Home / Poker News May 2009 / EPT Grand Final - the Word so Far
EPT Grand Final - the Word so Far
Posted by: James Carter. - Sat, 2009-05-02 14:31
It's been an exciting few days in Monte Carlo, as the European Poker Tour draws to an end and the list of its final contenders gets smaller and smaller.
Day 1b was enormous in terms of both the numbers and the personalities turning out. There were 539 players registered for day 1b making the total field for the tournament one of 935, nearly 10% more than last year. It wasn't just a question of quantity however; quality was also in abundance. Poker players to grace the tables included Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Vicky Coren and Gus Hansen, whilst stars to be spotted included tennis player Boris Becker and rap artists Nelly. Gus Hansen didn't make it through the day, neither in fact did Nelly, however 322 did survive the day's play amongst them Yevgeiy Timoshenko.
Day 2 saw 500 day ones survivors return to battle it out, and with only 138 still standing at the end of the night there was plenty of action. Amongst the biggest names to exit in day 2 were Arnaud Mattern, Chad Brown, Ivan Demidov, Jason Mercier, Andy Block and Boris Becker. Lee Nelson who had started in chip leader position soon saw his edge dwindle as Joe Ebanks knocked a big pot out of him early on. That was just the beginning of an excellent day for Ebanks who finished the day in 3rd position.
The top ten chip leaders at the end of day 2 are:
1. Marc Naalden: 777,000
2. Annette Obrestad: 671,500
3. Joe Ebanks: 601,500
4. Vadim Shlez: 540,000
5. Peter Traply: 534:500
6. Johannes Strassmann: 495,000
7. Matthew Woodward: 444,500
8. Stephen Haughey: 431,500
9. Adrian Schaap: 430,000
10. Luca Pagano: 411,000
