March 31 2012, Matthew Pitt

The PokerStars.it European Poker Tour Campione Main Event has come to a thrilling conclusion after Jannick Wrang bested a star-studded final table that lasted 13 hours. For his win, he took home the coveted EPT trophy, a Shamballa bracelet worth over “10,000, and of course the “640,000 first-place prize.

EPT Campione Main Event Final Table Results

With the players being so deep, thanks in part to the superb structure of the EPT events and the fact Friday’s Day 4 came to a conclusion in record time, it was no surprise that it took around 90 minutes for the first player to be eliminated. That dubious honor went to Sweden’s Robin Ylitalo. In his elimination hand, Fabrice Soulier opened to 57,000 from the button and then Balazs Botond three-bet to 135,000 from the small blind. Ylitalo looked down at and moved all in for 1,100,000. His shove was enough to force a fold from Soulier, but Botond had been dealt aces and made the call. The board ran out void of kings and Ylitalo was eliminated in eighth place, netting “54,000 in the process.

From that point on, there was a slow and steady stream of eliminations starting with the last standing Italian player, Stefano Puccilli, who three-bet jammed over the top of Olivier Busquet’s opening raise. Puccilli was holding , but could not out run Busquet’s .

Next to go was Mario Nagel, albeit three hours later, when his ran straight into Wrang’s . The remaining players battled it out five handed for close to two hours before Belgian pro Koen De Visscher was sent to the rail in fifth place. De Visscher got his chips in good with but Soulier made the call with , which spiked a hand-winning king on the turn to bust the popular player.

Four became three some three-and-a-half hours later when Botond bet 325,000 on a flop. Wrang check-raised to 850,000, and Botond called. When the fell on the turn, Wrang led into Botond with a bet of 1,100,000. Botond moved all in and was snapped off by his opponent. Wrang turned over for top pair with a flush draw but all Botond could muster was . The on the river completed the hand, leaving the field three handed.

The three players fought it out for an hour before Soulier’s dreams of becoming the inaugural EPT Campione champion were dashed. His stack had fluctuated throughout the day due to his rather unorthodox style of play and he found himself in the dreaded push-or-fold territory. He looked down to see staring back at him, a hand that he cracked aces with on Day 4, and that had been kind to him on the final table too. His seemingly lucky hand failed to help him when he needed it most because Wrang called Soulier’s all in with . The board ran out , eliminating Soulier, and setting up an intriguing heads-up battle between Busquet and Wrang.

Going into heads-up play, Wrang held a 10,410,000 to 6,680,000 chip advantage over Busquet, who is widely considered to be the best one-on-one no-limit hold’em player in the world. The pair tussled for a while before a scheduled break halted proceedings momentarily. When the players came back from the break Wrang had opened up a 12,890,000 to 4,200,000 chip lead.

On the very first hand back Busquet open-shoved for 4,190,000 with and Wrang made the call with . The board ran out gifting Wrang the heart flush and he became the third consecutive Danish EPT champion!

The EPT’s next stop is in Berlin from April 16 through 21. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there and we hope you will be too.

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March 25 2012, Josh Bell

The 2012 PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney Main Event came to a close early Monday morning in Sydney, Australia. Gordon Huntly, from Scotland, conquered the 461-player field to pocket $226,812.

2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event Final Table Payouts

There were 27 players still in contention at the start of the final day, but after 12 hours of play only one player could take down the title. When the day began, Nicholas Heather held the chip lead, but that didn’t last long, as he faltered late in the afternoon. In the end Heather bowed out just shy of the final table in 12th place.

After five hours, only nine players remained and going into the final table, Liam O’Rourke had a monster chip lead. O’Rourke put on a bit of a show in the lead up to the final table and continued his aggressive play well into the early hours of the morning.

2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event Final Table

The first elimination at the final table occurred just a short while after it began, with 2008 APPT Sydney Champion Martin Rowe going home in ninth place when his couldn’t win a race against .

Not long after Rowe’s elimination, Bradley Lancken found himself on the rail in eighth place. Lancken got his stack all in preflop holding againts Oliver Speidel’s . Unfortunately for Rowe, the flop was spread housing a , and with no help on the turn or river, Rowe was eliminated.

Shortly thereafter, Craig Blight exited in seventh place when he couldn’t win a race against O’Rourke. Next to go was Speidel. A great effort from Speidel saw him add a sixth place finish at ANZPT Sydney to his poker resume which includes a 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event victory.

Jason O’Brien and O’Rourke rumbled for much of the final table, and as such it was somewhat apt that O’Brien’s elimination would come at the hands of O’Rourke. In the end, O’Brien lost a massive flip holding against O’Rourke’s and was out the door in fifth place.

The final four fought fiercely, but play slowed down to a crawl. It took over two hours for the next elimination to occur, but Stewart Ballard was eventually sent to the door in fourth place.

At this point O’Rourke was controlling the table. The young Aussie was seemingly involved in every hand. Just a short while after Ballard’s elimination, O’Rourke dealt the fatal blow to Anthony Aston. O’Rourke held when he had Aston all in holding . No help came for Aston on a board and he was sent home in third place.

Going into heads-up play, O’Rourke held a chip lead, but it still took less than half an hour for Huntly to take care of O’Rourke. Huntly chipped away and chipped away before he had an almost 3-1 chip lead over O’Rourke. The last hand of the night saw O’Rourke all in preflop holding against Huntly’s . The board was spread and it was all over for O’Rourke. For his runner-up finish O’Rourke pocketed a very respectable AUD$144,754.

Just this event is over, it doesn’t mean the live reporting stops. PokerNews’ worldwide leading Live Reporting Team is constantly all over the globe providing updates from the biggest and best tournaments on the circuit, so be sure to check those events out as well.

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