EPT SEASON 5 MEDIA RELEASES

EPT SEASON 5 LAUNCHES WITH FIRST POKERSTARS EPT AWARDS

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, has launched The EPT Season Five with the first European Poker Tour Awards in Barcelona last night. The ceremony honoured the best players and performances from the entire EPT Season Four with Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu hosting the awards alongside Poker News’ Gloria Balding.

The EPT Barcelona Open is being held at the Gran Casino Barcelona from September 10-14, 2008. With an estimated 600 players taking part and the first prize money set to exceed 1.3 million euros this year, the tournament and the EPT Barcelona has grown exponentially since its addition to the tour in 2004, when the buy-in was a mere 1000 euro with 230 players competing to win 80,000 euro.

The awards ceremony took place at the stylish Opium Mar in Barcelona last night on September 9, 2008. The launch of The EPT Awards follows the enormous success of the PokerStars.com Scandinavian Poker Awards, which takes place annually in Copenhagen.

“Last night’s awards, which we expect to become a regular fixture on the EPT, look back at last season’s record breaking tour and acknowledge the achievements of the players who once again dazzled us all with their exceptional poker skills,” said John Duthie, EPT executive producer.

Two of the seven EPT award categories included voting that was open to the general public and EPT accredited media. Presiding over the remaining five categories were an expert panel of seven judges including:

• John Duthie (Executive Producer of The EPT)
• Lee Jones (former PokerStars.com Card Room Manager)
• Victoria Coren (writer, TV presenter & Team PokerStars Pro member)
• John Caldwell (Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews).

The 2008 European Poker Tour Award winners include:

Best Newcomer – Trond Erik Eidsvig – Awarded to the player who made the biggest entrance into the EPT Season Four. Also nominated for this award were: Denes Kalo, Jason Mercier, Annette Obrestad and Mike McDonald.

Best Performance –Julian Thew, EPT Baden Champion - Awarded to the player who gave the best individual performance during one EPT Season Four tournament. Also nominated for this award were: Jason Mercier, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Glen Chorny and Mike McDonald.

Best Overseas Player –Mike McDonald (Canada) – This award honours the non-European player who has had the most impact on the EPT Season Four. Also nominated for this award were: Tim Vance, Isaac Baron, Mike McDonald, Raymond Rahme and Danny Ryan.

Best PokerStars Qualifier – Danny Ryan - Awarded to the PokerStars qualifier who made the biggest impact on the EPT during Season Four. Also nominated for this award were: Mike McDonald, Glen Chorny, Christian Harder and Isaac Baron.

The Poker Writer’s Award – Julien Thew – This award invited all accredited media to vote for the player they have most enjoyed writing about, interviewing or watching during EPT season 4.

The People's Choice Award – Mike McDonald – This was the chance for the poker playing public to pick any player who competed in EPT Season Four. Mike won with over a quarter of the 878 votes.

Player of the Year Award – Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano – The player who has achieved the most over the entire EPT Season Four. Also nominated for this award were: Trond Erik Eidsvig, Johannes Straussman, Jan Heitman and Thierry Van der Berg.

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