2012 WSOPE: SIX IS ENOUGH - SIRWATTS TURNS MICRO STACK INTO HIGH ROLLERS WIN

This usually doesn't happen when you have six bb's and you're last in chips at the final table of a major High Rollers event.

Well, they don't call him Sir for nothing ... Star poker pro Michael Watson (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 58th) turned his micro stack into a 1M EURO payout earlier today in Cannes at the 50K Majestic Super High Rollers event.

The event, which drew 60 players (includes 11 re-entries) featured, as expected, some of the biggest names on the tournament circuit including the #1 and #2 ranked poker players in the world Daniel Smith and Marvin Rettenmaier.

But it's Watson who drew all the attention when all was said and done, a fantastic victory, coming back from the dead to win it all. This was Watson's 11th Top 10 finish at a major series event since October of 2011.

Watson defeated John Juanda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 91st) heads-up. Defeating Juanada in high roller events is certainly not an easy feat. Juanda has played in some of the biggest games around the world - he most recently finished 5th at the 100K Macau High Stakes Challenge.

International businessman Richard Yong (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-522nd) finished third in the event. Yong is best known for reaching the final table at the WSOP Big One for One Drop earlier this summer in Vegas ... Yong had a personal butler (dressed in a tuxedo) at this side during the One Drop event.

In was the second big score in less than a month for Germany's Philipp Gruissem (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-157th). The former two-time EPT High Rollers champ final tabled the WPT Grand Prix de Paris in September.

High Stakes tournament standout Tobias Reinkemeier (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 105th), Jani Sointula (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-1,696th), Steve O'Dwyer (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 41st) and the Raptor, David Benefield (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-877th) all cashed in the event.

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EVENT PAYOUTS (EURO) Mike Watson 1,000,000 John Juanda 600,000 Richard Yong 400,000 Philipp Gruissem 275,000 Tobias Reinkemeier 200,000 Jani Sointula 160,000 Steve O'Dwyer 130,000 David Benefield 115,000 RELATED POSTS > GET YOUR POPCORN READY, HELLMUTH LEADS WSOPE > WSOPE MAIN EVENT HEATING UP > A CHIPPY AFFAIR IN CANNES > DA COSTA SANTOS WINS BRACELET > ROSADONI WINS FIRST BRACELET > BIG WIN FOR BIG ROG! > THE YEAR OF ANTONIO > WE'RE OFF IN CANNES > SMOKROKFLOCK WINS WSOPE MAIN

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT WORLD SERIES OF POKER EUROPE Majestic Super High Rollers Event October 2-4, 2012 Hotel Majestic Barriere | Cannes Buy-in: $65,830 | Prizepool: $3,614,240 Entries: 60 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION MIKE WATSON 100 JOHN JUANDA 60 RICHARD YONG 35 PHILIPP GRUISSEM 25 TOBIAS RENKENMEIER 18 JANI SOINTULA 10 STEVE O'DWYER 8 DAVID BENEFIELD 5

STANLEY CHOI WINS MACAU HIGH STAKES CHALLENGE

PHOTO: POKERACE.com

The Star World Hotel and Casino hosted the inaugural 2M HKD buy-in (250K USD) Macau High Stakes Challenge on Friday. The event drew a total of 94 entries (73 players registered, 21 of them re-bought).

While many of the top / well-known high stakes poker players in the world entered the event, it's those that aren't in the poker world spotlight that stole the headlines on Friday as Stanley Choi (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-162nd) won the event, picking up over 50M HKD (almost 6.5M) for the victory.

John Juanda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 250th), Sam Trickett (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-214th) and Phil Ivey (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 11th) all final tabled the event while Nicholas Wong, Tang Zheng, Philipp Gruissem and J.P. Kelly cashed in the event that carried a monster 23M USD prizepool.

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EVENT PAYOUTS (HKD) Stanley Choi HK$50,149,000 Zhu Guan Fai HK$33,737,000 Nicholas Wong HK$25,530,000 Tang Zheng HK$17,324,000 John Juanda HK$12,765,000 Lap Key Chan HK$9,574,000 Sam Trickett HK$7,750,000 Phil Ivey HK$6,383,000 Alan Sass HK$5,471,000 Philipp Gruissem HK$4,559,000 Di Van Hoang Dang HK$4,559,000 JP Kelly HK$4,559,000

PTPR TIER 3 EVENT MACAU HIGH STAKES CHALLENGE NLH Super High Rollers August 31, 2012 Star World Hotel | Macau Buy-in: $237,875 | Prizepool: $23,512,950 Entries: 94 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION STANLEY CHOI 100 ZHU GUAN FAI 60 NICHOLAS WONG 35 TANG ZHENG 25 JOHN JUANDA 18 LAP KEY CHAN 10 SAM TRICKETT 8 PHIL IVEY 5 ALAN SASS 5

EPT BARCELONA: SPANISH SHOCKER - POBAL UPSETS THE FINNS

For a while on Saturday, Finnish rising star Joni Jouhkimainen (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 84th) - who began final table play as the short stack - was pitching a perfect game, he was making the correct reads, raising at opportune times, folding when most would not have had the guts to.

The Finn found himself with 75% of the chips and it looked like a no-brainer, Jouhkimainen would be earning his tournament victory on a major poker circuit ... well, sometimes things don't go as planned.

But two hands in a small span of time did Jouhkimainen in. He first called Mikalai Pobal's all-in - his ace-jack was never able to get there against Pobal's 88.

Then, it was an all-Finn showdown versus Ziigmund. Jouhkimainen held Kings to Sahamies' 87 on a 8-J-7 rainbow board. The turn and river wouldn't help Jouhkimainen. Joni still held the chip lead at that point, but, it sure did look as if these were two signs of what was to come as a few hours later he was on the rail.

Mikalai Pobal (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-76th) eventually outlasted the two Finns - who appeared to have shared a couple of drinks during the dinner break ... one wonders if that affected their performance at the final table post-meal - Pobal takes home over 1M EURO for his big victory.

Ziigmund (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-132nd) was the runner-up here at EPT Barcelona. It sure was great to see Ziigmund back on the circuit.

John Juanda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-359th) suffered a sick end to his tournament. Juanda, who came into today's final table as one of the favourites, was the first player ousted from final table play.

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FT PAYOUTS (EURO) Mikalai Pobal € 1,007,550 Ilari Sahamies € 629,700 Joni Jouhkimainen € 404,050 Anaras Alekberovas € 301,750 Samuel Rodriguez € 230,900 Sinel Anton € 178,400 Antonin Duda € 125,950 John Juanda € 76,100 RELATED POSTS > POLITO WINS HR > NO RESOLUTION AT HR > DAMYANOV PEEVSK WINS SIDE > ANOTHER UNKNOWN LEADS BARCA > DUDA DOMINATES ON DAY 3 > GIVE SMITH HIS NUBS! > SABATO WINS ESTRELLAS > KATCHALOV THIRD AT BARCELONA > LUNDMARK WINS BARCELONA DEFENDING CHAMPION Martin Schleich 2012 PTPR Points: 0 NEXT EPT EVENT EPT San Remo Festival Casino San Remo, Italy October 3-11, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT EUROPEAN POKER TOUR PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event August 19-25, 2012 Casino di Barcelona | Spain Buy-in: $6,235 | Prizepool: $6,544,930 Entries: 1,082 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION MIKALAI POBAL 135 ILARI SAHAMIES 85 JONI JOUHKIMAINEN 55 ANARAS ALEKBEROVAS 45 SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ 40 SINEL ANTON 35 ANTONIN DUDA 35 JOHN JUANDA 20 OLE SCHEMION 20 MORTEN MORTENSEN 20 JONATHAN KARAMALIKIS 20 MIKOLAJ ZAWADZKI 18 ALEX CASALS 18 AKU JOENTAUSTA 18 ELIAS GUTIERREZ HERNANDEZ 18 FATIMA MOREIRA DE MELO 15 JAVIER PIAZUELO 15 MAURO CANAVESE 15

EPT BARCELONA: ZIIGMUND THE MAN TO BEAT AS FINAL TABLE IS SET

We were nine-handed for what seemed like an eternity on Friday as no one refused to lose, with a spot at the EPT Barcelona final table on the line.

While no one refused to lose, one familiar face took advantage of a few opportunities and now stands as the man to beat as final table play is set for Saturday at Casino di Barcelona ... that man is online nosebleed master Ziigmund, Ilari Sahamies (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-945th).

Ziigmund will start the day with over 7.8M chips on Saturday, about 1.4M chips ahead of PokerStars qualifier - and Day 4 chip leader - Samuel Rodriguez (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR).

Day 3 chip leader Antonin Duda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR), five-time bracelet winner John Juanda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-587th) as well as European Masters of Poker Lisbon winner Joni Jouhkimainen (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 224th) are some of the other participants who will be looking for their first EPT Title on Saturday.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1 Anaras Alekberovas 4,430,000
Seat 2 Ilari Sahamies 7,885,000
Seat 3 Antonin Duda 3,445,000
Seat 4 Samuel Rodriguez 6,450,000
Seat 5 John Juanda 1,890,000
Seat 6 Joni Jouhkimainen 1,510,000
Seat 7 Mikalai Pobal 4,410,000
Seat 8 Sinel Anton 2,355,000

Some big name players were eliminated on Friday but they were able to improve their positions on the QuadJacks Player of the Year Leaderboard...

Ole Schemion (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 164th) was the final table bubble boy. Schemion has won 1K NLH Side Events at back-to-back EPT Berlin festivals.

Morten Mortensen (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 278th), Jonathan Karalamikis (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-295th) and Fatima Moreira De Melo (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-1291st) also collected PTPR Points in the event.

Lucille Cailly, Roberto Romanello and Alain Roy were also eliminated during Day 5 play.

CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Coverage of the final table will be shown live-to-tape (with delay) over at www.PokerStars.tv.

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FT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1 € 1,007,550 2 € 629,700 3 € 404,050 4 € 301,750 5 € 230,900 6 € 178,400 7 € 125,950 8 € 76,100 RELATED POSTS > DAMYANOV PEEVSK WINS SIDE > ANOTHER UNKNOWN LEADS BARCA > DUDA DOMINATES ON DAY 3 > GIVE SMITH HIS NUBS! > SABATO WINS ESTRELLAS > KATCHALOV THIRD AT BARCELONA > LUNDMARK WINS BARCELONA DEFENDING CHAMPION Martin Schleich 2012 PTPR Points: 0 NEXT EPT EVENT EPT San Remo Festival Casino San Remo, Italy October 3-11, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT EUROPEAN POKER TOUR PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event August 19-25, 2012 Casino di Barcelona | Spain Buy-in: $6,235 | Prizepool: $6,544,930 Entries: 1,082 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 135 2nd position 85 3rd position 55 4th position 45 5th position 40 6-7th position 35 8th position 20 OLE SCHEMION 20 MORTEN MORTENSEN 20 JONATHAN KARAMALIKIS 20 MIKOLAJ ZAWADZKI 18 ALEX CASALS 18 AKU JOENTAUSTA 18 ELIAS GUTIERREZ HERNANDEZ 18 FATIMA MOREIRA DE MELO 15 JAVIER PIAZUELO 15 MAURO CANAVESE 15

EPT BARCELONA: DUDA DOMINATES DAY 3 HEADLINES

While we have several interesting names still alive at EPT Barcelona, it's the name Duda that grabbed most of the headlines on Tuesday.

With only 61 of the original 1,082 still in contention in the Main Event, online qualifier Antonin Duda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR) is the man to beat as players prepare for what should be an action-packed Day 4 in Barcelona.



While Duda had most of the poker world buzzing, other name players are hoping that EPT Barcelona is theirs for the taking ...

The man known to most of the poker world as Zigmund, Ilari Sahamies (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-940th), is third in chips heading into Wednesday play. Zigmund is no stranger to huge moments (although they usually happen in NLH cash games, at nosebleed stakes).

Right behind Sahamies is poker superstar John Juanda (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-582nd). Juanda, a five-time WSOP bracelet winner, has had success on the European Poker Tour. He finished second to David Vamplew at EPT London in 2010.

2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Fatima Moreira de Melo (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR) closes out the Top 5. The three-time Olympian (field hockey, Netherlands) will certainly be playing at a Championship level on Wednesday.

EPT Loutraki champion Zimnan Ziyard (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 198th) and EPT Grand Final runner-up Lucille Cailly (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 163rd) both hold Top 10 chip stacks.


NOTABLE PLAYERS : DAY 4
Antonin Duda 1,470,000
Samuel Rodriguez 1,416,000
Ilari Sahamies 1,269,000
John Juanda 968,000
Fatima Moreira De Melo 955,000
Zimnan Ziyard 940,000
Marcos Fernandez 926,000
Lucille Cailly 902,000
Ole Schemion 762,000
Jonathan Karamalikis 677,000
Roberto Romanello 671,000
Alain Roy 562,000
Morten Mortensen 543,000
Ilan Boujenah 329,000
Leo Margets 250,000
Konstantin Puchkov 197,000
Matthias De Meulder 116,000

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REMAINING PAYOUTS (EURO) 1 € 1,007,550 2 € 629,700 3 € 404,050 4 € 301,750 5 € 230,900 6 € 178,400 7 € 125,950 8 € 76,100 9-10 € 55,100 11-12 € 46,700 13-14 € 40,400 15-16 € 34,650 17-24 € 29,400 25-32 € 24,650 33-40 € 20,000 41-56 € 16,800 57-61 € 14,150 RELATED POSTS > GIVE SMITH HIS NUBS! > SABATO WINS ESTRELLAS > KATCHALOV THIRD AT BARCELONA > LUNDMARK WINS BARCELONA DEFENDING CHAMPION Martin Schleich 2012 PTPR Points: 0

PTPR PREMIER EVENT EUROPEAN POKER TOUR PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event August 19-25, 2012 Casino di Barcelona | Spain Buy-in: $6,235 | Prizepool: $6,544,930 Entries: 1,082 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 135 2nd position 85 3rd position 55 4th position 45 5th position 40 6-7th position 35 8-11th position 20 12-15th position 18 16-18th position 15 NEXT EPT EVENT EPT San Remo Festival Casino San Remo, Italy October 3-11, 2012

2011 WSOP: PAYAN, MONNETTE PICKUP BRACELETS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Short report for you folks tonight.

Event 22 - Pot Limit Omaha
Frenchman Elie Payan captured the title, defeating Doc Sands, Ronald Israelashvili, Benjamin Parker, Michael Kamran and Ryan Welch along the way.

Event 23 - Eight-Game Mix Event
John Monnette picked up the victory and defeated a laundry list of quality opponents: Eric Buchman (who's having a great start to the WSOP), Michele Limongi, Brent Hanks, John Juanda, November Niner John Racener, Rami Boukai, Owais Ahmed, Pispala, Ben Yu, Maya Roca Uribe, Gregory Dyer and Marco Traniello.

Juanda collects his second PTPR Score of the year (both this week at the WSOP) places him a single point off of the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 15 Leaderboard.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 22 No Limit Hold'em
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,445,850
Entries: 1,071

FINAL RESULTS:
ELIE PAYAN 135
RAFE KIBRIT 85
DAVID SANDS 55
JUHA VILKKI 45
STEPHEN WOLFE 40
EMIL PATEL 35
CODY MUNGER 35
JEFF SARWER 20
ROLAND ISRAELASHVILI 20
BENJAMIN PARKER 20
FRANK PEELEN 20
NATHAN GAMBLE 18
MICHAEL KAMRAN 18
RYAN WELCH 18
QUINN DO 18
RICHARD RINKER 15
TIMOTHY SEIDENSTICKER 15
JOHN ORLINA 15


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 23 Eight-Game Mix Event
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $1,112,475
Entries: 489

FINAL RESULTS:
JOHN MONNETTE 129
ERIC BUCHMAN 79
MICHELE LIMONGI 49
BRENT HANKS 39
DESMOND PORTANO 34
JOHN JUANDA 29
ADAM KORNUTH 29
JOHN RACENER 14
ADAM GEYER 14
RAMI BOUKAI 14
OWAIS AHMED 14
MIKKO PISPALA 12
BEN YU 12
HOOMAN NIKZAD 12
MAYU ROCA URIBE 12
GREGORY DYER 9
ROBERT ROSENGARTEN 9
MARCO TRANIELLO 9

2011 WSOP: SUPERSTAR SATURDAY - RAST, JUANDA PLAY SPOILERS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

The Superstars of Poker invaded the Rio's Amazon Room on Saturday night but only two left with bracelets!

Let's start with Event 15 - Pot Limit Hold'em. It was a thrilling final two with Brian Rast stopping fan favorite Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler in the end. Kessler's online rail was massive and most were disapointed when Rast finally pulled it off.

Also at the final table was Ali Eslami - the 32 PTPR Points collected moves him up one spot to 2nd overall on the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard - surpassing Eugene Katchalov in the process.

John Gordon, Ted Lawson, Ronald Lee and Christin Harder also collected PTPR Points in this event.


But the major buzz of the night came from Event 16 - Deuce to Seven Lowball World Championship - where Phil Hellmuth was momnets away from bracelet number twelve.

Alas, The Poker Brat was not able to finish off John Juanda when he had the opportunity. Hellmuth seemed to have control of the final table when we were down to five players but Juanda held him off, collecting his fifth bracelet.

It was a who's who of poker stars when we hit the money. Richard Ashby, Steve Sung, Nick Schulman, David "Bakes" Baker (who won the event last year), Hasan Habib, Joe Cassidy, Greg Raymer, ElkY, Johnny Chan, Brandon Cantu and Chino Rheem all finished in the money.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 14 Pot Limit Hold'em
June 9-11, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,032,750
Entries: 765

FINAL RESULTS:
BRIAN RAST 132
ALLEN KESSLER 82
DAJUAN WHORLEY 52
DAISUKE ENDO 42
MIKE PAASONEN 37
ALI ESLAMI 32
JOHN GORDON 32
TED LAWSON 17
RONALD LEE 17
ANDREW COHEN 17
ELIAS BRUSSIANOS 17
JEREMY VAUGHN 15
TOMMY FELICE 15
ARIEL CELESTINO 15
NICK DAVIES 15
CHARLES RITCHIE 12
CHRISTIAN HARDER 12
DAVID MERCER 12

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 15 Deuce to Seven Lowball World Championship
June 9-11, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,184,400
Entries: 126

FINAL RESULTS:
JOHN JUANDA 126
PHIL HELLMUTH 76
RICHARD ASHBY 46
STEVE SUNG 36
NICK SCHULMAN 31
DAVID BAKER "BAKES" 26
HASAN HABIB 26
JOE CASSIDY 11
GREG RAYMER 11
BENJAMIN PARKER 11
BERTRAND GROSPELLIER "ElkY" 11
JOHNNY CHAN 9
BRANDON CANTU 9
CHINO RHEEM 9

TWO MAJOR EPT LONDON EVENTS IN THE BOOKS, NACHO, JUANDA, MARCHESE MAKE BIG PTPR MOVES

PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSblog.com


Two big events in the books today at EPT London. John Juanda lost out to Scottish player David Vamplew ... he suffered a few tough beats where he drew to nuts only to beaten on the river. Still, Juanda skyrockets to 6th on the PTPR Top 10 list. Fellow Top 10'er Thomas Marchese scored 33 points in the event and he moves up to third on the PTPR list with only four months left.

The High Rollers event also concluded today and Jose Nacho Barbero was your big winner outlasting Finnish pro Jani Sointula. Andrew Robl and Vannesa Selbst also scored points in this event. Nacho's victory, his fifth total score of the year, moves him one point behind Juanda, in 8th place, on the PTPR Top 10 list.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2010 EPT London
EPT NLH Main Event
September 30-4, 2010

Hilton London Metropole
London, ENG

Buy-in: $7,924
Prizepool: $6,517,965
Entries: 848

2010 FINAL RESULTS
VAMPLEW DAVID 133
JUANDA JOHN 83
BOWKER KYLE 53
WASEK ARTUR 43
PAYMAN KAYVAN 38
BRITO FERNANDO 33
MARCHESE THOMAS 33
UMMER PER 18
HALL JOHN 18
LEVY STEVEN 18
SOMAIYA RUMIT 18
PERRINS MATT 16
NULLI ROBERT 16
BICHON THOMAS 16
HACHEM JOE 16
WRANG JANNICK 13
O'SHEA JOHN 13
KORNUTH CHANCE 13



PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
2010 EPT London
EPT NLH High Rollers Event
October 2-4, 2010

Hilton London Metropole
London, ENG

Buy-in: $31,696
Prizepool: $2,416,186
Entries: 77

2010 FINAL RESULTS
BARBERO NACHO 100
SOINTULA JANI 60
ROBL ANDREW 35
SELBST VANESSA 25
QUOSS FABIAN 18
MARIFIOTI MATT 10
MOLSON WILL 8
NEUVILLE PIERRE 5

QUALIFIER SANSOUR WINS LAPT ROSARIO

PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSblog.com


Online qualifier Martin Sansour turned a online win into a first major PTPR "cash" by wining the LAPT Rosario (Argentina) Main Event. 254 players were in the field - a 1+ million prize pool was there for the taking.

In other news, we're down to only five players at EPT London ... John Juanda currently leads the way - we will have final results shortly.


PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
2010 Latin America Poker Tour Rosario (Argentina)
LAPT NLH Main Event
September 22-23, 2010

City Center Casino
Rosario, ARG

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $1,176,200
Entries: 258

2010 FINAL RESULTS
SANSOUR MARTIN - 102
PALACIOS BOLIVAR - 62
ADES DANIEL - 37
ROSS WILLIAM - 27
BIANCHI ROBERTO - 20
HABERING MATTHIAS - 12
SAUL IVAN - 10
GOTTNER NICOLAS - 7
DE ALMEIDA FLESSAK GUSTAVO - 7