Ante Up Intercontinental Poker Series (AIPS)

Who's the best poker player in the Ante Up Nation? We'll find out over the next 6 weeks as the biggest tournament series in Ante Up history unfolds (OK, so it's the ONLY tournament series in Ante Up history, but hey, feed our egos a bit, will ya?).

The Ante Up Intercontinental Poker Series is a 10-event marathon that will test your skills in every game that FullTilt offers. Join us at the tables, and take your shot at cash, prizes and Ante Up immortality.

WHEN

Here's the schedule (all Thursday events are at 9 p.m. Eastern and all Saturday events are at noon Eastern):

#1 No-Limit Hold'em: Thursday, Sept. 21

#2 Stud: Thursday, Sept. 28

#3 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi: Saturday, Sept. 30

#4 Razz: Thursday, Oct. 5

#5 No-Limit Hold'em 6-handed: Saturday, Oct. 7

#6 Stud Hi/Lo: Thursday, Oct. 12

#7 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo: Thursday, Oct. 19

#8 Limit Hold'em: Thursday, Oct. 26

#9 HORSE: Saturday, Oct. 28

#10 MAIN EVENT - No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack: Saturday, Nov. 4

HOW MUCH

Events #1-9 are $5.50 and Event #10 is $22

WHERE

FullTilt.com, home of Ante Up Poker Night every Thursday.

POINTS

It's simple: For every dollar in prize money you win, you earn 1 Ante Up Player of the Year point (fractions count). In addition, knock Scott (OffDeadline), Chris (willhopper) or Fasso (stpetebeach) out of any tournament, and you earn 5 bonus points. Points will be updated on the blog after every event so you can see where you stack up.

PRIZES

PLACERS: FullTilt's normal payout structure is in effect, so you'll win money if you cash.

EVENT WINNERS: The World Series has bracelets. The Circuit has rings. AIPS winners, true to the event's name, win Bananas. That's right - your very own Ante Up! Banana, embossed with the event name. We're encouraging Banana winners to email us a photo of you (tastefully) posing with your prize so we can post it on the blog.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The player with the most points after all 10 events will win the Ante Up Player of the Year trophy. It's stunning collection of the finest items available at the Dollar Tree store, including two decks of Made in China cards, four columns of Made in China chips and topped by a signature Ante Up! bell - and an ape for good measure. In addition, you'll get to name the trophy - a name that will live on well after we're gone. And finally, you'll be invited to join us as our guest (in person or by phone) on the Nov. 8 podcast. Worth playing for? (Yes, Jeff Probst, it is).

HOW TO PLAY

Simply log on to FullTilt and enter. Tournaments follow the same naming convention: AIPS Event #1, AIPS Event #2, etc. You'll find the tournaments listed under the "Private" tab, organized by date. The password for all events is "anteup". New to FullTilt? Get an account. You can send us an email to get a referral, but you're better off just doing the site's current new members bonus.

WHAT DID WE FORGET?

Let us know, and we'll answer promptly. Let the games begin!

Comments

[Erwin Blonk]

Those thursdays are killing me..... 9pm is 3am CET. Basically I'm down to events 3, 5, 9 and 10.
By the looks of it, count me in for 3, 5 and 9. 10 is a tat steep for my bankroll, but I might still do it for the heck of it. And 8, who knows, it's limit.
Actually, I'm looking at 3 or 4 weekend tourneys with the Ante Up nation, I'm happy :)

[Gambit]

Whoa...um, that is some trophy. Is it glued together or what? Man, I have got the perfect name for it, too.

Sounds like fun.

[Erwin Blonk]

If you bust out Chris on the river, being the dog on the turn with a one outer, do you get extra points, say 10-to-1 dog gets you 10 points?

*runs*
*ducks to avoid getting hit by the Ante Up Player of the Year trophy*

OK Erwin, that's enough. 8-)

[StatikKling]

Awesome! I'll see you at the tables!

[ChicagoJason - J_Chitown]

Don't we already know who's the best? I'm going to go AIP$HIT!

[Chicago Joe]

Excellent job putting together this tournament series together.

[Joe (Unimpressed)]

So... the POY gets to name the trophy, eh? And this name will stick "as long as it's tasteful" for years to come?

*insert evil laugh here*

[Erwin Blonk]

I just signed up for event 3: the september 30th PLO event. From now until the tourney I'll focus on PLO and basically will blow everyone from the tables. Chris, Scott, you might as will send the banana this way. I have Tom McEvoy and Lyle Bermann on my side, backed by Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier (well, on paper at least) so the odds are in my favor.

Oh, and it's not Denmark, nor Belgium (although the latter pay with euro's like we Dutchies - and it's all about the money) but if you say I'm from Europe or from across the pond, that'll be fine, I'm not picky :)

[Brett Otte]

Well guys I finally did it. I won the MansionPoker.net weekly tourney. I'll be on TV soon. I was actually playing TWO tourneys thru them since 9/8/06 was cancelled due to their crap software/hardware.

I qualified on Sunday for THIS WEEK's friday game and the reschedule was 30 min later after the start of this one.

I was in 1st on both at one point when we were down to 21 and 10 players, so I knew I was doing well.

Busted out in 16th on 1st game with QQ vs. A/K off. Flop came K-J-0. Turn was a blank & river came a Queen of course for trips vs a str8. It was the only bad hand I played, but I can't say that really since I was doing very well & was a 56/44 fave preflop.

Other game we eventually got down to 4 and blinds were 1200/2400 with 200 blinds & I had 60K. Other players were bouncing up & down & one got up to 180K out of a 370K total. One at 25K kept going all-in & I bided my time & took a pot usually once every round.

Eventually I got a good one, had a guy dominated, won, won a race, & eventually called a crap a/3 off from the small stack with my 8/7 off and told the room this was my first bad call, but good possibility call.

Flopped a 7 and got in first with 180K...nearly 1/2 the money. Down to 3 ppl

Can't remember much other than playing tight on 3/6K blinds & them to feel the pressure. Caught the small stack and was up 255K vs 115K.

Raked some blind pots with paired boards and getting 8K in BB each time.

Knew it was getting close to over when I got him under 100K and eventually 70K.

Here's the final hand pic:

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2405/mansionpokerrevisedpp3.jpg

I figured I'd catch the flush and was hoping he didn't boat up. I knew since he thought about my bet after the turn. There was 16K in the pot and I bet the pot of 16K. He only had 45K to start so it was major decision time. He called with Q/8 off. He didn't boat up and I took it down. I'll get y'all more details once I hear of them & post here as well as myspace since I joined awhile ago (even though I hate it).

[Chris Cosenza]

Awesome Brett!!!! I have that MansionPoker TiVo'd so I'll be sure to watch! Let us know, and be sure to mention Ante Up as your poker hero!!!!! LOL! You should be proud!

[Paul]

I've been listening to the show for a long time, but haven't posted before now. The announcement show had me ROLLING. I will be playing in these events come hell or high water!

[Aquaman]

Wow, that "trophy" brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful. The Aip on top is definatly the design touch that even Martha Stewart would be proud of.

Have to work on my game, I've barely been playing at all. Must at least win a Bananna!

[Rick Gershman]

It's on, boys. Chris, better watch out playing that AK against me... you know my 6-8 suited will hit by the river....

[37 Offsuit]

In your professional opinions, do you guys think I should reschedule my LSAT (Law School Apptitude Test)on Saturday in order to try to get points to win a not so giant Ape?