Negreanu leads star pack to EPT Vilamoura
by Mad Harper
Some of the best poker players in the world are heading for Portugal’s stunning Algarve coast this week to compete in EPT Vilamoura, the second stop of EPT Season 7.
Among the players is poker legend and Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, a super-keen golfer who has been lured to Europe partly by the prospect of competing in the special EPT Vilamoura Fairways and Felts Challenge. KidPoker is one of four PokerStars players already signed up to play this unique event, a €1,100 golf-and-poker contest which tees off on Vilamoura’s celebrated Pinhal Golf Course on September 1.
Also planning to swing into action at Pinhal are Friend of PokerStars and England football legend Teddy Sheringham, EPT founder John Duthie, and event host JP Kelly, as well as WSOP bracelet winner James Dempsey. The tournament is a brand new format where players buy-in or win a €1,100 golf/poker prize package (€770 + €70 for the poker, €260 for the golf) and battle it out over two days of action on the fairways and then at the poker tables. Players’ golf scores determines how many chips they get on Day 2 at Vilamoura Casino.
Playing the Main Event (August 28-September 2) are a wealth of stars from around the world including American David Williams, playing his first EPT as a member of Team PokerStars Pro, Arnaud Mattern, who came third at EPT Tallinn last week, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Pieter de Korver, Lex Veldhuis, Luca Pagano, Dario Minieri, Ruben Visser, Vicky Coren, Matthias De Meulder, Marcin Horecki and Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville. Also competing are Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo, last year’s Vilamoura champion Antonio Matias and EPT Award winners Kevin MacPhee, Allan Baekke and William Thorson.
Team PokerStars Portugal will also be out in force: Henrique Pinho, Nuno Coelho and Joao Nunes will be joined by Andre Coimbra from Team PokerStars Online.
More than 130 players have already won their seats to EPT Vilamoura online with PokerStars.
Categories: Poker Tour News, Poker World News Tags: Algarve Coast, Antonio Matias, Elky, Fatima Moreira De Melo, Football Legend, Golf Scores, James Dempsey, John Duthie, Jp Kelly, Keen Golfer, Macphee, Mattern, Nuno Coelho, Poker Players, Poker Tables, Pokerstars, Star Pack, Teddy Sheringham, Vilamoura, William Thorson
Max Lykov wins EPT Player of the Year
Young Russian Max Lykov, who won EPT Kyiv at the start of Season 6, has been named Player of the Year at the EPT Awards in Monte Carlo.
The ceremony was hosted by Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren and EPT founder John Duthie and took place at the stylish Karement Club at the start of the EPT Grand Final wrap party on Friday.
Lykov was already leading the race to be Player of the Year before the Grand Final started. As well as Kyiv, he made the money in two side events and finished 13th at EPT Snowfest. However his cash in the very first event of the Grand Final – the €5,250 heads-up tournament – gave him an extra 19 points and put him well ahead of his opponents.
He said: “This is awesome. I worked very hard to win this. I played almost all the EPT Main Events, I played a lot of side events. I am very pleased. This is great for my profile as a player.”
Max Lykov
The EPT Achievement of the Year, voted for by Season 6 Main Event players, was won by Danish pro Allan Baekke who took down EPT Snowfest in March and followed it up with a 12th place finish at San Remo a few weeks later.
The Players’ Choice Award was won by EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee who said: “I feel awesome about winning this because I’m American and this is the European Poker Tour. I’ve made a lot of friends in every single place I’ ve gone and I feel like I have friends in every single country in the world now. To be voted by them is really special.”
Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson was thrilled to win the Omaha Award. He dominated these events in Season 6, winning two of them.
Pierre Neuville, the 68-year-old retired businessman from Belgium won Online Qualifier of the Year. Neuville, dubbed the Serial PokerStars Qualifier by the PokerStars Blog, qualified for ten of the 13 Season 6 events and had several cashes including runner-up at EPT Vilamoura. He said: “I’m simply the happiest poker player in the world. It couldn’t be better. It’s my best poker day in my life. With this award, I don’t mind if I have a bad beat forever.”
The Mixed Game Player of the Year award was an eight-way tie which will be decided with an online Deep Stack Sit and Go on PokerStars in May. They are: Matthias Kuerschner, Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater and Benjamin Kang from Germany, Americans Scott Clements and Mike Gorodinsky, Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem from Australia, Ilari Tahkokallio from Finland and Russian Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko.
Largely due to stunning performances from Jan Skampa, winner of EPT Prague, and Martin Kabrhel who won three side events in Season 6, the Country of the Year award goes to the Czech Republic. All Czech players who cashed this season are now invited to take part in a special freeroll during EPT Prague in December 2010 with a $10,000 prize pool.
All the individual award winners receive a prize package – hotel accommodation and Main Event buy-in – for the first event of EPT Season 7 in Tallinn, Estonia from August 11-16.
Congratulations to all our winners.
Categories: Poker Tour News, Poker World News Tags: Awa, Businessman, Choice Award, Day In My Life, Heads Up Tournament, John Duthie, Kyiv, Macphee, Main Event, Monte Carlo, Opponents, Poker Player, Pokerstars, San Remo, Single Place, Snowfest, Vicky Coren, Vilamoura, William Thorson, Young Russian
EPT Awards Update
European Poker Tour players have just two events left to stake their claim on some of the most coveted titles on the EPT.
Next month in Monte Carlo the European Poker Tour will honor its top performers from Season 6. The winners of these awards represent the very best the EPT has had to offer over the course of the dozen events leading up to the Grand Final.
Since the start of Season 6, players have earned EPT points for cashing in the main events and side events. It’s been a tight race the whole season long and it could come down to the wire in several categories.
As we prepare to head into EPT Snowfest, there is a three-way tie for Player of the Year. That honor goes to the player who collected the most points in all of the Main Events and $1000+ buy-in side events. With two events remaining, Maxim Lykov, Kevin MacPhee, and Martin Kabrhel are all tied for the top spot.
Kevin MacPhee
The EPT Awards will also recognize players in individual disciplines, including Omaha Player of the Year and Mixed Game Player of the year.
One of the more interesting ongoing battles is the fight for Online Qualifier of the Year. As of today, the top two performing qualifiers (based on a formula that takes into consideration number of seats won and live tournament performance) are Carter Phillips and Pierre Neuville.
Pierre Neuville
The Czech Republic is currently leading the race for EPT Country of the Year, The country that has the most cashes and points per capita will earn this award. Portugal, Israel, and Norway are still in the hunt.
Finally, there are two awards that will be decided by vote. The EPT Achievement of the Year Award will recognize the player who put on the most impressive performance in the first 12 events of the EPT. The EPT People’s Choice Award will go the fans’ favorite.
The award ceremony will take place during the EPT Grand Final at the end of April. For full rankings and information, visit the EPT Awards home page.
Categories: Poker Tour News, Poker World News Tags: Award Ceremony, Capita, Carter Phillips, Cashes, Choice Award, Czech Republic, Disciplines, Ept, Game Player, Impressive Performance, Information Visit, Macphee, Maxim, Monte Carlo, Neuville, Snowfest, Tight Race, Top Performers, Tournament Performance, Year One
