As far as online tournament series go, the FTOPS tends to be pretty accessible. The buy-ins encourage the best online poker players and healthy prize pools, without being prohibitive. Of course, there are always exceptions to that rule.
Event #19 of FTOPS XIV was just that, a tournament for the pros only. A $10k entry fee was enough to keep away the riff-raff, leaving only the cream of the crop to compete. Entrants were capped at 128 and, despite the hefty buy-in, every slot was filled. This would be a two-day NLHE heads-up marathon, with only 16 players making the money.
The guarantee was originally set at a meager $500,000, but the collected high rollers pushed the prize pool to a massive $1.28 million. That’s not to say that humble folks like you and me were totally priced out of the fun. In the run-up to Event #19, satellites were running on Full Tilt Poker for as little as $1.
It should come as no surprise to hear that, of the 128 entrants, 23 of the were Full Tilt Poker pros. Chief among them was host Erik Seidel. There are few more appropriate people to lead such an expensive event. Seidel, a man with 8 WSOP bracelets and a WPT championship to his name, recently made the headlines yet again for his AUD$2.5 million victory in the Aussie Millions Super High Roller tournament. That score took him to $10.3 million in career live tournament earnings, putting him in 3rd place in the All Time list. He is less than $100k behind Phil Ivey in 2nd and just under a million short of Daniel Negreanu in 1st.
Erik failed to add to his bankroll in Event #19, finishing in a mid-table 85th. Among the big names who also failed to one-on-one their way to the cash were: Carlos Mortensen, David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren, Gus Hansen, Huck Seed, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.
Two Red Pros did make the money. In fact, they had the best possible one-two finish you could ask for. The final heads-up contest of this lengthy tournament took place between Alessio Isaia and Scott Clements, both members of the Full Tilt Poker stable. The eventual victor was Clements, who picked up $364,800 for his troubles. He can add the Event #19 title to his growing roster of accolades, which currently includes two WSOP bracelets and a WPT title.
Alessio Isaia will be happy to see his hot streak continuing after picking up $211,200 for second place. Just five days ago Alessio became the first Italian ever to win a WPT title. What’s more he did on home soil (or should that be water?) in Venice, city of canals. He battled through an 8 hour heads up bout to take home €380,000. An experience which no doubt served him well in Event #19’s heads-up format.
FTOPS XIV Event #19 payouts were as follows:
1. Scott Clements – $290,500.00
2. Alessio Isaia – $285,500.00
3 .John00Flemming – $108,800.00
4. paulgees81 – $108,800.00
5. Tight-Man1 – $57,600.00
6. youreamaniac – $57,600.00
7. canofcorn22 – $57,600.00
8. mastrblastr – $57,600.00
9. nicos11 – $32,000.00
10. Stacking You – $32,000.00
11. traheho – $32,000.00
12. bballer88 – $32,000.00
13. OneUponAStar – $32,000.00
14. K0STYA_Spb – $32,000.00
15. URnotINdanger2 – $32,000.00
16. theASHMAN103 – $32,000.00