Wrapping up its 26th edition, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series Main Event came to a close last week as UK online poker player, “ponyo88”, took down the top prize of $153,962.72. It was a hard fought battle that started with 1,500 players dishing up the $600+$35 buy-in for the $1 million guaranteed FTOPS Main. A quick calculation tells us the guarantee fell short, resulting in a $100k overlay. Lasting well into the night, a 3-way chop sent the top 3 players home with 6-figure paydays.
British poker player “ponyo88”, whose real identity remains a mystery, had a fantastic run, not just in the main event, but in the FTOPS XXVI on the whole. His name was featured in the limelight the previous week when he routed a field of 553 in FTOPS Event #2, a $50+$5 Multi-Day NL Holdem Tourney with $200k GTD for $33,255.26. He also finished in the money at three more FTOPS events. Event #4, a $200+$15 Rush NL Holdem Turbo with $75k GTD, saw him landing in 25th place for $427. Then in Event #9, a $200+$15 PLO Hi-Lo 6-Max with $40k GTD, ponyo88 finished 17th for $594. Event #27 was another success for the UK poker player, where an 18th place elimination in the $100+$9 Rush NL Holdem with Rebuys and $100k GTD earned him $843.75.
The final table of the FTOPS Main Event came down to “ponyo88”, “LuisFigo1014” and another UK native, poker pro Epsen “Sh4wshank” Sorlie of Ireland. At that point, the final three decided to make a deal, splitting the majority of the remaining prize pool. By the time the final hands were played out, LuisFigo1014 headed to the cashier cage to collect 3rd place winnings of $130,481.09, Sh4wshank landed in 2nd for $143,556.19 and ponyo88 took the top prize of $153,962.72, along with the FTOPS XXVI Main Event Title.
Another UK poker player, Rhys “floppin_ell” Jones, found himself in the FTOPS title-bearing spotlight last week when he won Event #28, a $2000+$100 NL Holdem Multi-Day tournament with $500k GTD up for grabs. With only 76 entries, it produced a massive overlay of $348,000 that had to be dropped into the prize pool by Full Tilt, adding enormous value for the British online poker player. However, another 3-way chop reduced his potential winnings to $93,421.29, while awarding a slightly higher prize of $93,525.43 to the 2nd place winner, “brianm15”, and another $88,053.28 to “Andras Nemeth” in 3rd.
The award for winning the FTOPS XXVI Leaderboard competition fell squarely into the lap of Canadian online poker pro Mark “dipthrong” Herm. He finished well ahead of the competition with 1,013 chips. His nearest rival was “oszillator”, who finished more than 200 points behind with 794. For his extensive efforts, Herm will receive a 4-month Black Card Pro Sponsorship contract from Full Tilt, as well as instant induction into the poker site’s elite Black Card Pro Team, plus 100% cash back on his gameplay at the cash tables on Full Tilt.
Interestingly enough, Mark Herm did not actually win any FTOPS events this year, but his numerous in-the-money finishes were enough to get the job done. Dipthrong landed inside the bubble 8 times, racking up over $29k in cashes. His best finish throughout the online poker series was in Event #14, a $300+$20 PLO event where finished runner up to “ComptonMasta”, earning $12,075.