Full Tilt to Launch UFC Promo
With the 46th Annual World Series of Poker now officially up and running, Full Tilt Poker is standing in the corner, waving furiously and yelling, “Look at me! Look at me!” And I don’t blame it – with all the attention on the WSOP, you the site needs to do something to grab some attention. As such, it is launching a new promotion on Sunday called “The Stack.”
The Stack will run from Sunday, May 31st through Sunday, June 7th and will feature sixteen No-Limit Hold’em tournaments. All, appropriately, will be of the deep stack variety. Each day, there will be a pair of tourneys, both the same except for the buy-in and guaranteed prize pool (and, in one case, the starting chip stacks). One of the events each day is extremely affordable, with buy-ins ranging from $2.50 to $25, while the other is a bit pricier. Buy-ins in the latter event range from $50 to $500.
So we’ve got $700,000 in guaranteed prize pools and that’s cool, but since this is a Full Tilt promo, there is more. A few players will have a shot to win a $13,000 “VIP” prize package for two to attend UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 11th.
While I in no way can claim to be an expert (or even a fan, really) of UFC, I am most definitely a sports fan and this fight looks like it could be pretty great, if you’re into that sort of thing. Brazilian Jose “Junior” Aldo is the current featherweight champion, boasting a 25-1-0 record. He’s defending his belt against Irishman Conor “The Notorious” McGregor, who goes into the match at 17-2-0. Looking at stats alone, McGregor actually looks a little bit better, or at least more willing to get crazy and just let the punches and kicks fly. 88 percent of his victories have been by knockout, compared to just 60 percent for Aldo. They both have one submission win, which means the rest of Aldo’s wins – 36 percent – are by decision. Their “Significant Strikes” stats are interesting, too. McGregor has landed two and a half more strikes per minute in his matches and absorbed one more strike per minute than has Aldo. McGregor has also been a bit better at takedowns, both on offense and defense.
Again, I don’t know jack about this sport, but if I had to analyze some quick stats without having ever watched these two fight, it seems that McGregor is more of a brawler than Aldo. If their styles do, in fact, contrast like I am guessing, it will be an interesting fight to watch. Feel free to lambast me in the comments if I’m totally wrong on everything.
Now that I’ve BS’ed my way through a bunch of words, back to the Full Tilt promo. The opportunity to win the UFC prize package comes during the Weekend of Champions, held a week after The Stack ends. On Sunday, June 14th, the High Tournament of Champions will be held for the eight players who won the events with the higher buy-ins on each day. The winner of this nine-handed Sit-and-Go will receive the $13,000 Las Vegas trip to attend the fight plus “VIP extras.” In addition, the winner will be granted Black Card status for two months and a $1,000 FTOPS ticket. Second place will receive a $1,000 FTOPS ticket and third place will receive a $500 FTOPS ticket.
You may notice I called the Sit-and-Go nine-handed when there are just eight high buy-in events during The Stack (sixteen total events, one high and one low each day). That is because the winner of the Low Tournament of Champions, held on Saturday, June 13th, will earn an entry into the High Tournament of Champions for a shot at the UFC prize package. That player will also win the two-month Black Card status and a $1,000 FTOPS ticket. Runner-up will receive a $500 FTOPS ticket, while third place will get a $250 FTOPS ticket.
There will also be one additional seat to the Low Tournament of Champions given away during The Stack Flip Freeroll on June 13th. Anyone who plays in an event during the promo will get a ticket to the freeroll; players can win two entries by playing in two or more tournaments. The winner of the Flip Freeroll, an all-luck tournament in which everyone is automatically put all-in pre-flop every hand, gets the Low Tournament of Champions seat.
The Tournament of Champions events will be broadcast live on Twitch.
The complete schedule for The Stack can be found on Full Tilt’s website.
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