Full Tilt Online Poker Series – Full FTOPS Guide + Satellites Info

My FTOPS Guide And Schedule Is Regularly Updated With Info On The Latest Events From The Main Series, Mini-FTOPS And Now The MTOPS Too!

UPDATE! Full Tilt and PokerStars have now merged their player pools (though you can still use the Full Tilt software to enjoy the games). It is unclear right now how the different FTOPs will fit with the PokerStars events such as the 'OOPs' and the MicroMillions... watch this space!

FTOPS is now firmly established as part of every online poker tournament fan’s schedule. There are 3 variations, lots of new  games and the prizes are getting bigger and better too.

This page brings you schedules, tips on how to get the most bang for your FTOPS bucks and information on the best way to win seats in the big money events via satellite qualifiers. If you have yet to discover Full Tilt Poker since their return under the ownership of PokerStars then the tournament events are just one of many reasons to check them out – see my updated 2019 Full Tilt Poker review for the full run-down.

I’ll start at the beginning, with an explanation of these events. Then look at some of the extra benefits which go alongside the tournaments themselves – then finish up by giving you my pick of the qualifiers.

FTOPS Events – What Are They And When Do They Run?

FTOPS stands for ‘Full Tilt Online Poker Series’ – there are now 3 versions of this event. The main events, the mini-version and now a micro-turbo version too. These events each happen approximately every 3 months. Now that PokerStars run the show at FullTilt, my assumption is that the dates will be managed so as not to clash with the big PokerStars events like the WCOOP / SCOOP and MicroMillions.

Main FTOPS: These events last 2 weeks and includes 38 big buy-in tourneys in just about all of the formats Full Tilt offer. Satellites are popular, with the $216 average price tag putting the games out of reach for direct buy-ins for many players. What will strike you about these games is the guarantees, which regularly get over $10 million, including a $2 million gtd main event and a high-roller’s 2-day event too. Fields get big for these tournaments, so you should expect the guarantees to be beaten, especially in the NL Holdem and PLO events.

Mini-FTOPS: This event usually runs soon after the main one, and is a replica of the big money schedule with buy-ins at just 10% of the total. This allows a lot more players to take a shot, and so the fields get huge – meaning big prize pools are on offer. Again, satellites are available to win seats in these events.

Micro-Turbo Online Poker Series (MTOPS): This one is brand new and combines multiple entry tournaments with turbo structures and low buy-ins. Expect the games to be fast, furious and to have some very nice final table payouts too.

You can check the latest running dates for these cool tournament events via the ‘promotions’ tab on the Full Tilt Poker Website.

FTOPS Events – Extra Benefits Beyond The Prize Money!

Sure, the chance of getting a couple of hundred thousand dollars in your poker bankroll (or even $5k!) is the main draw of these events – though there are some cool extras too.

Winners of the events get to use a special winners avatar – like the one pictured – to play with at the tables. As you can imagine, competition for these is huge…  they could be a great solution for those times you find your raises getting no respect!

There are leaderboard contests and apparel give-away offers too for each running. One I like is the ‘bouncebackability’ freerolls, which gives the players who got busted on the bubble of any FTOPS event the chance to win a ticket to the main event!

FTOPS Satellite Qualifiers – Best Ways To Win Your Seats

You will not be able to miss the satellite qualifiers to these events in the weeks and especially days before they start. There are two main types – and you can even combine them!

Steps SNG Qualifiers: These start off at $3.30c and are 1-table tournaments in a variety of formats which pay out in tournament tokens. You win an $8.80c entry, then a $26 one and so on – all the way to the $216 level which should get you into many of the series games. What I recommend is that you switch out at the $24+$2 level to the other type of qualifiers… the Multi-Table tournament games.

MTT Qualifiers For The FTOPS: These are various sizes and speeds and are divided between the regular games (which will have 1 or 2 seats in the target tournament guaranteed) and the supersatellites which are on the day of the event themselves and will often have 10 or more seats guaranteed. When the big buy-in games come along you will find qualifiers to the qualifiers… even at the higher buy-in levels there are a lot of recreational / amateur players taking a shot, so there is no need to be worried about being outplayed in this kind of game!

FTOPS – Summing It Up And Next Steps

I know that a lot of players are very happy to see the Full Tilt Online Poker Series return, and with Stars now in charge these events are destined to get bigger, better and have more games to choose from. Keep an eye on the Full Tilt Poker Website for the next event – I’ll look forward to seeing you at the final table!!

 

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