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

EPT TALLINN: KAISER ROLLS THROUGH THE COMPETITION

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

EPT Tallinn was all Ronny Kaiser's. The Swiss PLO cash game specialist took control of this tournament on Friday and he never, ever looked back.

It was a quick final table for sure. Eliminations were coming left and right and, once we hit heads up play, Kaiser's chip lead proved to be insurmountable.

Kaiser's win is his second PTPR Score of the year. Stuart Fox, Sami Kelopuro and Jeff Sarwer also collected their second PTPR Scores this season.

Gregorz Cichocki, Jani Sointula and Lari Sihvo were other notables finishing in the Top 18 this tournament.

Final Table Payouts:
Ronny Kaiser €275,000
Grzegorz Cichocki €180,000
Raigo Aasmaa €110,000
Jani Sointula €80,000
Stuart Fox €55,000
Erlend Melsom €45,000
Sami Kelopuro €35,000
Arvi Vainionkulma €25,000


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Pokerstarts.com European Poker Tour Tallinn
EPT Tallinn NLH Main Event
August 2-7, 2011

Swisshotel Tallinn | Estonia
Buy-in: $6,080 | Prizepool: $1,533,565 | Entries: 282

FINAL RESULTS:
RONNY KAISER 127
GREGORZ CICHOCKI 77
RAIGO AASMAA 47
JANI SOINTULA 37
STUART FOX 32
ERLEND MELSOM 27
SAMI KELOPURO 27
ARVI VAINIONKULMA 12
JOHAN VAN TIL 12
VICENZO APICELLA 12
LARI SIHVO 12
KONSTANTINOV VALEREVISH 10
JEFF SARWER 10
ROLANDS NORIETIS 10
VOJTECH RUZICKA 10
OLEG EPP 7
KJARTAN BERGUR JONSSON 7
VITALY GRIGORYEV 7

EPT TALLINN: CAN'T MISS SWISS - KAISER RETAINS LEADS AS FT PLAY IS SET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Looks like Ronny Kaiser is the man to beat at EPT Tallinn. For the second straight day, Kaiser is the chip leader. Kaiser is going to collect his second PTPR Score of the season, having picked up a small cash at the WPT Vienna High Rollers event in March.

There are some seasoned veterans hoping to knock off Kaiser come Sunday. Jani Sointula is as recognizable as they come, Stuart Fox is a name that most remember and Sami Kelopuro is coming off a strong showing at the WSOP - including a runner-up finish in the 10K Pot Limit Omaha Championship.

Final Table Seat Assignments/Chip Counts:
1 - Grzegorz Cichocki - 2,059,000
2 - Raigo Aasmaa - 904,000
3 - Jani Sointula - 769,000
4 - Stuart Fox - 514,000
5 - Arvi Vainionkulma - 258,000
6 - Sami Kelopuro - 1,325,000
7 - Erlend Melsom - 365,000
8 - Ronny Kaiser - 2,394,000


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Pokerstarts.com European Poker Tour Tallinn
EPT Tallinn NLH Main Event
August 2-7, 2011

Swisshotel Tallinn | Estonia
Buy-in: $6,080 | Prizepool: $1,533,565 | Entries: 282

PTS AT STAKE:
EPT Champion 127
Runner-Up 77
3rd position 47
4th position 37
5th position 32
6-7th position 27
8th position 12
JOHAN VAN TIL 12
VICENZO APICELLA 12
LARI SIHVO 12
KONSTANTINOV VALEREVISH 10
JEFF SARWER 10
ROLANDS NORIETIS 10
VOJTECH RUZICKA 10
OLEG EPP 7
KJARTAN BERGUR JONSSON 7
VITALY GRIGORYEV 7

EPT TALLINN: KAISER TAKES THE LEAD IN ESTONIA

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

We are down to three tables at EPT Tallinn. On Saturday, 24 players will take their seast inside the Swisshotel in the hopes on making it to Sunday's Final Table and earn their chance at EPT stardom.


Ronny Kaiser has taken over the chip lead. He is the only player with over 1 million chips. Kaiser has over 300,000 more chips compared to second place Grzegorz Cichocki and over 550,000 more chips than third place player Jani Sointula.

You may recognize the name Jani Sointula ... but, you will absolutely know who he is when you see his picture. Sointula has been around for years and has a recognizable look for sure!

Our "player to watch" Irene Baroni had a tough end to the day - reports indicate she was the last player eliminated today and won't be part of the final 24 players.

Notable players remaining:
Ronny Kaiser Switzerland 1194000 (Chip Leader)
Jani Sointula Finland 640000
Jeff Sarwer Canada 156500
Stuart Fox UK 115000
Praz Bansi UK 103500

Eliminated players today include:
Irene Baroni, John O'Shea, Joe Ebanks and Anders Berg.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Pokerstarts.com European Poker Tour Tallinn
EPT Tallinn NLH Main Event
August 2-7, 2011

Swisshotel Tallinn | Estonia
Buy-in: $6,080 | Prizepool: $1,533,565 | Entries: 282

PTS AT STAKE:
EPT Champion 127
Runner-Up 77
3rd position 47
4th position 37
5th position 32
6-7th position 27
8-11th position 12
12-15th position 10
16-18th position 7