Home / Poker News May 2011 / EPT San Remo – Rupert Elder Wins
EPT San Remo – Rupert Elder Wins
Posted by: Randy Williams - Thu, 2011-05-05 08:05
Liv Boeree won the EPT’s San Remo Main Event for Britain last year. Though this year she was eliminated from contention well short of the ultimate goal, the cause wasn’t all lost for Britain. Rupert Elder stepped up, bulldozing his way to the title at a final table which featured a previous
EPT winner and two EPT runners-up. No fewer than 4 Italians were also present for the final stretch, looking to grab the title for the home crowd.
Roberto Spada had led the field at one point in the tournament, and therefore he was probably the Italian most likely to come through for the home team. Unfortunately, Spada became the first victim of the final table. He started off on the wrong foot, giving up two large pots to Xuan Liu. Suddenly, from 3rd in chips, he found himself a short-stack. He then picked up an K,3o and shoved all-in against Max Lykov’s A,9. The board fell a bunch of bricks and Spada was out.
He was followed to the rail by the other 3 Italians. Costantino Russo was the next player to be bounced. He pushed the last of his chips into the middle on a pair of 9s and got called by Liu who had A,Q. The very first card to hit the table was an A and Russo’s tournament was over too.
Massimiliano Manigrasso was the next one to exit on a Q,Q vs K,K match-up. With Francesco De Vivo’s elimination, the last of the Italians had been disposed of a few hands later.
Max Lykov was bounced in 4th place, and Liu’s elimination in 3rd set the heads-up stage between Elder and Heinzelmann.
Elder was the one who started the heads-up stage of the tournament with a massive chip lead, but after having dropped several pots to the German, he found himself locked in an uphill struggle. He bounced back though and put Heinzelmann away on a Q,5o vs A,5o match-up.
