Monday, September 26, 2011

POKER ROUND-UP: RESULTS FROM WPT RENO, WSOPC BOSSIER AND PEOPLES MONTENEGRO

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com, POKERPAGES.com

We take a look at the WPT Regional in Reno, the WSOPC Bossier City Main and the Peoples Tour Budva Main ...

WPT REGIONAL RENO
Reno's Atlantis Casino hosted the Western Poker Challenger series. The Main Event was a WPT Regional Series event and it concluded last night.

Casey McCarrel captures his first WPT Regional win, defeating John Miner heads up. The event did not qualify for PTPR Points but it did include a few notable players that made a deep run including Amanda Musume, Steve Brecher and Jennifer Harman.

WSOP CIRCUIT BOSSIER CITY MAIN EVENT
Earlier this week, David Nicholson picked up the win at the World Series of Poker Circuit Bossier City Main Event. Close to 500 players entered the event, which carried a prizepool slightly south of 700K.

PEOPLES POKER TOUR BUDVA
Earlier this month, the Peoples Poker Tour was in Montenegro for the Budva Main Event. Sallustro Pellegrino was crowned champion of the main event, defeating Alessandro Governi heads up. 345 players entered the event.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit Bossier City
WSOPC Bossier City NLH Main Event
September 17-18, 2011

Horseshoe Bossier City | Louisiana
Buy-in: $1,600 | Prizepool: $691,125 | Entries: 475

FINAL RESULTS:
DAVID NICHOLSON 35
DAVID OLSON 18
CHRISTOPHER GAMBOA 10
MATTHEW NEWCOMBE 8
RUSSELL IVY 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Peoples Poker Tour Budva
NLH Main Event
September 8, 2011

Maestral Resort and Casino | Montenegro
Buy-in: $2,020 | Prizepool: $709,295 | Entries: 345

FINAL RESULTS:
SALLUSTRO PELLEGRINO 35
ALESSANDRO GOVERNI 18
IVANA NAPOLITANO 10
DAMIANO SETTE 8
LORENZO LA MANNA 5

Sunday, September 25, 2011

PTPR ROUND-UP: CLOSING OUT BORGATA, PARTOUCHE

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com, POKERPAGES.com

Results from side events from two recent Main Event happenings are out! We close out the Borgata Poker Open and the Partouche Poker Tour Main series ...

BORGATA POKER OPEN SIDE EVENTS
Borgata hosted a NLH event on September 15 and 16. Kunal Patel collected the victory, earning his third PTPR Score of the year, crossing the 100-point barrier for 2011. 2010 November Niner John Racener finished third in the event.

The six-max event took place on September 16 and 17. Spiro Markatos picked up the win while Anthony Ruberto and Aalok Arora both earn their second PTPR Scores of 2011.

PARTOUCHE POKER TOUR MAIN EVENT SIDE EVENTS
Michel Leibgorin wins the September 14-16 1.5K NLH event, while Marvin Rettenmeier seems to be back on pace, earning his fifth PTPR Score of the season with his 3rd place finish. Rettenmeier has surpassed the 200-PTPR Point mark for the year.

Erich Kollmann picks up his fourth score of the year while Laurent Polito, Pascal Cohen and Stefan Raffay all earn their second PTPR Scores of the year.

Meanwhile, Patrik Hirvonen, defeated Sebastien Winkler heads up to win the September 15 to 17 3K NLH event - both players earned their second scores of the season.

Byron Kaverman continued his strong play in 2011 with a 6th place finish, good enough for his sixth PTPR Score - joining a few other players with the second most PTPR Scores of 2011. Jean Thorel also continues to impress - collecting his 5th score of 2011.


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open
No Limit Hold'em Event
September 15-16, 2011

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa | Atlantic City
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool: $369,000 | Entries: 246

FINAL RESULTS:
KUNAL PATEL 75
ORSON YOUNG 40
JOHN RACENER 25
MARK BAATZ 15
NORMAN ZAPCZYNSKI 10
KRISTIAN LEE 8
KENNETH FAGIOLI 5
ANTHONY CASALE 5
KENNETH ADAMS 5

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open
No Limit Hold'em Six-Max Event
September 17-18, 2011

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa | Atlantic City
Buy-in: $1,090 | Prizepool: $410,000 | Entries: 410

FINAL RESULTS:
SPIRO MARKATOS 75
MAKSIM KVITKO 40
WILL JAFFE 25
JOSEPH COUDEN 15
ROBERT MCLAUGHLIN 10
ANTHONY RUBERTO 8
VINEET PAHUJA 5
ALEX APOSTOL 5
AALOK ARORA 5

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
Partouche Poker Tour Main Event
No Limit Hold'em Event
September 14-16, 2011

Le Palm Beach | Cannes
Buy-in: $2,020 | Prizepool: $645,542 | Entries: 310

FINAL RESULTS:
MICHEL LEIBGORIN 75
DOBROMIR NIKOV 40
MARVIN RETTENMEIER 25
LAURENT POLITO 15
ERICH KOLLMANN 10
PASCAL COHEN 8
MOHAMED KERKENI 5
STEFAN RAFFAY 5
YURY GULYY 5

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
Partouche Poker Tour Main Event
No Limit Hold'em Event
September 15-17, 2011

Le Palm Beach | Cannes
Buy-in: $4,045 | Prizepool: $544,361 | Entries: 130

FINAL RESULTS:

PATRIK HIRVONEN 75
SEBASTIEN WINKLER 40
PHILLIPE BAROUK 25
VARAS YUNIS 15
GREGORY HAIRABEDIAN 10
BYRON KAVERMAN 8
ERIC HALK 5
JEAN THOREL 5
JORMA VUOKSENMAA 5

POLISH PRINCE: GOSK WINS ESTRELLAS IBIZA

PHOTO/SOURCE: ESTRELLASPOKERTOUR.com

Grzegorz Gosk and 425 other runners had to avoid the obvious distractions and instead play inside the Casino di Ibiza and not head out to the beach.

Looks like Gosk made the right call - winning the Estrellas Poker Tour Ibiza tour stop, besting Alvaro Santamaria heads up. For Santamaria, this was his second Estrellas Poker Tour PTPR Score of 2011 - he finished 3rd at Estrellas Alicante earlier this year.

Jeff Zsolt Soros finished fourth in the event.


TOP 10 PAYOUTS
1st. Grzegorz Gosk, Poland, €92,100
2nd. Alvaro Santamaria, Spain, €58,600
3rd. Carlos Simon Martinez, Spain, €32,500
4th. Jeff Zsolt Soros, Spain, €25,500
5th. Manuel Martinez, Spain, €19,550
6th. Raul Paez, Spain, €15,800
7th. Javier Tazon, Spain, €12,650
8th. Alvaro Marino Nadal, Spain, €10,050
9th. Juan Manuel Pastor, Spain, €7,450
10th. David Miguel Canvajal, Spain, €4,850

RELATED:
DEIMANN WINNER AT SAN SEBASTIAN
PINEIRO WINS ALICANTE MAIN EVENT

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Estrellas Poker Tour Ibiza
ESPT NLH Main Event
September 21-25, 2011

Casino di Ibiza | Spain
Buy-in: $2,010 | Prizepool : $502,035 | Entries: 426

FINAL RESULTS:
GRZEGORZ GOSK 35
ALVARO SANTAMARIA 18
CARLOS SIMON MARTINEZ 10
JEFF ZSOLT SOROS 8
MANUEL MARTINEZ 5

WE'RE BACK WITH A DOUBLE DOSE OF WPT RESULTS!

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

We're back with a mega update! Two WPT Main Event Champions in less than 24 hours? You bet!

NOVEMBER NINER GIANNETTI GRABS GOLD
Let's start in Malta where current WSOP November Niner Matt Giannetti decided he couldn't wait until November to pickup some hardware. Giannetti picks up the title at WPT Malta, defeating Cecilia Pescaglini heads up. Pescaglini was trying to become the first woman to win an open WPT Main Event - she was one of the lead horses throughout the tournament but Giannetti scooped up his first major victory at her expense.

Former 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year #1 ranked player Mad Marvin - Marvin Rettenmeier - earned his fourth PTPR Score of the 2011 season, his first since March.

Christofer Williamson, Isaac Haxton and Pierre Milan all earned their second score of 2011, Tristan Clemencon captured his first.

The Phil Hellmuth - Tony G buzz was all for not as neither player was able to earn PTPR Points in Malta.

OBOODI SHINES AT BORGATA
Bobby Oboodi was confident he would win the WPT Borgata Poker Open, and he did. Now, Oboodi has his eyes set at becoming a two-time champion, declaring that is going for the 25K WPT World Championship and taking it home. Oboodi was never really in any trouble en route to his first PTPR Score of the year.

What a year it's been for Will "The Thrill" Failla - and it's far from over. Failla's 11th place finish earns him his sixth PTPR Score of the year and The Thrill now sits fourth overall on the PTPR Leaderboard, seven points away from Jason Mericer.

Darren Elias, Dan Colman and Matt Glantz all pickup their fourth PTPR Scores of 2011 and each one of them surpass the century mark for points this season.

Daniel Buzgon, Kevin Calenzo, Miami John Cernuto and Wade Woelfel were other notables picking up PTPR Points in the event.

RELATED:
MINOR LEAGUER NO MORE - PILGRIM WINS WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN
FIGUCCIA WRAPS UP IPT MALTA


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open
WPT Borgata Poker Open NLH Main Event w/Re-Entry
September 18-23, 2011

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa | Atlantic City
Buy-in: $3,500 | Prizepool : $4,192,913 | Entries: 1,313

FINAL RESULTS:
BOBBY OBOODI 138
JIN HWANG 88
DANIEL BUZGON 58
FRED GOLDBERG 48
DARREN ELIAS 43
RICKY HALE 38
DOUG KIM 38
JOE DITTMAR 23
KEVIN CALENZO 23
DAN COLMAN 23
WILL FAILLA 23
MATT GLANTZ 21
BRANDON SCHAEFER 21
JOHN CERNUTO 21
RICHARD MARSHALL JR. 21
JACK SCHANBACHER 18
WADE WOELFEL 18
ANTHONY RIVERA 18

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Malta
WPT Malta NLH Main Event w/Re-Entry
September 20-24, 2011

Casino at Portomaso | Malta
Buy-in: $4,450 | Prizepool : $970,800 | Entries: 240

FINAL RESULTS:

MATT GIANNETTI 127
CECILIA PESCAGLINI 77
FILIPPO BIANCHINI 47
SIMON TRUMPER 37
TRISTAN CLEMENCON 32
FABIEN SARTORIS 27
CHRISTOFER WILLIAMSON 27
MATS KARLSON 12
MANFRED SIERKE 12
SALVATORE BIANCO 12
ANTONIO AGNELLO 12
ISAAC HAXTON 10
ARMNADO GRAZIANO 10
FABIO MONTANARI 10
VIKTORS VOROBJOVS 10
MARVIN RETTENMEIER 7
PIERRE MILAN 7
MICHAEL FINDERUP 7

Thursday, September 15, 2011

PARTOUCHE MAIN: MACEIRAS LEADS FIELD INTO DAY 4 PLAY

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: PARTOUCHEPOKERTOUR.com

100 players were back for a couple hours of play on Thursday at the Palm Beach in Cannes. Play ended with 47 players surviving Day 3 play as the money bubble burst at the Partouche Poker Tour Season 4 Main Event.

Spain's Juan Maceiras takes the chip lead into Friday's play. Maceiras had good runs at the EPT Grand Final and the PCA 25k High Rollers event but he's looking for his first major score of the 2011 season. Maceiras has had some great results on line but, he's still missing a major live score.

French star Ludovic Lacay is just a few chips behind, and hopes to win the big one for his home country.

For his part, Sam Trickett rounds out the Top 10. Trickett was red-hot when the 2011 season started, many proclaiming him the best player on the circuit at that time ... it's been a little slow since then for Trickett.

Day 2 chip leader Oleksii Kovalchuk took a hit during Thursday's play. Kovalchuk is still alive but, he's going to be one of the short stacks on Friday.

We're back in Cannes on Friday!!

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS:
JUAN MACEIRAS 800 000
LUDOVIC LACAY 771 000
GIUSEPPE PANTALEO 673 000
ALEXANDER DOVZHENKO 652 500
FREDERIK JENSEN 557 000
SAM TRICKETT 535 500
ROGER HAIRABEDIAN 452 500
TRISTAN CLEMENCON 376 000
JUHA HELPPI 323 500
JOE CASSIDY 262 500
WILL FAILLA 221 000
OLEKSII KOVALCHUK 143 500

NOTABLE ELIMINATIONS INCLUDE:
Paul Pires-Trigo, James Bord, Arnaud Mattern, Freddy Deeb, Manuel Bevand, Joel Dodds, John Eames, Michael Tureniec, Samuel Chartier, Jean Noel Thorel, Olivier Busquet and David Vamplew.

RELATED:
NO REPEAT FOR SELBST AT CANNES
VANESSA SELBST - QUEEN OF CANNES

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Partouche Poker Tour Season 4 Main Event
PPT NLH Main Event
September 11-17, 2011

Le Palm Beach de Cannes | France
Buy-in: $11,625 | Prizepool : $6,707,625 | Entries: 577

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 130
2nd position 80
3rd position 50
4th position 40
5th position 35
6-7th position 30
8-11th position 15
12-15th position 13
16-18th position 10

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

PTS AT STAKE: NO REPEAT FOR SELBST AT CANNES

SOURCE: PARTOUCHEPOKERTOUR.com

It won't be a repeat performance at Cannes for star poker pro Vanessa Selbst. Selbst took the Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final by storm last November, destroying player after player during final table play and eventually winning the tournament.

That tournament may just had been the breakout win in Selbst's career. Unfortunately, Selbst was eliminated earlier today during Day 2 play at the 2011 edition of the Partouche Grand Final Main Event.

The event has attracted some big names again this year, 577 total runners have put up over 11k in order to rule France in what has become one of the most important tournaments on the poker circuit. The prizepool is set at close to 7M.

Recent IPT Nova Gorica winner (and WSOP bracelet holder) Oleksii Kovalchuk leads the way after second-day play. Kovalchuk holds close to a 2:1 chip lead over second place. Kovalchuk could be putting together quite a month of September should he be able to keep up the pace until Saturday's final table play.

A cool 1 million dollars goes to the winner!

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS:
Oleksil Kovalshuk 892,5k
Giuseppe Pantaleo 438,6k
Frederik Jensen 400k
Juan Maceiras 452k
Arnaud Mattern 306,3k
Paul Pires-Trigo 178,4k
Tristan Clémençon 184,4k
Roger Hairabedian 190k
Freddy Deeb 179k
Joe Cassidy 196,1k
Manu Bevand 142k
Michael Tureniec 176,6k
Ludovic Lacay 96,9k
James Bord 133,2k
Sam Trickett 129,5k
David Vamplew 69,4k
Juha Helppi 123,3k
Olivier Busquet 84k
Sam Chartier 97,4k

NOTABLE ELIMINATIONS INCLUDE:
Jason Mercier, Lucien Cohen, Max Lykov, Tobias Reinkenmaïer, William Thorson, Andrew Feldman, Chino Rheem, Davidi Kitai, Vanessa Selbst, Alex Kravchenko, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Cates and Antony Lellouche,

PARTOUCHE GRAND FINAL MAIN EVENT PAYOUTS (in Euros):
1- 1.000.000€
2- 600.000€
3- 379.760€
4- 300.000€
5- 230.000€
6- 190.000€
7- 160.000€
8- 130.000€
9- 100.000€
10-12- 70.000€
13-15- 45.000€
16-18- 30.000€
19-27- 24.000€
28-36- 20.000€
37-45- 17.000€
46-54- 14.000€
55-63- 12.000 €

RELATED:
VANESSA SELBST - QUEEN OF CANNES
KOVALCHUK WINNER AT WSOP

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final
PPT NLH Main Event
September 11-17, 2011

Le Palm Beach de Cannes | France
Buy-in: $11,625 | Prizepool : $6,707,625 | Entries: 577

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 130
2nd position 80
3rd position 50
4th position 40
5th position 35
6-7th position 30
8-11th position 15
12-15th position 13
16-18th position 10

Sunday, September 11, 2011

POKER ROUND-UP: BELGIAN SERIES, GULF COAST, RIVER POKER RESULTS

PHOTO: POKERSTARSBLOG.com
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com, POKERPAGES.com

We take you to Belgium, to Mississippi and to Oklahoma for the latest edition of the round-up!





POKERSTARS BELGIAN POKER SERIES BLANKENBERGE
The Belgian Poker Series Blankenberge Main Event was won by Dutch player Danny Latten. Latten and the other members of the Top 5 were all collecting their first PTPR Points of the season.

Final table results:
1- Danny Latten, Holland, €70,000
2- Christiaan Vanzieleghem, Belgium, €45,500
3- Dimitri Juchtmans, Belgium, €31,000
4- Peter de Troyer, Belgium, €21,000
5- Samiyel Duzgun, Switzerland, €16,000
6- Mark Coppes , Holland, €11,300
7- Michiel Jonker, Holland, €8,800
8- Vincent de Rhoter, Holland, €5,872
9- Kamal Vercauteren, Belgium, €4,200

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Ali Alawadhi won the Golf Coast Championships at the Beau Rivage.in Mississippi. Alawadhi collected 44 PTPR Points at the 2010 WSOP - in No Limit Holdem Event 56. A total of 175 players participated in the event.

RIVER POKER SERIES
A very impressive 1,355 players made their way to Oklahoma`s WinStar Casino and the Main Event to the River Poker Series last week. Bronson Tucker was the lucky winner, the man picking up over 600k for the win - not a bad pay day!

Star players Dwyte Pilgrim and David (ODB) Baker were still alive late but, were unable to clinch a Top 9 spot at the final table.

Bobby Suer collected his second PTPR Score of the year with his 8th place finish, other notables collecting PTPR Points included Jesse Rockowitz and Ryan Snickles.

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Pokerstars Belgian Poker Series Blankenberge
BPS Blankenberge Main Event
September 1-4, 2011

Casino Blankenberge | Belgium
Buy-in: $1,130 | Prizepool: $413,883 | Entries: 404

FINAL RESULTS:
DANNY LATTEN 35
CHRISTIAAN VANZIELEGHEM 18
DIMITRI JUCHTMANS 10
PETER DE TROYER 8
SAMIVEL DUZGUN 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Gulf Coast Championship
NLH Championship Event
September 4-5, 2011

Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino | Mississippi
Buy-in: $3,125 | Prizepool: $509,250 | Entries: 396

FINAL RESULTS:
ALI ALAWADHI 35
BOB BECK 18
MARK FLEDDERMANN 10
JIM HARTLEY 8
JIM ISPER 5

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
River Poker Series
NLH Main Event
September 1-5, 2011

WinStar Casino | Oklahoma
Buy-in: $2,100 | Prizepool: $2,709,820 | Entries: 1355

FINAL RESULTS:

BRONSON TUCKER 113
RICKY BARKER 73
DOUGH ASHMORE 48
DANIEL HORNBAKER 38
NOAH NODINE 31
JESSE ROCKOWITZ 23
RYAN SNICKLES 21
BOBBY SUER 18
JOON CHO 18

Saturday, September 10, 2011

WPT PARIS: WAX ON, WAX OFF - MATTHEW WAXMAN WINS OVER PARIS

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

Matthew Waxman is good ... Matthew Waxman has been good in 2011 ... I mean, really, really good.

After winning the Isle Classic and the WSOP Circuit Atlantic City Main Event in the past nine months (add to that a few more quality scores), Waxman has finally captured a big one, the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event.

Waxman`s win propels him onto the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard. Waxman moves into sixth place on our charts, one single point ahead of defending WSOP Poker Player`s Championship winner Brian Rast. Waxman earns his sixth PTPR Score of the year, one less than Jason Mercier and Maxim Lykov.

The French were certainly hoping that native son Hugo Lemaire would pull through but, Waxman was not going to lose this one heads up.

Although Byron Kaverman was unable to turn the final table chip lead into a win for the second time this year, he does pickup his fifth PTPR Score and joins Tim West tied for 16th on the PTPR Leaderboard, three points behind Scott Seiver.

Swedish pro Martin Jacobson moves into the Top 40 Leaderboard with his fourth score of the year.

WPT GRAND PRIX DE PARIS FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS:
Matthew Waxman $729,886
Hugo Lemaire $442,645
Frederic Magen $299,834
Byron Kaverman $218,860
Mikko Sundell $187,597
Martin Jacobson $125,083

RELATED:
GRAND PRIX REACHES THE FINAL SIX
WAXMAN TAKES CHARGE OF GRAND PRIX
MATT WAXMAN WINS ISLE CLASSIC
WAXMAN RULES AC - WINS WSOPC MAIN EVENT

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Rendez-Vous A Paris
WPT Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event
September 5-10, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $10,490 | Prizepool : $3,077,380 | Entries: 312

PTS AT STAKE:
MATTHEW WAXMAN 128
HUGO LEMAIRE 78
FREDERIC MAGEN 48
BYRON KAVERMAN 38
MIKKO SUNDELL 33
MARTIN JACOBSON 28
DORI YACOUB 28
ALAIN GOLDBERG 13
NESRINE KOURDOURLI 13
ALEXANDRE BRIVOT 13
ANDRAS KOVACS 13
JOE CASSIDY 11
JEAN NOEL THOREL 11
STEPHANE BENABIDA 11
FRANCK PEPE 11
GUILLAUME DARCOURT 8
AHMED DEBABECHE 8
DMITRY STELMAK 8

Friday, September 9, 2011

WPT PARIS: GRAND PRIX REACHES THE FINAL SIX

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

It's time for final table play at the WPT's Grand Prix de Paris live from the Aviation Club de France.

We've had a great tournament so far and have the makes of what should be a fine final table. Chips stacks are very similar, we should have some strategic play right out of the gate on Saturday.

Byron Kaverman, fresh off PTPR Scores at the Florida State Poker Championship and the Bellagio Cup 5K Side Event, picked up the chip lead late into Day 4 Friday. Kaverman, who won Event 17 - NLH 8-max at the PCA in January, also held the chip lead heading into final table at the FSPC last month but was unable to close the deal.

Hugo Lemaire's Thursday surge crept into Friday's play. The Frenchman will start the day with the second highest chip stack.

Mikko Sundell, the man who has been at or near the chip lead right from the get-go, is still alive and doing fine - he was the chip leader for a while on Friday. No matter what, this will be the biggest score of fourth place Frederic Magen's career.

Rounding out the traditional WPT 6-man final table are Matthew Waxman and Martin Jacobson. Both players have had a great 2011 - they both will hope that their experience will guide them to their first WPT title.

FINAL TABLE SEATING ASSIGNMENTS / CHIP COUNTS:
Seat 1: Martin Jacobson: 482,000 chips
Seat 2: Mikko Sundell: 1,791,000
Seat 3: Matthew Waxman: 1,423,000
Seat 4: Frederic Magen: 1,554,000
Seat 5: Hugo Lemaire: 1,962,000
Seat 6: Byron Kaverman: 2,079,000

2011 PTPR RESULTS (YEAR TO DATE, PRIOR TO WPT GRAND PRIX):
24th - Byron Kaverman: 175 PTPR Points
T-39th - Matthew Waxman: 156 PTPR Points
T-98th - Martin Jacobson: 130 PTPR Points
T-1154th - Hugo Lemaire: 18 PTPR Points
T-2024 - Mikko Sundell: 5 PTPR Points
N/A - Frederic Magen: First PTPR Score of the season

REMAINING WPT GRAND PRIX DE PARIS PAYOUTS:
1st $729,886
2nd $442,645
3rd $299,834
4th $218,860
5th $187,597
6th $125,083

The World Poker Tour will carry a live stream of the final table starting at 10:30AM Eastern Time:
WPT LIVE STREAM

RELATED:
WAXMAN TAKES CHARGE OF GRAND PRIX
LELLOUCHE WINS OMAHA CUP
LET'S RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS, SHALL WE?
KAVERMAN, PANTLING, ULMER WIN AT PCA

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Rendez-Vous A Paris
WPT Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event
September 5-10, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $10,490 | Prizepool : $3,077,380 | Entries: 312

PTS AT STAKE:
WPT Grand Prix de Paris Champion 128
Runner-Up 78
3rd position 48
4th position 38
5th position 33
6th position 28
DORI YACOUB 28
ALAIN GOLDBERG 13
NESRINE KOURDOURLI 13
ALEXANDRE BRIVOT 13
ANDRAS KOVACS 13
JOE CASSIDY 11
JEAN NOEL THOREL 11
STEPHANE BENABIDA 11
FRANCE PEPE 11
GUILLAUME DARCOURT 8
AHMED DEBABECHE 8
DMITRY STELMAK 8

Thursday, September 8, 2011

WPT PARIS: WAXMAN TAKES CHARGE OF GRAND PRIX

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

Day 3 is in the books at the WPT Grand Prix de Paris. There was a lot of movement on the chip count sheet throughout the day - our post at around 6PM Paris time read Pepe, Lemaire and Sundell as the big stacks - only a few hours later and Pepe and Lemaire's stacks stayed fairly stagnant while Sundell is still right in the thick of things.


The fourth name on our chips list from earlier today was Matthew Waxman. Waxman has had a solid year so far this season (winning the Isle Classic back in February) and will collect his sixth PTPR Score of the season as of of the Final 18 participants remaining in Paris. Waxman will enter Day 4 play with 1.12M chips (unofficial count).

The only other million-dollar chip stack remaining is the aforementioned Sundell. Sundell was the Day 1A chip leader and he has continued his strong play throughout the tournament.

The last woman standing, Nesrine Kourdourli, is fourth in chips.

FINAL 18 CHIP COUNTS (UNOFFICIAL):
Matt Waxman 1,120,000
Mikko Sundell 1,019,000
Dmitry Stelmak 912,000
Nesrine Kourdourli 839,000
Byron Kaverman 729,000
Dori Yacoub 664,000
Hugo Lemaire 567,000
Martin Jacobson 536,000
Frederic Magen 531,000
Guillaume Darcourt 500,000
Franck Pepe 479,000
Alexandre Brivot 461,000
Andras Kovacs 293,000
Stephane Benabida 235,000
Joe Cassidy 180,000
Jean Noel Thorel 173,000
Alain Goldberg 116,000
Ahmed Debabeche 50,000

NOTABLE DAY 3 ELIMINATIONS:
Benny Spindler, Ami Alibay, Max Silver, Elio Fox, Tyler Bonkowski, Manuel Bevan, Per Linde, Parx Open Champion McLean Karr, Lucien Cohen, EPT Grand Final Champ Ivan Freitez, Govert Metaal, Farzad Bonyadi and Jani Sointula.

REMAINING WPT GRAND PRIX DE PARIS PAYOUTS:
1st $729,886
2nd $442,645
3rd $299,834
4th $218,860
5th $187,597
6th $125,083
7th $109,325
8th $93,798
9th $78,166
10 - 13th $62,535
14 - 18th $46,896

RELATED:
LELLOUCHE WINS OMAHA CUP
LET'S RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS, SHALL WE?
MATT WAXMAN WINS ISLE CLASSIC
WAXMAN RULES AC - WINS WSOPC MAIN EVENT

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous A Paris
WPT Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event
September 5-10, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $10,490 | Prizepool : $3,077,380 | Entries: 312

PTS AT STAKE:
WPT Grand Prix de Paris Champion 128
Runner-Up 78
3rd position 48
4th position 38
5th position 33
6-7th position 28
8-11th position 13
12-15th position 11
16-18th position 8

WPT PARIS: LELLOUCHE WINS OMAHA CUP

SOURCE: AVIATIONCLUBDEFRANCE.com

Earlier this week, the Rendez-Vous A Paris kicked off with it's first ever Omaha Cup. With the popularity of Omaha in Europe, it's only fitting that the Aviation Club create this new 5,000 Euro buy-in event.

While many decided to keep their focus on the WPT Grand Prix de Paris Main Event, 65 runners decided to test their Omaha skills and participant in the first edition of the event.

The event attracted big names such as PTPR #3 ranked player Jason Mercier, Freddy Deeb and defending Omaha champ (before it become the 5K Euro Omaha Cup) Elie Payan, it was French star Anthony Lellouche who brought home the bacon, and the €71,760 top prize.

Lellouche collected his fourth PTPR Score of the year with the win, he is currently tied for 47th on the 2011 PTPR Leaderboard. Lellouche defeated Davidi Kitai heads up (the top 3 players actually chopped the top prizes, deciding on prize money/position by size of chip stacks).

That third place finisher was Vadzim Kursevich - he earns his third PTPR Score of the year as did 7th place finisher Tristan Clemencon. Juha Vilkki picked up his second score of the year while 8th place finisher Michael Fratty was the other notable player at the final table.

OMAHA CUP PAYOUTS:
1 LELLOUCHE Anthony (France) € 99 840 – Deal 71 760€
2 KITAI Davidi (Belgium) € 65 520 – Deal 70 200€
3 KURSEVICH Vadzim (Belarus) € 43 680 – Deal 67 080€
4 LEYO Pascal (France) € 31 200
5 VILKKI Juha (Finland) € 24 960
6 VANHAPELTO Petteri (Finland) € 18 720
7 CLEMENCON Tristan (France) € 15 600
8 FRATTY Michael (France) € 12 480

RELATED:
PEPE MAINTAINS LEAD, LEMAIRE TRENDING ON DAY 3
LET'S RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS, SHALL WE?

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous A Paris
Omaha Cup
September 2-3, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $6,945 | Prizepool : $433,335 | Entries: 65

FINAL RESULTS:
ANTHONY LELLOUCHE 100
DAVIDI KITAI 60
VADZIM KURSEVICH 35
PASCAL LEYO 25
JUHA VILKKI 18
PETTERI VANHELPELTO 10
TRISTAN CLEMENCON 8
MICHAEL FRATTY 5

WPT PARIS: PEPE MAINTAINS LEAD, LEMAIRE TRENDING ON DAY 3

SOURCE: WPT.com

Day 3 play has started at the Aviation Club de France. WPT Grand Prix de Paris is still under Franck Pepe's control. Pepe, the overnight chip leader, has continued to stack chips and currently sits with 660k in chip as of the time of this post.

But the player that has caught fire during the past level is popular Frenchman Hugo Lemaire - seems like all that Lemaire has touched has turned to gold and he is on a serious heater. He has sky-rocketed to second overall with his 540k chip stack.

Still, 45 players remain and there is still a lot to be determined as final table play is set to begin on Saturday.

NOTABLE ABOVE-AVERAGE UNOFFICIAL CHIP COUNTS:
Franck Pepe 660,000
Hugo Lemaire 540,000
Mikko Sundell 520,000
Matthew Waxman 345,000
Martin Jacobson 340,000
Farzad Bonyadi 310,000
McLean Karr 280,000
Guillaume Darcourt 208,000

RELATED:
LET'S RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS, SHALL WE?
WE'RE IN THE MONEY IN MADRID

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous A Paris
WPT Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event
September 5-10, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $10,490 | Prizepool : $3,077,380 | Entries: 312

PTS AT STAKE:
WPT Grand Prix de Paris Champion 128
Runner-Up 78
3rd position 48
4th position 38
5th position 33
6-7th position 28
8-11th position 13
12-15th position 11
16-18th position 8

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

PTS AT STAKE: LET'S RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS, SHALL WE?

SOURCE: WPT.com

We're in Paris for the classic Rendez-Vous A Paris at the prestigious Aviation Club, home of the World Poker Tour's Grand Prix de Paris.

We're so happy that the WPT decided to return to ACF a few years back, this is one of the most exciting destinations on the WPT circuit.

Some big names have made their way to Paris. Some are still alive after both Day 1's, some have gone by the wayside.

One of the top chip leaders after the combined Day 1's is France's own Guillaume Darcourt. Darcourt, fresh off a solid performance at EPT Barcelona and the WSOP Main Event - he held the chip lead at one point in each event - Darcout continues his fine play with a late charge to finish Day 1B as the chip leader.

Mikko Sundell will be the overall chip leader once Day 2 play begins on Wednesday.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS FOLLOWING DAY 1A AND 1B:
Mikko Sundell 203,800 (Day 1A chip leader)
Yann Dion 201,400
Guillaume Darcourt (Day 1B chip leader)
Jean Noel Thorel 186,000
Joe Ebanks 142,600
Jani Sointula 135,400
McLean Karr 133,200
Max Silver 124,100
Marvin Rettenmaier 104,600
Mike Sexton 74,000
Ludovic Lacey 62,200

NOTABLE DAY 1A AND 1B ELIMINATIONS INCLUDE:
Kara Scott, Sam El Sayed, Roberto Romanello, Arnaud Mattern, Antoine Saout, Michael Tureniec, Phil Collins, Anton Wigg and Bobby Bellande.

WPT GRAND PRIX DE PARIS PAYOUTS (in Euros):
1st: €500,000
2nd: €311,100
3rd: €211,100
4th: €155,550
5th: €133,330
6th: €88,900
7th: €77,700
8th: €66,665
9th: €55,555
10th-13th: €44,445
14th-18th: €33,330
19th-23rd: €22,220
24th-27th: €16,665
28th-36th: €11,110

A total of 167 players will make their way back to the Aviation Club on Wednesday at 2PM Paris time.


RELATED:
LADY'S NIGHT: RUSSIAN ON-LINE PRO NATALIA NIKITINA WINS WPT NATIONAL

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous A Paris
WPT Grand Prix de Paris NLH Main Event
September 5-10, 2011

Aviation Club de France | Paris
Buy-in: $10,490 | Prizepool : $3,077,380 | Entries: 312

PTS AT STAKE:
WPT Grand Prix de Paris Champion 128
Runner-Up 78
3rd position 48
4th position 38
5th position 33
6-7th position 28
8-11th position 13
12-15th position 11
16-18th position 8

Monday, September 5, 2011

EPT BARCELONA CHAMP SCHLEICH AUGUST PLAYER OF THE MONTH

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com

EPT Barcelona Main Event Champion Martin Schleich tops the charts for August and is the PTPR Player of the Month.

Schleich collected 133 PTPR Points in Barcelona, good enough to pickup POM honours, finishing a single point ahead of second place Will "The Thrill" Failla - Failla won the WPT Legends of Poker just a day prior to Schleich's EPT victory.

Steve O'Dwyer leads a group of four players with multiple PTPR Scores this month. O'Dwyer scored 35 PTPR Points in his Epic Poker League Pro-Am victory early in August ... and recently added 18 PTPR Points in his EPT Bracelona Prelim score - in the 10K NLH w/Single Rebuy event.


27 TOTAL TOURNAMENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 0
Premier - 3
Tier 3 - 1
Prelim - 3
Challenger - 20


AUGUST TOP 10

August Player of the Month:
Martin Schleich, 133 PTPR Points, 1 PTPR Score

> EPT Barcelona (Champion) - 133 PTPR Points

133- MARTIN SCHLEICH
132- WILL "THE THRILL" FAILLA
127- RONNIE KAISER
100- PHILIPP GRUISSEM
83- DRAGAN KOSTIC
82- KEN ALDRIDGE
77- GRZEGORZ CICHOCKI
75- GOVERT METAAL
75- FRANCOIS FREJDLES
75- ALEXANDER VASERFIRER

A total of 184 different players scored PTPR Points in August. Only four different players earned two PTPR Scores during the month:.

2- SAMI KELOPURO
2- STEVE O'DWYER
2- NICOLAS YUNIS
2- KONSTANTIN TOLOKNO


AT THIS POINT LAST SEASON

At this point in August 2010, Frank Kassela was our PTPR Player of the Year leader ... here is how the Top 5 looked like in August of 2010:

316- FRANK KASSELA
312- SOREL MIZZI
292- CARLOS MORTENSEN
278- MICHAEL MIZRACHI "THE GRINDER"
269- TOMER BERDA


Finally, here is a look at the Top 10 countries who visited the PTPR site in August:
1. USA, 2. Canada, 3. Germany, 4. UK, 5. France, 6. Netherlands, 7. Russia, 8. Brazil, 9. Ukraine, 10. Australia

Thank you to all for your continued support!
Eric

IPT NOVA GORICA: BRACELET WINNER KOVALCHUK TOO MUCH TO HANDLE AT FINAL TABLE

PHOTO: POKERSTARSBLOG.it
SOURCE: PAGANOEVENTS.com

It's a second tournament victory for Oleksii Kovalchuk this season! Kovlachuk has just won the Italian Poker Tour's Nova Gorica Main Event, defeating Team PokerStars member Luca Moschitta heads up.

Kovalchuk entered final table play third in chips but, with this summer's WSOP bracelet victory in hand, he was considered the most dangerous player remaining - and he proved everyone right by winning tournament #2 on the circuit in 2011.

Kovalchuk went from 72nd to 25th on the PTPR Leaderboard, joining fellow WSOP bracelet winner David Diaz at 173 PTPR Points.

The chip leader heading into final table play was Vitalii Minakov, Minakov could not manage any better than fifth place, still, a good showing for the Ukrainian player. This was Minakov's second straight IPT Final Table - he finished 7th at IPT San Remo, where Luca Pagano collected the victory.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS
Oleksii Kovalchuk 150,000 €
Luca Moschitta 97,000 €
David Zampini 61,680 €
Gianfranco Mazzariello 44,500 €
Vitalii Minakov 27,800 €
Domenico Cordi 22,000 €
Viliyan Petleshkov 16,700 €
Marco Leonzio 13,900 €

RELATED:
MINAKOV, KOLVACHUK LEAD THE WAY AT IPT NOVA GORICA
PAGANO IS PRIMO! LUCA PAGANO WINS IPT SAN REMO

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica
IPT Nova Gorica NLH Main Event
September 1-5, 2011

Perla Casino & Hotel | Italy
Buy-in: $3,155 | Prizepool : $799,310 | Entries: 287

FINAL RESULTS:
OLESKII KOVALCHUK 35
LUCA MOSCHITTA 18
DAVID ZAMPINI 10
GIANFRANCO MAZZARIELLO 8
VITALII MINAKOV 5

Sunday, September 4, 2011

PTS AT STAKE: MINAKOV, KOLVACHUK LEAD THE WAY AT IPT NOVA GORICA

SOURCE: PAGANOEVENTS.com

It's Final Table time at the Italian Poker Tour's latest tour stop - at the Perla Casino & Hotel in Nova Gorica.

Ukrainian-born Vitalli Minakov will lead the charge once final table play begins on Monday. Minakov collected a 7th place finish at the last IPT tour stop Main Event in San Remo (where Luca Pagano collected the victory).

Minakov is joined in the Top 3 by fellow countryman Oleksii Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk won a WSOP bracelet over the summer in a 2,500 NLH Six-Handed event - defeating a strong final table that included Chris Moorman, Dan O'Brien and recent WPT winner Will "The Thrill" Failla.

Team PokerStars player Luca Moschitta will enter final table play with 619k chips, good for 6th place.

FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS
1 Vitalii Minakov 1.671.000
2 Domenico Cordi 1.213.000
3 Oleksii Kovalchuk 1.097.000
4 Marco Leonzio 1.015.000
5 Viliyan Petleshkov 981.000
6 Luca Moschitta 619.000
7 David Zampini 452.000
8 Gianfranco Mazzariello 125.000

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS
1 150,000 €
2 97,000 €
3 61,680 €
4 44,500 €
5 27,800 €
6 22,000 €
7 16,700 €
8 13,900 €

RELATED:
PAGANO IS PRIMO! LUCA PAGANO WINS IPT SAN REMO
MARCO FIGUCCIA WRAPS UP IPT MALTA
KANIT PICKS UP IPT NOVA GORICA TITLE

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica
IPT Nova Gorica NLH Main Event
September 1-5, 2011

Perla Casino & Hotel | Italy
Buy-in: $3,155 | Prizepool : $799,310 | Entries: 287

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 35
2nd position 18
3rd position 10
4th position 8
5th position 5

POKER ROUND-UP: DE GUZMAN BEATS TECH AT APT ASIAN SERIES MANILA

PHOTO: POKERPORTAL.asia
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com

A quick round-up today - dating back to late August where we headed to the Philippines for our latest round-up!

The Asia Poker Tour hosted it's latest events in Manila, the Main Event attracted almost 400 players ... in the end, Vic de Guzman wins the Main Event, dominating the final table and edging Jojo Tech heads up.

Sunny Jung, who finished 5th at APPT Manila in March of 2010, finished fifth in this event as well.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
The Asian Poker Tour Manila
APT Manila NLH Event
August 20-23, 2011

Resorts World Manila | Philippines
Buy-in: $1,100 | Prizepool: $415,857 | Entries: 396

FINAL RESULTS:
VIC DE GUZMAN 35
JOJO TECH 18
LINH TRAN 10
EMMANUEL SEGISMUNDO 8
SUNNY JUNG 5

EPT BARCELONA: WAVING BYE BYE TO BARCELONA

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

EPT Barcelona was a stunning success! Not only did we have a Main Event with over 800 participants, we have five side events that have qualified for PTPR Points, very strong showing, Barcelona! ... oh, and some big names scored PTPR Points in these side events ... check it out below!


NO LIMIT TURBO BOUNTY EVENT
Belgian Francois Frejdles defeats known player Pierre Neuville heads up in the Turbo Bounty event. Neuville collects his fourth PTPR Score in the process. NicolasYunis earns his second PTPR Score of 2011 while Johnny Lodden also collected points in the event.

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
No Limit Turbo Bounty Event
August 27, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $2,980 | Prizepool : $339,695 | Entries: 119

FINAL RESULTS:
FRANCOIS FREJDLES 75
PIERRE NEUVILLE 40
NICOLAS YUNIS 25
DAHBAK OBOODI 15
DAVID GRIVE MARTIN 10
DAVID GIORSETTI 8
JOHNNY LODDEN 5
MIMAILS MOROZOUS 5
LIVIU CATALINO TODERITA 5


2K NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
Alexander Vaserfirer collects his first PTPR Points of the season by winning the 2K NLH tournament, besting Joseph Ebanks in the process. Ebanks earns his second PTPR Score of the season and now sits with 169. Jonathan Layani, Roberto Romanello, Konstantin Puchkov and Konstantin Tolokno also collect their second PTPR Scores of 2011.

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
2K No Limit Hold'em
August 29, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $3,120 | Prizepool : $654,066 | Entries: 227

FINAL RESULTS:
ALEXANDER VASERFIRER 75
JOSEPH EBANKS 40
JONATHAN LAYANI 25
DMITRY VITKIND 15
ROBERTO ROMANELLO 10
MATHIEU GALLIENNE 8
KONSTANTIN PUCHKOV 5
MICHAEL GRAYDON 5
KONSTANTIN TOLOKNO 5


1K NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
Govert Metaal is back at it! After a little down time, Metaal is back with a win in the 1K NLH event. Metaal collects his fourth PTPR Score of the year. Second place finisher Martin Finger earns his second PTPR Score of the year while Nicolas Yunis is back on the board at EPT Barcelona, his second score of the series. Kirill Zapletin also earns a score in the event.

PTPR PRELIM EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
1K No Limit Hold'em
August 29, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $1,560 | Prizepool : $403,388 | Entries: 280

FINAL RESULTS:
GOVERT METAAL 75
MARTIN FINGER 40
JONI JOUHKIMAINEN 25
LAWRIE INMAN 15
NICOLAS YUNIS 10
DRAGOMIR DIMITROV 8
KIRILL ZAPLETIN 5
MARTIAL BLAGENWITSCH 5
FABIAN KELLER 5


10K NLH WITH ONE RELOAD
Philipp Gruissem survived a strong field to collect the win in the 10K NLH event w/reload. Sami Kelopuro earns his third PTPR Score with his third place finish, Stephen O'Dwyer's fifth score of the year and now has 185 PTPR Points for the year - Leo Fernandez' fouth PTPR Score of the year has him just below the century mark in points while Dominykas Karmazinas was the other notable in the final nine.

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
10K No Limit Hold'em w/Single Reload
August 31, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $14,190 | Prizepool : $965,251 | Entries: 67

FINAL RESULTS:
PHILIPP GRUISSEM 100
JEAN-BAPTISTE TOMI 60
SAMI KELOPURO 35
ANATOLY GURTOVY 25
STEPHEN O'DWYER 18
ARTEM LITVINOV 10
DOMINYKAS KARMAZINAS 8
LEO FERNANDEZ 5


5K NLH 6-MAX TURBO
It's the third PTPR Score of the year - and second of the Barcelona Series - for beloved poker pro Roberto Romanello. Romanello now has 212 PTPR Points for the season and sits a single point outside the PTPR Leaderboard in his chase for 2011 PTPR Tournament Poker Player of the Year.

Frederik Jensen and Jean Thorel both earn their third PTPR Scores of the year. Ditto for Jonathan Layani who scores for the second time at Barcelona. Maksim Kolosov and Dominykas Karmazinas earn their second scores of the year - for Karmazinas, it's his second at Barcelona.

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
5K No Limit Hold'em Six-Max Turbo
September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,095 | Prizepool : $315,000 | Entries: 63

FINAL RESULTS:
ROBERTO ROMANELLO 100
JOAO RIBEIRO 60
GERARD PIQUE 35
MAKSIM KOLOSOV 25
FREDERIK JENSEN 18
JEAN THOREL 10
DOMINYKAS KARMAZINAS 8
JONATHAN LAYANI 5

RELATED:
DESPITE THIRD PLACE FINISH, KATCHALOV NOW #1 ON PTPR CHARTS
EMOTIONAL OVERLOAD: ROMANELLO CAPTURES EPT PRAGUE

Thursday, September 1, 2011

EPT BARCELONA: DESPITE THIRD PLACE FINISH, KATCHALOV NOW #1 ON PTPR CHARTS

PHOTO: POKERSTARSBLOG.com
SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Wow. What a thrilling final table! EPT Barcelona concluded it's Main Event less than an hour ago ... that's right, in the wee hours of the morning. Despite starting play earlier in the afternoon, we could not find a winner early. Once we got to three-handed play, Eugene Katchalov, Dragan Kostic and Martin Schleich were involved in a battle for the ages.

For hours, they traded chips, the chip lead changed on many different occasions, chip stacks went up and down and were traded between the three ... until Eugene Katchalov lost a sizeable amount of chips and, then needed to gamble - and lost - finishing third in the event.

The win goes to German Martin Schleich, who picks up €850,000 in the process. He defeats Dragan Kostic heads up. It was a tough challenge for both players, especially when three-handed play began and they had to face the much more experienced Katchalov.

Now although Katchalov is more than likely disappointed with his third place finish - and the fact that he was not able to become the fifth player to win the Poker Triple Crown - it's not all bad for him. With the 53 PTPR Points accumulated, Katchalov takes over from Ben Lamb as the #1 Ranked Player on the 2011 PTPR Tournament Poker Player of the Year Leaderboard. Katchalov also stands a chance at being ranked #1 on the Global Poker Index, once it releases it's next rankings.

Katchalov picked up his sixth PTPR Score of the season at this event. For 12th place finisher Massimilano Martinez, this was his third PTPR Score of the year, Miikka Anttonen earns his second.

Other notables picking up PTPR Points in the event include: Tomeu Gomila, Saar Wilf, Martin Czuczor, Evgeny Zaystev and Sigurd Eskerlund.

Onto EPT London, which starts later this month.

EPT BARCELONA FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS:
1. Martin Schleich, €850,000
2. Dragan Kostic, €532,000
3. Eugene Katchalov, €315,000
4. Raul Mestre, €244,000
5. Tomeu Gomila, €185,000
6. Saar Wilf, €145,000
7. Juan Manuel Perez, €105,000
8. Isabel Baltazar, €73,000

RELATED:
TONS AT STAKE FOR SHORT STACKED KATCHALOV
THE FINAL 24 IS SET - INCLUDES SOMEONE NAME EUGENE?
CARRUGGI GRABS LEAD LATE, LEADERS BRACE FOR SELBST ATTACK
DARCOURT LEADS, KATCHALOV LURKS AS BIG FIELD INVADES BARCELONA
HOW SWEDE IT IS: 22-YEAR OLD LUNDMARK WINS EPT BARCELONA (2010)


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event
August 27-September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,635 | Prizepool : $5,843,660 | Entries: 811

PTS AT STAKE:
MARTIN SCHLEICH 133
DRAGAN KOSTIC 83
EUGENE KATCHALOV 53
RAUL MESTRE 43
TOMEU GOMILA 38
SAAR WILF 33
JUAN MANUEL PEREZ 33
ISABEL BALTAZAR 18
JOSE MIGUEL ESTEBAN 18
MATTHIAS de MEULDER 18
MARTON CZUCZOR 18
MASSIMILANO MARTINEZ 16
MARCOS FERNANDEZ 16
JAVIER CONTRERAS 16
EVGENY ZAYTSEV 16
MIIKKA ANTTONEN 13
TOME MOREIRA 13
SIGURD ESKELUND 13