EPT CAMPIONE: FINAL TABLE BREAKTHROUGH! 13-HOUR BATTLE EARNS WRANG THE WIN

PICTURE: POKERSTARS

It's finally over in Campione as 4:00AM nears in Italy. It was understood that with tons of chips in play and most players with plenty of big blinds, Saturday's final table play at Casino Campione di Italia could take a while - but this long?

Well, after about 13 hours of play, it's Denmark's Jannick Wrang who earns the EPT Campione title, becoming the third straight Danish player to win a EPT Main Event.

Wrang (2012 PTPR Rank: 10th) was able to outlast two big name pros three-handed in order to secure his first EPT title, doubling his career gains with the win, his first on the tournament circuit in a year.

Olivier Busquet just refused to give up on Saturday. Busquet was up and down on quite a few occasions, in fact, Busquet was all in for his tournament life a few times early, bouncing back each time. Unfortunately for the heads up specialist, he wasn't able to crack Wrang in the end.

This was Busquet's (2012 PTPR Rank: 34th) second PTPR Score of the year; Busquet earned a Top 10 finish at a side event at the PCA at the start of the season.

For Fabrice Soulier, it was a day with a few lucky breaks but the luck ran out late on Saturday. His third place finish will certainly sting but the French pro will certainly be back in the spotlight sometime this year.

Soulier (2012 PTPR Rank: 92nd) earned his first points of 2012.

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EPT CAMPIONE FT PAYOUTS (EURO) Jannick Wrang €640,000 Olivier Busquet €430,000 Fabrice Soulier €240,000 Balazs Botond €157,000 Joen De Visscher €124,000 Mario Nagel €92,000 Stefano Puccilli €71,500 Robin Ylitalo €54,000 RELATED POSTS >> SOULIER, BUSQUET LEAD FT >> BALAZS BOTOND >> ANDREONI LEADS CAMPIONE NEXT TOUR STOP EPT Berlin Speilbank Berlin, Germany April 16-21, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Campione EPT Campione NLH Main Event March 26-31, 2012 Casino di Campione | Italy Buy-in: $7,056 | Prizepool: $3,686,735 Entries: 570 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION JANNICK WRANG 130 OLIVIER BUSQUET 80 FABRICE SOULIER 50 BALAZS BOTOND 40 KOEN DE VISSCHER 35 MARIO NAGEL 30 STEFANO PUCCILLI 30 ROBIN YLITALO 15 SIMEON NAYDENOV 15 DAVID VAMPLEW 15 PASQUALE VINCI 15 YURI KERZHAPKIN 13 ALEXANDRE ANDERMATT 13 GIUSEPPE BIANCOVISO 13 PRIMOZ ADAMIE 13 ALESSANDRO MINASI 10 JEAN-PHILIPPE ROHR 10 PANAGIOTIS GAVRIULIDIS 10

ESPT VALENICA: FINAL TABLE SET AT ESTRELLAS VALENCIA

PICTURE: POKERSTARS

Ruben Gonzalez Porcel is the overnight chip leader as the final table is set at Estrellas Poker Tour's Valencia Main Event.

Gonzalez Porcel will find himself in unfamiliar territory on Sunday. Gonzalez Porcel has one single 5K Euro cash in his live tournament career.

The man who sits in fifth place, Belgian player Frederic Van Der Mersch, scored a fourth place finish at the Belgian Poker Series Namum event back in April of 2011.

FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS
Ruben Gonzalez Porcel, 1,280,000
Miguel Angel Rodriguez Bermudez, 1,044,000
Jaume Niell Alomar, 1,015,000
Mauricio Pazos, 604,000
Frederic Van Der Mersch, 518,000
Jarkko Ilari Mammela, 489,000
Wim Eduard Neys, 425,000
Isaac Chapi Tolosa, 300,000

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FT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st 92,500 2nd 58,900 3rd 32,700 4th 25,650 5th 20,450 6th 16,700 7th 13,000 8th 10,200 RELATED POSTS >> >> TOME WINS ESPT MADRID EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Estrellas Poker Tour Valenica ESPT Valencia NLH Main Event March 28-April 1, 2012 Casino Valencia | Spain Buy-in: $1,465 | Prizepool: $495,345 Entries: 387 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 35 2nd place 18 3rd place 10 4th place 8 5th place 5 NEXT TOUR STOP ESPT Ibiza May 14-20, 2012 Grzegorz Gosk 2012 Rank: NR

JOHN NELSON WINS TRI-STATE POKER CHAMPIONSHIP

The Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana recently hosted it's latest tournament poker series, the Tri-State Poker Championship, and Ohio native John Nelson was crowned Main Event Champion.

By winning the TSPC, Nelson (2012 PTPR Rank: T-138th) has collected his first PTPR Points of the 2012 season, along with his 81K paycheck.


Although this is his largest single-event score, Nelson is no stranger to scooping up big wins on the poker circuit - Nelson collected a little over 100K back in November-December, collected a first and a second place finish at two prelim events at the 2011 Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas.

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) John Nelson $81,353 Cosby Daniels $50,307 Chris McFarlane $33,372 Nicholas Guagenti $23,576 Steve Russell $17,765 Edgar Smith $14,112 John Stephenson $11,954 Richard Jentzsch $10,626 Douglas Mackinnon $9,497 Jeffrey Russell $6,475

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Tri State Poker Championship NLH Main Event March 24-25, 2012 Hollywood Casino | Indiana Buy-in: $1,600 | Prizepool: $332,050 Entries: 229 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION JOHN NELSON 35 COSBY DANIELS 18 CHRIS MCFARLANE 10 NICHOLAS GUAGENTI 8 STEVE RUSSELL 5

EPT CAMPIONE: OOH LA LA - SOULIER, BUSQUET LEAD AS FT PLAY IS UNDERWAY

PICTURE: POKERSTARS

Final Table Play is underway in Campione and soon we will find out who our latest Champion will be on the European Poker Tour.

EPT Campione's final table is headlined by two men with French names - only one is actually French - as star players Fabrice Soulier and Olivier Busquet hope to secure their first Main Event title on the EPT.

Soulier's (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) poker career is illustrious for sure. He's spent over 10 years on the circuit and secured his first WSOP bracelet this past summer, winning the 10K H.O.R.S.E. Championship. Soulier is chip leader and it doesn't seem as if he any plans to give it away.

For Busquet, it's been a crazy twelve months. The man who makes - for the most part - his living playing online poker in New York City, had to relocate to Canada in order to continue the on line grind.

Busquet (2012 PTPR Rank: 620th) has also continued his trek on the live tournament poker circuit and has been doing well for himself. Busquet won the Borgata Poker Open back in 2009.

Jannick Wrang, Balazs Botond, Koen De Visscher, Stefano Puccilli, Mario Nagel and Robin Ylitalo will all be collecting their first PTPR Scores of 2012.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1. Olivier Busquet, USA, 3,011,000
Seat 2. Koen De Visscher, Belgium, 1,856,000
Seat 3. Mario Nagel, Germany, 1,210,000
Seat 4. Stefano Puccilli, Italy, 1,450,000
Seat 5. Jannick Wrang, Denmark, 2,882,000
Seat 6. Fabrice Soulier, France, 3,480,000
Seat 7. Balazs Botond, Hungary, 2,080,000
Seat 8. Robin Ylitalo, Sweden, 1,153,000

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EPT CAMPIONE FT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1. €640,000 2. €430,000 3. €240,000 4. €157,000 5. €124,000 6. €92,000 7. €71,500 8. €54,000 "LIVE" EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS TV NEXT TOUR STOP EPT Berlin Speilbank Berlin, Germany April 16-21, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Campione EPT Campione NLH Main Event March 26-31, 2012 Casino di Campione | Italy Buy-in: $7,056 | Prizepool: $3,686,735 Entries: 570 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 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

EPT CAMPIONE: BALAZS BOTOND, THAT IS ALL

Balazs Botond - what a great name to see at the top of the leaderboard! Hungarian-born Botond will indeed bring the biggest amount of chips to the table when Day 3 play at EPT Campione begins Thursday.

Although he has live tournament experience, Botond (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) does find himself in somewhat unfamiliar territory. We'll have to wait on Thursday to see if Botond can keep his momentum.

2011 EPT Tallin winner Ronnie Kaiser (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) is second in chips, Kaiser is almost 150K in chips behind the chip leader.

A few other big names have Top 10 stacks as Day 3 looms ... 2010 EPT London Champion David Vamplew (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) sits fourth, 2009 WPT Borgata Open winner Olivier Busquet (2012 PTPR Rank: 620th) is seventh and former EPT Prague and WPT Bratislava champ Roberto Romanello (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) is currently in 8th position.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS
Balazs Botond 646000
Ronny Kaiser 506500
David Vamplew 412900
Olivier Busquet 353100
Roberto Romanello 331000
Liv Boeree 300900
Nicolas Chouity 257000 (Day 1B Chip Leader)
Matt Kay 231900
Per Linde 199600
Jean-Philippe Rohr 178000
Davide Andreoni 177100 (Day 1A Chip Leader)
Rupert Elder 161600 0
Martin Finger 131000
Fabrice Soulier 120500
Todd Terry 117500
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier 113500
Bryan Piccioli 101500
Nick Yunis 99400
Tobias Reinkemeier 95500

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EPT CAMPIONE PAYOUTS (EURO) 1. €640,000 2. €430,000 3. €240,000 4. €157,000 5. €124,000 6. €92,000 7. €71,500 8. €54,000 9-10. €41,000 11-12. €30,000 13-14. €25,000 15-16. €20,000 17-24. €15,000 25-32. €13,000 33-48. €11,000 49-64. €9,000 65-88. €7,500 EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR PREMIER EVENT PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Campione EPT Campione NLH Main Event March 26-31, 2012 Casino di Campione | Italy Buy-in: $7,056 | Prizepool: $3,686,735 Entries: 570 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 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 NEXT TOUR STOP EPT Berlin Speilbank Berlin, Germany April 16-21, 2012

WSOPC RINCON: KUETHER WINS RINCON, FREEDY DEEB FOURTH

Wisconsin's Joe Kuether has collected the Main Event victory at WSOP Circuit Rincon. A total of 332 players played in the Main Event.

Kuether (2012 PTPR Rank: 138th) picks up an impressive ninth tournament cash in the past two months - just under 200K in winnings. Kuether also collected a cash at the WSOP this past summer.

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino champ Freddy Deeb - a man that needs no introduction - finished fourth in this Circuit event. Deeb (2012 PTPR Rank: 138th) has over 7.8 million dollars in career live tournament earnings.

Side event winner Brandon Cantu (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) finished 11th in the event while Eric Baldwin (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) was 16th.

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) 1st Joe Kuether $111,104 2nd Christopher Cronin $68,686 3rd Ryan Gentry $50,108 4th Kassem Deeb $37,167 5th David Funkhouser $28,998 6th Leroy Spires $21,414 7th Christopher Bratene $16,617 8th Stephen Plache $13,081 9th Ryan Buckholtz $10,444 10th Raymond Dandrea $8,449 NEXT TOUR STOP WSOPC Council Bluffs March 29-10, 2012

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT World Series of Poker Circuit Rincon WSOPC Rincon NLH Main Event March 24-26, 2012 Harrah's Rincon | California Buy-in: $1,600 | Prizepool: $483,060 Entries: 332 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION JOSEPH KUETHER 35 CHRISTOPHER CRONIN 18 RYAN GENTRY 10 FREDDY DEEB 8 DAVID FUNKHOUSER 5

@PTPRPOKER IN THE MEDIA! - THU MAR 29 POKER EH! PREVIEW

PICTURE: QUADJACKS










Poker EH! Canadian Poker Radio Preview | QuadJacks Poker Radio Network Thursday March 29 2012
We turn the tables on our friend and co-host Evhero, the man will switch from interviewer to interviewee and we dissect and discuss his latest revelation - that he will abandon his popular YouTube Channel for the time being, in order to focus more on his poker game.

Also, Jon Harnish will be back to talk about big buy-in events coming to a Canadian casino near you!

@PTPRPOKER IN THE MEDIA! - POKER EH! WITH LAURENCE GRONDIN AND JON HARNISH

PICTURE: POKERNEWS










Poker EH! Canadian Poker Radio feat Laurence Grondin and Jon Harnish | QuadJacks Poker Radio Network Thursday March 22 2012

EspaceJeux poker pro Laurence Grondin Joined Poker Eh! to talk about her recent 135K score, her performance at the WSOP and in the 2010 Big Game. Lady Luck also discusses her love for tennis, animals and what’s coming up for the Quebec pro.

Picture this. You’re at your local health club, get back to the change room and you come to find that someone stole your winter jacket! Pretty tough beat. Two days later, you decide to skip a friend’s birthday party because you have an early wake-up call the next morning. You decide to log into your favorite online site and play a little cash game poker. What if I told you that you hit quad queens? Your opponent has quad jacks and you win your share of a 500K Bad Beat Jackpot???

Well, our guest on Poker Eh, EspaceJeux Poker Pro Laurence Grondin, did just that – collecting a 135K score – not bad for a quiet Friday night!

Grondin has been a tremendous poker ambassador to the French Canadian community for a few years now. Her work with EspaceJeux, with French 24 hour all-sports channel RDS and her work in the community (helping with a local animal shelter many times a week) and her realizing the importance of her actions and how she is perceived in society prove that the provincial government’s lottery corporation Loto-Quebec (who runs EspaceJeux) made the right decision in picking Laurence as their rep.

The Criminology major shares her thoughts on her performance at the 2009 WSOP where she collected a third place finish in a 2K side event and at the 2010 Big Game.

Laurence will be playing in two upcoming tournaments at the Casino du Lac-Leamy, one fun celebrity tournament in April and another – the 2012 Grand Tournoi de Poker de Loto-Quebec – where one player will qualify for the 1 million dollar buy-in One Drop Event at the World Series of Poker. Laurence will be one of many players participating in the one of the most prestigious poker tournament in Canada’s poker history.

Can you hear me now?

Our expert in all things poker in Canada, Jon Harnish, joined us to discuss the current on-goings in poker and the major events coming up as the World Series of Poker approaches.

Unfortunately, we were having phone issues with Jon and were unable to have a full report. We hope to have Jon back next week to dive right into what’s on the horizon in Canadian poker as well as a few other fun things!

@PTPRPOKER IN THE MEDIA! - QUADJACKS POKER PLAYER OF THE YEAR WEEK IN REVIEW

QUADJACKS PLAYER OF THE YEAR WEEK IN REVIEW
FPS Evian, LAPT Chile, WPT National Paris and ANZPT Sydney highlight this week's action on the tournament poker circuit.

WPT NATIONAL SERIES/PARIS OPEN OF POKER

Gregory Benac had to endure the wrath of a few big name pros in the final five on way to his WPT National Series/Paris Open of Poker victory. Benac defeated the likes of EPT London side event winner Shinya Shimada, French poker pro Antoine Saout and Euro Finals of Poker Silver Event Champion Franck Boyer on way to his first title.

FULL RECAP


ANZPT SYDNEY

Gordon Huntley wasn't the man who most had selected as the favourite heading into final day play but he refused to go away, eventually picking up his first tournament win on the circuit, winning the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour's Sydney Main Event.

Most thought that the title was Aussie Millions Champino Oliver Speidel's to lose. Speidel entered final day play second in chips. He finished seventh in the event.

FULL RECAP


FRANCE POKER SERIES SNOWFEST EVIAN

We may have found our next poker prodigy! 18-year old Veronika Pavlikova won the France Poker Series Snowfest Evian Main Event in the French Alpes.

Pavlikova ran through the competition once final table play started.


2010 WPT Bucharest Champ Guillaume Darcourt was fourth in the event while EPT Deauville side event champ Matthias De Meulder finished ninth.

FULL RECAP

Meanwhile, Albert Bernardo won over 35 thousand Euro in the High Rollers event. Thierry Fardel was second and ElkY, Bertrand Grospellier finished third in the event.


LAPT CHILE

Aliro Diaz is the latest winner on the Latin American Poker Tour - earning the victory at LAPT Chile in Vina del Mar. Diaz disposed of his heads up opponent in seven hands.

It was a disappointing day for overnight chip leader Sergio Escobar. Escobar wasn't able to get things going on Sunday, finally bowing out in sixth position

FULL RECAP

EPT CAMPIONE: ANDREONI LEADS, FORMER GRAND FINAL CHAMP CHOUITY THIRD

PICTURE: POKERSTARS

Day 1 in the books at the inaugural edition of PokerStars.com EPT Campione, Italy, located on Lake Lugano, next to the Swiss border.

Italian Davide Andreoni - who chose to play on Day 1A - is the overall chip leader as we enter Day 2 play on Wednesday. Andreoni has but one known live tournament cash in his career, we'll have to see of he can bank on beginner's luck and keep things going on Wednesday.

2010 EPT Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity is third overall in chips. The Lebanese pro enjoyed a deep run during a 1.5K NLH buy-in event at the WSOP last summer, Chouity finished sixth in the event - Andre Akkari ended up winning the bracelet.

It's a top 20 chip stack for French favourite Fabrice Soulier. Unlike Chouity, Soulier was able to take care of business and collected his first bracelet at the WSOP last summer.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS (+50K)
Davide Andreoni 175,100 (Day 1A Chip Leader)
Nick Yunis 169,200
Nicolas Chouity 165,800 (Day 1B Chip Leader)
Andrey Gulyy 138,000
Fabrice Soulier 115,700
Bryan Piccioli 112,900
Mihai Manole 110,300
Matt Kay 101,200
David Vamplew 100,100
Irene Baroni 97,800
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier 90,200
Alessio Isaia 74,200
Matthias De Meulder 73,200
Ronny Kaiser 69,600
Michael Schurpf 68,600
Per Linde 67,200
Jeffrey Rossiter 65,500
Chris Moorman 64,400
Tobias Reinkemeier 62,500
Eugene Katchalov 59,800
David Peters 56,500
Faraz Jaka 54,300
Oleksii Kovalchuk 53,800
Jean-Philippe Rohr 53,300
Raoul Refos 53,200
Todd Terry 51,200
Victor Ramdin 50,800
Roberto Romanello 50,800

Alex Kravchenko, Luca Pagano, Liv Boeree (pictured), Arnaud Mattern and Fatima Moreira de Melo are other notables still alive at Campione.

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EPT CAMPIONE PAYOUTS (EURO) 1. €640,000 2. €430,000 3. €240,000 4. €157,000 5. €124,000 6. €92,000 7. €71,500 8. €54,000 9-10. €41,000 11-12. €30,000 13-14. €25,000 15-16. €20,000 17-24. €15,000 25-32. €13,000 33-48. €11,000 49-64. €9,000 65-88. €7,500 EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR PREMIER EVENT PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Campione EPT Campione NLH Main Event March 26-31, 2012 Casino di Campione | Italy Buy-in: $7,056 | Prizepool: $3,686,735 Entries: 570 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 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 NEXT TOUR STOP EPT Berlin Speilbank Berlin, Germany April 16-21, 2012

BAB2012: COELHO CONTINUES SWEET 14-MONTH RUN, WINS AT THE BEACH

PICTURE: ISLE POKER BLOG

Vitor Coelho has been making a bit of collecting nice sums of money at poker tournaments for the past 14 months.

In 2012, Coehlo earned three cashes at WPT Main Events. He picked up a top-ten finish in all of them ... 10th WPT Southern, 4th WPT Jacksonville, 6th WPT Five Diamond.

Although things started a tad bit slow for Coelho in 2012, he sure made up for lost time in the past week.

Coelho (2012 PTPR Rank: 137th) followed up a 40K score - winning Event 12 NLH 6-Max - with the win in the Main Event earlier today at the Isle Pompano Park's Battles at the Beach. Coelho earns over 115K for the win.

Raj Vohra earned his second PTPR Score of 2012, finishing fourth in the event. Vohra
(2012 PTPR Rank: 271st) finished 15th at WPT Lucky Hearts earlier this season.

Darryll Fish, Alex Outhred and Mike Beasley all finished in the Top 10.

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) Vitor Coelho – $115,336 Joe Johnson – $106,188 Jason Popkin – $80,976 Raj Vohra – $40,500 Kory Kilpatrick – $31,250 Darryll Fish – $23,750 Alex Outhred – $18,500 Alex Moore – $13,750 Mike Beasley – $9,750 Mark Shoichet – $7,750 EVENT COVERAGE >> ISLE POKER BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Battles at the Beach NLH Main Event March 23-26, 2012 Isle Casino Pompano Park | Florida Buy-in: $3,300 | Prizepool: $500,000 Entries: 164 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION VITOR COELHO 35 JOE JOHNSON 18 JASON POPKIN 10 RAJ VOHRA 8 KORY KILPATRICK 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Anthony Spinella 2012 Rank: NR

BAB2012: POKER JOE MASSIVE CHIP LEADER HEADING INTO FINAL DAY PLAY AT POMPANO PARK

Are you ready to battle ... at the beach? That's right folks, it's another thrilling edition of the Isle Casino's Battles at the Beach poker series at Pompano Park.

Anthony Spinella won the event last season but we will be crowning a new champ later today as the Final 15 players make their way back to Pompano.

"Poker Joe" Johnson is the overnight chip leader. Johnson went on a sick run late in the day (once the money bubble burst) in order to take a commanding chip lead heading into Monday's final day play.

The man who held the lead for most of the day Sunday, the king of twitter, Alex Outhred, suffered a few late hits and will need to pickup chips in early in order to get back into contention.

Always a threat in Florida poker tournaments, Darryll Fish enters final day play third in chips, yet, his stack is three times smaller than the one our chip leader has.

Mike Beasley battled and battled on Sunday - he was on life support at one point - the fact that he actually cashed in the event is a great accomplishment. Beasley has nothing to lose on Monday and shouldn't be overlooked as a possible contender.

FINAL 15 CHIP COUNTS
Joe Johnson 1,900,000
Mark Shoichet 750,000
Darryl Fish 640,000
Kory Kilpatrick 394,000
Alex Moore 306,000
TK Miles 275,000
Jason Popkin 274,000
Alex Outhred 254,000
Craig Bagon 180,000
Brian Hawkins 178,000
Mohammed Jaafar 157,000
Mike Beasley 145,000
Vitor Coehlo 136,000
Raj Vahro 110,000
Mukul Pahuja 103,000

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) 1st – $155,000 2nd – $90,000 3rd – $57,500 4th – $40,500 5th – $31,250 6th – $23,750 7th – $18,500 8th – $13,750 9th – $9,750 10th – $7,750 EVENT COVERAGE >> ISLE POKER BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Battles at the Beach NLH Main Event March 23-26, 2012 Isle Casino Pompano Park | Florida Buy-in: $3,300 | Prizepool: $500,000 Entries: 164 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 35 2nd place 18 3rd place 10 4th place 8 5th place 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Anthony Spinella

LAPT CHILE: CHIP LEADER ESCOBAR OUT EARLY AS DIAZ WINS TITLE

PICTURE: POKERSTARS


Aliro Diaz is the latest winner on the Latin American Poker Tour - earning the victory at LAPT Chile in Vina del Mar. Diaz (2012 PTPR Rank: 137th) had a mid-chip stack at the start of final table play but he refused to go away without a fight.

Once heads up, Diaz disposed of his opponent in seven hands. Diaz told Pokernews that he felt he had played the best tournament of his life, well, it was certainly the most lucrative, that's for sure!

It was a disappointing day for overnight chip leader Sergio Escobar. Escobar wasn't able to get things going on Sunday, finally bowing out in sixth position, failing to pickup any PTPR Points along the way.

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) 1st Aliro Diaz $76,560 2nd Leonardo $66,000 3rd Jaoa Lopes $58,000 4th Felipe Velasquez $74,000 5th Javier Venegas $50,000 6th Sergio Escobar $47,000 7th Halysson Sala $17,470 8th Nicholas Batt $13,040 The final six agreed to a deal RELATED POSTS >> TITLE ON THE LINE IN CHILE >> HORNO LEADS ON DAY 3 >> LAPT GRAND FINAL >> 2011 LAPT CHILE EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Latin American Poker Tour Chile LAPT Chile National Championship March 21-25, 2012 Enjoy Casino & Resort | Chile Buy-in: $1,100 | Prizepool: $651,840 Entries: 651 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION ALIRO DIAZ 35 LEONARDO OLIVARES 18 JOAO LOPES 10 FELIPE VELASQUEZ 8 JAVIER VENEGAS 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Murilo Thiago Figueredo 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT LAPT Uruguay Mantra Resort, Spa & Casino May 23-27, 2012

FPS SNOWFEST: POKER PRODIGY? 18-YEAR OLD PAVLIKOVA WINS EVIAN SNOWFEST

PICTURE: POKER52.fr

We may have found our next poker prodigy! This one hails from the Czech Republic and she has just won the France Poker Series Snowfest Evian Main Event in the French Alpes.

Veronika Pavlikova (2012 PTPR Rank: 137th) sure picked a good time to make her first big live tournament presence. She ran through the competition once final table play started and plans playing more France Poker Series events in the future. For now, she will return to playing online.

French pro Guillaume Darcourt (2012 PTPR Rank: 514th) managed to finish fourth in the event and picks up his first PTPR Points of the season. Darcourt won WPT Bucharest in 2010 and finished 35th at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Belgian pro Matthias De Meulder (2012 PTPR Rank: 47th) was ninth in the event. De Meulder won a prelim event at EPT Deauville last month.

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (EURO) 1- Veronika Pavlikova 70.000€ 2- Ludovic Marguerat 45.500€ 3- Serge Didisheim 27.500€ 4- Guillaume Darcourt 21.160€ 5- Gregory Raffelli 16.000€ 6- Damien Denis 12.000€ 7-Gilles Mellet 8500€ 8- Morgan Franz 6000€ 9- Matthias De Meulder 4200€ 10- Thibaud Guenegou 4200€ RELATED POSTS >> DARCOURT, DE MEULDER CONTEND >> DE MEULDER WINS DE TURBO EVENT COVERAGE >> POKER52.fr (FRENCH)

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT France Poker Series Evian Snowfest FPS Evian Snowfest NLH Main Event March 22-25, 2012 Quai Baron de Blonay | France Buy-in: $1,460 | Prizepool: $376,910 Entries: 296 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION VERONIKA PAVLIKOVA 35 LUDOVIC MARGUERAT 18 SERGE DIDISHEIM 10 GUILLAUME DARCOUT 8 GREGORY RAFFALLI 5 NEXT LIVE EVENT FPS Amneville Casino d'Amneville May 10-13, 2012

ANZPT SYDNEY: HUNTLEY WINS BIG DOWN UNDER, SPEIDEL MISSES OPPORTUNITY

PICTURE:POKERSTARS

Gordon Huntley is the latest Champion on the Australian New Zealand Poker Tour.

Huntley (2012 PTPR Rank: 137th) wasn't the man who most had selected as the favourite heading into final day play but he refused to go away, eventually picking up his first tournament win on the circuit.

The man who Huntley defeated heads up, Liam O'Rourke, carried a monster chip lead as final table play began but eventually had to settle for second.


The one who most had selected as the one to watch on Sunday wasn't able to live up to his name. Oliver Speidel was second in chips as Sunday play started and most believed that Speidel would eventually take the title.

Sadly, Speidel (2012 PTPR Rank: 7th) - the reigning Aussie Millions champion - wasn't able to do better than 7th, and wasn't able to add to his PTPR Points total for 2012. A win and Speidel would have move to #3 on the 2012 QuadJacks Poker Player of the Year race.

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FT PAYOUTS (AUD) Gordon Huntly 226,812 Liam O'Rourke 144,754 Anthony Aston 80,214 Stewart Ballard 62,696 Jason O'Brien 48,405 Oliver Speidel 39,185 Craig Blight 29,965 Bradley Lancken 23,511 Martin Rowe 17,518 RELATED POSTS >> SPEIDEL LOOKS FOR AUS x2 >> 2011 ANZPT MELBOURNE >> SPEIDEL WINS AUS MILLIONS EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG DEFENDING CHAMPION Michael Kanaan 2012 Rank: NR

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney ANZPT Sydney NLH Main Event March 22-25, 2012 The Star Casino | Sydney Buy-in: $2,300 | Prizepool: $964,410 Entries: 461 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION GORDON HUNTLEY 35 LIAM O'ROURKE 18 ANTHONY ASTON 10 STEWART BALLARD 8 JASON O'BRIEN 5 NEXT LIVE EVENT ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest SKYCITY Queenstown July 24-29, 2012 2011: Marcel Schreiner

FRANCE POKER SERIES SNOWFEST EVIAN LIVE COVERAGE

You can watch live final day coverage of the France Poker Series Snowfest Evian Main Event on PokerStarsLive.fr or by clicking on the link below ... NOTE: Coverage is in French, the video coverage is A+ with plenty of cameras on site.

LIVE FEED
>> POKERSTARS LIVE COVERAGE (French)

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TOP 13 PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st 70,000 2nd 43,500 3rd 27,500 4th 21,160 5th 16,000 6th 12,000 7th 8,500 8th 6,000 9-10th 4,200 11-12th 3,350 13th 2,750 RELATED POSTS >> DARCOURT, DE MEULDER IN CONTENTION AT EVIAN >> DE MEULDER WINS DE TURBO

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT France Poker Series Evian Snowfest FPS Evian Snowfest NLH Main Event March 22-25, 2012 Quai Baron de Blonay | France Buy-in: $1,460 | Prizepool: $376,910 Entries: 296 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 NEXT LIVE EVENT FPS Amneville Casino d'Amneville May 10-13, 2012

FPS EVIAN: DARCOURT, DE MEULDER IN CONTENTION AT EVIAN SNOWFEST

The France Poker Series has made it's way to the French Alpes for the series' inaugural FPS Evian Snowfest!

We have reached final day play in Evian and two name players are in the hunt, sitting in the middle of the final 13 pack as we will resume Sunday.

WSOP standout Guillaume Darcourt (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) and EPT Deauville side event winner Matthias De Meulder (2012 PTPR Rank: 47th) are both a double-up away from taking control of Snowfest - it should make for an interesting Sunday in the French Alpes.

Gilles Mellet has the chip lead while Thibaud Guenegou - who finished third at WPT Amneville last season - sits 10th in chips.

FINAL DAY CHIP COUNTS
Gilles Mellet 1,02M
Morgane Franz 1,011M
Ludovic Marguerat 837k
Vincent Rey 690k
Gregory Raffalli 628k
Guillaume Darcourt 577k
Matthias De Meulder 542k
Veronika Pavlikova 530k
Serge Didisheim 424k
Thibaud Guenegou 422k
Damien Denis 379k
Amine Chadli 154k
Marilena D’Amico 12k

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TOP 13 PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st 70,000 2nd 43,500 3rd 27,500 4th 21,160 5th 16,000 6th 12,000 7th 8,500 8th 6,000 9-10th 4,200 11-12th 3,350 13th 2,750 RELATED POSTS >> DE MEULDER WINS DE TURBO EVENT COVERAGE >> POKER52.fr (FRENCH)

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT France Poker Series Evian Snowfest FPS Evian Snowfest NLH Main Event March 22-25, 2012 Quai Baron de Blonay | France Buy-in: $1,460 | Prizepool: $376,910 Entries: 296 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 NEXT LIVE EVENT FPS Amneville Casino d'Amneville May 10-13, 2012

LAPT CHILE: TITLE ON THE LINE AS FINAL TABLE IS SET IN CHILE

PICTURE: POKERNEWS

We have reached final table play at LAPT Chile; we will be crowning a new champion when all is said and done on Sunday.

All final table participants are chasing their first PTPR Scores of the season, only the Top 5 will collect points.


Colombian Sergio Escobar holds a minuscule 5K chip lead on second place Felipe Velasquez of Chile.

It was certainly a tough day for Daniela Horno, who entered Saturday's play with the chip lead. Horno, who qualified for the final table at LAPT Chile last season, lost the chip lead fairly early today and was finally eliminated, finishing 17th overall.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1: Nicholas Batt 1,470,000
Seat 2: Javier Venegas 855,000
Seat 3: Halysson Sala 660,000
Seat 4: Sergio Escobar 1,845,000
Seat 5: João Lopes 755,000
Seat 6: Leandro Olivares 1,100,000
Seat 7: Felipe Velasquez 1,840,000
Seat 8: Aliro Diaz 1,235,000

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) 1st-$ 129.470 2nd-$ 84.090 3rd-$ 58.010 4th-$ 43.540 5th-$ 32.460 6th-$ 23.990 7th-$ 17.470 8th-$ 13.040 9th-$ 10.690 10th-$ 9.130 RELATED POSTS >> HORNO LEADS ON DAY 3 >> LAPT GRAND FINAL >> 2011 LAPT CHILE EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Latin American Poker Tour Chile LAPT Chile National Championship March 21-25, 2012 Enjoy Casino & Resort | Chile Buy-in: $1,100 | Prizepool: $651,840 Entries: 651 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Murilo Thiago Figueredo 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT LAPT Uruguay Mantra Resort, Spa & Casino May 23-27, 2012

WPT NTL' PARIS: SPOILER ALERT! LOCAL BENAC BEATS THE FAVORITES

Gregory Benac wins the World Poker Tour National Series - Paris Open of Poker Main Event in impressive fashion.

Benac (2012 PTPR Rank: 137th) had to endure the wrath of a few big name pros in the final five in order to win the event. Poker52.fr reports that Benac, a 15-year Aviation Club de France member - was playing in only his second poker tournament. The fact that he's been playing at the ACF for 15 years certainly compensates for his lack of tournament play.

Benac defeated Shinya Shimada heads up. Shimada (2012 PTPR Rank: 266th) won a prelim event at EPT London late last season. Shimada held the chip lead when final table play began earlier today.

Antoine Saout (2012 PTPR Rank: 415th) and defending Euro Finals of Poker Silver Champion Franck Boyer (2012 PTPR Rank: 103rd) both finished in the Top 5 although we're certain that neither will be happy with that result.

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WPT NTL PARIS FT PAYOUTS (EURO) Gregory Benac – 100 070 euros* Shinya Shimada – 66 845 euros Antoine Saout – 51 420 euros Jeremy Nock – 38 565 euros Franck Boyer – 30 870 euros Philippe Abdoul – 25 720 euros Antoine Valantin – 20565 euros Yann Detychey – 15 425 euros *Includes Grand Prix de Paris Entry RELATED POSTS >> SHIMADA ON FT CHARGE >> PLAY UNDERWAY AT ACF >> SHIMADA AT EPT LDN >> BOYER WINS EFOP SILVER >> NIKITINA WINS WPT NTL PARIS >> O'DWYER WINS WPT NTL DENMARK >> LENTIN WINS WPT MAURITIUS EVENT COVERAGE SOURCE: POKER52.fr Updates in French

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT World Poker Tour National Paris WPT National Paris NLH Main Event March 17-24, 2012 Aviation Club de France | Paris Buy-in: $2,185 | Prizepool: $690,625 Entries: 370 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION GREGORY BENAC 35 SHINYA SHIMADA 18 ANTOINE SAOUT 10 JEREMY NOCK 8 FRANCK BOYER 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Natalia Nikitina 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT WPT National Marbella Casino Marbella, Spain April 20-24, 2012

ANZPT SYDNEY: AUSSIE MILLIONS CHAMP SPEIDEL LOOKING FOR AUS DOUBLE

First Melbourne and now Sydney. Defending Aussie Millions Champion Oliver Speidel is looking to continue his success in Australia, sitting second in chips as we head to final day play at ANZPT Sydney at the Star City Casino.


Speidel (2012 PTPR Rank: 7th) also enjoyed a side event score at Aussie Millions to go with his Main Event victory back in January.

Speidel's stack is still a few hundred thousand short of chip leader Nicholas Heather. Heather (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) enters final day play with 953K chips to Speidel's 797K stack.

Jim Collopy - who, like Speidel, earned a score at a Aussie Millions side event in Janaury - has the third biggest chip stack. Collopy (2012 PTPR Rank: 499th) finished sixth in the 1K NLH rebuy event at the Aussie.

We're playing down to a champion on Sunday.

TOP 10 CHIP STACKS
Nicholas Heather 953,500
Oliver Speidel 797,000
Jim Collopy 638,500
Alec Smith 572,000
Liam O'rourke 495,000
Sam Capra 440,000
Mishel Anunu 434,500
Jason Pritchard 381,000
Gordon Huntly 380,500
Laurence Hall 358,000

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (AUD) 1st 226,812 2nd 144,754 3rd 80,214 4th 62,696 5th 48,405 6th 39,185 7th 29,965 8th 23,511 9th 17,518 10th 11,525 RELATED POSTS >> 2011 ANZPT MELBOURNE >> SPEIDEL WINS AUS MILLIONS EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG DEFENDING CHAMPION Michael Kanaan 2012 Rank: NR

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney ANZPT Sydney NLH Main Event March 22-25, 2012 The Star Casino | Sydney Buy-in: $2,300 | Prizepool: $964,410 Entries: 461 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 NEXT LIVE EVENT ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest SKYCITY Queenstown July 24-29, 2012 2011: Marcel Schreiner

LAPT CHILE: DAY 3 PLAY UNDERWAY AS HORNO LEADS FINAL 27

SOURCE: POKERSTARS

Day 3 play has already begun at LAPT Chile in Vina del Mar and a lady leads the way.

Daniela Horno, who final tabled this event last year, held the top chip stack as Saturday's play began.

We're down the 27 players in Chile. Stay tuned to the PokerStars blog for event coverage.




TOP 10 CHIP STACKS - START OF DAY 3
Daniela Horno 761,000
Yacin Vasquez D 602,000
Javier Venegas 594,000
Aliro Gonzalo Diaz Gajarro 531,000
Rene Manzano 478,000
Leonardo Olivares 469,000
Nicholas Bradley Batt 445,000
Waldermar Barrientos Campos 428,000
Luis Montaño Rodriguez 388,000
Halysson Bobic Sala 384,000

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) 1st-$ 129.470 2nd-$ 84.090 3rd-$ 58.010 4th-$ 43.540 5th-$ 32.460 6th-$ 23.990 7th-$ 17.470 8th-$ 13.040 9th-$ 10.690 10th-$ 9.130 RELATED POSTS >> LAPT GRAND FINAL >> 2011 LAPT CHILE EVENT COVERAGE >> POKERSTARS BLOG

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Latin American Poker Tour Chile LAPT Chile National Championship March 21-25, 2012 Enjoy Casino & Resort | Chile Buy-in: $1,100 | Prizepool: $651,840 Entries: 651 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Murilo Thiago Figueredo 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT LAPT Uruguay Mantra Resort, Spa & Casino May 23-27, 2012

WPT NTL PARIS: SHIMADA ON FINAL TABLE CHARGE AT THE AVIATION CLUB

SOURCE: POKER52.fr (IN FRENCH)

While many of the top poker players in France make their way to the France Poker Series' SnowFest in Evian, eight players will be coming back to the Aviation Club de France in Paris on Saturday, to play down to a Champion at the WPT National Paris - Paris Open of Poker Main Event.

And while popular pro Davidi Kitai was the unfortunate final table bubble player, it's Japan's Shinya Shimada who holds the chip lead heading into Saturday's play.

Shimada (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) won a prelim event at EPT London in October.

French veteran Antoine Saout enters final table play second in chips while fellow Frenchman - Euro Finals of Poker Silver Championship winner Franck Boyer (2012 PTPR Rank: 136th) - is one of the short stacks at the table.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1 – Shinya Shimada : 2,75M
Seat 2 – Jeremy Nock : 655K
Seat 3 – Franck Boyer : 680K
Seat 4 – Antoine Valantin : 1,26M
Seat 5 – Gregory Benac : 1,26M
Seat 6 – Antoine Saout : 2,085M
Seat 7 – Yann Detychey : 960K
Seat 8 – Philippe Abdoul : 1,55M

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WPT NTL PARIS FT PAYOUTS (EURO) Winner – 100 070 euros* Runner Up – 66 845 euros 3rd – 51 420 euros 4th – 38 565 euros 5th – 30 870 euros 6th – 25 720 euros 7th – 20565 euros 8th – 15 425 euros *Includes Grand Prix de Paris Entry RELATED POSTS >> PLAY UNDERWAY AT ACF >> SHIMADA AT EPT LDN >> BOYER WINS EFOP SILVER >> NIKITINA WINS WPT NTL PARIS >> O'DWYER WINS WPT NTL DENMARK >> LENTIN WINS WPT MAURITIUS EVENT COVERAGE SOURCE: POKER52.fr Updates in French

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT World Poker Tour National Paris WPT National Paris NLH Main Event March 17-24, 2012 Aviation Club de France | Paris Buy-in: $2,185 | Prizepool: $690,625 Entries: 370 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Natalia Nikitina 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT WPT National Marbella Casino Marbella, Spain April 20-24, 2012

LAURENCE GRONDIN - THIS WEEK ON POKER EH!

Firstly, join me on PKRGSSP on QuadJacks tonight (Tuesday) at 11PM ET, 8PM PT - chatting to GSSP about the ongoings on the live tournament circuit.

Check out the videos below (both English and French) to find out what's on tap this week on Poker Eh! - Thursday at 9PM ET, 6PM PT on the QuadJacks network!

@PTPRPOKER IN THE MEDIA!

PKRGSSP ON QUADJACKS.COM
Last Tuesday, I was on with @PKRGSSP on QuadJacks.com talking about the week that was on the live tournament circuit. Jack Effel, Steve Preiss and Collin Moshman also joined GSSP - I'm right off the top of the show...

POKER EH! ON QUADJACKS.COM
Stuart Hoegner and Paul Burns talk about the recent developments at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation while Quebec pro Pascal Lefrancois talks poker, partying and about going topless after his WSOP bracelet win oh and Evhero goes missing on the latest Poker Eh!

QUADJACKS PLAYER OF THE YEAR WEEK IN REVIEW
Hot off the presses! The latest edition of the QuadJacks Poker Player of the Year Week in Review, powered by PTPRpoker. Will "The Thrill", Frederik Jansen and Isaac Baron highlight the week that was on the live tournament circuit.

WPT NTL' PARIS: PLAY UNDERWAY AT THE AVIATION CLUB DE FRANCE

SOURCE: POKER52.fr (IN FRENCH)

The Paris Open of Poker is off and running at the Aviation Club de France - with the premier event of the series - World Poker Tour National Series Paris - is through it's three Day 1's!

Who's who in the world of French poker is at this series, a great lineup of players still alive entering Tuesday's Day 2 play. Over 100K Euro goes to the winner!


NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS
Fabrice Somers – 188k (Day 1B chip leader)
Omar Lakhdari – 164k (Day 1C chip leader)
Eric Fourniols – 157k (Day 1A chip leader)
Antoine Saout – 156k
JP Pasqualini – 144k
Davidi Kitai – 118k
Paul Pires Trigo – 110k
Barbara Martinez – 100k
Franck Boyer – 70k
Fabrice Soulier- 69k
Tristan Clémençon – 68k
Isabel Baltazar – 68k
Marc Inizan – 58k
Antony Lellouche – 52k
Michel Abecassis – 50k
Remy Biechel – 46k
Benjamin Saad – 19k

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WPT NTL PARIS PAYOUTS (EURO) Winner – 100 070 euros* Runner Up – 66 845 euros 3rd – 51 420 euros 4th – 38 565 euros 5th – 30 870 euros 6th – 25 720 euros 7th – 20565 euros 8th – 15 425 euros 9th – 12 855 euros 10th – 10 295 euros 11th au 14e – 9000 euros 15th au 18e – 7710 euros 19th – 6425 euros 20th to 25th – 5140 euros 26th to 30th – 3855 euros 31st to 40th – 2570 euros *Includes Grand Prix de Paris Entry RELATED POSTS >> NIKITINA WINS WPT NTL PARIS >> O'DWYER WINS WPT NTL DENMARK >> LENTIN WINS WPT MAURITIUS EVENT COVERAGE POKER52.fr Updates in French

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT World Poker Tour National Paris WPT National Paris NLH Main Event March 17-24, 2012 Aviation Club de France | Paris Buy-in: $2,185 | Prizepool: $690,625 Entries: 370 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 35 2nd position 18 3rd position 10 4th position 8 5th position 5 DEFENDING CHAMPION Natalia Nikitina 2012 Rank: NR NEXT LIVE EVENT WPT National Marbella Casino Marbella, Spain April 20-24, 2012

EPT MADRID: BELGIAN SPRINGAEL WINS ONE ON THE SIDE

SOURCE: EUROPEAN POKER TOUR

Belgian Joris Springael is on the board for the second time in 2012. After collecting a sixth place finish at a side event at the PCA, Springael earned a side event victory at EPT Madrid - in the 2K NLH event.

Springael (2012 PTPR Rank: 33rd) finished 10th at the WPT Shooting Star at Bay 101 in 2011.

Like Springael, Zimnan Ziyard (2012 PTPR Rank: 129th), Marcel Bjerkmann (2012 PTPR Rank: 321st) and Andrea Dato (2012 PTPR Rank: 86th) all earned their second PTPR Scores this season.

PokerStars Team Pro Eugene Katchalov (2012 PTPR Rank: 499th) finished 12th in the event.

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FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS (EURO) 1. Joris Springael Belgium € 76,200 2. Jose Garcia Poland € 43,850 3. Zimnan Ziyard UK € 25,400 4. Agris Klaise, Latvia € 20,200 5. Brahim Oubella, France € 15,600 6. Marcel Bjerkmann, Norway € 11,550 7. Stefano Locorotondo, Italy € 9,250 8. Philippe Ktorza, France € 6,950 9. Andrea Dato, Italy € 5,750 RELATED POSTS >> JENSEN WINS MADRID >> AMATEUR LEADS MARDRID >> TIMEX TAKES LEAD >> PETERSEN WINS COPENHAGEN >> KURSEVICH WINS DEAUVILLE >> KOOL SHEN WINS EFOP NEXT LIVE EVENT EPT Campione (Italy) March 26-31, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT European Poker Tour Madrid NLH 2K Side Event March 15, 2012 Casino Gran Madrid | Spain Buy-in: $2,620 | Prizepool: $332,335 Entries: 119 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION JORIS SPRINGAEL 75 JOSE GARCIA 40 ZIMNAN ZIYARD 25 AGRIS KLAISE 15 BRAHIM OUBELLA 10 MARCEL BJERKMANN 8 STEFANO LOCOROTONDO 5 PHILIPPE KTORZA 5 ANDREA DATO 5

EPT MADRID: GREAT DANE! JENSEN'S FIRST WIN FINALLY UNDER HIS BELT

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERSTARS (Neil Stoddart)

For Danish poker player Frederik Jansen, it's mission accomplished. After a few successful seasons on the poker circuit, Jansen has now earned his first victory, defeating 476 opponents on way to his EPT Madrid Main Event win on Saturday.

Jensen (2012 PTPR Rank: 10th) makes his debut the 2012 QuadJacks Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Interesting fact, this is not Jensen's biggest cash to date. His second place finish at the 2010 Aussie Millions netted him over 1M USD!


KOOL SHEN KOOLERED
It was a bitter-sweet day for Bruno Lopes. The French rapper was red-hot for a while and then suffered a major cooler while holding kings, doubling-up eventual champion Jensen, Lopes can feel good about the fact that he has joined Jensen on the 2012 QuadJacks Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Lopes (2012 PTPR Rank: 6th) won the Euro Finals of Poker Diamond Championship back earlier this season.

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EPT MADRID FT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st. Frederik Jensen, €495,000 2nd. Fraser MacIntyre, €290,000 3rd. Andrei Stoenescu, €330,000 4th. Bruno Lopes, €140,000 5th. Ricardo Ibañez, €115,000 6th. Ilan Boujenah, €92,000 7th. Nicolas Levi, €69,450 8th. Jason Duval, €48,000 RELATED POSTS >> AMATEUR LEADS MARDRID >> TIMEX TAKES LEAD >> PETERSEN WINS COPENHAGEN >> KURSEVICH WINS DEAUVILLE >> KOOL SHEN WINS EFOP NEXT LIVE EVENT EPT Campione (Italy) March 26-31, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT European Poker Tour Madrid PokerStars.com EPT Madrid NLH Main Event March 12-17, 2012 Casino Gran Madrid | Spain Buy-in: $6,900 | Prizepool: $3,013,035 Entries: 477 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION FREDERIK JENSEN 129 FRASER MACINTYRE 79 ANDREI STOENESCU 49 BURNO LOPES "KOOL SHEN" 39 RICARDO IBANEZ 34 ILAN BOUJENAH 29 NICOLAS LEVI 29 JASON DUVAL 14 MIKE MCDONALD "TIMEX" 14 IVAN TIKHOV 14 TRISTAN CLEMENCON 14 JUAN NAVARRETE 12 TAYLOR PAUR 12 CLAYTON MOZDZEN 12 JOAO PAULO SIMAO 12 JEAN-PIERRE PETROLI 9 SIYU SHA 9 RUBEN SETIEN HERRERA 9

EPT MADRID: FT SET - WORLD BEATER IBANEZ LEADS WHILE KOOL SHEN CONTINUES GREAT RUN

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERSTARS

Amateur poker player Ricardo Ibanez probably didn't even think he had a shot an entering final table play at EPT Madrid with the chip lead, but, that is exactly where Ibanez stands after Friday's play.

To say that Ibanez will be in unfamiliar territory once final table play begins on Saturday is an understatement and his opponents will surely be looking to take advantage of Ibanez' inexperience early during final table play.

One man that will certainly be looking for an early edge is 2012 Euro Finals of Poker
Diamond Event winner Bruno Lopes "alias Kool Shen". The French rapper has had a great start to the 2012 campaign. Lopes (2012 PTPR Rank: 23rd) followed up his EFOP victory with a cash at EPT Deauville and a WPT final table bubble at WPT National Mauritius.

Lopes' fellow countryman, experience tournament pro Nicolas Levi, enters the final table as the short stack while Frederik Jensen and Ilan Boujenah are two other notables hoping to pickup a EPT title Saturday in Madrid.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1 - Ricardo Ibañez, Spain, 3,216,000
Seat 2 - Frederik Jensen, Denmark, 2,144,000
Seat 3 - Fraser Macintyre, United Kingdom, 2,473,000
Seat 4 - Bruno Lopes, France, 1,452,000
Seat 5 - Andrei Stoenescu, Romania, 1,974,000
Seat 6 - Ilan Boujenah, Israel, 1,382,000
Seat 7 - Jason Duval, Canada, 963,000
Seat 8 - Nicolas Levi, France, 709,000

NOTABLE TOP 24 ELIMINATIONS
Former EPT Dortmund Champ Mike McDonald, Tristan Clemencon, Taylor Paur and two players who once held the end of day chip lead in the event: Juan Navarrete and Joao Paulo Simao.

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EPT MADRID FT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st € 545,000 2nd € 365,000 3rd € 205,000 4th € 140,000 5th € 115,000 6th € 92,000 7th € 69,450 8th € 48,000 RELATED POSTS >> TIMEX TAKES LEAD >> PETERSEN WINS COPENHAGEN >> KURSEVICH WINS DEAUVILLE >> KOOL SHEN WINS EFOP NEXT LIVE EVENT EPT Campione (Italy) March 26-31, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT European Poker Tour Madrid PokerStars.com EPT Madrid NLH Main Event March 12-17, 2012 Casino Gran Madrid | Spain Buy-in: $6,900 | Prizepool: $3,013,035 Entries: 477 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 129 2nd position 79 3rd position 49 4th position 39 5th position 34 6-7th position 29 8th position 14 MIKE MCDONALD "TIMEX" 14 IVAN TIKHOV 14 TRISTAN CLEMENCON 14 JUAN NAVARRETE 12 TAYLOR PAUR 12 CLAYTON MOZDZEN 12 JOAO PAULO SIMAO 12 JEAN-PIERRE PETROLI 9 SIYU SHA 9 RUBEN SETIEN HERRERA 9

WYNN CLASSIC: ISAAC BARON RETURNS TO THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

SOURCE: WYNN LAS VEGAS FACEBOOK FEED

Welcome back to the winner's circle, Isaac Baron. The accomplished live pro had not felt the thrill of victory since his side event win at the EPT Grand Final back in April of 2010.

Baron earned the win at the Wynn Classic last night, earning over 240K USD for his efforts.

This isn't to say that Baron (2012 PTPR Rank: 23rd) had a terrible 2011, Baron still managed to collect over 200K USD in winnings for the year, but only one PTPR Score for his efforts. The California native has over 2.5M USD in career earnings

Andrew Lichtenberger, Cary Katz, Bobby Suer and Tyler Reiman were other notables collecting their first PTPR Scores of 2012 in the event.

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FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS (USD) Isaac Baron $240,508 Wayne Boich $161,263 D.W. MacDonald $110,580 Andrew Lichtenberger $78,328 Justin Fitz $57,133 Kia Hoosmand $42,389 Cary Katz $32,253 Bobby Suer $25,802 Ty Reiman $21,195 DEFENDING CHAMPION Tim West 2012 Rank: NR

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT 2012 Wynn Classic NLH Main Event March 12-15, 2012 Wynn Las Vegas | Nevada Buy-in: $5,170 | Prizepool: $921,500 Entries: 190 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION ISAAC BARON 101 WAYNE BOICH 61 D.W. MACDONALD 36 ANDREW LICHTENBERGER 26 JUSTIN FITZ 19 KIA HOOSHMAND 11 CARY KATZ 9 BOBBY SUER 6 TY REIMAN 6

GABOULEAUD CAPTURES BARRIERE TOUR BORDEAUX

SOURCE: THE HENDON MOB

The second leg of the 2011-12 Barriere Poker Tour was played out in Bordeaux, France over the weekend.

Frenchman Mathieu Gabouleaud won the 167-player event that was held at Casino Barriere Bordeaux.

This was Gabouleaud's first live tournament score.

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TOP 5 PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st Mathieu Gabouleaud €30,000 2nd Barbara Valeria €24,000 3rd Yves Hallague €21,000 4th Arnaud Roy €18,000 5th Romica Mihailov €16,000 NEXT LIVE EVENT BPT Ribeauville March 30-1, 2012

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT Barriere Poker Tour Bordeaux BPT Bordeaux NLH Main Event March 10, 2012 Casino Barriere Bordeaux | France Buy-in: $1,960 | Prizepool: $285,715 Entries: 167 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION MATHIEU GABOULEAUD 35 BARBARA VALERIA 18 YVES HALLAGUE 10 ARNAUD ROY 8 ROMICA MIHAILOV 5

JENO HALMAI WINS FIRST LEG OF 2012 GCOP SEASON

SOURCE: THE HENDON MOB

German Jeno Halmai won the first event of the 2012 German Championship of Poker season surviving the 196 player field. Halmai earns his first ever live tournament cash.

Third place finisher Martin Stauhsolm is no stranger to the GCOP. In 2011, Stausholm scored in two GCOP Main Events, collecting 3rd and 5th place finishes.

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TOP 5 PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st Jeno Halmai €49,000 2nd Henrik Unverricht €30,280 3rd Martin Stausholm €20,080 4th Karl Martzen €14,208 5th Pierre De Berry €10,706 RELATED POSTS >> RUZICKA WINS GRAND FINAL

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT German Championship of Poker GCOP Rozvadov NLH Main Event March 9-12, 2012 Kings Casino | Czech Republic Buy-in: $1,435 | Prizepool: $263,379 Entries: 196 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION JENO HALMAI 35 HENRIK UNVERRICHT 18 MARTIN STAUSHOLM 10 KARL MARTZEN 8 PIERRE DE BERRY 5

EPT MADRID: NICK OF TIME - TIMEX TAKES THE LEAD AFTER DAY 2

PHOTO: POKERNEWS / SOURCE: POKERSTARS BLOG

Day 2 is in the books at the PokerStars.com EPT Madrid Main Event and a former EPT Champion has the chip lead after Wednesday's play.

2008 EPT Dortmund winner Mike "Timex" McDonald leads the way and is certainly one dangerous player when he has chips. McDonald (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) made a fantastic comeback to poker in 2011. After deciding to retire at the "old" age of 20!!!!!, McDonald made a return to live tournament scene and he made quite an impression.

McDonald collected a total of 12 live tournament cashes in 2011, including three six-figure cashes in the last four months of the season.

The young Canadian will certainly be the one to watch on Thursday as we inch closer to the money bubble.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS
Mike McDonald 409,800
Frederik Jensen 404,500
Dmitry Vitkind 368,000
Erich Kollmann 275,500
Toby Lewis 243,200
McLean Karr 230,700
Yann Dion 219,800
Nicolas Levi 202,900
Juan Navarrete 194,200
Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes 186,100
Kevin MacPhee 181,700
Johnny Lodden 180,900
Mikhail Shalamov 172,600
Tristan Clemencon 152,300
Angel Guillen 95,000
Barny Boatman 81,700
Olivier Busquet 80,500
Rupert Elder 79,800
David Benyamine 55,500
Alex Kravchenko 52,000
Joao Barbosa 45,000
Melanie Weisner 43,200
Yorane Kerignard 35,900
Ebony Kenney 32,700
Joep van den Bijgaart 27,400

NOTABLE DAY 2 ELIMINATIONS
Nicolas Chouity, David Vamplew, Steven van Zadelhoff, Per Linde, Chris Moorman, Mikhail Lakhitov, Nacho Barbero, Martin Jacobson, Dominik Nitsche, Davidi Kitai, Kevin Iacofano, Dragan Kostic, Jake Cody, Martins Adeniya, Toni Judet, Kevin Vandermissen, Juan Maceiras, Todd Terry, Mayu Roca Uribe, Nick Yunis, Faraz Jaka, Anton Wigg, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Alexander Dovzhenko, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Arnaud Mattern, James Akenhead, Juan Manuel Pastor and Michael Tureniec.

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EPT MADRID PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st € 545,000 2nd € 365,000 3rd € 205,000 4th € 140,000 5th € 115,000 6th € 92,000 7th € 69,450 8th € 48,000 9-10th € 35,000 11-12th € 25,000 13-14th € 20,000 15-16th € 15,000 17-24th € 13,000 25-32th € 11,000 33-40th € 11,000 41-48th € 9,000 49-56th € 9,000 57-64th € 7,500 65-72th € 7,500 RELATED POSTS >> PETERSEN WINS COPENHAGEN >> KURSEVICH WINS DEAUVILLE

PTPR PREMIER EVENT European Poker Tour Madrid PokerStars.com EPT Madrid NLH Main Event March 12-17, 2012 Casino Gran Madrid | Spain Buy-in: $6,900 | Prizepool: $3,013,035 Entries: 477 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 129 2nd position 79 3rd position 49 4th position 39 5th position 34 6-7th position 29 8-11th position 14 12-15th position 12 16-18th position 9 NEXT LIVE EVENT EPT Campione (Italy) March 26-31, 2012