With more than $9 million in guaranteed money, the FTOPS VI on Full Tilt Poker has started off like a whirl-winded tornado leaving behind a steady trail of $100 dollar bills. The smallest prize pool this year guarantees $25k, and four tournaments guarantee $1 million or more. High rollers and hopeful satellite contestants alike are out for their share of the dough. As of this writing, the first eight events have finished, leaving eight more to be played including the Main Event, which has a $2 million guarantee and is hosted by Lee Watkinson. Let's take a look at what has happened so far and get ready for what lies ahead in the FTOPS VI. <READMORE>

The first event was hosted by Brad Booth and guaranteed $750,000. It was a $200 buy-in NLHE 6-max tournament that attracted 3,676 players. It comes as no surprise that in the end two P5'ers carved out a healthy portion of the prize pool, taking down both 1st and 2nd place. Finishing 2nd was Greg "<SPAN>Demonchild724</SPAN>" Sussman from Boca Raton. His finish earned him $90,750. The 1st place winner was Blair "<SPAN>blur5f6</SPAN>" Hinkle from Kansas City. His reward for beating out 3,675 players was a nice 6-figure payday of $146,288.

Event #2 was an at times torturous $300 buy-in Razz tournament hosted by David Oppenheim. It brought a guaranteed prize pool of $100k, and that guarantee was more than doubled. No P5'ers made the final table, but <SPAN>Mr__Blonde</SPAN> took 9th.

The third event was a $200 buy-in PLH tournament with $300k guaranteed. As a little bonus, it was hosted by PearlJammed. In this tournament, three members of PockeFives made the final table. Taking 7th place and winning over $7k was <SPAN>jucifer</SPAN> from Canada. In 4th place was 52nd ranked <SPAN>JCarver</SPAN> (pictured right, Taknapotin on PokerStars) from New York. JCarver has been climbing his way up the rankings lately, and a score of $18,600 in the FTOPS Event #3 should help him continue to do so. Lastly, we have <SPAN>fcarrico</SPAN> from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, who is ranked 5th in his country (see the Sortable Rankings). He was able to finish in 3rd and walk away $24,150 richer.

Event #4 guaranteed $300k and surpassed that mark by $8k. 616 players entered this $500 buy-in Omaha Hi Pot Limit tournament (appropriately hosted by David Benyamine) in hopes of winning the $66,220 first place prize. 5 of the final 9 were P5'ers, and one member came as close as possible to taking that $66k. Placing 9th was <SPAN>willcutyou</SPAN> from Canada, who is new to the site. He won just short of $5k. Finishing in 8th place for $6,776 was <SPAN>Dg0016</SPAN> from Newnan, Georgia. Taking 7th was <SPAN>Jaysick88</SPAN> from Cleveland, Ohio (where he is ranked first in the city), and he won $6,776 for his efforts. 6th place was awarded to <SPAN>gaffel</SPAN> from Oslo, Norway, and his finish was good enough for $10,780. Finally, <SPAN>Pokersavage1</SPAN> (WHENTHUGSCRY on FullTilt) from Los Angeles took 2nd place and $43,428. He is currently in the top 10 for all of California.

Andrew Black hosted the 5th event, a popular $100 NLHE Rebuy tournament. This tournament guaranteed $400k and eventually went $60,800 over that guarantee. Three P5'ers were at the final table, and one went on to win the whole thing. Securing 4th place was 90th ranked Ryan "<SPAN>Gotskillz</SPAN>" Fisler from Canada (pictured left, "eatschips" on FullTilt). He won $28,569 and added another big score to his resume. Finishing 3rd was <SPAN>jesse42782</SPAN> ("thenaturalace" on FullTilt) from Texas. 3rd place earned him $37,094 while also placing him within the top 10 ranked players in all of Texas. The man, or maybe primate, who took home 1st place is <SPAN>Chimp__greg</SPAN> (Greg__Chimp on Tilt) from Nebraska. This impressive win made him one rich chimp as he pocketed $86,630 and gained some ground on apestyles.

Event #6 was a $100 buy-in Stud Hi/Lo tournament hosted by John Cernuto. It guaranteed $25k but more than tripled that number with over 800 entrants. At the final table, <SPAN>Tristan</SPAN> (Tokushima on Tilt) from Switzerland finished 5th, winning $3,224. Taking 2nd place was Daniel "<SPAN>amichaikk</SPAN>" Makowsky from Tel Aviv (kudelykq on FullTilt). He won $11,606.

The seventh event was a big one. It was a $300 buy-in NLHE tournament (hosted by Paul Wolfe) that drew 4,474 players and guaranteed at least a $1 million prize pool. The guarantee was exceeded by $342,000 and generated a 1st place prize of $237,072! <SPAN>Wmmcl</SPAN> from South Carolina went deep, but the final table of this monster tournament proved to be too elusive as he went out in 11th. $12,888 was his consolation prize. <SPAN>Ellizizcute</SPAN> (CRACKENaces on FullTilt) from Arizona was the next P5'er eliminated. He went out in 7th for $30,877. <SPAN>Chicagocards1 </SPAN>was knocked out two players later, locking up 4th place, which was good for $73,837. The last man standing in Event #7 was <SPAN>Braien</SPAN> from Montana. Braien took home the $237,072 that 4,474 other players were vying for. Part of Braien's player bio says that he is looking to improve his game as well as his earnings. With this win, he did precisely that, and he did not do it in a subtle fashion.

Event #8 also had a $1 million guaranteed prize-pool, and in this event the buy-in was $1,000. Like the previous event, it was also a NLHE tournament, and it was hosted by popular P5er TheWacoKidd. This tournament brought a field of 1,332 players, and as a result first place was worth just over $250k. In the final 18, four P5'ers finished in consecutive order, owning 18th, 17th, 16th and 15th place prize money. These players were 60th ranked Chris "<SPAN>LUHMAN</SPAN>" Martin (pictured right, baller11782 on FullTilt), <SPAN>KILL-BILL</SPAN> (DRUNKENSTYLE on FullTilt) from Germany, 9th ranked <SPAN>Ch0ppy</SPAN> (NoBadBeatsPlz on FullTilt) and <SPAN>michnak</SPAN> from New Jersey (players listed in order from 18th-15th). LUHMAN, KILL-BILL, and ch0ppy each won $8,258, and michnak won $15,584.

<SPAN>Phatchoy888</SPAN> from New Jersey was the painfully lucky player to bubble the final table. He won $15,584 for his broken heart. Up and coming player <SPAN>Luckychewy</SPAN> from New York (runthistable on Stars) maneuvered his way down to the last three before finishing in 3rd. He won $107,226 for a great performance. Ultimately, though, there could only be one winner, and it was Mark "<SPAN>BleedBlue33</SPAN>" Leonard (uuhhhicall on FullTilt) from Lubbock, Texas. This 21 year old Texas Rangers fan has good reason to celebrate (besides the Rangers last place finish in the AL West obviously) as he won a whopping $250,416!

The FTOPS IV has been quite eventful thus far with phenomenal results being put up by P5'ers. Congratulations to everyone who has had success. Remember though, the excitement is only half-way over and will continue tonight with Event #9. The money will most definitely be put in the air, but will you be there to catch it?

If you don't have an account at Full Tilt Poker, you're missing out! There are still several events left and plenty of satellite opportunities. Good luck to all P5ers in the remaining events!
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