This past Sunday was even bigger than usual for online tournaments because of FTOPS XIX. Rebuy enthusiasts took part in Event 23, a $150+$13 NL Holdem rebuy tourney with $800k guaranteed. There were 1,791 entrants and with 2,213 rebuys and 1,381 add-ons, the prize pool surpassed the guarantee and ended up at $807,750. This created a first prize of $166,396.50.
Event 23 was hosted by the lovely Erica Schoenberg. Schoenberg, formerly a model, personal trainer, and volleyball player, started out playing professional Blackjack and eventually moved on to poker. Her tournament winnings total almost $800k.
The highest finishing Full Tilt pro in this event was Erich Kollmann, who made it up to 61st place for $1,494.34. Kollman has almost $800k in tournament winnings as well, including 3 Aussie Millions cashes and a WSOP cash in 2006.
There were plenty of great players at this final table. The man finishing in 9th place, nm_21, is known as Nick Manganaro in real life. Manganaro, a tournament player with fantastic results, also went deep in Event 22 yesterday. He took home $9,693 for 9th in Event 23 in addition to the $5,532 he won for 22nd in Event 22. He has enjoyed much higher cashes during his career, however, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he were a little disappointed by how he finished at the end of the day.
Lennepoker, the person finishing in 8th, was at the opposite end of the spectrum. His $13,731.75 cash was by far the largest in his career on Full Tilt.
TheIBanker placed 7th for $20,193.75. He had just cashed for over $24k in December last year, so he has had a fine last few months on Full Tilt. AceHigh800, who placed 6th for $33,117.75, is also doing great recently as he cashed for almost $19k just last month in the $535 Friday Night Fight.
The 4th place finisher was Lee Childs, known as acumen53 on Full Tilt. He won $63,812.25 for his efforts, his second highest Full Tilt cash behind the one earned in November 2010 for $144,512 in another FTOPS event. Childs has a fantastic tournament resume, including 7th place in the 2007 WSOP Main Event for $700k.
The highest ranked player (where PocketFives is concerned) at the final table was Obvamentz_IMO, the 3rd place finisher in this event. His $81,582.75 prize falls behind his highest score of $90k on Full Tilt, and it falls way behind the cool $166,270 he won on PokerStars back in 2010. He is ranked 40th on PocketFives at the moment and is an incredible online tournament player.
NeverBettor made it to heads-up action in Event 23 and ended up finishing 2nd for an impressive $109,854. NeverBettor appears to have started playing on Full Tilt just recently, as his previous largest cash was around a month ago for a mere $3,620. It’s probably safe to say that his bankroll got a considerate boost with this fine cash yesterday night!
Congratulations to npomocc for winning Event 23! He received an impressive $166,396.50 for his efforts, along with a golden jersey and a special avatar to match. Please see below for the final table payouts and stay tuned for another week of FTOPS coverage on FTR!
1 – npomocc – $166,396
2 – NeverBettor – $109,854
3 – Obvamentz_IMO – $81,582
4 – acumen53 – $63,812
5 – slaskovic – $47,657
6 – AceHigh800 – $33,117
7 – TheIBanker – $20,193
8 – lennepoker – $13,731
9 – nm_21 – $9,693