The Daily Rewind: Tallinn Final, Greece, Phil Hellmuth, EPL, Barry G's Car
Today we bring you some tournament news from EPT Tallinn and from the EPL Pro/Am day 1B. There's news about Greek regulation and Phil Hellmuth's celebrity reaches new heights. We also report on a strange day for Barry G. Oh and how could we forget Serinda Swan......
The Daily Rewind is your one-stop-shop for a sharp review of the day in poker. Join us here for a mix of the latest news and a more irreverent insight into the poker world. Today we discovered the following topics for you:
EPT Tallinn final table
After four days of checking betting and raising, we now know our eight finalists at EPT Tallinn. Day four started with 24 players and the field was narrowed down to our final table fairly promptly.
There was an array of prodigious poker talent remaining including PokerStrategy.com members Stefan mindgamer85 Jedlicka and Vojtech vojtar Ruzicka. Sadly they wouldn’t make it through, falling in 22nd and 15th places respectively.
Big names Praz Bansi and Jeff Sarwer also came up short, and when Johan "busto_soon" van Til went 'busto' in 9th place we had ourselves an EPT final table. Chip leader going into the final is fearless Swiss pro Ronny Kaiser who will face tough competition from Sami "LarsLzk" Kelopuro, Jani Sointula and Stuart Fox.
Today's final makes for a fascinating conclusion to the tournament with a decorated line-up of experienced pros and young online sharks fighting it out for the €275,000 top prize.
Here are the chip counts of the final eight players before the final table started - find live udpates here:
| EPT Tallinn Final Table | ||
| Position | Player | Chipcount |
| 1 | Ronny Kaiser | 2,394,000 |
| 2 | Grzegorz Cichocki | 2,059,000 |
| 3 | Sami Kelopuro | 1,325,000 |
| 4 | Raigo Aasmaa | 904,000 |
| 5 | Jani Sointula | 769,000 |
| 6 | Stuart Fox | 514,000 |
| 7 | Erlend Melsom | 326,000 |
| 8 | Arvi Vainionkulma | 258,000 |
Greece gets gaming green light
EGR Magazine reports that e-gaming legislation has now been approved in Greece. The new regulations will allow "all forms of advertising by applicant operators ahead of licences being granted".
The article suggests that new legislation is likely to unleash "an advertising war" as rival operators battle for space and supremacy in a competitive licensed market.
There remains some confusion around retrospective tax payments, but the new laws which have been "designed to appease Greece's international lenders" can only be seen as positive both for Greece and the e-gaming market as a whole.
Phil Hellmuth: "50 Most Punchable Faces in Pro Sports"
The Bleacher Report last week released an amusing article on the top sports personalities that we all love to hate in their "50 Most Punchable Faces in Pro Sports".
In at number twelve is a certain Phillip Hellmuth Jnr. It's a strong showing from the poker brat on the back of an immense WSOP; he sits in famous company having been voted slightly less punchable than Cristiano Ronaldo and determined a tad more irritating than Spain's Rafa Nadal.
The poll refers to Hellmuth as "obnoxious" and talks of his "childish temper tantrums" which in fairness to Hellmuth have been reined in somewhat lately.
Hellmuth's celebrity can only be good for the game, and the positive news is that in this piece the mainstream media are recognising poker as a real sport.
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| Hellmuth: 12th most punchable face |
Epic Poker Pro/Am day 1B
Play has just concluded on day 1B of the first Epic Poker Pro/Am. It was a similar sized turnout to day 1A, as 98 players took their seats, meaning a total field of 190 players for the inaugural event in the Epic Poker League.
Day 1B sees 15 players make it through to day 2, where 29 players will return at noon to fight it out for the nine $20,000 EPL Main Event seats plus $80,000 in cash (which will be divided amongst the top 18 players).
The names of the day 1B survivors are listed below:
| EPL Pro/am Day 1B | ||
| Position | Player | Chipcount |
| 1 | SEAN GETZWILLER | 110,000 |
| 2 | MARIO SILVESTRI | 102,300 |
| 3 | GREG RAYMER | 90,600 |
| 4 | HUNTER FREY | 80,000 |
| 5 | JEREMIAH DEGREEF | 77,300 |
| 6 | MICHAEL CHOW | 70,800 |
| 7 | MICAH RASKIN | 68,000 |
| 8 | BEN POWELL | 67,100 |
| 9 | BRYCE YOCKEY | 60,200 |
| 10 | EVAN KARCIE | 58,100 |
| 11 | BRIAN RAST | 54,300 |
| 12 | STEPHEN O'DWYER | 49,000 |
| 13 | BRIAN TROCH | 45,800 |
| 14 | PHIL LAAK | 34,300 |
| 15 | MICAHEL JORDAN | 15,400 |
Dude: where’s my car
High stakes pro Barry Greenstein has been recounting the bizarre day that he endured yesterday. The man we all know as "Barry G" was at The Palomar Card Club in San Diego, and according to his Twitter, was "the big loser" in the game last night.
His fortune was about to take an even bigger downswing however, as while he was losing in the mixed game his Aston Martin DB9 was simultaneously being stolen from valet parking.
According to Twitter, a "guy came up to valet and said his name was Greenstein. Didn’t have a valet ticket. Flashed a California ID".
Mr Greenstein's tilt wasn’t to last long though, as incredibly "the guy dropped the car back at the Marriott. He's now claiming I asked him to detail it". It appears the offender was slightly mentally unhinged, as he did indeed detail (valet) the car, inside and out. Just another day in the life of Barry Greenstein…
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| Bad news is your car got stolen | Good news is they cleaned and returned it |
Hot shot of the day
Today's hot shot features the dreamy Serinda Swan. Once the face of Absolute Poker, Serinda has gone on to appear in Hollywood movie "The Baytown Disco" alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Eva Longoria.
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| Serinda Swan |
