Home / Poker News December 2012 / FTOPS XXI Kicks Off
FTOPS XXI Kicks Off
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2012-12-04 09:21
The 21st edition of Full Tilt Poker FTOPS returned on Sunday, its first event a $216
NL Holdem Multi-Entry tournament. By all accounts, the event turned out to be a massive success: no fewer than 5,482 players coughed up the buy-in, generating a prize-pool of almost $1.1 million. The event, the guarantee of which was set to $750k, was the first of some 35
poker tournaments scheduled for the FTOPS.
Needless to say, the first event of the newly revived Series saw quite a few “name” pros belly up to its tables. Besides Full Tilt’s Team Pro members, whose presence in the event was pretty much a given, James Akenhead, Luke Schwartz, Mike Leah, Pius Heinz, Shannon Shorr, Praz Bansi and Chris Moorman played as well, together with scores of similar-caliber players.
The money bubble of the event as set for 720th place, and the min-cash weighed in at $320.
Scores of notables made the money: Andras Nemeth busted out in 21st place, earning $2.9k for his efforts. He was joined on the rail by Praz Bansi (who finished in 20th place), and David Peters (25th).
The eventual winner of the event, the one who got to take home the $187.4k top prize, was Michael Kanaan, who made no deals and took no prisoners on his way to the top. Kannan bested a player known by the moniker “Sgoup” heads-up to win it all.
Dan Smith, who is currently leading the GPI’s Player of the Year race, put in another solid performance, fully justifying the credit he had received from the Global Poker Index. He finished the event in 5th place, picking up $52.5k for his efforts. The second place finisher took home $130.4k. There weren’t any other 6-figure finishers in the event.
