PokerStars.net EPT Berlin is Back in Action
800 poker players, a €5,000 + €300 Main Event and 11 Team PokerStrategy.com players participating: Berlin welcomes the PokerStars.net EPT for the second year running...hopefully without the crime this time.
April 5th, 2011 is set to be another highlight in German live poker, hopefully this year for all the right reasons.
Most of you will remember last year. Four masked people stormed through the Grand Hotel Hyatt around 2:15 pm. Their sights were set on the prize money of the Main Event currently taking place. They created a media storm around the PokerStars.net EPT, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The event got coverage in ZDF's "heute-journal" (German TV), but without the assault, reporting would have been highly unlikely.
€4.7 million prize pool – A record in Germany
The PokerStars.net EPT had a lot to offer apart from the raid drama. 945 registered participants generated a total prize pool of €4.7 million and €1 million for the first place guaranteed by PokerStars - numbers crushing all previous records in Germany.
'Poker is booming in Germany,' was the original message for the PokerStars.net EPT. However, no one thought this boom would also attract bank robbers.
Luckily, their assault wasn't crowned with success after the offenders lost one of the bags filled with money when attempting to leave the hotel. The police arrived in no time and quickly arrested suspects.
There was some disruption to the Main Event but it resumed after a short break. Finally, American poker player Kevin MacPhee was victorious whilst Ilari Tahkokallio from Finland came in second.
For one Team PokerStrategy.com player the event was a huge success. Black member Marko infinity1000 Neumann made it to the final table and finished in seventh place after busting with AK against his opponent's 77 - an elimination that was consoled with a €120,000 payday.
Apart from infinity1000, eleven other PokerStrategists cashed. Unfortunately no player from Team PokerStrategy.com made the money, but with 11 team memebers representing this year, we hope this will change.
Team PokerStrategy.com with 11 members in Berlin
And this year? There won't be a new record - the number of participants in the Spielbank Berlin is limited to 800 players. Early registration is encouraged so that you don't end up like Trader who couldn't get a seat last year.
What you can expect are a lot of PokerStrategists starting the tournament - last year 30 of them made it into day two. Will there be another PokerStrategist at the final table this time?
Let's hope it is time for a top-rank finish by a member of Team PokerStrategy.com in a PokerStars.net EPT Main Event.
To reach that goal, we are sending a bunch almost the size of a football team: with Allanon, Nazgul, Thorsten77, Simon1989, Tsubi, Bokkie, VojtaR, vovoleo, Bongbob, TripleAceIRL and MikaPaasonen there are 11 members willing to compete for first place and the PokerStars.net EPT 7 bracelet.
Alabtrini, who covered the recent PokerStars.net EPT in Austria, will have his hands full again.
Plenty of side action for all
Besides the Main Event, daily sit 'n' gos and cash games, there will be numerous side events in the Spielbank Berlin which will host all of the tournaments according to the organisers' website.
Most events involve NL Hold’em, but you can also expect some Pot Limit Omaha. The buy-ins have a wide spectrum, starting from €200 + €20 up to €10,000 + €100. Additionally, there is a Women's event planned for April 9th with a buy-in of €300 + €30.
All this sounds like a good mix for an interesting event that will hopefully be a successful one for the PokerStrategy.com community.
Oh, and by the way, this year wearing sun glasses and caps is only allowed at the poker tables, not in the rest of the casino. Hopefully this year there'll be no ski-masks to be seen!
