The fourth Full Tilt Online Poker Series just kicked off and already several PocketFivers have made a big splash. Aaron “gotcha55” Kanter, who plays under the name get_that on Full Tilt Poker, got the ball rolling by winning Event #1 last Friday, a $216 tournament with a $300,000 guarantee. Kanter walked away with $94,000. In Event #2, a Pot Limit Omaha tournament, Mike “SirWatts” Watson took second for $33,000. In Event #3, Kevin “kice32” Iacofano finished second in the $322 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed tournament for a whopping $100,000. Finally, in the $1,000 buy-in Event #4, Cody “CalBandGreat” Shedd captured first and over $200,000. All told, these four PocketFivers set the tone for what promises to be an exciting week on Full Tilt Poker.

Kanter has been dominating in live play over the past few years, which has only added to his reputation online. He outlasted a field of 2,573 players in the $216 buy in Event #1. Since storming onto the scene with a fourth place finish at the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, he’s cashed in several World Poker Tour events as well, most recently the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He entered heads up play in Event #1 of the FTOPS as a 3:1 chip underdog and battled his way back, finally knocking out mathiss with K-4 versus A-3 with blinds rapidly increasing. On what the win means to him, Kanter comments, "I think the points and striving to get on the leaderboard is more exciting then the money. It is tough to compete with the players on PocketFives. The leaderboard is filled with talented poker players and it is hard to play the same number or hours as I used to." Kanter just found out that a baby is on the way, and so will be investing the money. The couple is planning on moving soon as well from their home in Sacramento, California.

Watson entered the final table of the $109 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha tournament fourth in chips. He soon became short-stacked, but chipped back up after outdrawing the chip leader: “The_Dean221 potted it pre-flop from middle position on a short stack. I had him covered slightly in the small blind, but losing the pot would cripple me. My K-K-Q-7 looked too big to fold even though he'd been playing pretty tight, but he had aces. I was lucky to flop two pair and that got me back into contention. From there, I was able to pick up small pots and build my stack while Terpfan2 (the eventual winner) busted everyone else. Heads up lasted all of one hand. He turned a gutshot and got all in against my two pair.” The $33,000 is his largest online cash. Watson also took down the $100 rebuy on PokerStars the same day for an additional $23,000. “I rarely ever play Omaha, so I was very pleased with the finish,” he said. 746 people entered the event.

Iacofano entered the final table of the $322 buy in Event #3 of the FTOPS second in chips, but wasn’t able to make much noise at the table until four people remained. His chip stack had dwindled considerably to around 750,000 and was up against three towering chip stacks of 2.5 million or more. With blinds of 50,000/100,000, the following hand occurred: “I was on the big blind with 8-8 and the under the gun player raised to 225,000 with A-5. I moved all in and my hand held up.” Now, he could start making moves. “I had A-Q in the small blind. Antplays (who eventually finished third) double raised from the button to 200,000. I re-raised to 600,000. Antplays just called and the flop came J-5-2. I knew I had to lead out fairly large if I was going to take it down, so I bet 700,000 and he folded. That really put me in a solid position to play my game, which is post-flop.” After initially being a bit frustrated after busting out heads up against Homerindoors, “I was ecstatic because I really felt like I played my A+ game for eight hours and the payday was awesome.” Iacofano crushed his previous best online cash of $25,000 on Bodog back in March. 2,995 people entered the No Limit Hold’em event.

Shedd took home a sultry $208,840 in Event #4, a $1,060 buy in event that drew 908 players. The General Manager of a family owned business that sells fishing tackle and marine-themed clothing, Shedd was back at work the day following his big win. The 27 year-old graduated from the University of California – Berkeley in 2002 with an Economics major and a minor in Accounting. Despite his winnings, he commented, “I am not considering playing poker for a living because I really enjoy my job. Being able to work with my Dad, Sister, Mom, Grandma, and Aunt is awesome. Also, I feel that I have a great opportunity. Our family business has experienced a lot of success and growth over the past few years.” He played gin rummy competitively with his father growing up before graduating onto live poker at Hawaiian Gardens, the Bike, and the Commerce Casino. He started playing online very recently – the end of last year. “I have had a lot of success in my first two months playing the big tournaments online, but I have a lot to learn. I will definitely be much more prepared the next time that I am lucky enough to make the final table of a big tournament. I made a lot of mistakes and was still lucky enough to win, but next time I know that I will play the big stack much better.”

The FTOPS continues all this week on Full Tilt Poker, culminating in the $535 Main Event on Sunday that has a $1.5 million guarantee. Three $216 tournaments take place Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in Hold’em and Omaha. Saturday brings a $109 rebuy tournament with a $250,000 guarantee. There is a lot of money to be had in the FTOPS and PocketFivers have had a tremendous success rate so far. The full remaining schedule can be found by visiting Full Tilt Poker and clicking on the “News & Promos” tab.

We wish all PocketFivers the best of luck in the FTOPS and hope to report on more success in the coming days.