#143 - FTOPS 9B - Still Swinging

We’re at the second break in FTOPS #9, the NLHE rebuy event. Despite the presence of few Full Tilt pros in the one, one name is red is making his presence known on the first page of the leaderboard. Yep, me.

Ha-ha, it’s way, WAY too soon to ascribe any importance to chip totals. I’m just glad I HAVE a chip total going into the second break. Some items of interest:

* There were 1,351 starters, 1,487 rebuys, and 593 add-ons. The prize pool totalled over $340,000, and 126 places will be paid. Bottom-dollar money is $480. First place pays $75,000 and change.

* There were just five pros in the field. With such lovely weather on a Saturday afternoon, I guess that’s understandable. Lovely weather? Afternoon? More likely, it is the WPT and WSOP Circuit events going on or about to go on.

* I’m going to recommend to Disco Stu, my one contact connected to Full Tilt’s online tournaments, that the players, if eligible, should be able to rebuy as well as add-on during the first break. A player going broke on the last hand, or waiting to the last hand to rebuy, can find he is locked out, stuck with only the 2,000-chip add-on. Maybe the latter player has his own carelessness to blame, but the former had no choice.

* At the second break, there are 582 players left, with average chips of 9,300. I have 22,515, which puts me in 23d place. Berry Johnston has 12,000 and Stuart Paterson, a great competitor in the FTOPS (though no pro has done especially well this time) is hanging in with 4,200.

* The leader, with over 52,000, is EdTheTechnician. In second place, AMAZINGLY, is last night’s winner, Imper1um. Imper1um won this event last time and I predicted a good showing for him today in #141.