EPT Germany, NBC Heads-Up Championship Influence Player of the Year Race

The third PokerStars European Poker Tour stop in Germany produced the second woman champion in its history. Sandra Naujoks topped a field of 667 players to take home a first-place prize of €917,000. She also was awarded 1,920 Card Player 2009 Player of the Year (POY) points, to pull into a four-way tie for seventh place with fellow EPT champions Moritz Kranich (EPT Deauville) and Jens Kyllonen (EPT Scandinavian Open), and Aussie Millions winner Stewart Scott. Naujoks defeated Holger Kanisch in the final heads-up match when her A-Q dominated his A-9. Kanisch was awarded €533,000 and 1,600 points, putting him in a tie for 13th place with Arnaud Esquevin, Peter Rho, Peter Hedlund, and Mike Sowers. The final table in Dortmund was one of the toughest of the fifth season of the EPT, with William Thorson (seventh place), Luca Pagano (sixth place), defending EPT Dortmund champion Michael McDonald (fifth place), and Johan Storakers (fourth place) posing a daunting lineup of professionals for Naujoks to defeat.

Tristan Clemencon Continues to Dominate in France

Another European poker tournament was responsible for the only other movement in the top 10 recently when Tristan Clemencon from France made his fourth final table of 2009. Clemencon finished in second place in the Paris Open of Poker €2,000 no-limit hold’em main event. He won €51,225 in prize money and 480 POY points. This gives him 1,962 points, which puts him in sixth place on the leader board. He also finished in third place at the EPT Deauville, and made two final tables at the Euro Finals of Poker in January. No other player has been more consistent in Europe in 2009, and no other player in the top 25 has made as many final tables as Clemencon has. He has won $457,454 in prize money in 2009, and made four final tables.

NBC Heads-Up Championship Gives Seed and Rousso a Boost

Huck Seed won $500,000 when he defeated Vanessa Rousso in the finals of the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Seed also was awarded 360 POY points. This was the fifth cash in a row for Seed in the NBC Heads-Up event, making him the only player to accomplish this feat. Rousso took home $250,000 and tallied 300 POY points for her runner-up finish. She now has 720 points, thanks to this strong showing and her seventh-place finish in the World Poker Tour Southern Poker Championship. Semifinalists Bertrand Grospellier and Sam Farha each earned $125,000 and 210 POY points for making the “Final Four” of this prestigious tournament that features a field of 64 players. Check out the full recap of this exciting event in the cover story of this issue.