Home / Poker News April 2009 / EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final preview
EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final preview
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2009-04-29 03:28
The showdown, the Grand Finale, the EPTs season wrapping Monte Carlo Main Event is just around the corner. Having kicked off yesterday, the event will take place over 6 days, and it will include a High Rollers’ Event between May 1st and 3rd. Over the years, the EPT’s Monte Carlo Grand Final has grown to be the richest live poker event in Europe, and this season it looks like it’s going to break all attendance and prize pool records.
The break through year for the EPT was Season 4 when the prize-pool of the Monte Carlo Main Event allowed the winner, 22-year old Canadian Glen Chorny, to take home a massive first prize worth €2,020,000 or $3,200,000. The young Canadian bested a final table comprised of already established EPT names like Isaac baron, Luca Pagano and Denes Kalo.
Looking to cash in on the resounding success of Season 4, Season 5 has added a few more stops and has generally beaten all prize-pool records for its Main Events.
The Monte Carlo Grand Final is no exception either. The prize-pool is set to reach a staggering €12 million this year, as scores of online qualifiers will join some of the biggest names in live poker, like Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand Grospellier and Barry Greenstein. Of course the majority of these online qualifiers (over 400) are being sent to Monte Carlo by PokerStars, and the above named pros also belong to the in-house pro team that PokerStars maintain.
Isabelle Mercier, another team PokerStars Pro member, will also be present at the Monte Carlo Grand Final tables, coming fresh off her win in the Ante Up For Africa fundraiser event organized by PokerStars, where she managed to raise over €160,000 to help the needy in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.
High roller events have also established themselves as integral parts of EPT stops this year. The Grand Final’s High Roller event is a €25,000 one, which is bound to attract some top –level competition too.
The prize packages offered by PokerStars for the Grand Final were all $18,800 ones, and they included the buy-ins, hotel and travel expenses as well as spending money.
