August 16 2012, Chad Holloway
The European Poker Tour kicks off its ninth season this week in Spain with the EPT Barcelona at the Casino Barcelona. The EPT has partnered with the Estrellas Poker Tour from Aug. 15 through 25, 2012, to create Spain’s largest poker festival, the Barcelona Poker Festival.
After the Estrellas Poker Tour, which will take place from Aug. 15 through 19 and feature a “1,000 + “100 Main Event to end Season 3, the EPT Barcelona will feature a “50,000 Super High Roller, “10,000 High Roller, and the banner “5,000 + “300 Main Event.
EPT Barcelona, which has been on the EPT schedule since Season 1, continues to prove itself one of the most popular stops year after year. Over the years, the event has made many transitions, each to the satisfaction of the players. For instance, the buy-in, which started at “1,000 and went as high as “8,000, is now “5,300, which resulted in a record-setting 811-player field in Season 8.
Season 8 champ Martin Schleich.
Last year’s Main Event, which featured a “850,000 first-place prize, was won by Martin Schleich of Germany. Schleich emerged victorious and joined Kent Lundmark (Season 7), Carter Phillips (Season 6), Sebastian Ruthenberg (Season 5), Sander Lylloff (Season 4), Bjørn-Erik Glenne (Season 3), Jan Boubli (Season 2) and Alexander Stevic (Season 1) as former winners.
Here’s a look back at the Season 8 final table:
EPT Barcelona Season 8 Final Table
| “5,000 + “300 | 811 | “4,055,000 | 120 | Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2011 |
| 1st | Martin Schleich | Germany | “850,000 |
| 2nd | Dragan Kostic | Spain | “532,000 |
| 3rd | Eugene Katchalov | Ukraine | “315,000 |
| 4th | Raul Mestre | Spain | “244,000 |
| 5th | Tomeu Gomila | Spain | “185,000 |
| 6th | Saar Wilf | Israel | “145,000 |
| 7th | Juan Manuel Perez | Spain | “105,000 |
| 8th | Isabel Baltazar | France | “73,000 |
Last year, Dragan Kostic came close to becoming the first Spaniard to win the EPT Barcelona title but was stopped one spot shy, matching the runner-up finish of Spain’s Jesus Cortes Lizano from the previous year. Here are a few other interesting facts about EPT Barcelona:
- No player has ever made the final table twice.
- Many Americans have made the final table over the years including Phil Ivey (2nd place in Season 3), Jason Mercier (6th in Season 5) and Adam Junglen (6th in Season 4), but Carter Phillips is the only American to win the event to date, doing so in Season 6 after conquering a field of 479 players for “850,000.
- There have been two winners from Sweden (Season 1 & 7) and two from Germany (Seasons 5 & 8); while the other winners have hailed from France (Season 2), Norway (Season 3), Denmark (Season 4) and United States (Season 6).
Be sure to follow live updates from the EPT Barcelona all week long right here on PokerNews. Visit our Live Reporting Section for more details.
The “50,000 Super High Roller Tournament
Season 9 of the EPT will kick of in Barcelona with Spain’s largest buy-in poker event: the EPT Barcelona “50,000 Super High Roller tournament on Friday, August 17. It is just one of four high-roller events to take place during the 11-day Spanish poker festival and features unlimited reloads on Day 1.
Thus far nearly 40 players are confirmed, including Phillip Gruissem, who took home “1.4 million in high-roller tournaments in Season 8 after making five final tables, and winning the £20,000 tournament in EPT London and the “10,000 event in EPT Barcelona.
In addition, Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier are both confirmed to play. “I’m really excited to play in another High Roller event at my favorite EPT stop in Barcelona,” Negreanu said. “I’ve had great success in high roller events and this season there will be an award for High Roller player of the year. I’ll be shooting for that.”
Here’s a look at the confirmed participants so far:
Confirmed EPT Barcelona Super High Roller Confirmations
| Jonathan Duhamel | Eugene Katchalov | Sam Chartier |
| Dan Smith | Dan Shak | Masa Kagawa |
As Negreanu mentioned, the tournament will count toward PokerStars’ recently announced High Roller of the Year award for the EPT Season 9, which will go to the player who accumulates the most points in Season 9 events with a 10K “/$/£) buy-in or higher.
“High Stakes poker action is as exciting as any sport in the world and features the best players competing against each other and others with enough confidence and cash to take on poker’s elite players,” said Edgar Stuchly, President of EPT. “These high-stakes tournaments provide high-drama, deep strategy and potentially life-changing rewards.”
The “50,000 Super High Roller in Barcelona is the first of 16 “High Roller” events including three Super High Rollers (Barcelona, PCA and Monaco), two 25K events (PCA and Monaco), 10K Reload tournaments at every EPT stop, and the new 10K Championship events.
PokerNews will be live reporting the “50,000 Super High Roller tournament, which will also be broadcast online with a one-hour delay exclusively on PokerStars.tv on Sunday, Aug. 19 from 13:00 CET (0400 PDT) (1-hour delay).
EPT LIVE WEBCASTS
| “5,000 Main Event: Final Table | Saturday, August 25, 14:00 CET (0400 PDT) | English, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian |
If you want to follow live updates from both the EPT “50,000 Super High Roller and “10,000 High Roller, visit our Live Reporting Section for more details.
The European Players Council
*Picture courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
On Thursday, Aug. 9, the PokerStars Blog announced the formation of the European Players Council (EPC), which will meet for the first time prior to the EPT Barcelona and “will work with PokerStars going forward to make any necessary changes or improvements. Then, at the end of the end of Season 9 of the EPT, the council will meet again in Monte Carlo at the Grand Final.”
Here’s a look at the inaugural members of the EPC:
EPC Members
in his hand, Larry Sharp made the call from the big blind. Nyffeler held the 
and it was off to the races.
flop and stayed there as the board was completed with the 
on the turn and 
on the river. For his sixth-place finish, Nyffeler earned $61,619.
and had moved in for about 900,000 from the button. Lee mad the call from the big blind with 
. The flop, turn and river ran out 
and Vandeursen headed to the payout desk to collect his $76,824 prize.
and Sharp the 
. On the 
flop, Sharp picked up two pair while Reynolds added a gutshot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The turn was the 
and the river the 
. With the two running hearts on fourth and fifth street, Reynolds backed into a flush and eliminated Sharp in fourth place for $108,034.
. Unfortunately for him, Reynolds had him pipped with the 
. The board ran out 
and Lee was drawing dead by the turn. He was eliminated in third place and took home $158,450.
. Reynolds held the 
. The board ran through 
and Gregg’s nines held up to give him the double back to over six million. A few hands later, Gregg took the chip lead, but Reynolds snatched it right back on the very next hand.
. Reynolds held 
. Gregg took the lead on the 
flop and kept it after the 
fell on the turn. The 
landed on the river and failed to give Reynolds what he needed, eliminating him in second place for $244,877.| 1 | Anthony Gregg | $416,127 |
| 2 | Stephen Reynolds | $244,877 |
| 3 | Chris Lee | $158,450 |
| 4 | Larry Sharp | $108,034 |
| 5 | Chris Vandeursen | $76,824 |
| 6 | Andre Nyffeler | $61,619 |
For his victory, Gregg earned the lion’s share of the prize pool worth $416,127 and the first major title of his career. His win also includes a $25,500 entry to the season-ending WPT World Championship.
The next stop on Season XI of the WPT will be the Legends of Poker at The Bicycle Casino. The Main Event kicks off Friday, Aug. 24 and PokerNews will be providing daily recaps of the action from Los Angeles. Last year, the event attracted 757 entrants and was won by Will “The Thrill” Failla for $758,085.
*Hands and Data courtesy of the WPT Live Reporting Blog.
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