August 23 2012, Chad Holloway
Last week, Season 9 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour kicked off in Barcelona. The spotlight has been focused on the premiere events, the “50,000 Super High Roller and “5,000 Main Event, but plenty of other events have been taking place at the Casino Barcelona.
Even though the PokerNews Live Reporting Team may only be reporting the two aforementioned tournaments and the “10,000 High Roller, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some of the more interesting stories that have come out of the side events.
One of those side events was a Media Event, which is where the above picture of PokerNews‘ Kristy Arnett, Lynn Gilmartin and Krisztina Polgár came from. Unfortunately none of those ladies won the event. Those honors went to blogger Howard Swains and photographer Neil Stoddart.
Olympic Skier Petter Northug Cashes in Event #11: “2,000 NLHE Turbo
It’s no secret that Olympians love competition and there are few activities that are more competitive than poker. Michael Phelps, who has 18 gold medals to his name, learned this long ago and has been known to enjoy poker, as has two-time Olympic gold medalist and Norwegian skier Petter Northug.
The summer Olympics just concluded in London, which means it’ll two years before the winter ones roll around in Sochi, Russia, so Northug has turned to poker to stay busy. The 26-year-old and his younger brother, Tomas, 22, who is the Junior World Champion in cross-country skiing and enjoying his first year on the Norwegian national ski team, were both in Barcelona to test their skills on the felt.
The elder Northug has played on the EPT before and even has a World Series of Poker min-cash to his name but notched his first EPT cash in Event #11: “2,000 NLHE Turbo.
Interestingly, Northug went on to finish 136th in the Main Event for “8,400 and his second EPT cash.
Dmitry Grishin Wins Estrellas High Roller
On Sunday night, Russia’s Dmitry Grishin conquered a field of 215 in the Estrellas “2,000 High Roller event. Although it’s not an EPT event per se, the finale of Season 3 of the Estrellas Poker Tour was held concurrently to create the Barcelona Poker Festival.
Grishin, who finished 41st at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final last April, was awarded “77,210 for his win. He defeated a stacked final table, which included Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen, who finished fifth for “22,400, and EPT Berlin winner Kevin MacPhee, who came in sixth. With that said, the final four players did cut a deal as the tournament dragged into the early morning hours so that they could all play Day 1b of the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Dmitry Grishin
Estrellas “2,000 High Roller Final Table
| 1st | Dmitry Grishin | Russia | “77,210 |
| 2nd | Christopher Andler | Sweden | “62,000 |
| 3rd | Joni Jouhkimainen | Finland | “56,000 |
| 4th | Fabrice Maltez | France | “39,000 |
| 5th | Angel Guillen | Mexico | ” 22,400 |
| 6th | Kevin MacPhee | USA | “17,750 |
| 7th | Zoltan Szabo | Hungary | “13,500 |
| 8th | Jonathan Karamalikis | Australia | “10,030 |
Gerasimova Captures Ladies Event; Eliminates Heinz in Main Event
The winners of big buy-in events tend to garner the headlines at any circuit stop, but someone else managed to make some noise at EPT Barcelona – Liya Gerasimova. The girlfriend of Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov, Gerasimova took down the EPT Barcelona Ladies Event in dramatic fashion.
After navigating a tough field of 63, which included Claudia “dasultanz” Csongei and Jan “jamjars69” Combes, Gerasimova made it to three-handed play, though with less than one big blind remaining. According to the PokerStars Blog, “Liya was forced to go all-in blind, so [Darya] Hulyk and Lucia Martinez called to check the hand down. As the last card was dealt Liya finally turned over her cards. She found aces.” She went on to double two more times in a row and was right back in contention.
After Hulyk was felled by Martinez, it took just minutes for a winner to be determined. In the the last hand, Gerasimova reraised all in on a 
board with 
and was up against the 
flopped full house of Martinez. Amazingly, the 
spiked on the river to snatch victory from Martinez and gave it to Gerasimova with a higher full house.
As if winning the Ladies title wasn’t enough, Gerasimova went on to play the Main Event. There she knocked out 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Champ Pius Heinz. Here’s the hand as reported in the PokerNews Live Reporting Blog:
Action folded to Heinz in the hijack and he raise to 3,400, which Liya Gerasimova, who is PokerStars Team Pro Ivan Demidov’s girlfriend and the winner of the ladies event here at the EPT Barcelona, called from the big blind.
Gerasimova led out for 4,200 on the
flop, Heinz raise dto 10,800, Gerasimova moved all in, and Heinz quickly called off for around 50,000.
Showdown
The 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event winner had an over pair with an open-ended straight draw, but it was way behind the flopped nuts of Gerasimova. Neither the
turn nor
river help Heinz, who was eliminated from the EPT Barcelona Main Event in Level 12.
Gerasimova went on to make Day 3 of the Main Event but fell just short of the money.
Martynenko Wins His Way Into EPT Barcelona
Prior to EPT Barcelona, PokerStars held a contest asking fans to put together a video offering advice to Rafa Nadal on how to best learn poker. Approximately 800 players submitted videos, but the winner ended up being Sergey Martynenko.
“[I made it] Just for fun,” Martynenko told the PokerStars Blog. “It wasn’t my profession; it’s just interesting for me. Sometimes I’ve got some ideas and I find it funny.”
Here’s a look at Martynenko’s winning video:
For his winning submission, Martynenko was awarded a package to the EPT Barcelona. “I’ve been playing poker for about two years on PokerStars and my limits are low,” he said in an interview with the PokerStars Blog. “I’m trying to get higher but this is the biggest tournament I’ve ever (played). It’s very difficult. The play is very aggressive. I tried to concentrate and to remember all the things I know. Sometimes it helps me.”
Unfortunately, Martynenko EPT Barcelona dreams came to an end early on Day 2.
Don’t forget to follow our live updates of the Main Event, which is happening now.
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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:
