The twelth FTOPS series is starting on Full Tilt in a couple of weeks time.   There is a very interesting schedule of events.   There are $18 million in guarantees, including $1 million for the first event and $2.5 million for the main event.  Here is the full schedule below: 

FTOPS XII Event #1
Wednesday May 6th 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 NL Holdem 6-max

FTOPS XII Event #2
Thursday May 7th 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 PL Omaha Knockout
 
FTOPS XII Event #3
Thursday May 7th 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Holdem 3xShootout
 
FTOPS XII Event #4
Friday May 8th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 NL Holdem 1 rebuy and 1 add-on  

FTOPS XII Event #5
Friday May 8th 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Stud/8  

FTOPS XII Event #6
Saturday May 9th 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 PL Omaha 6-Max

FTOPS XII Event #7
Saturday May 9th 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 NL Holdem Rebuy

FTOPS XII Event #8
Sunday May 10th 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 NL Holdem Knockout 6-max

FTOPS XII Event #9
Sunday May 10th 16:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Holdem Heads-Up $500,000
 
FTOPS XII Event #10
Sunday May 10th 18:00 ET
$300 + $22 NL Holdem  

FTOPS XII Event #11
Monday May 11th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 PL Omaha Hi-Lo
 
FTOPS XII Event #12
Monday May 11th 21:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 NL Holdem 6-max Ante From Blind Lvl 1

FTOPS XII Event #13
Tuesday May 12th 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 NL Holdem  4xShootout 6-max
 
FTOPS XII Event #14
Tuesday May 12th 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 HEROS 

FTOPS XII Event #15
Tuesday May 12th 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 NL Holdem Turbo
 
FTOPS XII Event #16
Wednesday May 13th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 HA (half PL Holdem, half PL Omaha) 

FTOPS XII Event #17
Wednesday May 13th 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 NL Holdem 6-max Rebuy 

FTOPS XII Event #18
Thursday May 14th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 PL Omaha Heads Up  

FTOPS XII Event #19
Thursday May 14th 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz
 
FTOPS XII Event #20
Friday May 15th 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 NL Holdem 

FTOPS XII Event #21
Friday May 15th 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Mixed Holdem 6-max

FTOPS XII Event #22
Saturday May 16th 14:00 ET
$2,500 + $120 NL Holdem 2-Day Event

FTOPS XII Event #23
Saturday May 16th 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 PL Omaha Rebuy 

FTOPS XII Event #24
Sunday May 17th 14:00 ET
$120 + $9 NL Holdem Knockout 

FTOPS XII Main Event
Sunday May 17th 18:00 ET
$500 + $35 NL Holdem

At a buy-in of $10,300 this one wasnt for the faint hearted.  But 502 players coughed it up, and after 2 days of intense poker j.thaddeus emerged the winner.    The deep structure of this event (30 min blinds, 10,000 starting stack) was still present at the final table with several players sat at least 100 blinds deep.

As the action hotted up, certainly players (in particular PearlJammer) looked in no hurry to bust out, taken full advantage of the deepness of the stacks.

j.thaddeus started to gain a lot of momentum at about 5 players out, and gradually became a very dominant chip leader of the table.   He kept up the pressure constantly with a very high frequency of pre-flop raises and re-raises, and kept on chipping away at his opponents.

 MazeOrBowie pushed back at him perhaps a little too hard in the following hand, pushing around 40 BBs in with pocket sevens

 PokerStars Game #27063523049: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXX (8000/16000) - 2009/04/13 20:41:17 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3353257 in chips)
Seat 3: MazeOrBowie (627347 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (751322 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (288074 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2000
MazeOrBowie: posts the ante 2000
ragen70: posts the ante 2000
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2000
ragen70: posts small blind 8000
PearlJammer: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 24000 to 40000
MazeOrBowie: raises 585347 to 625347 and is all-in
ragen70: folds
PearlJammer: folds
j.thaddeus: calls 585347
*** FLOP *** [4d 3c As]
*** TURN *** [4d 3c As] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4d 3c As Th] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
j.thaddeus: shows [Qs Qd] (a pair of Queens)
MazeOrBowie: shows [7d 7s] (a pair of Sevens)
j.thaddeus collected 1282694 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1282694 | Rake 0
Board [4d 3c As Th 5c]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus showed [Qs Qd] and won (1282694) with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: MazeOrBowie (button) showed [7d 7s] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 5: ragen70 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: PearlJammer (big blind) folded before Flop

 PearlJammer eventually had to start pushing back.  He got a few through un-opposed, but then ran into a big hand, with four ducks coming to his rescue here:

 PokerStars Game #27064167476: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:03:21 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (4273854 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (439748 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (306398 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts small blind 10000
j.thaddeus: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
ragen70: raises 25000 to 45000
PearlJammer: raises 258898 to 303898 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: raises 3967456 to 4271354 and is all-in
ragen70: folds
Uncalled bet (3967456) returned to j.thaddeus
*** FLOP *** [2d Jc 2h]
*** TURN *** [2d Jc 2h] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [2d Jc 2h 6h] [Ts]
ragen70 said, “oh my god”
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PearlJammer: shows [2c 2s] (four of a kind, Deuces)
j.thaddeus: shows [Jh Jd] (a full house, Jacks full of Deuces)
PearlJammer collected 660296 from pot
PearlJammer said, “lol”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 660296 | Rake 0
Board [2d Jc 2h 6h Ts]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (big blind) showed [Jh Jd] and lost with a full house, Jacks full of Deuces
Seat 5: ragen70 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: PearlJammer (small blind) showed [2c 2s] and won (660296) with four of a kind, Deuces

ragen70 took some of Pearljammers stack, being a small dog in this hand, but winning:

PokerStars Game #27064238540: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:05:51 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3944797 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (332248 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (742955 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts small blind 10000
PearlJammer: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 20000 to 40000
ragen70: raises 289748 to 329748 and is all-in
PearlJammer: raises 410707 to 740455 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: folds
Uncalled bet (410707) returned to PearlJammer
*** FLOP *** [8s 7c 6c]
*** TURN *** [8s 7c 6c] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [8s 7c 6c 2c] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragen70: shows [Jd Tc] (a pair of Tens)
PearlJammer: shows [Ah Qd] (high card Ace)
ragen70 collected 706996 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 706996 | Rake 0
Board [8s 7c 6c 2c Td]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (button) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ragen70 (small blind) showed [Jd Tc] and won (706996) with a pair of Tens
Seat 6: PearlJammer (big blind) showed [Ah Qd] and lost with high card Ace

Then ragen70 completed the job in the following hand:

PokerStars Game #27064252775: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:06:22 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3902297 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (706996 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (410707 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts small blind 10000
j.thaddeus: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus said, “77″
ragen70: raises 25000 to 45000
j.thaddeus said, “sick”
PearlJammer: raises 363207 to 408207 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: folds
ragen70: calls 363207
*** FLOP *** [2d 5h Jc]
*** TURN *** [2d 5h Jc] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [2d 5h Jc 7s] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PearlJammer: shows [Qh Kd] (high card King)
ragen70: shows [Ah Th] (high card Ace)
ragen70 collected 843914 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 843914 | Rake 0
Board [2d 5h Jc 7s 3d]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ragen70 (button) showed [Ah Th] and won (843914) with high card Ace
Seat 6: PearlJammer (small blind) showed [Qh Kd] and lost with high card King

The heads-up battle between ragen70 and j.thaddeus then commenced, still with j.thaddeus in a dominant chip position.    In the final hand ragen70 bluffed into j.thaddeus, who had just made the flush on the river

PokerStars Game #27064778939: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXII (12500/25000) - 2009/04/13 21:24:44 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3711072 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (1308928 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 3125
ragen70: posts the ante 3125
j.thaddeus: posts small blind 12500
ragen70: posts big blind 25000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 25000 to 50000
ragen70: raises 100000 to 150000
j.thaddeus is connected
j.thaddeus: calls 100000
*** FLOP *** [3d Qc 9h]
ragen70: checks
j.thaddeus: checks
*** TURN *** [3d Qc 9h] [Ac]
ragen70: bets 175000
j.thaddeus: calls 175000
*** RIVER *** [3d Qc 9h Ac] [6c]
ragen70: checks
j.thaddeus: bets 300000
ragen70: raises 680803 to 980803 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: calls 680803
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragen70: shows [Jh 6d] (a pair of Sixes)
j.thaddeus: shows [8c Tc] (a flush, Ace high)
j.thaddeus collected 2617856 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2617856 | Rake 0
Board [3d Qc 9h Ac 6c]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (button) (small blind) showed [8c Tc] and won (2617856) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: ragen70 (big blind) showed [Jh 6d] and lost with a pair of Sixes

 Result

1st - j.thaddeus - $963,338
2nd - ragen70 (Niklas Heinecker) - $715,350
3rd - PearlJammer  (Jon Turner) - $527,100
4th - MazeOrBowie (Jesse Martin) - $401,600
5th - $teveyMoney (Steven Merrifield) - $281,120
6th - Chowdahhead4 - $213,350
7th - actionDJ (Derrick Haynie) - $163,150
8th - Moorman1 (Chris Moorman) - $112,950
9th - teacuppoker - $83,332

The player “Unassigned” on PokerStars has just won both SCOOP Event 20M and SCOOP Event 20H!! 

Those are the $530 Fixed Limit Holdem, and the $5200 Fixed Limit Holdem events

“Unassigned” is none other than Terrance Chan, a professional player with numerous cashed in Limit Holdem in the WSOP.

In Event 20H of the PokerStars SCOOP series there were 99 entrants and after 11.5 hours of play Unassigned beat another big name heads-up shaundeeb to take down the $134,887 first prize.

1st Unassigned $134,887.50
2nd shaundeeb $90,337.50
3rd nimzon $69,300.00
4th madscout $47,025.00
5th zangbezan24 $34,650.00
6th Tulkaz $25,987.50

In Event 20M of the PokerStars SCOOP series there were 540 entrants and after 11 hours of play Unassigned beat jasjas11 heads-up to take down the $51,300 first prize.

1st Unassigned $51,300
2nd jasjas11 $37,800
3rd Lest@t Lion $27,675
4th Victor510 $18,900
5th MCJS $13,500
6th savagegamble $8,397

Pretty sick by all standards.  He was actually playing the heads-up stage of both the tournaments at the same time at one point.

PokerStars Remove SNG results from display unless you entered tournament

Sign the Petition against this

There has long been a running battle between poker results databases (such as Pokerdb, OPR, and Sharkscope) and the site PokerStars.  From Stars’ perspective they were concerned that if players knew they were losing money they’d stop playing.  To guard against this perceived potential rake loss they have said that only winnings could be displayed by the database sites, but not P&L related data.  Sites like OPR and Sharkscope were reluctant to comply, as it was not good for their general business models or service offered if the stats were not very comprehensive.

Stars have tried a few things to encourage an acceptable level of compliance and also made some threatening noises before about the consequences of not doing so, but seemingly none of this has had much joy in getting the level of compliance they desired.  

When the pokerdb was sold to Bluff Magazine they complied with all Stars requests regarding an actual opt in requirement.  This basically involved full stats only being made available to people who sent a small nominal amount to Stars to prove they were happy with their results being displayed. 

However OPR and Sharkscope are independantly run, and dont have anyone directly to answer to.   They are both run by technically competant indviduals with excellent programming skills relating to datamining.

Although PokerStars could potentially have a scan running when their software was actually open to check for the use of Sharkscope, once the client was closed, it would be highly illegal for them to continue to run scans on someones PC.  So they cant actually do a lot to stop the players using the tools completely.

However they have now decided to adopt an entirely different approach.  Not requesting compliance, not requiring opt ins, and not scans, but actually cutting off the results of completed SNGs themselves.   Yes actually removing them from sight.  You can no longer see the result of a 90-seater and 180-seater SNG, unless you actually played in it. 

This could be disatrous for OPR and Sharkscope and all the many online players who use them, as the general fear could easily be that the policy could be rolled out by PokerStars to other SNGs, or even MTTs.

Here is a screenshot of the result removed:

“Additional tournament information is available to the tournament participants only” (Applies to both running tournaments and completed tournaments)

Thankfully the result can still actually be requested via email:

PokerStars Tournament #153061183, No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started 2009/04/03 17:23:57 ET
Tournament finished 2009/04/03 21:46:44 ET
  1: eraelk (Doral), $1080.00 (30%)
  2: TurboTurk (Cardiff), $720.00 (20%)
  3: ChrisWPK (Hamilton), $428.40 (11.90%)
  4: toomany7s (Avon Lake), $288.00 (8%)
  5: 26aug76 (hk), $234.00 (6.50%)
  6: GOD UR UGLY (Austin), $180.00 (5%)
  7: Dodosuave (Voisins le BX), $126.00 (3.50%)
  8: lockey369 (calgary), $93.60 (2.60%)
  9: Zteif9 (Högsby), $61.20 (1.70%)

But it can safely be assumed that PokerStars will simply impose a limit of how many tournament result requests can be made per user, thus cutting off the possibility of datamining from this source.

It would be tragic for all online pros, semi pros, serious amateurs, and stakers if databases like this get lost completely, so it looks like a battle is well and truely on.    OPR are already encouraging players to email PokerStars to try to prevent the expansion of this policy to more tournaments.

 Here is a summary of the results from the first day of Pokerstar’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP):

SCOOP 01L $5.50 NLHE w/rebuys

Was won by Eetu100, winning $41,562.77

Notable finish for Kid_Poker47 in 10th

SCOOP 01M $55 NLHE w/rebuys

Was won by westmenloAA, winning $97,805.88

Notable finish for “t soprano” in 6th, and Tmay420 in 45th

SCOOP 01H $500 NLHE w/rebuys

Was won by BongBob, winning $210,805

Notable finishes for Sdouble in 8th, and RikkiTikki in 12th, and Bond18 in 17ths, and gunning4you in 21st, and Moorman1 in 25th, and lilholdem954 in 29th, and Beatiful Man in 38th

SCOOP 02L $11 PLO8

Was won by thehoffa, winning $10,670.81

SCOOP 02M $109 PLO8

Was won by Sdouble, winning $33,664

Notable finish for Beatiful Man in 14th, and Nordberg in 37th, and fouruhaters in 38th

SCOOP 02H $1050 PLO8

Was won by finsfan7, winning $66,871.50, and beating the PLO8 heads-up master himself tatta

Notable finish for OmahaEd in 5th, and DrParkinson in 11th

WSOP winner Peter Eastgate had a good run in the SCOOP 01H  $500 NLHE w/rebuys on PokerStars.  His was chip leader about 10 hours deep into the online tourney.  However he was perhaps a little enthusiastic with this particular hand below, which ultimately started his slide down the ranks.   In the end he finished ITM, in 55th position

PokerStars Game #26664857732: Tournament #200904013, $500+$30 Hold’em No Limit - Level XVII (400/800) - 2009/04/03 0:02:43 ET
Table ‘200904013 6′ 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: LukeFromB13 (40200 in chips)
Seat 2: Festivuss (133312 in chips)
Seat 3: 4rebmun (36666 in chips)
Seat 4: StyloAl (27374 in chips)
Seat 5: Jovial Gent (75240 in chips)
Seat 6: PeteEastgate (277535 in chips)
LukeFromB13: posts the ante 100
Festivuss: posts the ante 100
4rebmun: posts the ante 100
StyloAl: posts the ante 100
Jovial Gent: posts the ante 100
PeteEastgate: posts the ante 100
Jovial Gent: posts small blind 400
PeteEastgate: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
LukeFromB13: folds
Festivuss: raises 1200 to 2000
4rebmun: folds
StyloAl: folds
Jovial Gent: folds
PeteEastgate: calls 1200
*** FLOP *** [7d As 4h]
PeteEastgate: checks
Festivuss: bets 3000
PeteEastgate: raises 6000 to 9000
Festivuss: raises 12500 to 21500
PeteEastgate: calls 12500
*** TURN *** [7d As 4h] [2c]
PeteEastgate: checks
Festivuss: bets 21000
PeteEastgate: raises 121000 to 142000
Festivuss: calls 88712 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (32288) returned to PeteEastgate
*** RIVER *** [7d As 4h 2c] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PeteEastgate: shows [Kc Ac] (a pair of Aces)
Festivuss: shows [7h 7s] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Festivuss collected 267424 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 267424 | Rake 0
Board [7d As 4h 2c 6s]
Seat 1: LukeFromB13 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: Festivuss showed [7h 7s] and won (267424) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 3: 4rebmun folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: StyloAl (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Jovial Gent (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: PeteEastgate (big blind) showed [Kc Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces