Credit to Stephen Bartley...
Following yesterday's main event final table, the European Poker Tour's sixth season wound down with celebrations, big cheques and a few extra takes to get the winner's smile just right. Then, to finish off, there was a lavish EPT Awards ceremony at the Karement Club, a few minutes' walk away from the Salle des Etoiles.
While the winners toasted their success late into the night, eight others knew their EPT season was not quite complete. They still had the high roller event to see through to the end, a showcase of panache, gall and talent that would feature none of the caginess that turned yesterday's main event final into a long and tense standoff.
Instead, when Germany's Tobias Reinkemeier beat Olivier Busquet heads up to win the first prize of €956,000 tonight, it was after a speedy and enticing scrap, one of high spirits and high stakes that left a refreshing reminder that a seventh season of the EPT is already on the way.
It took five one-hour levels to wrap this one up, from Michael Friedrich's first hand shove with ace-four to Busquet's departure with ace-deuce.
That climax came about when Reinkemeier called Busquet with pocket queens, a hand that held firm to make him an EPT High Roller champion, bettering his sixth place finish the $25k event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
After Friedrich's first hand departure, Allen Bari departed in seventh while Sorel Mizzi, who extended the number of final tables he's reached since January to nine today, departed in sixth place.
For full report go to
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/20...er-069463.html
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Final Payouts -
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept-mo...zes-and-p.html
1. Tobias Reinkemeier, Germany, €956,000
2. Olivier Busquet, USA, €597,600
3. Dori Yacoub, Lebanon, €358,500
4. Tom Marchese, USA, €263,000
5. Paul Berende, Holland, €191,200
6. Sorel Mizzi, Canada, €143,400
7. Allen Bari, USA, €109,900
8. Michael Friedrich, Switzerland, €81,300
9. Luke Schwartz, UK, €49,550
10. Javier Garcia, Switzerland, €49,550
11. Antoine Saout, France, €25,000
* Initially we were paying down to eight players, with first getting €1,000,000. But when they were down to 14 players, those remaining agreed to flatten the structure to include payouts down to 11.
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Cheers,
Neil
PokerStars Live Events Specialist
