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European Poker Tour (EPT)
General Information
In 2004, the European Poker Tour (EPT) was established to meet the demands of the growing popularity of poker worldwide. For the past four seasons, there had been constant increase in participation from players all over the world which eventually led to rising cash prize pools and buy-in, not to mention the paychecks of the winners.
Within a short span of time, EPT has established itself as a prestigious tournament that is nearly at par with older poker tournament brands such as World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT).
Public reception
The EPT third season saw a total number of 3,483 players taking part in ten tournaments spread throughout Europe. The player who garnered the biggest paycheck at that time was Gavin Griffin who won the EPT Grand Final at Monte Carlo and brought home more than €1.2 million. Griffin currently holds the distinction as the only player to have achieved the “Triple Crown,” the player to have garnered a WSOP bracelet, WPT and EPT title.
The recently concluded fourth season saw an increase in buy-in rates for the players. EPT CEO John Duthie announced prior to the fourth season that most of the buy-in rates have been set at €8,000 which means bigger paychecks for the winners. Despite this announcement, this did not wane the participation of the players. In fact, the total number of players who participated during the EPT fourth season reached 5,900.
EPT Season 4 Results
Here are the official results of the concluded EPT Season 4 which ran from August 2007 to April 2008.
EPT Barcelona - Spain (August 28, 2007 – September 1, 2007, 542 players, €8,000 buy-in, €4,173,400 cash prize pool): 1. Sander Lylloff (Denmark) €1,170,000, 2. Mark Teltscher (London) €673,000, 3. Greg Dyer (USA) €388,800, 4. Mika Paasonen (Finland) €301,000, 5. Trond Eidsvig (Aalesund, Norway) €250,800, 6. Adam Junglen (Stow, OH, USA) €196,500, 7. Nikolaus Jedlicka (Austria) €154,700 and 8. Patrick Bruel (Paris, France) €104,500.EPT London - England (September 25, 2007 – September 29, 2007, 392 players, £5,000 buy-in, £2,038,400 cash prize pool): 1. Joseph Mouawad (Lebanon, Lebanon) £611,500, 2. Florian Langmann (Dresden, Germany) £346,500, 3. Marcel Baran (Germany) £203,800, 4. Josh Egan (Australia) £152,900, 5. Fredrik Haugen (Gothenburg, Sweden) £124,300, 6. Anthony Lellouche (Paris, France) £97,800, 7. Paul Mendes (UK) £77,500 and 8. Ian Cox (UK) £57,100.EPT Baden – Austria (October 7, 2007 – October 10, 2007, 282 players, €8,000 buy-in, €2,256,000 cash prize pool): 1.
London - England (September 25, 2007 – September 29, 2007, 392 players, £5,000 buy-in, £2,038,400 cash prize pool): 1. Julian Thew (Nottingham, UK) €670,800, 2. Denes Kalo (Hungary) 375,000 , 3. Vladimir Poleshuk (Russia) €225,000 , 4. Thomas Fuller (Boulder, CO, USA) €160,820 , 5. Thierry Van den Berg (Almera, Netherlands) €132,900 , 6. Manfred Hammer (Germany) €105,000 , 7. Ted Lawson (Plantation, FL, USA) 83,600 and 8 Anton Allemann (Switzerland) €60,000.EPT Dublin – Ireland (October 30, 2007 – November 3, 2007, 221 players, €8,000 buy-in, €1,701,430 cash prize pool): 1. Rueben Peters (Telluride, CO, USA) €532,620 , 2. Annette Obrestad (Sandnes, Rogaland, Norway) €297,800 , 3. Reijo Manninen (Helsinki, Finland) €178,680 , 4. Trond Eidsvig (Aalesund, Norway) €127,630 , 5. Daan Ruiter (Groningen, Netherlands) €105,510 , 6. Anders Pettersson (Sweden) €83,380 , 7. Michael Durrer (Germany) €66,370 and 8. Thierry Van den Berg (Almera, Netherlands) €47,650.EPT Prague – Czech Republic (December 10, 2007 – December 14, 2007, €5,000 buy-in, 555 players, €2,608,500 cash prize pool): 1.
Dublin – Ireland (October 30, 2007 – November 3, 2007, 221 players, €8,000 buy-in, €1,701,430 cash prize pool): 1. Arnaud Mattern (Paris, France) €708,400 , 2. Gino Alacqua (Italy) €407,300 , 3. Kristian Kjondal (Oslo, Norway) €235,300 , 4. Juha Lauttamus (Finland) €182,200 , 5. Marcus Golser (Saltzberg, Austria) €151,800 , 6. Nedzib Suman (Sweden) €119,000 , 7. Dag Palovic (Bratislava, Slovakia) €93,600 and 8. Mikael Norinder (Stockholm, Sweden) €63,200.EPT Caribbean Adventure – Bahamas (January 5, 2008 – January 10, 2008, $8,000 buy-in, 1,136 players, $8,860,000 cash prize pool): 1. Bertrand Grospellier (Melun, France) $2,000,000, 2. Hafiz Khan (USA) $1,094,976, 3. Kris Kuykendall (Columbus, OH, USA) $800,000, 4. David Pham (Bell Gardens, CA, USA) $600,000, 5. Craig Hopkins (Chesterfield, UK) $450,000, 6. Joseph Elpayaa (Forest Park, IL, USA) $300,000, 7. Christian Harder (Annapolis, MD, USA) $200,000 and 8. Rich Fohrenbach (Milford, CT, USA) $150,000. EPT Dortmund – Germany (January 29, 2008 – February 2, 2008, €8,000 buy-in, 411 players, €3,164,700 cash prize pool): 1.
Caribbean Adventure – Bahamas (January 5, 2008 – January 10, 2008, $8,000 buy-in, 1,136 players, $8,860,000 cash prize pool): 1. Mike McDonald (Canada) €933,600 , 2. Andreas Gulunay (Germany) €528,500 , 3. Torsten Haase (Germany) €307,000 , 4. Diego Perez (Spain) €234,200 , 5. Claudio Rinaldi (Switzerland) €193,000 , 6. Johannes Strassmann (Germany) €152,000 , 7. Thibaut Durand (France) €120,200 and 8. Christian Harder (United States) €85,500.EPT Scandinavia – Denmark (February 19, 2008 – February 23, 2008, DKK50,000 buy-in, 460 players, DKK21,086,401 cash prize pool): 1. Tim Vance (Millstadt, IL, USA) DKK6,220,488, 2. Soren Jensen (Denmark) DKK3,521,429, 3. Magnus Hansen (Denmark) DKK2,045,381, 4. Rasmus Nielsen (Denmark) DKK1,560,394, 5. Daniel Ryan (Grand Forks, ND, USA) DKK1,286,270, 6. Nicolas Dervaux (France) DKK1,012,147, 7. Simon Dorslund (Denmark) DKK801,283 and 8. Patrik Andersson (Sweden) DKK569,333. EPT Warsaw – Poland (March 11, 2008 – March 15, 2008, €8,000 buy-in, 359 players, €2,872,000 cash prize pool): 1.
Scandinavia – Denmark (February 19, 2008 – February 23, 2008, DKK50,000 buy-in, 460 players, DKK21,086,401 cash prize pool): 1. Michael Schulze (Germany) €609,782 , 2. Ricardo Sousa (Portugal) €345,543 , 3. Mathias Viberg (Sweden) €203,261 , 4. Mehdi Ouakhir (France) €152,445 , 5. Christian Oman (Sweden) €123,989 , 6. Juan Maceiras (Spain) €97,565 , 7. Niclas Svensson (Sweden) €77,239 and 8. Trond Eidsvig (Aalesund, Norway) 56,913.EPT San Remo – Italy (April 1, 2008 – April 5, 2008, €5,000 buy-in, 701 players, €3,195,860 cash prize pool): 1. Jason Mercier ( Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA) €869,000 , 2. Anthony Lellouche (Paris, France) €505,000 , 3. Dario Minieri (Rome, Italy) €287,600 , 4. Eric Koskas (Marseille, France) €223,600 , 5. Gregory Genovese (Italy) €188,500 , 6. William Thorson (Varberg, Sweden) €140,600 , 7. Dag Palovic (Bratislava, Slovakia) €111,800 and 8. Marcus Bower (USA) 76,700.EPT Grand Final – Monte Carlo (April 12, 2008 – April 17, 2008, €10,000 buy-in, 842 players, €8,420,000 cash prize pool): 1.
San Remo – Italy (April 1, 2008 – April 5, 2008, €5,000 buy-in, 701 players, €3,195,860 cash prize pool): 1. Glen Chorny (Waterloo, ON, Canada) €2,020,000 , 2. Denes Kalo (Hungary) €1,179,000 , 3. Maxime Villemure (Canada) €715,000 , 4. Isaac Baron (USA) €589,000 , 5. Michael Martin (Washington Crossing, PA, USA) €421,000 , 6. Luca Pagano (Preganzio, Italy) €337,000 , 7. Valery Ilikian (Armenia) €253,000 and 8. Antonio Esfandiari (Las Vegas, NV, USA) €168,000.
Tournament Schedules
No announcements have been made so far on the official schedule of EPT Season 5. One thing’s for sure, there will be even more players who will take part in the tournaments that will take place in some of the world’s famous casinos in Europe.
EPT Online Satellite Tournaments
A number of online poker sites had hosted satellite tournaments leading to several EPT tournaments, most especially the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. The prize package usually includes free airfare, accommodations, spending money and of course, the buy-in for the main event.
Here are the major poker sites that offered satellite tourneys for the EPT:
PokerStars (major sponsor)
Betfair Poker
Bodog Poker
VC Poker Celeb Poker
It’s no wonder why players keep on taking part in EPT tournaments. First, the competition is relatively fierce which means poker skills are enhanced. Second, the prize money keeps on increasing. Third, most of the poker world’s marquee players can be seen taking part on the events. Lastly, all events are taking place in Europe which is a haven for tourists. More updates can be seen at www.europeanpokertour.com.