EPT SEASON 3 MONTE CARLO GRAND FINAL

EPT3 GRAND FINAL - FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES

Seat 1: Ram Vaswani, 37, London, England - 432,000
Even before this Grand Final began, Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani was heading the EPT all-time Tournament Leader Board - thanks to winning EPT1 Dublin, coming 2nd in Copenhagen last year and a string of other high cash finishes (including a record number of EPT final table appearances). Ram is generally considered the UK's top tournament player and although he may be short-stacked right now, it's worth noting he was also the short stack when he won in Dublin. Ram knows chip leader Gavin Griffin from their joint final table appearance when Griffin won his 2004 WSOP bracelet. Ram is supported in Monaco by his wife Jackie and baby daughter Holly.

Seat 2: Steve Jelinek, 36, Birmingham, UK - 758,000
This popular UK player from Birmingham reckons he has qualified for major events at least 14 times - but has never cashed in any of them. His qualifier "jinx" has included being first out in Monte Carlo two years ago and qualifying with PokerStars three times for the WSOP but never making it past Day 2. Known online as "superowl99" (Steve supports UK football team Sheffield Wednesday aka The Owls), Steve arrived in Monte Carlo last week worrying about work. He heads up an IT department in a UK construction firm but a forthcoming merger means he could be out of a job. Today, looking down at a minimum €159,000 payout, he can think about turning pro with confidence. He is supported here by his girlfriend Irina, also a successful player.

Seat 3: Marc Karam, 27, from Ottawa, Canada - 1,742,000
Marc "Myst" Karam has come a long way since quitting his job as a glazier last year to turn pro. He has cashed in four of the five major live tournaments he's played - and made three TV final tables, including last year's EPT Grand Final when he won $270k for 4th place. His other big wins have been $170k for 6th place at the 2006 North American WPT Championship and $275k for 6th at the Aussie Millions in January. At last year's Grand Final, he busted Dutch pro Marcel Luske with J7 of diamond against Marcel's 8s. He caught running 77 on the turn and river. After the hand, Lüske stood up, placed his finger in his mouth and pretended to vomit.

Seat 4: Andy Black, 41, from Belfast, Ireland - 683,000
Andy started playing cards with his mother but took up the game seriously while studying law at Trinity College, Dublin - played in the JCR university poker school that had previously included players like Donnacha O'Dea and Padraig Parkinsom. He was famously knocked out of the 1997 WSOP by the eventual winner, Stu Ungar, and when he lost the 1998 WSOP as well, he threw away all his possessions and became a Buddhist, living in a monastery for five years. Black returned to poker in 2004, and the following year came 5th in the WSOP main event. Since then, he has cashed in two Dublin EPTs as well as dozens of other tournaments. In 2006 Andy won $100,000 for 5th place at the Tournament of Champions and he's enjoyed a spectacular start to 2007 at the Aussie Millions: 2nd for $100k in the Pot Limit Omaha event and 3rd in the Main Event for $550k. As of 2007, Andy's total live tournament winnings exceed $2,600,000.

Seat 5: Soren Kongsgaard, 19, from Jutland, Denmark - 1,612,000
Since qualifying for EPT Deauville last year after winning a magazine freeroll, Soren is enjoying great success. The young student has played in four EPTs and made around $15k in live tournaments, including winning a Hold'em side event at EPT Copenhagen in January. He's also fresh off a 6th place finish at the Asian Poker Classic in Goa, India.

Seat 6: Josh Prager, 33, from California, USA- 1,593,000
E-mails have been pouring in to the EPTlive webcast, offering words of support and encouragement for popular Josh, he trains a college tennis team in Yuba City with his wife Helen. After cashing for $77k in the 2005 WSOP, Prager took a year off to be with he and Helen's their new baby, Ezra. Now, though, Josh is back on the circuit. The PokerStars qualifier just cashed in the Aussie Millions (41st place) and is now on his way to posting his biggest ever tournament cash.

Seat 7: Gavin Griffin, 25, Chicago, USA - 2,597,000
Chip leader and PokerStars qualifier Gavin Griffin arrived in Europe for the first time last week sporting pink-dyed hair and a pink wristband. But the gently-spoken 25-year-old from Chicago is no poker punk: the pink theme is to mark his involvement in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer charity (see http://tinyurl.com/ytyx3z) Gavin and his girlfriend Kristen, 21, who suffered breast cancer a few years ago, set off on their 39-mile, two-day Los Angeles marathon in September.

Gavin first came to poker fame in 2004 when he became the youngest player ever to win a World Series of Poker bracelet at 22. (He took down the $3k Pot Limit Hold'em event for $240k) University-trained as a speech therapist, he turned pro four years ago and is having a great 2007. He's made four final tables already, including 3rd place for $86,685 in the San Diego WSOP Circuit Event in February.

PokerStars is helping Gavin raise even more money with an immediate donation to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer of $15,000. We have also set up a special account on PokerStars to raise further funds. To donate, simply transfer funds from your own PokerStars accounts to AvonDonate during today's final table. For every dollar given during the final table, PokerStars will match it up to $100,000. If you don't have a PS account or would like to donate at a later date, go to Gavin's page on the Avon site: http://tinyurl.com/ytyx3z

Seat 8: Kristian Kjondal, 21, Oslo, Norway - 1,203,000
In the world of high stakes online poker, Kristian "Kris85" Kjondal is already a huge name and has turned over at least $250k this year alone. He was nominated for Online Player of the Year in the Pokerstars' Scandinavian Poker Awards in January but was beaten by his good friend and fellow Norwegian Johnny Lodden. Kristian is now working his way into the brick-and-mortar poker world but this is first major final table. He most recently posted a 19th place finish at a WPT event in Canada.