MASTER CLASSICS: KHAZARADZE WINS PRELIM AS MAIN EVENT KICKS OFF

The Main Event is underway at the 2012 Master Classics of Poker at the Holland Casino in Amsterdam ... but before the Main Event kicked off, prelim events took center stage earlier this week.

Kakha Khazaradze (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-726th) won the 1,500 NLH Event, earning €106.860 following a deal heads-up.

Two-time winner on the circuit in 2012, Tom Middleton (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 30th) finished third in the event.

Middleton started the season off strong with 1K prelim event wins at the Aussie Millions in January and at the Fallsview Poker Classic in February.

2009 EPT Grand Final winner Pieter de Korver (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR) was sixth in the event while Lithuanian Kristijonas Andrulis (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 136th) was the first player eliminated during final table play.

In other prelims (no POY Points awarded in these events): Dutch poker pro Ruben Visser won the €200 PLO re-buy event, collecting just under 30K EURO for the victory while Michiel Brummelhuis collected 46K EURO by defeating Marcel Luske in the €800 NLH Bounty event.

The 10K High Rollers event has reached final table play as Alexander Roumeliotis leads Igor Kurganov, Govert Metal and five others towards the HR crown ...

High Roller Chip Counts:
Alexander Roumeliotis 150,800
Andrey Demidov 120,600
Igor Kurganov 94,500
Ilkka Koskinen 69,500
Rens Feenstra 64,500
Govert Metal 62,300
Serkan Kurnaz 21,400
Farid Chati 16,400

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FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS (EURO) 1 Kakha Khazaradze € 106.860 2 Richard Milne € 63.705 3 Tom Middleton € 36.579 4 Yori Epskamp € 29.181 5 Denzel van der Ven € 25.071 6 Pieter de Korver € 20.550 7 Jorryt van Hoof € 16.440 8 Robert-Jan Hoogendoorn € 12.330 9 Kristijonas Andrulis € 8.220 RELATED POSTS > BOYACIAN WINS MASTER CLASSICS > MIDDLETON WINS AUSSIE PRELIM

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT MASTER CLASSICS OF POKER NLH €1,500 Event November 3-5, 2012 Holland Casino | Amsterdam Buy-in: $1,915 | Prizepool: $524,720 Entries: 273 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION KAKHA KHAZARADZE 35 RICHARD MILNE 18 TOM MIDDLETON 10 YORI EPSKAMP 8 DENZEL VAN DER VEN 5