Full Tilt Fever: TyboVegas Wins FTOPS XVII Main Event to End Series

The latest and greatest running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series is in the books, and FTOPS XVII certainly did make history by becoming the biggest of its 17 series since its launch in 2006. And though opportunities to get in on this one are long gone, there will likely be another FTOPS planned for the later months of 2010.

FTOPS XVII produced some stellar results. Out of 34 events that began on August 4, there was only an overlay in four of them. With a guaranteed cumulative prize pool of $19 million, the actual numbers catapulted that figure up to $20,598,444. There were a total of 61,150 players who participated in the 34 tournaments, and thousands of them walked away with payouts for their play.

Some of the highlighted winners in the tournaments included Brent “BRoberts85” Roberts in Event 1, Full Tilt Pro Brandon Adams in Event 14, and Mickey “Mement_mori” Petersen in Event 27. And Mike “chapmoney” Chapp was able to claim two FTOPS titles over the 12 days of the most recent series, and that feat helped him rise to the top of the FTOPS leaderboard. For winning the leaderboard challenge, he won a prize package worth nearly $10,000 that includes entries to all but one of the tournaments in the next FTOPS. As far as Full Tilt Pros were concerned, Adams did win the aforementioned title, Chris Ferguson took home a significant cash for placing fifth in Event 13 for almost $70K, and Dave Colclough cashed in five of the tournaments he played.

The $600 + $40 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event on August 15 was watched by poker fans all over the world, as it boasted of a $3 million prize pool and several six-figure payouts to the top performers. Out of 4,805 players, there were only two left when a deal was made for the remainder of the prize money, and that left DQnk with $446,942, while the ultimate winner – TyboVegas – took home a bit less with a prize of $423,057.

While it is certainly too late to take part in the latest FTOPS, there is something waiting for poker players just around the corner. MiniFTOPS is scheduled for a September 8 start, and all of the tournaments are identical to the recent FTOPS schedule with the one exception that the buy-ins are only 1/10th of the price. The challenges, contests, and event options are the same, but the cheaper entries will allow many more players to play within their bankrolls. And there will be more than $6 million in guarantees for the 34 events!

For those whose bankrolls still lack the ability to allow play in $20 and $30 buy-in events, there are satellites running around the clock. A few dollars – sometimes just Full Tilt points alone – will afford opportunities to win seats and play with Full Tilt pros, other well-known players, and amateurs alike, all of whom will turn out for the MiniFTOPS. The festivities begin on September 8, and everything will wrap with the MiniFTOPS Main Event on Sunday, September 19 with a $70 + $5 NLHE tournament boasting of a $1 million guarantee.

You’ve read about FTOPS, and it’s time to get in on the action of MiniFTOPS! It kicks off in just a few weeks, so now is the time to download Full Tilt Poker. Use the bonus code “POKERWORKS” when signing up for your first account, as that will allow you to work toward a 100% bonus through regular site play, whether it be in cash games, tournaments, or satellites.