	$85,355
2. tumy2007	$55,977
3. UboughtMyBMW	$40,216
4. hemmo_huima	$30,569
5. jackoff	$21,835
6. MrJensen	$13,895

Event 7 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold'em with rebuys (Aug. 9)

Event 7 offered standard No-Limit Hold'em with rebuy action and was hosted by cash-game killer David Oppenheim.

Scott Clements once again made it into the money, finishing 75th for $993, but Jonathan "PearlJammed" Turner was the last Full Tilt pro standing when he finally exited in 23rd for $1,987. Honorable mention goes to THE_D_RY, also known as Danny Ryan, who finished 62nd for $1,149.

The $127,946 for first place went to bizzleraises, who beat MrHolywood in heads-up play.

These are the rest of the results from the Event 7 final table:

1. bizzleraises	$127,946
2. MrHolywood	$84,469
3. USCphildo	$62,731
4. victor 36	$49,066
5. yoshdog22	$36,644
6. Hesperides	$25,465
7. CoinFlip	$15,527
8. ntsikal	$10,558
9. buttsauce33	$7,453

Event 8 $240+$16 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max Knockout (Aug. 10)

Roy "The Oracle" Winston hosted Event 8, which featured No-Limit Hold'em knockout-style, but couldn't predict his way into the money.

That was not the case for Full Tilt pro Thomas Wahlroos, who made it to the final table before finally exiting in sixth for $19,077.

A couple more Full Tilt pros managed to slide their way into the money, with David Pham finishing 219th for $369 and Jeff Madsen pulling off 265th for $338.

ryanbluf finished on top for $121,184 while luccin x had to settle for second and $76,432.

This is how the rest of the final table placed:

1. ryanbluf	$121,184
2. luccin x	$76,432
3. miserd00d	$52,432
4. G de Ipanema	$40,001
5. TheMasterJ33	$28,308
6. Thomas Wahlroos	$19,077

Event 9 $500+$35 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up (Aug. 10)

Event 9 switched things up a bit and gave players a shot at a heads-up format tournament. It was hosted by Kenny Tran, who incidentally took down the WSOP heads-up event this year, and garnered the attention of 1,322 players looking for a little 1v1 action.

Although Tran didn't make the money, Austrian Full Tilter Stefan Rapp certainly did. Rapp finished sixth for $18,508, which was just one spot away from the final four.

Other notable in-the-money finishers included Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad, who came in 19th for $5,288, and Ram Vaswani, who cinched 34th for $2,644.

tedsfishfry took the whole thing down for a grand total of $115,014.

Here are the rest of the top eight finishers:

1. tedsfishfry	$115,014
2. Antonio18	$68,744
3. Duhglas	$35,033
4. RandomDonk	$35,033
5. bballer88	$18,508
6. Stefan Rapp	$18,508
7. PAW717	$18,508
8. Snapout	$18,508

Event 10 $300+$22 No-Limit Hold'em (Aug. 10)

Event 10 was one of those No-Limit Hold'em events you hear so much about, but it also included an impressive $1.5 million guarantee. It was hosted by Erik Seidel.

The Full Tilt pros were nearly shut out, however, except for Paul Sexton and Scott Clements, who both cashed for a minimal amount. It might have something to do with the massive 4,985 field that made it difficult for the pros to get far.

One player who dominated the event was James "POKERPRO" Campbell, who made it all the way to heads-up play before finally being taken down by Harlindo. Campbell received $157,500 for coming in second while Harlindo got a cool $259,440 for first.

Here are the payouts for the final nine of Event 10:

1. Harlindo	$259,440
2. POKERPRO	$157,500
3. doubledave	$102,000
4. SKILLAN	$79,500
5. Mr Mack Bust	$60,000
6. paigowpro	$45,000
7. Tazmaniapwnsyou	$34,500
8. IwanaClay	$26,250
9. Kasy1	$19,500

Event 11 $200+$16 Limit Hold'em (Aug. 11)

Limit Hold'em events are typically less popular than No-Limit, and that was the case with Event 11. A total of 932 players came out to play, with the top 108 getting paid.

Host Andy Bloch was one of the players who didn't make it into the money. Fellow Full Tilters Michael Craig, John Cernuto and Markus Golser all cashed for relatively small payouts.

MrSmokey1 seemed to be closing in on the final table but eventually finished 17th for $920. Sugarsweetness placed first for $45,000.

When they had played down to a winner, the final table looked like this:

1. Sugarsweetness	$45,000
2. FM2T	$28,500
3. mugam	$21,100
4. BigMich08	$16,500
5. siphon3511	$12,500
6. acking299	$9,000
7. jollylester	$6,000
8. ringjob3	$4,500
9. FattyTuna	$3,200

Event 12 $1,000+$60 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max (Aug. 11)

Event 12 featured a steep buy-in of $1,000, so it stands to reason it was hosted by famous high-stakes rounder Eli Elezra.

Although Elezra didn't make the money, the event did feature one of the sickest final tables of FTOPS IX. Kevin "GetPWN3D" Saul, Ben "bmf823" Fineman and Ram Vaswani all made the final table of six, while Phil Gordon bubbled the final table by coming in seventh.

Fineman proved to be the ultimate victor and took down a massive $300,000 for first place, while Saul finished fourth and Vaswani fifth.

Here are the rest of the final-table finishers for Event 12:

1. bmf823	$300,000
2. Garbally	$198,000
3. omalos	$138,000
4. GetPWN3D	$105,000
5. Ram Vaswani	$72,750
6. bigtonyk123	$49,500

 

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Stay tuned to PokerListings.com for more updates on what's turning out to be one of the biggest Full Tilt Online Poker Series of all time. Events hosted by the likes of Scott Clements, Michael Criag and Max Pescatori are all scheduled for this week, with guarantees that range from $150,000 to $1 million.

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