Ivan Demidov - 2008 WSOP 2nd Place - Team PokerStars Pro

European Poker Tour EPT Season 5

Europe’s biggest and best poker tour is back for Season 5. Next stop will be Copenhagen, February 17-21, 2009, and then Dortmund and San Remo. All routes will then lead to the Grand Final in Monte Carlo, taking place April 28 - May 3 2009.

This is the tour where millionaires are made at every stop along the road to the Grand Final. Each event sees the world’s greatest poker players take their seats to battle it out for huge sums of cash in Europe’s best locations. The prestigious Grand Final in Monte Carlo has one of the biggest prize pools around, and is the event that everyone wants to win.

Season 5 - The Story So Far

The EPT returned to Deauville in France after a three-year absence and a field of 645 of Europe’s finest poker players, including 155 PokerStars qualifiers, played out four days of intense poker action. With a total prize pool of €3,096,000 ($4,010,208) up for grabs, 28-year old Moritz Kranich from Hamburg in Germany won the title scooping €851,400 ($1,106,820). The key hand at the final table unfolded with three players remaining. Kranich, who qualified online with PokerStars, flopped trips and trapped Tristan Clemencon to knock him out, before dispatching Arnaud Esquevin in the heads-up finale.

The 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event proved to be the biggest live poker tournament ever staged outside of Las Vegas. A field of 1,347 players battled for a total prize pool of $12,674,000, with Canadian PokerStars qualifier Poorya Nazari taking the glory and first place prize money of $3,000,000. Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes also made the final table, eventually being eliminated in 4th place when his full house was crushed by the quad jacks of Benny Spindler. Last year’s winner Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier made a triumphant return to the Bahamas with victory in the $25k High Roller event, beating a star-studded final table to take down first prize of $433,500.

Prague has provided the EPT’s first ever Italian winner as Salvatore Bonavena, from Cessaniti in Southern Italy, claimed the victory and €774,000 ($1,043,124) in first place prize money. The tournament had a distinctly Italian flavor, with 80 players from that country featuring in the 570-strong field, with three making it to the final table. Bonavena beat compatriot Massimo Di Cicco in heads-up play and became only the sixth amateur player to win an EPT title. This was an excellent performance as the competition was as tough as ever, with seven members of Team PokerStars Pro, as well as reigning World Champion Peter Eastgate all present.

João Barbosa from Portugal celebrated his birthday in style at EPT Warsaw as he won the PLN21,000 Main Event, taking home €367,140 ($462,596) from a total prize pool of €1,172,972 ($1,469,377). The 26-year old beat a strong field of 217 players and an even tougher final table that featured two heavy hitters, Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Frenchman Arnaud Mattern. Mattern was gunning to be the first player to ever win two EPT titles, but came up short, while Dario’s first EPT triumph narrowly eluded him, as the young man from Rome finished in third position.

The European Poker Tour’s first visit to the Hungarian capital Budapest was a huge success, with a sold out field of 532 players convening to play for a total prize pool of €2,128,000 ($2,733,763). Englishman and PokerStars player Will Fry was victorious - netting €595,839 ($834,175) and a seat worth €10,000 to the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo in what was his first live poker tournament. Online pro Fry, from Nottingham in the UK, won a final table that lasted less than five hours, beating Ciprian Hrisca from Romania in heads-up play.

The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London welcomed 596 of the world’s best poker players for the second event of Season 5, and the £5,200 ($9,100) Main Event was won by young American player Michael Martin. Martin was able to fight his way back from the brink of elimination to win the £1,000,000 ($1,753,600) first-place prize, beating Michael Tureniec in the closing stages. The field, which contained 234 PokerStars qualifiers, created a prize pool of £3,349,200 ($5,884,965). Also of note was a third place finish from Polish Team PokerStars Pro player Marcin Horecki.

Jason Mercier, winner of EPT Season 4 San Remo, was triumphant in the £1 Million Showdown, getting the better of an in-form John Juanda in heads-up play. Mercier, from Florida, pocketed £516,000 (£904,858) for the win, and made it a one-two for the USA in London. Many pros commented that there was absolutely no dead money in this exclusive tournament, in which 86 of the toughest players in the world each bought in for £20,000.

The first event in Season 5 took place in Barcelona and saw PokerStars player Sebastian Ruthenberg crowned as Champion. He took home €1,360,100 ($1,941,401) after beating a record-breaking field of 619 players. Going into heads-up play with a stack almost five times that of runner-up Fintan Gavin, it was all over in a matter of minutes when Sebastian’s K-9 was good enough to win the final hand.

Satellites for the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo are running now, with Cash and FPP qualifiers starting from as low as $2.22 or 111 FPP credits. You can also win your seat with PokerStars Steps Sit & Go satellites, from only $7.50 or 500 FPP credits. Don’t forget that satellites are also running for EPT Copenhagen and EPT Dortmund.

The EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final prize package is worth $18,800 and includes tournament buy-in, hotel accommodation and money to cover expenses.

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