Event #12 of the ongoing Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) featured a colossal prize pool of $1.54 million, just edging out its guarantee. A total of 1,541 players turned out for the $1,060 No Limit Hold’em tournament, which distributed cash payments to the top 162 runners. The final table was stacked with members of the PocketFives.com online poker community, including Minnesota native kingpin023, who took home a mammoth $331,000 top prize, the largest so far of FTOPS XV.

Heads-up, kingpin023 defeated SJUHawks18, who hails from Philadelphia. SJUHawks18 earned a $209,000 consolation prize and is coming off a January win in the Full Tilt Poker $60,000 Guaranteed for $13,000. SJUHawks18 won a $55 No Limit Hold’em tournament on PokerStars last July for $34,000 and, in September, finished second in the Full Tilt $75,000 Guaranteed for $17,000.
Third place in Event #12 of FTOPS XV went to Steve gboro780 Gross (pictured at left). The holder of the #4 spot in the Online Poker Rankings, Gross has the top Pro Poll score in the business. His PLB tally will get a sizable boost after his $155,000 cash on Monday. During FTOPS XI, Gross took down a $322 No Limit Hold’em tournament for a rock solid $275,000 first place prize. He also has strong showings in a bevy of major online poker tournaments, including a win the Absolute Poker $150,000 Guaranteed and runner-up performances in the Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guaranteed and a PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) event.

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Fourth place in Monday’s tournament went to Canada’s 2eazy. The top four score boosted his bankroll by $123,000, the largest cash of his online poker career, surpassing a $77,000 haul on Full Tilt. kbp33 took seventh for $43,000, just ahead of Anthony raver44 Lorieu, who finished in ninth place for $21,000. Lorieu hails from Paris and made the money in November’s FTOPS Main Event. Here’s how the final table of Event #12 panned out:

1. kingpin023 – $331,315 (kingpin023)
2. grindtherail – $209,576 (SJUHawks18)
3. gboro780 – $155,641 (gboro780)
4. bmwmcoupe – $123,280 (2eazy)
5. RLD1989 – $92,460
6. KevboyStar – $66,263
7. yahoo33 – $43,148 (kbp33)
8. RandomFish666 – $30,820
9. raver44 – $21,574 (raver44)

Event #11 of FTOPS XV was a $216 Limit Omaha High-Low contest that fell short of its $200,000 guarantee. A total of 895 players turned out and a two-way deal ended the action, with YaAkylko collecting $40,000 for first place. Second went to farha123, who banked $33,000, and the top 108 finishers on the Event #11 leaderboard walked away with cash.

Two high-profile PocketFives.com members made the final table, as Mario TheRealPokerccini Puccini, the 75th player in the Rankings, took fourth place for $16,000. The German collected $69,000 from January’s PartyPokerMonthly Million by virtue of finishing third. In September, he outlasted the field of the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $66,000. Absolute Poker pro Matt Plattsburgh Vengrin (pictured at right) wound up in the sixth spot on the leaderboard in Event #11, earning $9,000:

1. YaAkylko – $40,500
2. farha123 – $33,000
3. ACEcowboy88 – $21,100
4. Pokerccini – $16,500 (TheRealPokerccini)
5. Jonah – $12,500
6. mattyv – $9,000 (Plattsburgh)
7. gottabpostve – $6,000
8. zoyberg777 – $4,500
9. Barabba610 – $3,200

Tuesday is a busy day for FTOPS XV action, as three tournaments will be held, offering a combined $1.2 million in guaranteed prize money:

FTOPS XV Event #13: $300+22 No Limit Hold’em 4X Six-Max Shootout
$300,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday at 2:00pm ET

FTOPS XV Event #14: $500+35 HORSE
$300,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday at 9:00pm ET

FTOPS XV Event #15: $200+16 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
$600,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday at 9:00pm ET

Visit Full Tilt Poker for details and stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest FTOPS XV coverage.