Poker News

The Scoop on the WCOOP — Inside 2009’s Biggest Online Poker Series

In 2008, two poker players logged off of their PokerStars accounts each more than $1 million richer. That was after the conclusion of last year’s World Championship of Online Poker …

Hand Dissection - Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong

Not convinced poker is a game of skill? This article might alter your opinion of No Limit Hold’em as we delve into the mind of one of the top tournament poker players in the world.

Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong took some time with Poker News Daily to discuss a remarkable hand he played against Full Tilt Pro Scott Montgomery during a $5,000 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event in January of 2009. Armstrong is a regular in the high-stakes tournament scene, both live and online, and is ranked 31st on the PocketFives.com Worldwide Rankings as of August 20th. He has several massive scores under his belt, including a three-way chop of the first-ever $3,150 buy-in PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) event in April. He collected $380,000 for his work in that two-day tournament. Armstrong also has a victory in the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday for $105,000 and took 16th in the inaugural $1,000 Stimulus Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $44,801.

His exceptional analysis of this particular hand against Montgomery speaks for itself. Sit back and enjoy:

Hand Setup

Seat 1: Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong (28,354)
Seat 2: ScottMontgomery (22,789)
Seat 3: bballer88 (11,547)
Seat 4: BickleAce (21,201)
Seat 5: cliftong (30,922)
Seat 7: SmackGirl (12,958)
Seat 8: WinnerFish (10,508)
Seat 9: kenny05 (13,590)

Blinds are 100/200

Poker News Daily: You’re perceived as a very loose-aggressive player by a lot of your peers. Is that an accurate assessment or is your style dependent on who you’re seated at a table with?

Armstrong: For the most part, I play a loose-aggressive style, but it definitely changes depending on who is seated to my left and right and their stacks, my stack, etc. At the time the hand was played, I don’t think people viewed me as aggressive as they view me now, although I’ve actually tightened up in different situations greatly due to my “crazy” image.

PND: Talk about this table a little bit. Were there any players you were looking to play pots with? Was there anyone you were avoiding?

Armstrong: I may be mistaken, but I would consider this table draw very favorable for a $5K (event). I recognize most of the players to some extent, although over a small sample size, none strike me as very tricky or difficult to play against. The only person I really wanted to avoid playing pots with was Yevgeniy Timoshenko (bballer88). He’s an amazing player, definitely levels above me, and it wouldn’t be very smart to go out of my way to play pots with him out of position. Scott Montgomery also had position on me and I didn’t know much about him besides he’s crazy and not afraid to put a lot of chips in the pot in very weird spots by playing very tricky post-flop. So, I wouldn’t say I was going out of my way to play pots with Scott, but I definitely was ready to get involved with him and take advantage of his spewy nature.

Cards are Dealt

The action folds around to Armstrong on the button and he raises to 550 with 8h-7c. Montgomery calls from the small blind and Timoshenko folds.

PND: With stacks this deep, how often are you raising from the button and with what range of cards?

Armstrong: My button was the best place for me to be opening a wide range of hands; not only because it’s my button, but because it was one of two times an orbit that I had position on the best player at the table as well as the most spewy. I’m not sure what my exact opening range is here, but it’s very wide, even pre-ante. I’m definitely opening any pair, any two broadways, any suited ace, most suited kings, suited connectors, connectors, etc. 8h-7c is pretty close to the bottom of my opening range, though.

PND: What are your thoughts about Scott Montgomery’s game and how wide do you think he’s calling your raise out of the big blind?

Armstrong: I had no prior history with Scott and I am not sure he knows who I am at all. I really don’t know too much about his game, but based primarily on the A-4o hand he played in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, I can tell he likes to make strange plays and put a lot of chips in the pot with no fold equity and very little pot equity. I assume he’s calling a lot of suited connectors, pairs, broadways, suited aces, kings, etc. He’s probably calling even wider than I’m opening the button just because he loves playing pots.

Flop : Kh-Kc-5d

Montgomery checks and Armstrong leads out for 800. Montgomery check-raises to 2,200 and, after some consideration, Armstrong calls.

PND: You fire a continuation bet and Scott thinks for a few moments before putting in a check-raise. Explain your thought process here. You’re not calling because you think your 8-high is ahead, so why do you decide on a call?

Armstrong: When the flop comes K-K-5 rainbow, I immediately decide that I’m just going to shut down at first. The flop is extremely dry, so very few hands hit it. I know Scott realizes this as well so, he expects to take the pot down with a check-raise a high percentage of the time. I was being optimistic and hoped he viewed me as a complete random who wouldn’t play back at him on this flop without a hand. I made a continuation bet clearly hoping to take the pot down there, but also with the plan to flat call a check-raise from Scott. I obviously don’t think my 8-high is good at this point, but felt this would be the best way to represent a King. I could make a 3-bet on the flop, but it really doesn’t seem believable and Scott is going to throw in another raise far too often.

Turn: 2s

Montgomery bets 4,000. Armstrong min-raises to 8,000.

PND: He maintains control by leading out at the turn. You stick with your read and put in a min-raise. Did you initially feel like this would win you the pot?

Armstrong: I know this may seem crazy, but everything stems from the original continuation bet on the flop, which I made with the intention of flatting a check-raise and making a tiny raise if he bet into me on the turn. There are very few turn cards I think he’d check, but most will improve his hand to the point where he’ll now believe he has some showdown value. Hands that won’t beat any hand, I’d call a bet with on the turn, so value betting would be out of the question. Scott would bet any hand he hit on the flop like K-x and 5-5. He made a bet of 4,000 on a complete blank offsuit two, which made no sense to me. There was like 5,500 in the pot and a bet this size is not going to be called by much, so he’s representing basically only 5-5 and I still think he’d make a smaller bet with 5-5 and any King. I decided to min-raise to 8,000, expecting to win the pot a lot of the time. I felt this was my best option on the turn, as flatting creates way too many poor river situations since he could easily fire a third barrel on the river. Folding the turn would make the flop call terrible.

Montgomery min-raises to 12,000, leaving about 8,000 chips left in his stack.

PND: Does the min re-raise startle you at all?

Armstrong: I didn’t expect the min re-raise, but it really only furthered my read that he was completely full of it.

PND: What is it about his line that you aren’t buying at this point?

Armstrong: Everything he did on the turn; the size of his lead and min-reraising made no sense for an actual hand. I was pretty confident he would fold to a shove, which I only had to be a right a decent percentage of the time to make it profitable since there is so much in the pot already. I really thought he was calling me close to zero percent of the time.

Armstrong moves all-in, having Montgomery’s remaining stack covered.

PND: Describe your reasoning behind the shove a bit more. Are you putting him on rags or does your raise look so strong that you feel like you can take him off most of his hands?

Armstrong: The fact that he left a decent amount of chips behind was enough information for me to shove here. I am basically putting him on a complete bluff.

Montgomery goes into the tank and eventually folds. Armstrong shows 8h-7c.

PND: This might be the best bluff I’ve ever seen, made even better by the fact that you show it for the world to see. Is this a once-in-a-lifetime thing or do you have these kinds of plays in your regular arsenal?

Armstrong: I was thrilled that he didn’t call my shove instantly because his range was so extremely polarized that it’s either a snap-call or a snap-fold, so he was just saving face here by timebanking. In the meantime, I rushed to the options tab on Full Tilt to turn off the auto-muck option and was happy to show a pretty absurd bluff. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime type of bluff. While I do still make spazzy bluffs that work sometimes, nothing compares to this.

ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes Barry Greenstein

This week, “Inside Deal,” which airs on ESPN.com, welcomes Team PokerStars Pro member Barry Greenstein. “Inside Deal” is hosted by Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee and “ESPN: The Magazine” contributor Laura Lane.

The show opened with ESPN employees facing Greenstein heads-up for an autographed copy of the poker pro’s book, “Ace on the River.” The irony is that Greenstein signs a copy for players he defeats in major tournaments. Greenstein ran into Lane and Lee in the hall and exclaimed, “Finally, SportsCenter! Booyah!” The lead story was the extension of the agreement between the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and ESPN to broadcast the Las Vegas festivities for at least seven more years. Lee commented, “This is the original reality game show and now it has a guaranteed audience for several more years.”

Discussion then turned to “Face the Ace,” which finished last among major network shows in the ratings for its first two episodes in primetime. Now, the NBC franchise makes a planned move to Saturday afternoons beginning on September 12th. On the failure of “Face the Ace,” Lee explained, “It didn’t capture the general public’s attention. A game show needs to be quick and easy to understand. Heads-up [poker] didn’t lend itself towards that.” Lee indicated that the WSOP Main Event, which began airing last night on ESPN, would make a perfect addition to primetime network television.

Antoine Saout’s signing with Everest Poker then took center stage. This year, WSOP officials will only allow three players to be sponsored by each online poker site at the final table, making for a lively battle among the November Nine. Lee explained, “Truly, someone’s decision can ultimately affect the other players.” Phil Ivey will don logos for Full Tilt as one of the site’s featured pros. Many have speculated that CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who has threatened to throw out the bracelet should he win, will wear a Spade Club logo. Spade Club is the subscription-based online poker room managed by CardPlayer.

After results were displayed from the PokerStars Sunday Million, Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Main Event, and Gold Strike World Poker Open, Greenstein joined the “Inside Deal” team in studio. He gave the scoop on Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio and, on his best game, noted, “I’d like to think I’m even at all of the games.” On his stepson, Joe Sebok, making a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Greenstein claimed, “When my son’s in there, there’s emotion involved.” Greenstein also broke down his nicknames, including “Bear” and “The Robin Hood of Poker.”

Dani Stern and Jay Rosenkrantz from the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million” joined “Inside Deal.” On his rise through the ranks of the online poker world, Rosenkrantz told Lee and Lane, “You start out really small and build it up as you’re learning. You’re competing with people at your limits. You run well and, three or four years later, you’re playing at some of the highest stakes in the world.” During the first week of “2 Months, $2 Million,” which debuted on Sunday at 9:00pm ET, the Las Vegas foursome earned $35,700.

Following the phone interview with Stern and Rosenkrantz, Greenstein returned to the set to discuss the differences between cash games and tournaments and give his take on who should be represented on Mount Cashmore, the Mount Rushmore of poker. Greenstein suggested Chip Reese and Doyle Brunson, whom he noted have “stood the test of time.” Greenstein also added Jack Binion and Bobby Baldwin, the latter of whom “kept poker strong in Las Vegas when it could have been taken out of casinos.”

Viewer questions for Greenstein included recapping pots against Tom “durrrr” Dwan on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and whether the veteran practices tells in the mirror. Greenstein also discussed the members of the TwoPlusTwo forums raising money for charity and what life was like on the set of the 2007 poker movie “Lucky You.” The Team PokerStars Pro member took up around 20 prop bets during the 2009 WSOP, winning most of them, and explained to Lee and Lane why Hillary Duff, NSYNC, and Avril Lavigne appear on his iPod.

“Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday through the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table on ESPN.com.

Billy Kopp (Patrolman35) Signs with Ultimate Bet

Ultimate Bet, one of the top online poker rooms in the business today, has an impressive roster of players. Monday brought the announcement that it had landed one of the rising young professionals in the game to a sponsorship deal.

Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, who has an impressive track record of success, signed on for an exclusive deal with the site and will immediately begin representing Ultimate Bet at tournaments around the world. In addition to Kopp’s duties to “patrol” the virtual felts at Ultimate Bet, he will also be an integral part of its live poker team at UB’s signature event, the Aruba Poker Classic. Kopp earned his sponsorship through his play in some of the most difficult tournaments in the world today.

Known for his hyperactive, loose-aggressive style at the tables, Kopp was a juggernaut at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He was able to conquer two of the top players in the game today, 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem, when all three were at the feature table. Kopp was also a part of one of the toughest beats at this year’s WSOP Main Event on the final day of action.

In what was a stunning turn of events, “Patrolman35” was one of the chip leaders on the final day of action and seemed to be a shoo-in for the 2009 November Nine before he cracked heads with Darvin Moon late in the action. On an all-diamond flop, Kopp bet out 750,000 and was called by Moon. The turn brought a deuce, pairing the board, and Kopp fired out a two million chip bet. Moon responded with a raise to six million and Kopp moved all-in for his remaining 20 million in chips. To “Patrolman35’s” surprise, Moon called the all-in and tabled his Q-J of diamonds to crush Kopp’s 5-3 of diamonds and eliminate the youngster from the World Series. The University of Kentucky business major finished in 12th place and earning $896,730 for his efforts.

Kopp’s success isn’t limited to this year’s WSOP Main Event alone. “Patrolman35” also garnered an eighth place finish during the WSOP in Event #15, a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, for a payout of $71,115 and also picked up a second place finish in the WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s New Orleans for $127,832. Kopp has also been active in the online world, amassing nine Top 10 finishes in a variety of online poker tournaments this year at Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and other popular sites. He recently took down an event held as part of the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).

Unfortunately, Kopp will have to drop the “Patrolman35” moniker on Ultimate Bet in favor of “billy_kopp.” Kopp is now a part of Team UB alongside such players as 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, top female player and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, recent UB Army enlistee Liv Boeree, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.

Full Tilt Online Poker Series Results — Events 21-25

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) XIII has officially come to a close with an …

FTOPS Guarantees $5.7 Million this Weekend on Full Tilt Poker

At least $5.7 million will be on the line this weekend as part of the 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The $535 buy-in Main Event caps off the festivities and comes with a $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool.

The Main Event kicks off on Sunday at 6:00pm ET and will be hosted by Gus Hansen, one of the premier members of Team Full Tilt. Last time out, the FTOPS Main Event drew a whopping 4,581 runners and shelled out $432,400 to its winner, Pocketownage420. Others who made the final table included azzabentonaces (second place for $262,500), iDubDeuce (third place for $170,000), Hartwith (fourth place for $132,500), nickeltwenty (fifth place for $100,000), -NinG- (sixth place for $75,000), RonFezBuddy (seventh place for $57,500), baDONKaD0NK88 (eighth place for $43,750), and oiltrader (ninth place for $32,500). The top 648 players finished in the money, with 18 banking at least five-figures.

Kicking off this afternoon at 2:00pm ET is the $2,620 buy-in FTOPS Two-Day Event, which boasts a $2 million guaranteed purse. The challenging tournament is hosted by Patrik Antonius and will pause tonight when Level 17 has concluded or when the final two tables remain, whichever comes first. Then, the action resumes on Sunday at 2:00pm ET and will play down to a winner.

2007 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic winner Travis “TravestyFund” Rice grabbed the win in the FTOPS XII Two-Day Event, earning $460,000. Others in the top nine last time out included Claws of Gix (second place for $290,000), BickleAce (third place for $215,000), GnightMoon (fourth place for $165,000), CiegoBoY (fifth place for $125,000), marlin5555 (sixth place for $90,000), pzyclone (seventh place for $60,000), HaiducF (eighth place for $46,800), and phat_cat1 (ninth place for $34,000). The FTOPS XIII Two-Day Event will be played in a six-max format.

Kicking off today at 3:00pm ET is the first-ever FTOPS Ante Up for Africa event. The tournament, which is hosted by Ante Up for Africa Co-Founder Don Cheadle, will set players back $120. Full Tilt will donate the entire $20 entry fee to charity; Matt Damon and Mekhi Phifer are two of the celebrities scheduled to play. Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke and Norman Epstein also co-founded the organization, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. The Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament comes with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and features an ante from the start format.

The final event to play out this weekend is a $129 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament, the 24th on the FTOPS XIII schedule. Erica Schoenberg will host the high-stakes bounty contest, which kicks off tomorrow at 2:00pm ET and features at least $750,000 up for grabs. A $256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max event last Sunday drew a crowd of 4,644 runners, the second largest FTOPS XIII field. In the end, mikeyG16 walked away $177,000 richer for his efforts.

In September, the MiniFTOPS festivities will take place on the world’s second largest online poker site. The tournaments are similar to their high-stakes FTOPS counterparts, but come with one-tenth of the buy-in. The MiniFTOPS Main Event takes place on September 20th at 5:00pm ET and carries a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. During FTOPS XII, MiniFTOPS tournaments were held concurrently with traditional events, causing many players to gravitate towards the smaller buy-ins. Consequently, a bevy of overlays occurred in the high-stakes FTOPS tournaments.

Full Tilt Poker brings back Sit and Go Madness next weekend, August 21st to 23rd. More than $125,000 in cash and prizes, which includes a $50,000 freeroll, will be on the line during the 48 hour affair.

Liv Boeree Joins Team UB

Liv Boeree, formerly an ambassador of Absolute Poker, has become a card-carrying member of Team Ultimate Bet (Team UB), officials of the Tokwiro-owned online poker rooms announced this week.

In a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she was looking forward to joining “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, among others, on the Team UB roster: “It’s an honor to play with the two people who helped launch my poker career. Annie and Phil are two of my favorite players, so to sit on the same team as them is a bit of a surreal experience, but one I’m definitely proud of.” While on the show “UltimatePoker.com Showdown” in 2005, Boeree received poker coaching from Duke. The same press release explains, “It was [also] on UltimatePoker.com Showdown that Liv also earned the respect of 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.”

Boeree has worked for various media outlets throughout her career, including Gutshot TV, the Daily Express, and Challenge TV. Her reporting career has led her to become successful on the felts of live poker tournaments around the world. In January, she finished seventh in an AUD $1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament held during the Aussie Millions for AUD $19,000. In April, she caught fire at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship, winning a preliminary tournament, taking third in another, and finishing 37th in the $25,000 buy-in televised Main Event for over $80,000 total. In May of 2008, Boeree won the $2,000 buy-in Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship for $42,000. The event drew 52 runners and culminated with Boeree besting Lenna Martyak heads-up.

In an August 8th blog on Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she had just returned from Sonisphere, a music festival near London. Among those who took to the stage was the band Anthrax, which features fellow Team UB member Scott Ian. On Anthrax’s set, Boeree recalled, “These guys are as hard and heavy as ever and it was a real treat to watch them play with their old singer, John Bush.”

Besides Ian and Boeree, other members of Team UB include Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who made a deep run in last year’s WSOP Main Event, ultimately finishing 48th for $135,000. He made the final table of the WPT Festa al Lago in October of 2008, banking $266,000 in a tournament won by Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Online, Levy has been a stud. He finished as the runner-up in an event held during the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in February for $387,000. One week later, he took third in the marquee PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for another $53,000. He’s ranked 95th in the world according to PocketFives.com.

Brandon Cantu joined Team UB in June. That month, he won a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split tournament for $228,000 during the 2009 WSOP, besting Lee Watkinson heads-up for his first bracelet. Nine events prior, Cantu was the runner-up to Ray Foley in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, where he cashed for $403,000.

Fellow bracelet winner Matt “mattg1983” Graham also calls Team UB home. Graham won his second piece of hardware in 2009 by taking down the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for a rousing $679,000. He’s defeated two of the game’s best in his bracelet wins, outlasting Vitaly Lunkin in the Pot Limit Omaha event and beating “Survivor: China” castaway and Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Shootout last year.

Other members of Team UB include “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Michael Binger, Gary “Debo34” Debernardi, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Shawn “westtexasman” Rice, and Tiffany Michelle, who will compete on the upcoming season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.”

Full Tilt Online Poker Series half way through

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series XIII (FTOPS) started on August 5th and unlike the last season on the Series, the number of participants has exceeded expectations. Each one of the events within the series carries a guaranteed prize pool ranging from $100,000 to $2.5Million. Twenty-five events in all will be played and each event is hosted by a pro player.

Full Tilt Online Poker Series Results — Events 11-20

A number of notables broke through for their first FTOPS victories in the past week including Kevin Saul, …

Full Tilt Online Poker Series Results — Events 1-10

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) XIII is in full swing. So far, a total …

Near Miss for Andy Bloch in FTOPS Event #5

The thirteenth Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) continued on Friday with two more events. Among all of the notable finishes, one in particular stands out. Team Full Tilt member Andy Bloch took second place in event #5, a $200+16 stud...

FTOPS XIII Starts Today

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) begins Wednesday for its 13th installment. The tournament series will feature 25 events with $19 million in guarantees and will run through August 16th.

Online Poker — FTOPS XIII Kicks Off

The live circuit may be experiencing a lull now that the World Series of Poker is on hold for a while, but the online action is heating up with the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) XIII. The series kicks off today with a $200+$16 no-limit hold’em tournament hosted by two-time bracelet winner Vitaly Lunkin. A total

FTOPS XIII Starts Wednesday

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) returns on Wednesday for its 13th installment. This time around, the recurring tournament series boasts $19 million in guarantees and runs through August 16th.

Unlike FTOPS XII, MiniFTOPS events will not occur concurrently with their high-stakes counterparts this time around. Instead, MiniFTOPS XIII events will take place between September 9th and 20th on the virtual felts of the world’s second largest online poker site. The MiniFTOPS XIII Main Event is a $55 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament.

The high-dollar FTOPS XII Main Event was won by Pocketownage420, who barreled through a field of nearly 4,600 players en route to a $432,000 payday. Heads-up, he defeated azzabentonaces in a final table that also included iDubDeuce (third place for $170,000), Hartwith (fourth place for $132,000), and nickeltwenty (fifth place for $100,000).

One of the most visible additions to the FTOPS XIII schedule is the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament. The event, which raises money and awareness for the crisis in Darfur, will take place on Saturday, August 15th at 15:00 ET. Full Tilt Poker pro Don Cheadle co-founded Ante Up for Africa three years ago along with Ultimate Bet front woman Annie Duke and Norman Epstein. The tournament boasts a $120 buy-in, with the $20 entry fee donated entirely to charity. The FTOPS Ante Up for Africa tournament also includes a healthy $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Also one of the highlights of each FTOPS schedule is the Two-Day Event. Last year, Full Tilt Poker member Grndhg25 pocketed $400,000 for taking down the multi-day extravaganza. This year’s Two-Day tournament is Event #22 and features a $2,620 buy-in and at least a $2 million purse. It will once again be played in a six-max format and crowns a champion on Sunday afternoon, August 16th. The first day of play pauses after Level 17 or when two tables remain, whichever occurs first. Each player starts with 300 big blinds and the price of poker increases every 30 minutes.

Here is the full FTOPS XIII schedule. All times are Eastern:

August 5th
9:00pm: Event #1: $216 No Limit Hold’em, $1 Million Guaranteed

August 6th
2:00pm: Event #2: $322 No Limit Hold’em 4x Shootout Six-Max, $250,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #3: $216 Omaha Eight or Better, $200,000 Guaranteed

August 7th
2:00pm: Event #4: $216 No Limit Hold’em Cubed, $500,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #5: $216 Stud, $100,000 Guaranteed

August 8th
2:00pm: Event #6: $535 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max, $350,000 Guaranteed
4:00pm: Event #7: $109 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys, $500,000 Guaranteed

August 9th
2:00pm: Event #8: $256 No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max, $750,000 Guaranteed
4:00pm: Event #9: $535 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up, $500,000 Guaranteed
6:00pm: Event #10: $322 No Limit Hold’em, $1.5 Million Guaranteed

August 10th
2:00pm: Event #11: $216 Half Pot Limit Hold’em, Half Pot Limit Omaha, $200,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #12: $1,060 No Limit Hold’em Ante from Start, $1.5 Million Guaranteed

August 11th
2:00pm: Event #13: $322 No Limit Hold’em 3x Shootout, $200,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #14: $535 HORSE, $300,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #15: $216 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Turbo, $500,000 Guaranteed

August 12th
2:00pm: Event #16: $256 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Knockout, $200,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #17: $322 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Rebuy, $1 Million Guaranteed

August 13th
2:00pm: Event #18: $216 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up, $150,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #19: $216 Limit Hold’em Six-Max, $150,000 Guaranteed

August 14th
2:00pm: Event #20: $216 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max, $400,000 Guaranteed
9:00pm: Event #21: $322 Razz, $150,000 Guaranteed

August 15th
2:00pm: Event #22: $2,620 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Two-Day, $2 Million Guaranteed
3:00pm: FTOPS Ante Up for Africa, $120 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Ante from Start, $100,000 Guaranteed
4:00pm: Event #23: $109 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys, $350,000 Guaranteed

August 16th
2:00pm: Event #24: $129 No Limit Hold’em Knockout, $750,000 Guaranteed
6:00pm: FTOPS XIII Main Event, $2.5 Million Guaranteed

Poker News in Brief: July 27-Aug. 2, 2009

As part of an ongoing feature we recount some of the top poker stories that didn't make the front page during the week but still deserve a mention.

This week we look at Phil Ivey having the chance to take down even more money, ESPN airing even more poker, Italians getting moved from PokerStars.com and several other stories.

Here we go:

More money for Ivey

Wicked Chops has a story about Andy Bloch betting Phil Ivey $10,000 to win the Main Event at 200-1 odds with 2,500 players remaining. That equals $2 million if you're keeping track at home.

Supposedly Ivey also stands to make an extra $10 million from FTP if he wins, in addition to the $8.5 million for first place.

It's getting to the point where if Ivey wins he will suddenly represent approximately 50% of the poker economy.

Poker returns to ESPN

The first episode of the 2009 WSOP aired on ESPN this week with Russian Vitaly Lunkin triumphing over Isaac Haxton in the $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em.

No word on the ratings but considering the always popular Greg Raymer went deep it wasn't a bad way to kick off the season. Next up is the special Champions Invitational event won by Tom McEvoy. The episode airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Italian poker players bumped from PokerStars main site

Numerous poker sites are reporting that Italian players have been bounced from PokerStars' international site. Apparently the Italian government has enacted a new law where online poker rooms must have their servers located in the country.

It's not a total loss for Italian players as they were simply re-routed to the Italian-only version of PokerStars. There's a good chance, however, they will be missed by the rest of the poker world.

Deep stack mistake?

Tournament director Matt Savage has a great piece over on 2+2 detailing some of the issues regarding deep stack tournaments.

According to Savage deep stacks offer a lot of play in the early stages of play but can be a crap shoot in the later stages.

Definitely worth a read.

World Poker Tour releases positive Q2 numbers

For the first time in a long while, the World Poker Tour actually had some good news regarding their latest financial statement.

Income from continuing operations tipped the scales at $370,000, which is a massive improvement from the $3.3 million the WPT lost in the same quarter last year. The company also reported Q2 earnings per share of $.02, which was better than the forecasted $.01.

The WPT's next big event is Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in L.A. It kicks off on Aug. 22.

PokerStars offering "Extreme" satellites for 2009 WCOOP

The WCOOP is the biggest online poker series of the year and PokerStars announced this week they are offering some "Extreme" ways to get a virtual seat in one of the events. The "Extreme Satellites" will sometimes offer more than 100 seats into various WCOOP events with players qualifying for as little as $7.50.

The 2009 WCOOP kicks off on Sept. 3 and will run all the way until the two-day main event on Sept. 30. You can check out the complete schedule for Extreme Satellites here.

Visit PokerListings.com

Full Tilt Poker Launches FIVE Promotion for Fifth Birthday

Full Tilt Poker turns five years-old in 2009. For the next 10 days, the world’s second largest online poker site is celebrating in a big way, giving players the ability to earn extra Full Tilt Points (FTPs), boost their bankroll through freerolls, and participate in richer Sunday majors.

On Thursday, July 9th, a $20,000 freeroll will kick off the festivities. After being introduced on Wednesday, the event is already sold out at 30,005 players. A disclaimer that appears on Full Tilt Poker’s website notes, “Sorry, the $20K Freeroll has reached the maximum number of players. Registration is now closed.” The event takes place at 17:05 ET and is one of the largest freerolls ever offered on Full Tilt.

Beginning next Tuesday, July 14th, at 00:05 ET, the online poker room will offer its members an opportunity to earn FTPs five times faster over a 24 hour period. The offer is valid in any cash game, sit and go, or multi-table tournament. From July 14th through 19th, all regularly scheduled Happy Hours will become even happier, as FTPs will be awarded at five times their normal rate. A yellow smiley face symbol will appear next to tables during Happy Hours.

Players shut out of the $20,000 freeroll will undoubtedly be headed in droves to play in $5,000 freerolls that take place every five hours. The tournaments run from 00:05 ET on July 14th through 20:05 ET on July 19th and the buy-in for each is five FTPs. To register, Full Tilt Poker players are advised to head to the Tournament lobby and look for tournaments shaded in pink. Alternately, FTPs can be redeemed in the Full Tilt Store for a variety of merchandise.

Starting at 00:00 ET on July 14th, Full Tilt will award 5X Bust-Out Bounties. Members of Team Full Tilt will be signing up for tournaments with more than 30 players. Knock any of them out and players will take home five times their buy-in as a reward. Tournaments that boast Team Full Tilt members in their field will be shaded in red in the site’s lobby. Those slated to participate include Howard Lederer, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) dual bracelet winner Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, and Patrik Antonius.

On July 19th, Full Tilt will be adding $700,000 to the prize pools of its Sunday majors. The Sunday Brawl, a $256 buy-in bounty tournament, will see its guarantee boosted from $350,000 to $500,000. Each player in the Sunday Brawl has a $40 bounty on his or her head. The player who records the most number of knockouts earns entry into the following week’s event.

The regularly scheduled Full Tilt $1 Million Guarantee will instead boast a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool on July 19th. The $535 buy-in tournament runs once per month and replaces the $750,000 Guaranteed, which has a price tag of $216. Finally, the purse up for grabs in the $216 buy-in Sunday Mulligan will be $250,000, up from its regular total of $200,000. The Sunday Mulligan serves as one final chance for players to take home a sizable score in a weekend tournament.

Full Tilt Poker is fresh off unveiling the schedule for its 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). A total of 25 tournaments will pan out beginning on August 5th and culminating in a $535 buy-in $2.5 million guaranteed Main Event on August 16th. In September, an affordable MiniFTOPS schedule will begin. During FTOPS XII, the MiniFTOPS series ran concurrently with its high-stakes counterpart. This time around, the events will occur one month apart.

Full Tilt FTOPS XIII Schedule

FTOPS XIII (Full Tilt Online Poker Series) is coming soon!

The action starts on Wednesday August 5th and continues until the Main Event on the 18th, there are 26 events, all hosted by a professional poker player. There is a guaranteed prize pool of $16m+ and super cool Full Tilt merchandise to be won.

New for this Series is Ante Up for Africa, you can play poker for a good cause in the charity tournament where all fees are being donated direct to the charity dedicated to easing the crisis in Darfur. Buy in direct for $120 or satellite in from just $1 or 50FTP’s. Nice one Full Tilt Poker!

Satellites are running NOW for FTOPS XIII, go into the lobby click Tournaments and then FTOPS to see the satellites on offer at the moment.

The Satellite Challenge is running again, try and win as many entries as you can and Full Tilt will credit you with the cost of the buy in for every double entry you win. Win more entries than any one else and you will be win the price of two buy ins, second place gets one extra credit.

The Bouncebackabilty Freeroll is back again, exclusively for those players who finished on the bubble, this freeroll is on Saturday August 22nd at 8.00pm UK time (3pm New York). The generous prize is a seat at the Main Event of FTOPS XIV.

On the final table, in any of the events, every player will be given a cool FTOPS jacket. The victors of each event also get a FTOPS jersey and an exclusive gold avatar to be used whilst playing online at Full Tilt Poker.

Enjoy FTOPS XIII, here is the schedule:-

Event	UK	New York	Host	Game	Guarantee
1	Thursday August 6th 2.00am	Wednesday August 5th 9.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em	$1million
2	Thursday August 6th 7.00pm	Thursday August 6th 2.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22NL Hold ‘em 4 x shootout 6 max	$250,000
3	Friday August 7th 2.00am	Thursday August 6th 9.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 Omaha/8	$200,000
4	Friday August 7th 7.00pm	Friday August 7th 2.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em1 rebuy and 1 add-on	$500,000
5	Saturday August 8th 2.00am	Friday August 7th 9.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 Stud	$100,000
6	Saturday August 8th 7.00pm	Saturday August 8th 2.00pm	TBA	$500 + $35 PL Omaha6-Max	$350,000
7	Saturday August 8th 9.00pm	Saturday August 8th 4.00pm	TBA	$100 + $9 NL Hold ‘emRebuy	$500,000
8	Sunday August 9th 7.00pm	Sunday August 9th 2.00pm	TBA	$240 + $16 NL Hold ‘emKnockout 6-max	$750,000
9	Sunday August 9th 9.00pm	Sunday August 9th 4.00pm	TBA	$500 + $35 NL Hold ‘emHeads Up	$500,000
10	Sunday August 9th 11.00pm	Sunday August 9th 6.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em	$1,5million
11	Monday August 10th 7.00pm	Monday August 10th 2.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 HA	$200,000
12	Tuesday August 11th 2.00am	Monday August 10th 9.00pm	TBA	$1,000 + $60 NL Hold Ante From Start	$1,5million
13	Tuesday August 11th 7.00pm	Tuesday August 11th 2.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em4xShootout	$200,000
14	Wednesday August 12th 2.00am	Tuesday August 11th 9.00pm	TBA	$500 + $35 HORSE	$300,000
15	Wednesday August 12th 2.00am	Tuesday August 11th 9.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘emTurbo	$500,000
16	Wednesday August 12th 9.00pm	Wednesday August 12th 2.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 HA (half PL Hold ‘em, half PL Omaha)	$200,000
17	Thursday August 13th 2.00am	Wednesday August 12th 9.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em 6-max Rebuy	$1million
18	Thursday August 13th 7.00pm	Thursday August 13th 2.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 PL Omaha Heads Up	$150,000
19	Friday August 14th 2.00am	Thursday August 13th 9.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22 Limit Hold’em	$150,000
20	Friday August 14th 7.00pm	Friday August 14th 2.00pm	TBA	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em	$400,000
21	Saturday August 15th 2.00am	Friday August 14th 9.00pm	TBA	$300 + $22 Razz	$150,000
22	Saturday August 15th 7.00pm	Saturday August 15th 2.00pm	TBA	$2,500 + $120 NL Hold ‘em 2 Day Event	$2million
FTOPS Ante Up for Africa	Saturday August 15th 8.00pm	Saturday August 15th 3.00pm	Don Cheadle	$100 + $20 No Limit Hold’em Ante from Start	$100,000
23	Saturday August 15th 9.00pm	Saturday August 15th 4.00pm	TBA	$100 + $9 PL Omaha Rebuy	$350,000
24	Sunday August 16th 7.00pm	Sunday August 16th 2.00pm	TBA	$120 + $9 NL Hold ‘em Knockout	$750,000
Main Event	Sunday Auguts 16th 11.00pm	Sunday August 16th 6.00pm	TBA	$500 + $35 NL Hold ‘em	$2,5million

If you’re not already a loyal player at Full Tilt Poker then get signed up now and join in the top promotions that Full Tilt excel in bringing their players. Remember to use our Full Tilt Bonus Code FTPGOLD for a sign up bonus up to $600 plus entry into exclusive weekly freerolls - see our Full Tilt Referral Code page for more details.

Good luck at the tables!

Full Tilt Announces $16M, 25-Event FTOPS XIII Schedule

Full Tilt Poker has now released plans for its 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). This latest edition of the world’s second-largest recurring...

FTOPS XIII Schedule Announced; $19 Million Guaranteed

The thirteenth installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) has been announced and will kick off on August 5th. FTOPS XIII consists of 25 events, culminating in a $535 buy-in $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool tournament on August 16th.

In a major change from FTOPS XII, MiniFTOPS events will not occur until September. Each MiniFTOPS event carries a buy-in that is one-tenth of its FTOPS counterpart and the festivities begin on September 9th. A variety of games will grace the FTOPS XIII schedule, including Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, HORSE, and Razz. Heads-up, short-handed, full ring, and knockout tournaments will all be played. Last time out, Full Tilt Poker member Pocketownage420 took home $432,000 for winning the FTOPS XII Main Event. The runner-up, azzabentonaces, received a healthy $262,000 consolation prize and the top five players cashed for at least six figures.

FTOPS XIII also features an Ante Up for Africa tournament, a $120 buy-in charity event. Ante Up for Africa Co-Founder Don Cheadle is a Full Tilt pro and at least $100,000 will be in the prize pool. Full Tilt will donate the entire $20 entry fee to charity. The 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Ante Up for Africa tournament attracted 137 runners and generated over $300,000 for its beneficiary organizations.

Without further adieu, here is the schedule for FTOPS XIII:

Wednesday, August 5th at 9:00pm ET
Event #1: $216 No Limit Hold’em
$1 Million Guaranteed

Thursday, August 6th at 2:00pm ET
Event #2: $322 No Limit Hold’em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, August 6th at 9:00pm ET
Event #3: $216 Omaha Eight or Better
$200,000 Guaranteed

Friday, August 7th at 2:00pm ET
Event #4: $216 No Limit Hold’em Cubed (One Rebuy Plus One Add-On)
$500,000 Guaranteed

Friday, August 7th at 9:00pm ET
Event #5: $216 Stud
$100,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, August 8th at 2:00pm ET
Event #6: $535 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$350,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, August 8th at 4:00pm ET
Event #7: $109 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys
$500,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, August 9th at 2:00pm ET
Event #8: $256 No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max
$750,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, August 9th at 4:00pm ET
Event #9: $535 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
$500,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, August 9th at 6:00pm ET
Event #10: $322 No Limit Hold’em
$1.5 Million Guaranteed

Monday, August 10th at 2:00pm ET
Event #11: $216 Half Pot Limit Hold’em, Half Pot Limit Omaha
$200,000 Guaranteed

Monday, August 10th at 9:00pm ET
Event #12: $1,060 No Limit Hold’em Ante from Start
$1.5 Million Guaranteed

Tuesday, August 11th at 2:00pm ET
Event #13: $322 No Limit Hold’em 3x Shootout
$200,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, August 11th at 9:00pm ET
Event #14: $535 HORSE
$300,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, August 11th at 9:00pm ET
Event #15: $216 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Turbo
$500,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, August 12th at 2:00pm ET
Event #16: $256 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Knockout
$200,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, August 12th at 9:00pm ET
Event #17: $322 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Rebuy
$1 Million Guaranteed

Thursday, August 13th at 2:00pm ET
Event #18: $216 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, August 13th at 9:00pm ET
Event #19: $216 Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Friday, August 14th at 2:00pm ET
Event #20: $216 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$400,000 Guaranteed

Friday, August 14th at 9:00pm ET
Event #21: $322 Razz
$150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, August 15th at 2:00pm ET
Event #22: $2,620 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Two-Day Event
$2 Million Guaranteed

Saturday, August 15th at 3:00pm ET
FTOPS Ante Up for Africa
$120 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Ante from Start
$100,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, August 15th at 4:00pm ET
Event #23: $109 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$350,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, August 16th at 2:00pm ET
Event #24: $129 No Limit Hold’em Knockout
$750,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, August 16th at 6:00pm ET
FTOPS XIII Main Event
$2.5 Million Guaranteed

All players who reach a final table in an FTOPS XIII tournament will receive a commemorative jacket. Winners receive a gold FTOPS jersey and an avatar to don while battling on the virtual felts of the world’s second largest online poker site. The FTOPS XIII leader board champion will take home $7,500 worth of buy-ins to FTOPS XIV tournaments. Visit Full Tilt Poker for more information.

Run it Twice — Alec Torelli

Alec Torelli, also known as “Traheho” online, came up the ranks as a cash-game pro but quickly caught the tournament bug after winning the Full Tilt Online Poker Series III main event for more than $288,000. Since then, he’s accumulated almost $1.4 million in winnings, and even more in cash games. Torelli sat down

Team RPM Poker Features Internet’s Top Players

RPM Poker, a new site on the popular Merge Gaming Network, has unveiled its team of poker pros. The squad features some of the top names in the world of online poker, including Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal and Mark “dipthrong” Herm.

A total of 19 players comprise the original Team RPM Poker. The group will travel to live events and represent the Merge Gaming Network site, which accepts customers from the United States. Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal has wins in the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday and PokerStars $100 rebuy, the latter of which boasts one of the most competitive fields for any recurring tournament. In January, Agarwal took down the $200 rebuy, which also plays out on PokerStars, for $48,000. He’s also a regular on the live poker scene, having taken 15th in the 2007 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Open for $34,000.

Mark “dipthrong” Herm took the online poker world by storm when he won not one, but two Sunday major tournaments on the same day last July, the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed and Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed. The week before, Herm was the champion of the Sunday Mulligan. In December, he took down the Full Tilt Poker $100 rebuy and finished as the runner up in the site’s Sunday Brawl on February 1st for $54,000. He regularly backs fellow online poker players and is allegedly a top-tier beer pong talent.

Dan “djk123” Kelly is one of the top-ranked players in poker. Last November, he took down a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Turbo event during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $104,000. In February, he was up to his winning ways once again, taking third place in a $300 Rebuy Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em FTOPS event for $116,000. He has multiple wins in the PokerStars $100 rebuy and took down the $500 buy-in $100,000 Guaranteed on Ultimate Bet earlier this month for $26,000. He sits in seventh on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings.

Also a part of Team RPM Poker is Randy “Randers” Haddox. In September, he took down a $320 buy-in Six-Max No Limit Hold’em event held during the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), banking $73,000. In March, he won the challenging Full Tilt $100 Cubed (one rebuy plus one add-on) for $19,000. The Texan also finished 11th in a $1,000 rebuy event during last year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $36,000 in a tournament ultimately won by Michael “worldsgrtest” Banducci. At 29 years-old, Haddox is one of the elder statesmen of Team RPM Poker.

Steven “Zugwat” Silverman can regularly be found playing $200/$400 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em with the top players in the game. The Maryland native won a $1,060 buy-in FTOPS event in February for a colossal $350,000. In November, he took down the PokerStars $100 rebuy. Silverman is fresh off a 12th place showing in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final for $126,000.

Other members of Team RPM Poker include Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, Stephen “Stevie444” Chidwick, Dan “KingDan” Smith, Chris “cdbr3799” Dombrowski, Jim “Mr_Bigqueso” Collopy, Terry “Asiandude7” Eischens, Daniel “Luie Sojo” Santoro, Brent “astrolux85” Roberts, Anthony “holdplz” Spinella, Jeff “jpapola” Papola, Russell “rcrane082985” Crane, Shawn “jordankickz” Busse, Brett “threatnasty” Switzer, and Kory “s00tedj0kers” Kilpatrick.

Team RPM Poker will battle against players on other Merge Gaming Network sites such as ACED, Carbon Poker, IronDuke, Poker Nordica, and Rumble Poker. The Merge Gaming Network is the 17th largest worldwide in terms of cash game volume with a seven day running average of 345 players, according to PokerScout.com. It is the sixth largest site or network that accepts players from the United States.

Max Speidel, Operations Manager at RPM Poker, commented in a press release unveiling the group, “We’re thrilled to have some of poker’s most recognizable young players as a part of our team. Their results speak for themselves. They’re all world-class players that represent the next generation of poker and they’re all well-respected by their peers and fans. We couldn’t be happier with the team that we’ve assembled.”

Travis ‘TravestyFund’ Rice Wins Two-Day FTOPS Event

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series XII (FTOPS) has officially come to a close with the conclusion of the main event on Sunday. The $500 buy-in tournament attracted a field of 4,581 players, which meant an overlay on the $2.5 million prize pool. In fact, the main event was just the culmination of a series filled with missed

PokerScout Owner Discusses the State of Online Poker

If you’re not familiar with PokerScout.com, the site tracks online poker room traffic according to cash game volume. Its owner, Dan Stewart, has seen a bevy of changes over the years as the industry has evolved in the United States and around the world. With the recent running of the 12th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), Poker News Daily sat down with Stewart to talk about the event’s successes and shortcomings.

Word broke on Sunday that the Main Event of FTOPS XII failed to reach its $2.5 million guarantee, drawing only 4,581 runners and boasting a $200,000 overlay. The $535 buy-in tournament was the centerpiece of the FTOPS schedule, which saw its MiniFTOPS counterparts draw players by the thousands. In fact, the smallest MiniFTOPS event attracted 729 players and its Main Event comfortably surpassed its $500,000 guarantee. Stewart explained, “The MiniFTOPS is a mini-disaster. It’s a tournament at one-tenth of the buy-in starting five minutes later and has cannibalized the business from the big tournaments. When players see a lower cost option, they opt for it. It’s taken a good chunk of business away from the traditional FTOPS events.”

Despite the fact that over half of the FTOPS tournaments failed to reach their guarantees, PokerScout.com notes that traffic on the site is up 56% year over year. The growth is similar to PokerStars (57%) and the Cake Poker Network (54%), which has seen the addition of sites like Doyle’s Room and Poker Host during 2009. Stewart surmised, “The overlays don’t have anything to do with traffic or how well the site or the industry is doing. All you have to do is compare this FTOPS to the last one. They ran a similar schedule and if you look at the ring game traffic, it’s up about 10%. They’re busier now than they were then, yet you have a different outcome in terms of guarantees.” The FTOPS is run quarterly, whereas PokerStars holds its World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) once per year. In April, the first ever PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) panned out.

The SCOOP series had tournaments at low-, mid-, and high-stakes and kicked off on April 2nd. The FTOPS XII schedule was announced one week prior and mirrored the SCOOP concept of offering multiple stakes. Stewart commented, “The FTOPS schedule came out before the SCOOP ran. When it ran, it became clear that low-stakes tournaments were cannibalizing their high-stakes counterparts. Both sites are probably learning from the experience.” Nine of the 22 high-stakes SCOOP tournaments did not reach their guarantees; however, the $5 million guaranteed Main Event generated an additional $20,000 in prize money.

On the state of the overall poker economy, which is treading amid a global economic downturn, Stewart noted, “It’s quite healthy. All we can do is compare right now to the same time last year. When we do that, we see that the industry is up 30% year over year. That’s probably a slow rate of growth in comparison to three or four years ago.” Year over year, Bodog has experienced a 30% drop in player traffic, while Swedish gaming operator Svenska Spel is down 14%. The largest gain year over year went to the Entraction Network, which is headlined by Devilfish Poker and NoiQ Poker. Traffic on the rapidly growing network ballooned by 140%.

With gambling revenues in Nevada down 11% in March of 2009 in comparison to the same period in 2008, many have speculated as to whether online poker will experience a similar downturn. Stewart speculated, “I don’t see the economy affecting online poker too heavily. Some people say that poker is counter-cyclical. A person is laid off, spends more time at home, and gambles online to make money. I don’t see it being counter-cyclical; it just chugs along regardless of the economy.”

PokerScout.com is among the industry leaders in reporting traffic across the major sites and networks and launched in 2006. The website also displays high-stakes games in progress and a list of brand name pros competing on the virtual felts. One feature that the site expects to unveil is a Bad Beat Jackpot tracker, which would keep tabs on the promotion across the networks that offer it. We’d like to thank PokerScout.com’s Dan Stewart for joining us.

Poker Pro Jason Mercier Wins FTOPS Event 23

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) is drawing to a close. Sunday marks the start of the FTOPS and MiniFTOPS Main Events, which boast at least $3 million in total prize money on the line. Leading up to the event, Jason “treysfull21” Mercier won Event #23.

The $109 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys tournament drew just over 1,000 runners and, in the end, the professional poker player from Florida emerged as its champion, adding $86,000 to his already healthy bankroll. Mercier stormed onto the live poker scene one year ago, winning the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) San Remo tournament for $1.3 million. In that event, he bested France’s Anthony Lellouche heads-up, with Dario Minieri also making an appearance at the final table. In October, he was up to his winning ways once again, taking down the EPT High Roller event in London for $944,000. The final nine included a “who’s who” of the world’s top players, as 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda, 2008 WSOP HORSE Championship victor Scotty Nguyen, high-stakes player David Benyamine, and Isabelle Mercier all made the money.

Mercier is fresh off wins in a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Wynn Classic and a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha contest held during the L.A. Poker Classic. The two titles were good for $116,000 total. In FTOPS Event #23, Mercier beat Full Tilt member RMFG heads-up, with the runner up receiving a $54,000 consolation prize. Others at the final table included mozgoved82 (third place for $40,607), Bill Gazes (fourth place for $31,754), dayxlm (fifth place for $24,056), Sapster (sixth place for $17,321), Stuart “thedonator” Paterson (seventh place for $11,547), Rightcurver (eighth place for $8,660), and DragonDrake (ninth place for $6,158). A total of 108 players finished in the money.

The FTOPS and MiniFTOPS Main Events kick off today. The former is a $55 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with at least $500,000 up for grabs, while the latter comes with a $535 buy-in and at least $2.5 million in prize money. The Main Event of FTOPS XI was won by Alan “csimmsux” Geyer, who barreled through a field of 5,287 players en route to a $456,000 first place payday. It was one of the largest sums of money ever taken away from an FTOPS event, as Geyer defeated KA1SERfknS0ZE heads-up; KA1SERfknS0ZE earned $276,000 for his efforts. Others who reached the final table last time around included PartyPimp (third place for $177,643), clubflush5 (fourth place for $138,783), CHOOK2120 (fifth place for $104,418), dump22 (sixth place for $77,983), 23bigd23 (seventh place for $60,800), supermanpunch (eighth place for $46,261), and Luie Sojo (ninth place for $34,365).

The FTOPS XII high-stakes schedule has seen a bevy of overlays. However, the series’ MiniFTOPS counterparts have experienced overflowing crowds ranging between 729 and 14,059 entrants. In fact, seven of the first 15 events attracted more than 3,000 players, with three of those reaching a field size of over 6,000. On a potential tendency by players to sign up for a MiniFTOPS event in lieu of a traditional FTOPS tournament, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer told Poker News Daily, “We had never run a MiniFTOPS alongside a regular FTOPS before. We simply underestimated how many players would opt for the MiniFTOPS events over the regular FTOPS. The overall participation is up, so I don’t think the overall economy is having much of an effect on FTOPS XII.”

Also playing out on Sunday is the second day of play in the MiniFTOPS and FTOPS Two-Day Events and a No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament (Event #24). The latter’s MiniFTOPS version carries a $13 buy-in and $100,000 guarantee, while the FTOPS edition comes with a $129 price tag and $1 million in the kitty.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from FTOPS XII.

FTOPS XII Main Event to Begin Sunday

The finale of the 12th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) will kick off on Sunday. Two Main Events will occur: a $535 buy-in FTOPS finale with a $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool and a $55 buy-in MiniFTOPS tournament with at least $500,000 up for grabs.

The FTOPS festivities began on May 6th with a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament that attracted a healthy field of 4,445 players. It was the largest event held so far during the high-stakes FTOPS schedule, with a $322 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament generating the second greatest field of 4,145 runners. The latter tournament did not reach its $1.5 million guarantee, but you won’t hear any complaints from Full Tilt Poker player Doc Sands, who walked away with $259,000. Heads-up, he defeated Sebago2811, who pocketed $157,000. A total of 648 players finished in the money; rounding out the final table were z81ima (third place for $102,000), Luukie21 (fourth place for $79,500), jojo69jojo (fifth place for $60,000), Ramux (sixth place for $45,000), fats713 (seventh place for $34,500), MichaelBpzpz (eighth place for $26,250), and ryanbluf (ninth place for $19,500).

Professional poker player Dutch Boyd, who plays on Full Tilt Poker under the screen name Dutchalicious, took down a $322 buy-in Razz event that occurred on Thursday. Boyd won a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament during the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $475,000 and his first (and so far only) bracelet. He took fifth in another No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament two years ago, boosting his bankroll by $169,000. Boyd finished 12th in the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $80,000, the tournament won by Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker that is often cited as the start of the modern poker boom. To put Boyd’s $80,000 payday in perspective, the 12th place finisher in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, banked $591,000.

The MiniFTOPS has run concurrently with its high-stakes counterpart. However, it offers buy-ins that are one-tenth as much. The very first event saw 14,059 players tackle the felts in a $22 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament. In fact, all but one of the first 21 events failed to attract at least 1,000 players. A total of 8,293 hopefuls turned out for MiniFTOPS Event #8, a $26 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Knockout. The tournament was ultimately won by seeya2010, who banked $26,000 in the event, which more than doubled its guarantee. Other Top 10 finishers included mv052 (second place for $17,481), –XGAL2 – (third place for $12,605), tizzle26 (fourth place for $8,293), ADED (fifth place for $5,307), meissexyboy (sixth place for $3,483), plznoflush (seventh place for $2,255), tomac1976 (eighth place for $2,255), kingtilts (ninth place for $1,642), and PECULNIDRO (tenth place for $1,642).

The FTOPS XII leader board is currently paced by MKMADTILT, who boasts 383 chips and a slight lead over torden, who has 362. Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith is in sixth place on the leader board with 290, while David “The Dragon” Pham and Berry Johnston sit at 24th and 27th, respectively. Leader board points are based on a person’s finish in an FTOPS or MiniFTOPS event.

Today marks the start of the $2,620 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Two Day Event, which kicks off at 2:00pm ET and is hosted by Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius. Last time around, the multi-day affair was won by fyrtuk, with Grndhg25, wuddacooler, csimmsux, Halfrek, hAAydon, and amak316 all having recorded wins since the tournament debuted during FTOPS V. The Two-Day Event will play down today to its final two tables or the conclusion of Level 17, whichever occurs first, and then resume on Sunday at 2:00pm ET. Each player receives a starting chip stack of 300 big blinds and levels last 30 minutes each. The tournament boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million. The MiniFTOPS version features a $266 buy-in and $200,000 guaranteed.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from FTOPS XII.

Online Poker — The $1K Roundup, Week of May 11

The $1K Roundup got a huge boost this week thanks to the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) and event No. 12, which replaced the usual $1K Monday. …

Full Tilt Introduces Poker Million and Late Night Poker Qualifiers

Recently, Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest online poker room, introduced qualifiers for two highly popular television shows: Poker Million and Late Night Poker. The site is also in the midst of its 12th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), which concludes in one week.

Poker Million was formerly sponsored by Ladbrokes, which is owned by the publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange of the same name. Poker Million debuted in 2000, when it was won by John Duthie, who finished 487th in the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas. Other past Poker Million winners have included Jimmy White, Donnacha O’Dea, Tony Jones, Rajesh Modha, Hendon Mob member Joe Beevers, and Boyle Poker pro Marty Smyth. Full Tilt Poker is running a $535 buy-in direct qualifier for Poker Million on August 2nd. Real money qualifiers will also be held on August 30th, September 6th, September 13th, September 20th, and September 27th.

Each Poker Million prize package is worth $22,000, which consists of the $20,000 Poker Million buy-in plus an additional $2,000 in spending money. All players must be at least 18 years-old to be eligible. Qualifiers for the Poker Million direct satellite will also be held, although a schedule was not available at press time. Last year’s running of the Poker Million was shown on Sky Sports. Besides the winners, other final table members during past seasons have included Barny Boatman, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Andreas Hoivold, Mel Judah, Liam Flood, and Full Tilt Poker’s Howard Lederer.

Late Night Poker fans can satellite into the televised poker event on June 7th on Full Tilt. The qualifier boasts a buy-in of $322. Additional satellites will take place on June 21st, July 5th, and July 19th; each tournament will issue the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command at 19:30 GMT. Prize package winners will take home the $10,000 buy-in to Late Night Poker plus an additional $2,000 to use for travel and accommodations.

Ulliott, who defeated Peter Evans heads-up, won Season 1 of Late Night Poker. Season 2 concluded with British poker player Simon Trumper defeating Ross Boatman. To finish off Season 3, Ultimate Bet pro and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth defeated Adam Heller, while Hemish Shah beat Trumper to end Season 4. Irish poker player Padraig Parkinson took down Season 5, outlasting Korosh Nejad. Peter Costa was the champion of Season 6, besting Jin Cai Lin. Late Night Poker aired in the United States on Fox Sports Net, which is also home to the seventh and eighth seasons of the World Poker Tour.

Both Late Night Poker and Poker Million offer participants the opportunity to earn a share of over $1 million in prize money. A total of $18 million is up for grabs as part of FTOPS XII, which kicked off on Wednesday on the world’s second largest online poker site. The series started off in a big way, with a total of 6,275 players turning out for a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament. “URBEHIND” bested the enormous field, taking home the $191,000 first place prize. A total of 6,275 players also turned out for the inaugural tournament during FTOPS XI; consequently, Wednesday’s kick-off tournament tied for the third largest FTOPS event ever held.

In similar style to the recently-completed PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), each FTOPS event has a MiniFTOPS counterpart. The first MiniFTOPS XII event attracted a massive field of 14,059 players in a $22 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament. The winner of that contest was “LHBrazilll,” who earned $42,000 from the $281,000 total prize pool. Both the FTOPS and MiniFTOPS conclude next Sunday (May 17th) with $535 buy-in and $55 buy-in Main Events, respectively.

Visit the Full Tilt Poker lobby for more information on qualifying for Poker Million and Late Night Poker.

Full Tilt presents FTOPS XII Schedule

FTOPS XII (Full Tilt Online Poker Series) is here! This most exciting of online Tournaments is back to banish the credit crunch blues – terrific! This FTOPS is even better with the introduction of miniFTOPS – a series that mimics FTOPS with 25 Events, just the same, but with buy ins at 1/10th of the price. Satellites are running to miniFTOPS now and start at just 60c, brilliant!

The action started on May 6th and continues until the Main Event on the 17th, there are 25 events, all hosted by a professional poker player. There is a guaranteed prize pool of $18m+ and super cool Full Tilt merchandise to be won.

Satellites are running NOW for FTOPS XII from just $2.25, go into the lobby click Tournaments and then FTOPS to see the satellites on offer.

The Satellite Challenge is running again, try and win as many entries as you can and Full Tilt will credit you with the cost of the buy in for every double entry you win. Win more entries than any one else and you will be win the price of two buy ins, second place gets one extra credit.

The Bouncebackabilty Freeroll is back again, exclusively for those players who finished on the bubble, this freeroll is on Saturday May 23rd at 8.00pm UK time (3pm New York). The generous prize is a seat at the Main Event of FTOPS XIII.

On the final table, in any of the events, every player will be given a cool FTOPS jacket. The victors of each event also get a FTOPS jersey and an exclusive gold avatar to be used whilst playing online at Full Tilt Poker.

Enjoy FTOPS XII and miniFTOPS, here is the schedule:-

Event	UK	New York	Host	Game	Guarantee
1	Thursday May 7th 2.00am	Wednesday May 6th 9.00pm	Eric Lindgren	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em6-max	$1million
2	Thursday May 7th 7.00pm	Thursday May 7th 2.00pm	Rolandde Wolfe	$240 + $16 PL OmahaKnockout	$250,000
3	Friday May 8th 2.00am	Thursday May 7th 9.00pm	Greg Mueller	$500 + $35 NL Hold ‘em3xShootout	$300,000
4	Friday May 8th 7.00pm	Friday May 8th 2.00pm	Trond Eidsvig	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em1 rebuy and 1 add-on	$500,000
5	Saturday May 9th 2.00am	Friday May 8th 9.00pm	Esther Rossi	$200 + $16 Stud/8	$100,000
6	Saturday May 9th 7.00pm	Saturday May 9th 2.00pm	Ben Roberts	$500 + $35 PL Omaha6-Max	$400,000
7	Saturday May 9th 9.00pm	Saturday May 9th 4.00pm	Joao Barbosa	$100 + $9 NL Hold ‘emRebuy	$600,000
8	Sunday May 10th 7.00pm	Sunday May 10th 2.00pm	Christian Kruel	$240 + $16 NL Hold ‘emKnockout 6-max	$750,000
9	Sunday May 10th 9.00pm	Sunday May 10th 4.00pm	Huck Seed	$500 + $35 NL Hold ‘emHeads Up	$500,000
10	Sunday May 10th 11.00pm	Sunday May 10th 6.00pm	Erik Seidel	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em	$1,5million
11	Monday May 11th 7.00pm	Monday May 11th 2.00pm	Martin Klaser	$200 + $16 PL Omaha/8	$200,000
12	Monday May 12th 2.00am	Monday May 11th 9.00pm	Steve Brecher	$1,000 + $60 NL Hold ‘em6-maxAnte From Start	$1,5million
13	Tuesday May 12th 7.00pm	Tuesday May 12th 2.00pm	Markus Golser	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em4xShootout 6-max	$300,000
14	Wednesday May 13th 2.00am	Tuesday May 12th 9.00pm	Edward Lederer	$500 + $35 HEROS	$300,000
15	Wednesday May 13th 2.00am	Tuesday May 12th 9.00pm	Jordan Morgan	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘emTurbo	$500,000
16	Wednesday May 13th 9.00pm	Wednesday May 13th 2.00pm	Johan Storakers	$200 + $16 HA (half PL Hold ‘em, half PL Omaha)	$200,000
17	Thursday May 14th 2.00am	Wednesday May 13th 9.00pm	Cole South	$300 + $22 NL Hold ‘em 6-max Rebuy	$1million
18	Thursday May 14th 7.00pm	Thursday May 14th 2.00pm	Mike McDonald	$200 + $16 PL Omaha Heads Up	$150,000
19	Friday May 15th 2.00am	Thursday May 14th 9.00pm	Artie Cobb	$300 + $22 Razz	$150,000
20	Friday May 15th 7.00pm	Friday May 15th 2.00pm	Fabrice Soulier	$200 + $16 NL Hold ‘em	$400,000
21	Saturday May 16th 2.00am	Friday May 15th 9.00pm	Eli Elezra	$200 + $16 Mixed Hold ‘em6-max	$150,000
22	Saturday May 16th 7.00pm	Saturday May 16th 2.00pm	Patrik Antonius	$2,500 + $120 NL Hold ‘em 2 Day Event	$2million
23	Saturday May 16th 9.00pm	Saturday May 16th 4.00pm	Robert Williamson III	$100 + $9 PL Omaha Rebuy	$350,000
24	Sunday May 17th 7.00pm	Sunday May 17th 2.00pm	Svetlana Gromenkova	$120 + $9 NL Hold ‘em Knockout	$1million
Main Event	Sunday May 17th 11.00pm	Sunday May 17th 6.00pm	Jennifer Harman	$500 + $35 NL Hold ‘em	$2,5million

Remember to use our Full Tilt Bonus Code FTPGOLD for a sign up bonus up to $600 plus entry into exclusive freerolls - see our Full Tilt Referral Code page for more details.

Full Tilt Online Poker Series XII Begins Today

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