Player of the Year

L.A. Poker Classic and EPT Berlin Add Contenders to Player of the Year Race

The World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event concluded recently, and thanks to the massive field of 745 players, there was a lot of money and Card Player 2010 Player of the Year (POY) points up for grabs. The turnout was the second-largest in the history of the L.A. Poker Classic, topped only by 2007’s 791 participants.

The champion was Hungarian Andras Koroknai, who took home $1,788,001. He also earned 2,400 POY points, and jumped up to sixth place in the standings. Following his win, he was mobbed by the group of supporters who had cheered him on so enthusiastically all night long, and they finished off their display of joy by tossing him into the air in celebration of the victory. The runner-up was Raymond Dolan, who also had a supportive crowd in attendance, including his brother Tim Phan. He was awarded $1,002,710 and 2,000 points, to move into a tie for eighth place on the leader board with Card Player Publisher Barry Shulman. The tournament’s turnout produced enough POY points that even the third-place finisher is now close to cracking the top 10. Tri Huynh captured 1,600 points, which is good for a 15th-place tie in the standings, and he banked $665,136 in prize money.

Kevin MacPhee topped a huge field of 945 players in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event, and walked away with the first-place prize of €1 million. He also garnered 1,920 POY points, and now joins the logjam of players who are tied for 10th place on the leader board. MacPhee is a 29-year-old Idaho resident who plays online as “ImaLuckSac,” and he qualified for this event on PokerStars. The runner-up was Ilari Tahkokallio, who won €600,000 and 1,600 points. Tahkokallio is currently in a five-way tie for 15th place in the standings.

The EPT had hosted a tournament in Germany three times in previous seasons before moving the event to the capital city of Berlin this year. Those first three events took place in Dortmund, and attracted fields of 493 players in 2007, 411 players in 2008, and 667 players in 2009. The move to a new city proved to be a good one, as the turnout grew by more than 41 percent from last year.

Look Out:
Nico Behling

Nico Behling had a good run at both the live and virtual poker tables in the month of March. First, the 24-year-old German poker professional, who plays online as “mad.afurable,” took third place out of a field of 10,077 players in the PokerStars Sunday Million on March 1, and took home $145,018 in prize money. Just six days later, he was at another PokerStars final table; this time, it was the European Poker Tour Berlin €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event.

He went to the final table as the short stack, and finished eighth out of the record field of 945 players. He added another $98,096 to his winnings for the month as his friend and Team PokerStars pro Sebastian Ruthenberg rooted for him from the stands. Behling now has $591,867 in career live-tournament earnings, and another $246,784 online. He normally grinds in shorthanded cash games, but also plays in multitable tournaments on PokerStars, the site where all of his online tournament results have been posted.

Behling came very close to securing his first major-tournament win in November 2008. He finished second to Joao Barbosa in the EPT Warsaw main event and won $258,640. He also has performed very well at the Aussie Millions during his short career. He made the final table of the $10,000 main event in January 2008, finishing eighth for $154,000. He also finished 35th in this year’s Aussie Millions main event, which was good for $98,096.

If prior results are any indication of future performance, don’t be surprised to see Behling take down an EPT title, an Aussie Millions title, or a PokerStars S_unday Million_ title before too long.