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Card Player Player of the Year Update
1: Poorya Nazari — 3,000
2: Jude Ainsworth — 2,840
3: Cornel Cimpan — 2,730
4: Anthony Gregg — 2,500
5: Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 2,448
6: Constant Rijkenberg — 2,400
7: Steve Brecher — 2,340
8: Stewart Scott — 2,336
9: Chris Moore — 2,110
10: Bertrand Grospellier — 2,102
POY Movement:
PokerStars SCOOP Main Event, EPT San Remo, and The WPT Championship Shake up the Standings
Three major events have taken place recently to completely change the Card Player Player of the Year standings. Poorya Nazari still leads the way with 3,000 points, but there are now many challengers closing in behind him. The first large prize during the last few weeks was awarded at the $10,000 buy-in Spring Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars on April 13. The main event attracted 501 players and Jude Ainsworth from Galway, Ireland walked away with the top prize of $963,338. He was awarded 2,400 POY points as well, and he now holds 2,840 for the year to take the second spot on the leader board. Ainsworth has made two other final-table appearances in 2009. He finished in third place at the Euro Finals of Poker in January to win $40,931 in prize money, and 336 points. His first final-table appearance came just three days into the New Year, when he came in sixth place at the PartyPoker Irish Poker Championship to take home $5,616 in prize money and 104 points.
The PokerStars European Poker Tour made its second stop in Italy April 18-25 in San Remo. The inaugural stop in San Remo took place one year ago during season four on the EPT and attracted an impressive 701 players. The second stop saw the field grow drastically to 1,178 players. This pumped up the prize pool to €5,713,000 and the top prize stood at €1,508,000. Constant Rijkenberg from the Netherlands won the tournament and the first-place prize money. He also took home the 2,400 points that came with the title for his first major tournament cash. Rijkenberg now sits in sixth place on the leader board. Kalle Niemi from Finland finished runner-up in San Remo to take home €862,000 in prize money and 2,000 points. This put Niemi in a four-way tie for 14th place.
The first major tour championship of the year took place at Bellagio to cap off a busy stretch of action. The World Poker Tour Championship began on April 18 and crowned a winner on April 25. The number of players for this event fell from the 545 it drew in 2008 to a much smaller field of 338. The $25,000 buy-in kept the prize pool healthy, at $8,196,500 overall, and $2,149,960 going to the winner. The tournament field was one of the most talented of the year, as many top professionals were gunning for one of the top titles in poker. Young tournament professional Yevgeniy Timoshenko came into the final table with the chip lead, and he led wire-to-wire at the final table to take home the title of WPT champion for season seven. Timoshenko took home the first-place cash prize and 2,448 points to jump into the POY race. He now sits in fifth place in the standings. Ran Azor finished in second place to take home $1,446,265 in prize money and 2,040 points, which puts Azor in 12th place.
Bertrand Grospellier came in third place at Bellagio to take home $776,245 in prize money, and 1,632 points. This was the sixth cash of the year for ElkY, who has been one of the hottest players in poker as of late. He finished in third place in the 2008 POY race with 5,510 points and he finds himself in the top 10 once again in 2009. He currently sits in 10th place in the standings with 2,102 points for the year. Grospellier also picked up points by making the final four at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March. He took home $125,000 for finishing tied for third in the field of 64 players, and he picked up 210 points. He added another 260 points by finishing in second place at a $500 no-limit preliminary hold’em event at the Wynn Classic a few weeks later. He won $25,414 for that score. Grospellier took home $776,245 in prize money for the win, and he now has close to $6 million in career tournament winnings at the age of 28.
This Week in Poker
Card Player Live Coverage Event – PokerStars EPT Grand Final
At press time eight players remained in the 2009 PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final. Here is a look at the chip counts heading into tomorrow's final table:
Dag Martin Mikkelsen: 7,315,000
Matt Woodward: 4,560,000
Peter Traply: 4,365,000
Mikhail Tulchinsky: 3,220,000
Eric Qu: 2,880,000
Pieter De Korver: 2,500,000
Daniel Zink: 1,865,000
Alem Shah: 1,490,000
Check back in tomorrow at noon CEST (3 a.m. PDT) for all of the action in live updates, chip counts, photos, and be sure to watch all of the action live on the PokerStars EPT Live video feed.
EPT Grand Final Day 4 Recap
Card Player Live Coverage Event — Five-Star World Poker Classic
Author's Note: Tournament Report Courtesy of Julio Rodriguez
It took a while, but 21-year-old online phenom Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko won the 2009 Five-Star World Poker Classic WPT Championship late Saturday night. The feat took eight days and thousands of hands, but in the end, the young gun got it done, besting a stacked final table that included Scotty Nguyen, Shannon Shorr, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Christian Harder, and eventual runner-up Ran Azor.
This was Timoshenko's third live victory of his very short career, after claiming wins at the Irish Poker Open and at the APT Macau main event. Timoshenko had previously had four six-figure cashes on his poker résumé, but the $2,149,960 he pocketed for first place here by far eclipsed his largest score since joining the tour.
With his third-place finish, Bertrand Grospellier overtook John Phan to become the World Poker Tour Player of the Year. Grospellier joins an elite group of pros that includes Jonathan Little, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, Gavin Smith, and J.C. Tran.
Here's how all of the final table action went down according to Card Player's live updates:
Final Table Starting Stacks and Seating Assignments
Seat 1: Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier — 5,955,000
Seat 2: Scotty Nguyen — 3,275,000
Seat 3: Shannon Shorr — 1,130,000
Seat 4: Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko — 13,300,000
Seat 5: Christian "charder30" Harder — 7,425,000
Seat 6: Ran Azor — 2,525,000
Shannon Shorr Doubles UpRan Azor raised from middle position to 420,000, and Scotty Nguyen made the call on the button. Shannon Shorr moved all in from the small blind to 2,080,000.
Azor mucked, and Nguyen made the call, showing pocket sixes. Shorr showed pocket tens, and they held when the board ran out A
K
3 7
Q.
Shorr won the hand to double up, and he now holds 4,870,000. Nguyen is crippled with 400,000 after the hand.
Scotty Nguyen moved all in from middle position for his last 390,000, and Shannon Shorr called from the cutoff. Christian Harder called from the small blind, and both he and Shorr checked down a board of A K 2
A 7 to the river.
Harder then bet 600,000, and Shorr folded. Nugyen showed A-4 for trips, but Harder showed A-9 to win the pot with a higher kicker, boosting his stack to 7,995,000.
Nguyen is eliminated in sixth place and earns $285,985.
Timoshenko Dominates With One-OuterYevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 480,000 from the small blind, and Christian Harder made the call from the big blind.
The flop came A 10 4, and Timoshenko continued with a bet of 360,000. Harder made the call, and the turn was the 7. Both players checked, and the river was the J. Timoshenko fired out 1,120,000, and harder called, showing A J for two pair.
However, Timoshenko showed pocket jacks to take the huge pot with a rivered set. He now has nearly 16 million chips, more than half of the remaining chips in play.
Timoshenko Picks Up Another Huge PotYevgeniy Timoshenko raised to 375,000 from under the gun, and Shannon Shorr called in the big blind. The flop came out Q 10 4, and Shorr bet 490,000.
Timoshenko called, and the turn was the 10. Both players checked, and the river was the A. Shorr bet 1.3 million, and Timoshenko called.
Shorr revealed pocket eights, but Timoshenko turned over A Q to bring his stack to a massive 18,385,000. Shorr was left with 2,970,000.
Shannon Shorr moved all in from the small blind for 2,620,000, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko made the call from the big blind with 4 4.
Shorr showed 7 6 for two overcards, but they bricked when the board ran out A 9 3 J K.
Timoshenko continues to steamroll as he brings his chip count to 22,245,000. Shorr earned $408,550 for his fifth-place finish.
Christian Harder Eliminated in Fourth Place ($571,965), Bertrand Grospellier Eliminated in Third Place ($776,245) Christian Harder moved all in from the button for 1.9 million, and Ran Azor called from the small blind. Bertrand Grospellier moved all in over the top from the big blind for 2,790,000, and Azor called that, as well.
Grospellier showed the best hand with A J, Harder had the next best hand with A 8, and Azor showed the worst hand with A 7.
The board came K 7 3 Q 2, however, and Azor's pair of sevens eliminated both Harder and Grospellier. Harder finished in fourth place and earned $571,965 because he had the shorter stack. Grospellier finished in third place and earned $776,245.
There will now be a short break for the money presentation.
Ran Azor Eliminated in Second Place ($1,446,265)On the very first hand back from the break, Ran Azor raised to 800,000, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko moved all in. Azor quickly called with Q 10, and Timoshenko showed a superior A 3.
The flop rolled out Q J 7, and the audience groaned, knowing Azor was now a favorite to double up. The turn was the K, giving Timoshenko some outs to the straight.
The river was the 10, and Timoshenko hit his Broadway straight on the river, taking down the pot and the tournament. Azor finished in second place and earned $1,446,265.
Here are the final results:
World Series of Poker Circuit — Caesars Las Vegas
Author's Note: Tournament Report Courtesy of Julio Rodriguez
The World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Palace has always been one of the more recognizable stops on the tour, simply due to its location in Las Vegas. The $5,000 championship event attracted a field of 187 players and generated a total prize pool of $896,950.
In the past, players such as John Spadavecchia, Allen Cunningham, and Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll have claimed the main-event title, and this year's winner would be no stranger to the poker community, as well. It was just a matter of who would come out on top.
The first player to exit the final table was Russian Evgeny Serebryakov, who had previously taken down a preliminary event at the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic last December. Serebryakov tried a risky squeeze-play that was picked off by Justin Bonomo and collected $24,666 for his ninth-place finish. Busting in eighth place shortly thereafter was Nashaat "Tony" Antonious, who picked up $29,151 for his efforts.
The next two players to bust were former WSOP-C ring winners. Jack Schanbacher, who picked up his gold ring at Harrah's in Atlantic City last year, went out in seventh place, adding $35,870 to his poker résumé, bringing his lifetime winnings to over $1 million.
Sixth place belonged to one of the hottest players on the WSOP Circuit, Dwyte Pilgrim. The Brooklyn, New York, native won his first gold ring at Caesars in Atlantic City and then took down the championship event at Harrah's Rincon in San Diego. His run at a third title fell just short, and he earned $44,848 as a consolation prize.
WSOP bracelet winner Matt "mattg1983" Graham busted in fifth place after holding the chip lead at one point. The 25-year-old picked up $56,059.
Fourth place belonged to Jeremiah "BrandiFan" DeGreef. He may not be a household name in the poker world yet, but the popular forum moderator had plenty of support from the online community in his quest for his second gold ring. DeGreef picked up his first ring just a week ago in the same series and added $71,756 for his final-table appearance.
Immediately after three-handed play began, Men "The Master" Nguyen (pictured above left) was eliminated. Nguyen was gunning for his record fifth gold ring, but once again fell just short of the top prize, picking up $91,937 instead.
Going into heads-up play, both Bonomo and Michael Mizrachi (pictured right) were pretty much even and stacked deep enough for a long and grueling match. The players didn't disappoint, and heads-up play ended up taking longer than the rest of the final table combined.
After several lead changes and all ins, Mizrachi was eliminated in second place, pocketing $143,512. Bonomo, who had made this exact same final table three years in a row, finally picked up his first live win of his career and took home the lion's share of the prize pool with $227,692.
Selected Tournament Results:
Heartland Poker Tour — Gary, Indiana
Buy-in: $1,000
Number of Entries: 452
Total Prize Pool: $428,711
First-Place Prize: $128,614
Places Paid: 45
Final-Table Results:
1: David Brian Kiss — $128,614
2: Brian Brenneke — $64,307
3: Patrick Heneghan — $38,584
4: Matthew Stammen — $30,010
5: Matthew Rizai — $25,723
6: Thomas Faino — $21,436
Looking Ahead
California State Poker Championship
Event Schedule
Event Preview
ANZPT – Sydney
Event Schedule
WPT – Venice
Event Schedule
WSOP Circuit – New Orleans
Event Schedule
Rendezvous a Paris
Event Schedule
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