EPT SEASON 4 : COPENHAGEN

AMERICAN TRIUMPHS AT EPT COPENHAGEN AFTER WINNING HIS SEAT IN FREE ONLINE TOURNAMENT

Date: Sunday, February 24, 2008
Venue: Casino Copenhagen, Denmark
Event: EPT Copenhagen 50,000 DKK No Limit Texas Hold'em

A 46-year-old construction company boss from near St Louis, Missouri has won Season 4 EPT Copenhagen and a record first prize of 6,220,488 Danish kroner (€834,964). Father-of-one Tim Vance didn't pay anything to enter the 50,000 DKK No Limit Hold'em event - instead he qualified online with PokerStars in a Frequent Player Point satellite.

Second place - and 3,521,429 DKK (around €472k) - went to local player Soren Hansen, 37, from Århus. Both Vance and Hansen, who manages a car paint finish business, became well-known throughout the tournament for their excitable behavior, but when it came to heads-up it became a four-hour endurance test for them both as the chip lead switched back and forth.

Filled with emotion as he picked up his EPT champion's trophy, Vance said "Winning the title was at least as important to me as the money but I knew I was going to win today- I was the best player and I wanted it the most. It was a tough competition though - as tough as anywhere I've ever played and now I just can't wait to call my daughter Nanzi. She's been watching it back home with her grandmother."


Third place - and €2,045,381DKK (approx. €275k) - went to Dane Magnus Hansen. PokerStars qualifier - Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan, 24, from North Dakota - came 5th for 1,286,270 DKK (€172k).

The tournament attracted 460 players, creating a record Scandinavian prize pool of 21,086,400 DKK (nearly €3m). Among the players were Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, PCA Champion Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Bill Chen, Katja Thater, Dario Minieri, Tom McEvoy and Noah Boeken. Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano cashed in 27th place for 84,346 DKK (about €11k) - making it his eighth time in the money at an EPT. The competitors also included 94 players who won their seats online with PokerStars.

For his win, Vance also receives a €10,000 seat to Europe's biggest poker tournament, the EPT Grand final, which takes place in Monte Carlo from April 12-17, 2008. The next EPT is in Warsaw, Poland (March 11-15, 2008). Satellites for the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, as well as EPT Warsaw and San Remo, are running now on PokerStars.

Final table/payouts:

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