The MiniFTOPS XVII might not have the razzmatazz of its bigger brother, but for the thousands of people entering every tournament it can be just as life changing. Event #10 cost just $20 + $2 to enter and sported a huge $150,000 guarantee. As it turned out, Full Tilt had pitched their guarantee just right, as the 7,881 entrants pushed the prize pool to $157,620.
The strong attendance was no doubt due to the exciting new format of Event #10. This was one of six Rush Poker Tournaments to feature in this series. In a Rush Poker event, every time you fold your hand you are immediately moved to another table and dealt a new one. There’s no down time waiting for your opponents to play out the hand; you can get on with amassing chips and winning money.
It was fitting that an online poker expert should be the host for an event that could only be realized on the internet. CardRunners founder Andrew Wiggins was the Red Pro on tap to host the tournament. Andrew is a regular online cash and tournament player, having worked his way up from the micro stakes to the biggest games in the world. You can bask in Andrew’s sage-like at CardRunners, where he works as an instructor. The Chicago native didn’t manage to make a meaningful indent in Event #10, finishing well outside the 720 paid places.
His fellow Full Tilt Sponsored players were equally ineffective. Although only a small contingent turned up to play, the amateurs dominated them in the Rush Poker format. Only Steve Wong managed to break through the cash barrier, finishing in 47th place. The likes of Aaron Bartley, Dave Colclough, Scott Fischman, and Gavin Smith all ended their tournaments without profit.
When a Rush Poker Tournament reaches its final table, it reverts to the format of a standard MTT. It’s impossible to be moved to another table if there are no other tables to be moved to. The entire tournament lasted only three hours, with players dropping like flies the whole way through. The last player to leave before the heads up contest began was Aneris from Lithuania. This experienced online player now has lifetime online winnings of over $500,000, thanks to the addition of his $13,240 first place prize.
The final two players didn’t waste long coming to an accord, negotiating a deal which split the prize money evenly between them. In the hands that followed, it was bcrawley51 that faded first, picking up a total of $23,000 for his troubles. That prize is sure to have been particularly welcomed, as various poker tracking websites report that bcrawley51 is anywhere between $5k – $8k in the red.
That left iTz gUidO yO as the overall victor, allowing him to mop the remaining cash and claim his exclusive avatar and silver MiniFTOPS jersey. Along with the adulation of his peers, he picked up $26,417.20. gUidO is a relatively unknown online player, although he has amassed a total of over $75,000 in lifetime winnings on Full Tilt.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1st: iTz gUidO yO ($26,417.20)
2nd: bcrawley51 ($23,000)
3rd: Aneris ($13,240.08)
4th: MRMND ($9,457)
5th: RubiksCube8 ($6,777.66)
6th: Motz13 ($4,570.98)
7th: billy_gr ($3,152.40)
8th: Soma0001 ($2,206.68)
9th: Mike-010485 ($1,576.20)