FTOPS XIII Starts Today

August 05 2009, Elaine Chaivarlis, Ryan Nelson

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS XIII ) begins Wednesday for its 13th installment, and this time around the tournament series will feature 25 events with $19 million in guarantees and will run through August 16th.

FTOPS XIII has grown quite a bit from the $1 million in guaranteed prize pools, offered for FTOPS I, which took place in August of 2006. The 13th FTOPS will feature hold’em, omaha, H.O.R.S.E., stud, and even razz events all leading up to the Main Event on August 16th. As many of you remember, Full Tilt ran the MiniFTOPS simultaneously during the FTOPS XII, however that will not be the case this go around. Instead, the MiniFTOPS will run separately, and will be held September 9-20.
 
A new addition to the FTOPS 2009 line up is the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament. This event aims to bring awareness to and raise money for the crisis in Darfur. The Ante Up for Africa tournament takes place on August 15th, and $20 of the $120 buy-in will go entirely to the charity, with the tournament boasting a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.
 
The Two-Day Event, one of the highlights of the FTOPS schedule, will take place on August 15th as well. It will feature a buy-in of $2,620 and boasts a guaranteed $2 million prize pool. This six-max tournament will play either to Level 18 or when two tables are left on day one and the champion will be crowned on August 16th. Travis "TravestyFund" Rice, winner of the last FTOPS Two Day Event, fought his way through 795 players and took $460,000 for his efforts.

The FTOPS Main Event has a $500+$35 buy-in and if you decide to compete in it, you’ll have a shot at grabbing some of the $2.5 million guaranteed. FTOPS XII Main Event winner, Pocketownage420, battled through a field of 4,581 and walked away with over $400,000.

Who will wear the Gold?

Dave "Doc Sands" Sands has put in less volume than anyone and has had nine Sunday Major wins (more than anyone). This past week he came in 2nd in the Wednesday Quarter Million for $37,000 and on Sunday won the Pokerstars Sunday $500 for $92,000. Also, Chris "Moorman1" Moorman who puts in absurd amounts of volume and has never won a big one, yet he’s still at the top of most leader-boards online, so look for him to be donning a Gold Jersey soon.

In addition, keep an eye on Halfrek, Kevin "BelowAbove" Saul, and Cliff "Johnny Bax" Joseph, a veteren who always seems to step up his game in these situations, to make some noise. We also wouldn't be surprised to see Steve "Gboro780" Gross at a final table, or two, as he’s one of the top online players in the world and already has a Gold Jersey to his name, from his victory in Event #10 during the FTOPS XI.

For a full schedule, and more info on the FTOPS check out FullTiltPoker.com, and if you've yet to sign up for Full Tilt, we've got your bonus covered here.

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