EPT Grand Final – Glen Chorny wins
The Canadian Glen Chorny wins the grand final of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour in Monte Carlo and is taking home €2.020.000 - the biggest first-prize ever handed in the history of the tour.
Even before it began the Grand Final in the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort was already full of superlatives. Up to 1000 players were expected, and although not as many showed up, a total of 842 participants paid the buy-in of €10.000. With a breathtaking prize pool of €8.420.000, it was the biggest poker tournament ever held in Europe.
The final day started with two tables since there were ten players remaining in the last blind level on the 4th day. Stig Top Rasmussen and Henrik Gwinner had to leave before it actually started. Hence they played on the final day but not at the final table.
| Chipcounts Final Table | ||
| Place |
Name |
Chips |
| Seat 1 | Denes Kalo | 1.119.000 |
| Seat 2 | Michael Martin | 1.320.000 |
| Seat 3 | Luca Pagano | 688.000 |
| Seat 4 | Valeriy Ilikyan | 1.396.000 |
| Seat 5 | Antonio Esfandiari | 501.000 |
| Seat 6 | Maxime Villemure | 1.206.000 |
| Seat 7 | Glen Chorny | 3.613.000 |
| Seat 8 | Isaac Baron | 2.853.000 |
The popular pro Antonio Esfandiari was the first to bust from the final table. His downfall was a battle with Luca Pagano, the second shortstack on the table. He pushed his A8 all-in against a raise by Pagano. Luca calls with AJ. No magic card for the "Magician" on the board, thus the American finished in eighth place.
The Russian Valeriy Ilikyan astonished the spectators by eliminating himself with some weird moves. But before he dropped out, he helped Maxime to douple up his stack and even helped Michael Martin to a short-time comeback at the final table.
Now, finally Luca Pagano could start to catch up with his competitors. After winning a monster pot of nearly 2 millions against Glen, he was even chipleader for a while. However, shortly before dinner break, he suffered a setback and his stack dropped to 1,5 million chips when his pocket jacks lost an all-in against Maximes AK. Pagano's final hand was against Denes Kalo. After a raise, Luca pushed all-in with his AJ. Kalo's QQ held up and Pagano was eliminated in 6th place.
Next to go was Michael Martin who was eliminated in 5th place. His top pair was not good enough for Chornys overpair.
The four remaining players Isaac Baron, Glen Chorny, Denes Kalo and Maxime Villemure played for almost three hours before the next decision took place. At times the stack sizes were very close together and the game was relatively balanced. It was not until after midnight that we saw real action again - namely Issac Baron being turned into a shortstack after losing an all-in with his pocket eights against Maximes queens.
Now it came blow upon blow. Isaac Baron was eliminated when his AQ went up against Chornys American Airlines, earning him 4th place. Only a shortly afterwards, the Canadian Maxime Villemure followed him despite having won a big pot against Baron earlier. Once again it's Glen Chorny who put one of his competitors out. His straight won against the lower straight of Villemure.
The heads-up was simply a matter of time, with Glen Chorny having a comfortable 11 million to 1,3 million chip lead over his competitor Denes Kalo. In the first hand, Kalo went all-in with KQ, Chorny called with A5 and the board didn't change anything.
| EPT Grand Final - Results |
|||
| Rank |
Name |
Country |
Prize |
| 1 | Glen Chorny | Canada | €2.020.000 |
| 2 | Denes Kalo | Hungary | €1.179.000 |
| 3 | Maxime Villemure | Canada | €715.000 |
| 4 | Isaac Baron | USA | €589.000 |
| 5 | Michael Martin | USA | €421.000 |
| 6 | Luca Pagano | Italy | €337.000 |
| 7 | Valeriy Ilikyan | Russia | €253.000 |
| 8 | Antonio Esfandiari | USA | €168.000 |
| 9 | Henrik Gwinner | Denmark | €126.000 |
| 10 | Stig Top Rasmussen | Demark | €126.000 |
Glen Chorny has therefore become a big income earner in poker business practically over night. At the current dollar exchange rate, his prize is worth nearly $3.200.000.
As of late, the relevance and importance of the EPT has also been growing in the USA and Canada. In particular, the high buy-ins and prizes caused by the current dollar exchange rate attract American players who qualify through PokerStars.
In addition to that, the excellent organisation is another reason for the EPT's rising popularity. This increased demand from overseas is also visible when looking at the results. Five of the eight competitors of the Grand Final's final table were from North America.
The next season is expected to start in late August / beginning of September. In the meantime, we have the WSOP to provide us with excitement.
