 |
 EPT3 GRAND FINAL IN MONTE CARLO
POKERSTARS QUALIFER GAVIN GRIFFIN WINS RECORD EPT GRAND FINAL
Date: April 3, 2007
Venue: Monte Carlo Bay Hotel, Monaco
Event: EPT3 Grand Final - sponsored by PokerStars.com
Buy-in: € 15,000
Gavin Griffin arrived in Europe for the first time last week to join 705 other poker hopefuls at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final - the richest poker tournament ever held outside the US.
Today he is heading back home to Orange County, California, more than $2.4 million (€1.8 million) richer after beating off competition from some of the best players in the world and winning the six-day No Limit Texas Hold'em event.
The gently-spoken 25-year-old became a tournament favourite after it was revealed that his pink-dyed hair was to mark his involvement in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer charity. He 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.
During the grueling seven-hour final table, players from all over the world donated money to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer via PokerStars, which matched their gifts dollar for dollar.
Gavin first came to poker fame in 2004 when he became the youngest player ever to win a World Series of Poker bracelet aged 22. He turned pro four years ago and this year has already made four final tables, including 3rd place for $86,685 in the San Diego WSOP Circuit Event in February. Gavin qualified for the EPT Grand Final via a $240 Double Shootout Qualifier on PokerStars.
In the final hand of the tournament, runner-up Marc Karam pushed all-in with the narrowest advantage. He then experienced the disappointment of seeing a King hit on the final card, making his opponent the winning hand of two kings. Karam, 27, a former glazier from Ottawa, Canada, came 4th at the 2006 EPT, Grand Final.
The EPT Grand Final took place at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel in Monaco. The six-day, €10,000 buy-in event generated a prize pool of more than €6.6 million (over $8.8 million) - by far the biggest for a tournament in Europe, and a record outside of Las Vegas.
Third place went to Danish student Soren Kongsgaard, from Skive, Jutland. The 19-year-old also qualified for the Grand Final on PokerStars and takes home €610,550. Kristian Kjondal, a high-stakes online player from Oslo, Norway, came 4th for €471,180.
EPT director John Duthie said: "This season has seen the EPT turn into something truly incredible - sell-out events across Europe with record numbers of players, and record prize pools. The Grand Final attracted the toughest field ever seen for a poker tournament in Europe, including stars like Marcel Luske, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Vicky Coren and Phil Hellmuth. Two of Europe's finest players - Ram Vaswani and Andy Black - both made the final table. I am gutted that I couldn't play myself."
The EPT season 4 kicks off in late August in Barcelona. Duthie said: "We are hoping to add more events next year and are talking with several casinos. This year we added the German Open in Dortmund, and the Polish Open in Warsaw, and both events sold out."
Final table/payouts:
First Name Last Name Country PokerStars status Prize
1 Gavin Griffin USA PokerStars qualifier €1,825,010
2 Marc Karam Canada €1,061,820
3 Soren Kongsgaard Denmark PokerStars qualifier €610,550
4 Kristian Kjondal Norway €471,180
5 Josh Prager USA PokerStars qualifier €391,550
6 Steve Jelinek UK PokerStars qualifier €305,270
7 Andy Black Ireland €238,910
8 Ram Vaswani UK €159,270
For further information, please visit http://www.ept.com or contact Victoria Coxon at Jackie Cooper Public Relations, Victoria_Coxon@jcpr.com; / +44 20 7208 7216
PokerStars Facts:
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more.
To date, PokerStars has dealt out over five-billion hands and run more than 25 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $5 billion in prize money. PokerStars is the world's largest poker tournament room, with over 5 million registered player accounts. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and assistance are available around the clock from people who know and understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer service.
The PokerStars.com site is also one of the most secure. PokerStars uses industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by a major European bank, ensuring that PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.
In February 2006, PokerStars.com became the first poker website ever to reach the 100,000 simultaneous player mark. That watershed achievement marked the largest poker event in history. Every week, the PokerStars.com "Sunday Million" is played, which the largest weekly tournament on the planet with a $1 million guaranteed tournament prize pool.
PokerStars is an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In the fall, PokerStars hosts the world's largest online tournament, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). PokerStars also sponsors major events around the globe, such as the World Cup of Poker and other exciting tournaments.
During the last three years, PokerStars.com sent more players to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) than any other source or website. A whopping 1,623 entrants (more than 20 percent of the field) qualified to play in the 2006 WSOP via PokerStars satellites. PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker champions won their entries into the WSOP. The 2005 world poker champion, Joe Hachem, has also been an active player at PokerStars since 2001. He joined Moneymaker and Raymer as official representatives of PokerStars.com, thus fortifying the company trademark, "Where Poker Players Become World Champions." For more information go to: wwaw.pokerstars.com
Back to Press main page
|
 |
English
Français
Español
Deutsch
