EPT Coverage - Grand Final

EPT Grand Final Poker Festival May 5 - 13, 2011 - Event Coverage

On this page you will find Player Lists, Gallery Photos, Payout, Side Events and Final Table from the event.

Full reports from EPT Grand Final are on the PokerStars blog.

Player Lists

Gallery

Payout

Payout

PosNameCountryStatusPrize
1 Ivan Freitez Venezuela   €1,500,000
2 Torsten Brinkmann Germany   €900,000
3 Tamas Lendvai Hungary   €550,000
4 Andrey Danilyuk Russia PokerStars qualifier €400,000
5 Juan Maceiras Spain Team PokerStars Pro €315,000
6 Eugene Yanayt United States   €250,000
7 Alex Gomes Brazil Team PokerStars Pro €185,000
8 Andrew Li United States SuperNova Elite €130,000
9 Thomas Pettersson Sweden   €95,000
10 Alessandro Limblici Italy   €95,000
11 Pedro Pellicer Spain PokerStars player €70,000
12 Simon Higgins United Kingdom PokerStars qualifier €70,000
13 Ankush Mandavia United States PokerStars player €60,000
14 Dag Palovic Slovakia Team PokerStars Pro €60,000
15 Shiraz Soltaninassab Belgium   €50,000
16 Domantas Klimciauskas Lithuania   €50,000
17 Litterio Pirrotta Italy PokerStars player €40,000
18 Gerardo Godinez Mexico   €40,000
19 Jose Nadal Mexico   €40,000
20 Hugo Lemaire France   €40,000
21 Georges Yazbeck Lebanon PokerStars qualifier €40,000
22 Raemon Sluiter Holland PokerStars player €40,000
23 Victor Ramdin United States Team PokerStars Pro €40,000
24 Ole Kristian Nergard Norway   €40,000
25 Vasily Fursov Russia   €35,000
26 Erik van den Berg Holland PokerStars player €35,000
27 Eugene Katchalov Ukraine Team PokerStars Pro €35,000
28 Philippe Boucher Canada   €35,000
29 TBC      
30 Joao Studart Brazil   €35,000
31 Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero Spain   €35,000
32 Kjartan Berger Jonsson Iceland   €35,000
33 Lucien Cohen France PokerStars Player €30,000
34 Markus Ristola Finland   €30,000
35 William Reynolds United States   €30,000
36 Daniel Weinman United States PokerStars player €30,000
37 Fernando Brito Portugal   €30,000
38 Ted Forrest United States   €30,000
39 TBA      
40 Josef Bachar Israel   €30,000
41 Daniel Idema Canada   €25,000
42 TBA      
43 Samir Moukawem Canada   €25,000
44 Ben Wilinofsky Canada PokerStars player €25,000
45 Leo Fernandez Argentina Team PokerStars Pro €25,000
46 Marco Leonzio Italy   €25,000
47 Antonio Ferreira Portugal   €25,000
48 Tim Finne United States   €25,000
49 Jan Bendik Slovakia   €25,000
50 Allen Bari United States   €25,000
51 Dean Lyall United Kingdom PokerStars player €25,000
52 Andre Alcaria France   €25,000
53 Grzegorz Cichocki Poland PokerStars qualifier €25,000
54 Jason Grad Canada PokerStars player €25,000
55 Ran Azor Israel   €25,000
56 Kristoffer Thorsson Sweden   €25,000
57 Tobias Reinkemeier Germany   €20,000
58 Juan Carlos Placer Spain   €20,000
59 Will Molson Canada PokerStars player €20,000
60 McLean Karr United States   €20,000
61 Liviu Catalin Toderita Romania   €20,000
62 Carlos Mora Mexico PokerStars player €20,000
63 Javier Martinez Gil Spain   €15,000
64 Tyler Cornell United States   €20,000
65 Jose De La Guardia Panama PokerStars qualifier €20,000
66 Alvaro Velasco Spain   €20,000
67 Ivan Demidov Russia Team PokerStars Pro €20,000
68 Francois Billard Canada   €20,000
69 Benjamin Stosser Germany   €20,000
70 Shander de Vries Holland PokerStars qualifier €20,000
71 David Sonelin Sweden PokerStars qualifier €20,000
72 Fabrizio Gonzalez Uruguay   €20,000
73 Garbar Geir Hauksson Iceland   €20,000
74 Iulian Iacob Romania   €20,000
75 Xuan Liu Canada   €20,000
76 Niklas Toorell Sweden PokerStars qualifier €20,000
77 Eric Gambararo France   €20,000
78 Mikhall Shakhnovich Russia   €20,000
79 Ruben Velasco Spain   €20,000
80 Andrew Michael Boccia USA PokerStars player €20,000
81 Georges Dib Lebanon   €15,000
82 Alessandro Tomasin Italy PokerStars player €15,000
83 Pierre Neuville Belgium PokerStars qualifier €15,000
84 Santiago Nadal Mexico   €15,000
85 TBC      
86 Emil Matsson Sweden   €15,000
87 Jean-Noel Thorel France   €15,000
88 Jordi Martinez Alfonso Spain   €15,000
89 Stefano Demontis Italy PokerStars player €15,000
90 Frederic Bussot Fuentes France   €15,000
91 Mathieu Thiry France PokerStars qualifier €15,000
92 Mayu Rocu Uribe Mexico   €15,000
93 Johan Verhagen Holland PokerStars qualifier €15,000
94 Fatima Moreira de Melo Holland Team PokerStars Pro €15,000
95 Asbjorn Lunde Norway   €15,000
96 Daniele Guidetti Italy   €15,000
97 Jani Sointula Finland   €15,000
98 Aviv Meiri Israel   €15,000
99 Raymond Wu Taiwan Team PokerStars Pro €15,000
100 Sam Chartier Canada   €15,000
101 Jeffrey Hakim Canada PokerStars player €15,000
102 Daniel Heimiller United States   €15,000
103 Viacheslav Goryachev Russia   €15,000
104 Bernard Trong Huy Vu France   €15,000

Side Events

High Roller

EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller

  1. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospllier, Team PokerStars Pro, France, €525,000
  2. Benny Spindler, Germany, €316,000
  3. Juha Helppi, Finland, €185,000
  4. David Sands, USA, €135,000
  5. Vanessa Rousso, Team PokerStars Pro, USA, €100,000
  6. Alex Repik, Russia, €72,000
  7. Galen Hall, USA, €57,500
  8. Peter Jetten, Canada, €45,000

Final Table

Final Table

Seat 1: Eugene “oogee” Yanayt, 2,420,000
Seat 2: Tamas Lendvai, 1,655,000
Seat 3: Juan Maceiras, 3,150,000
Seat 4: Andrey Danilyuk, 2,645,000
Seat 5: Andrew Li, 25, 1,210,000
Seat 6: Ivan Freitez, 5,995,000
Seat 7: Torsten Brinkmann, 1,875,000
Seat 8: Alex Gomes, 1,670,000

Seat 1: Eugene “oogee” Yanayt, 27, Santa Monica, California, USA – PokerStars SuperNova Elite – 2,420,000
Yanayt is one of the top Triple Draw cash games players in the world, regularly competing against high-stakes players such as Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Matt “hoss_tbf” Hawrilenko. Yanayt’s family hail from Russia and he grew up in Moscow until he was nine when he moved to Boston with his mother.

Yanayt majored in Computer Science at University in Los Angeles (where he now lives) but has been playing poker for around nine years. As a SuperNova Elite, Yanayt was given a package to this year’s PCA and bought his way in to the 2010 PCA with FPPs, but he doesn’t play many tournaments and still has virtually no live tournament results apart from a 414th place cash in the WSOP Main Event in 2006 for £30,000.

On Day 3, Yanayt, who is a FIDE ranked chess master, went from 64,000 to a 2,374,000 chip lead, thanks to three big hands against Allen Bari, EPT Berlin champion Ben Wilinofsky and Ole-Kristian Nergard.

 

Seat 2: Tamas Lendvai, 39, Budapest, Hungary – 1,655,000
Last July Tamas Lendvai beat a 505-player field at IPT Venice to win €235,000, propelling him well on his way to topping the Italian Poker Tour tournament leader board. That victory was one of five cashes the Hungarian has made on the IPT. His achievements last year, live and online, also convinced Lendvai to become “three-quarters pro,” as he puts it, spending much of his other time running his own security company.

Lendvai started playing five years ago, dabbling in small live tournaments in Hungary after becoming enthralled with the game on TV. It’s become a profitable passion as he’s since racked up $566,464 in live winnings and another quarter-million at PokerStars under the screen name ‘tomicars’.

On the chance of winning the EPT Grand Final title and €1,500,000, Lendvai said: “It’s the most prestigious event in the world, more so than the World Series now, it’s packed with the best players. My first goal was to make the final table, we’ll see what happens after that.”

The Hungarian, a regular feature at PokerStars tournaments around the world, has achieved his first goal. Live TV will reveal how much further he can go – he’s a very real threat at this final table.

 

Seat 3: Juan Maceiras, 26, La Coruña, Galicia, Spain– Team PokerStars Pro – 3,150,000
Former law student Maceiras took up poker while studying international business in St Louis, Missouri. After building his bankroll in local tournaments in Spain, he started to compete in bigger buy-in events and in 2007 got his first break when he came ninth at EPT Barcelona, earning €64,800.  Just a few months later, he bettered that finish with a sixth place at EPT Warsaw, worth 344,641 Polish zloty (approx $148,000).

In addition to those big scores, Macerias has also cashed at EPT San Remo and EPT Prague; came third in the €2,000 event at last season’s EPT Grand Final, and was runner-up in the Estrellas Poker Tour inaugural event in Alicante, for €44,000.

He has also clocked up impressive results online, including PokerStars’ Wednesday Quarter Million in January 2009, and the Main Event of the first-ever Iberian Championship of Online Poker in February 2011.

When Maceiras turned pro, he was following in the footsteps of his sister Maria  - a former Spanish poker champion - and his father Juan Antonio “Vietcong01” Barros, who has won both the PokerStars Sunday Million and the PokerStars Warm-up.

 

Seat 4: Andrey Danilyuk, 25, Moscow, Russia – PokerStars qualifier  - 2,645,000
Danilyuk has played numerous EPTs (he thinks around 20) but making the final table of this season’s Grand Final is his best result to date. Last year Danilyuk  played in Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko’s World Cup of Poker team and he is being railed in Madrid by a large group of Russian players. 

Danilyuk, who also runs an online food-and-drink retail business, has been playing poker around six years, both live and online. Online his biggest cash has been for around €20,000.

He says he steers clear of big buy-in events. He came 51st at last season’s EPT Grand Final, for €31,000, but his biggest live cash to date was 201st at last summer’s World Series Main Event, where he earned $48,847.

 

Seat 5: Andrew Li, 25, Arlington, Virginia, USA – PokerStars SuperNova Elite – 1,120,000
Li has been playing poker since 2004 and professionally since 2008, after he graduated from the University of Virginia where he studied Biology and Psychology. Li primarily plays sit and goes on PokerStars under the handle "azntracker" and plays between 30 and 40 tables at once. This year he broke the record for reaching SuperNova Elite in the quickest time. It took him just two months, breaking the previous speed record by nearly three weeks. He only decided to come and play Madrid the day before the tournament started as his room mate (Pariesh "Dana Gordon" Jain) was making the trip.
He’s now banking his biggest win by far - wherever he finishes in the final. After this year's WSOP he is planning to relocate to Sydney, Australia so he can carry on his online career. Away from the tables Li likes to travel and participate in many outdoor action-adventure pursuits.

 

Seat 6: Ivan Freitez, 46, Caracas, Venezuela – 5,995,000
Freitez has played numerous EPTs and already cashed twice this season – 16th at EPT Copenhagen in February, for Danish Kroner 105,000 (nearly $20,000) and 55th at EPT Snowfest, for €6,400. His best result to date was winning a $1,000 no-limit tournament at the Venetian last July, for $108,170. Although the father-of-three  describes himself as a professional poker player, Freitez runs his own transport business. Today is a double celebration for Freitez – today is his youngest son Ivan’s fifth birthday and it’s his wedding anniversary tomorrow for the final table.

 

Seat 7: Torsten Brinkmann, 27, Osnabrück, Germany – 1,875,000
Economics student Brinkmann has been playing poker since 2006 and is a regular in heads-up cash games, as well as the Sunday tournaments on PokerStars. He also plays live in his home casino in Osnabrück.

His best online result was runner-up in a $215 WCOOP event, for $193.620, in 2009, losing heads-up to Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ElkY Grospellier. His best live finish was first place at the €1,000 Twente Classics Enschede, for €33,480.

This is his third EPT. He cashed last season at EPT Berlin in 88th place for €12,000. Brinkmann is being railed in Madrid by his girlfriend Natalie Hof, one of the last six contestants left in the German poker talent show “Das PokerStars.de Ass” which is airing now in Germany.

 

Seat 8: Alex Gomes, 28, Curitiba, Brazil - Team PokerStars Pro – 1,670,000
Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes is in a unique position to become only the third ever winner of poker’s “Triple Crown.” The 28-year-old Brazilian already has a WPT victory under his belt (Bellagio Cup, 2009, $1,187,670) and a WSOP bracelet ($2,000 No Limit, 2008, $ 770,540); now he needs an EPT title to become only the third member of poker’s most exclusive club.

Only four years ago Alex was fully set on a career as a lawyer. He played poker at home with friends but was committed to his career and was already a partner in a corporate law firm. However, once he started playing online poker he was soon winning big money, including first place in the Wednesday Hundred Fifty Grand for $65,333.

Eventually he turned pro – a decision which brought rapid rewards. First he took down the $2k NLHE event at the 2008 WSOP, for $770,540; then he joined Team PokerStars Pro and only weeks later came fourth at the first LAPT event in Punta del Este, in Uruguay.

Gomes, who came 33rd at last season’s EPT Grand Final, earning €35,000, is a keen sportsman and plays soccer regularly, as well as supporting his local team, Curitiba FC. He plays online as 'Allingomes'.