16 FTP Pros in 500K today

[BackedUp]

I've heard many pros say they only play with their own money online, but FTP backs them in live tournaments.

[deaders]

if you cant see how having the pros playing in the tourney adds value for your average recreational player, and that this is a good thing then I dont know what to tell you...

[Sponger.]

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And why would FT sponsor them?

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just to piss off bustedromo.

Fwiw, everyone on that list has had some amount of marginal tournament success and Lynette Chan has breasts. Michael Craig is an author who collaborates with a lot of FTP pros on various book projects, and I believe he also made a couple WSOP 2007 final tables.

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why aren't you a FTP pro?

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I think I remember Shaniac posting a long rant about corporations in the politics forum a while back.

[Milo]

Who cares?

[pete fabrizio]

op, you do realize that as that list grows, the tournament becomes *more* profitable for the other players? not only does full tilt pay bounties in addition to the entry fees, but a lot of those guys kind of suck.

[betgo]

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There are 16 FTP Pros in the 500K Guarantee today :

Chip Jett
Karina Jett WHO?
Thomas Wahlroos
Jim McManus
David Benyamine
David Chiu
Steve Brecher WHO?
Max Pescatori
Lynette Chan WHO?
Keith Sexton WHO?
Paul Sexton WHO?
Michael Craig WHO?
Stuart Paterson
Clonie Gowen
Toto Leonidas
JJ Liu

My understanding is that these guys have their buy-in covered by FTP. I'd rather FTP didn't pay for these guys and instead spread that $3456 back to paying players in some manner.

Please discuss ...

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I maybe a little outta touch, but who the hell are 6 of those players?

And why would FT sponsor them?

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I think the Sextons are Mike Sexton's kids. Karina is Chip Jett's wife. She consistantly is one of the first players knocked out of the Sunday fixed limit HORSE tournament.

Benyamine is a top player. I really don't see anyone else on the list who I recognize as a particularly strong player. Of course top players might not want to play in a $200 tournament.

Like the other poster said, people probably want to play with big names. I don't know what Full Tilt pays for all these 4th tier celebrities and whether it is worth it for them.

[bustedromo]

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op, you do realize that as that list grows, the tournament becomes *more* profitable for the other players? not only does full tilt pay bounties in addition to the entry fees, but a lot of those guys kind of suck.

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I haven't crunched the numbers but it's not at all clear that your statement is true.

I think on average the FTP Pros are better than the average player in a high buy-in tournament. Adding better than average players to a tournament does not increase the expected value for the average player (whether the better than average players pay their buy-in or not).

The point of the free buy-in is to get these players to play the tournaments, supposedly because that somehow makes for a better tournament experience. My argument is that the presence of these players does not provide a better tournament experience for the average player.

The average player is interested in winning money. The average player does not care about the presence at his table of some stupid caricature avatar with a name he has never heard of that never participates in chat.

The bounties help at little, but first, most players are not playing to get their buy-in back, and second, the bounties are actually not as good as people here seem to think :

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Full Tilt Poker offers players the opportunity to earn a Bust-Out Bounty on any red pro playing in a scheduled real money tournament. These bounties do not apply to red pros playing in S&G tournaments. Players who bust a red pro from a tournament will receive a bounty matching their tournament buy-in, not including the tournament fee, up to $200. Players in tournaments with buy-ins of more than $200 will receive a bounty of $200 for any pro they bust. In the rare case when multiple players split a pot where a red pro busts, any player who wins a piece of the highest pot the pro was involved in will receive a full bounty for busting the red pro. If play in a qualifier tournament continues after all of the top prizes have been earned, a player will no longer be allowed to collect a bounty on any red pros that remain. For example, if a tournament offers World Series of Poker Main Event seats to the top five finishers, and a red pro is one of the last five players in the game, there will be no bounty awarded if he or she is busted from the game.

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[edfurlong]

I think you might be dumb, its sixteen people in a huge field. Their entry was paid and is in the prize pool. There is absolutely nothing to bitch about.

[The Camel]

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There are 16 FTP Pros in the 500K Guarantee today :

Chip Jett
Karina Jett WHO?
Thomas Wahlroos
Jim McManus
David Benyamine
David Chiu
Steve Brecher WHO?
Max Pescatori
Lynette Chan WHO?
Keith Sexton WHO?
Paul Sexton WHO?
Michael Craig WHO?
Stuart Paterson
Clonie Gowen
Toto Leonidas
JJ Liu

My understanding is that these guys have their buy-in covered by FTP. I'd rather FTP didn't pay for these guys and instead spread that $3456 back to paying players in some manner.

Please discuss ...

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I maybe a little outta touch, but who the hell are 6 of those players?

And why would FT sponsor them?

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I think the Sextons are Mike Sexton's kids. Karina is Chip Jett's wife. She consistantly is one of the first players knocked out of the Sunday fixed limit HORSE tournament.

Benyamine is a top player. I really don't see anyone else on the list who I recognize as a particularly strong player. Of course top players might not want to play in a $200 tournament.

Like the other poster said, people probably want to play with big names. I don't know what Full Tilt pays for all these 4th tier celebrities and whether it is worth it for them.

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Chui is an excellent player, as is Toto. But what value can they bring to the site?

Obv if Ivey or Lindgren was playing that would definitely attract extra players.

But I can't believe any of these guys bring a penny of extra business to FTP.

[heater]

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just to piss off bustedromo.

Fwiw, everyone on your "WHO" list has had some amount of marginal tournament success and Lynette Chan has breasts. Michael Craig is an author who collaborates with a lot of FTP pros on various book projects, and I believe he also made a couple WSOP 2007 final tables.

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Thanks for making my point for me.

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So what are you saying? Now your point is that you're pissed off because FTP pays the entry fee for a bunch of high-profile, overexposed, overpaid donkeys?

You still haven't even identified a problem here, btw.