EPT SEASON 4 : DUBLIN

REUBEN PETERS BETTERS 'ANNETTE_15' TO TAKE EPT DUBLIN TITLE

Date: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Venue: Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Event: PokerStars.com EPT Dublin, €8,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament

PokerStars qualifier Reuben Peters from Colorado, USA, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Dublin title - and more than €500,000 - after beating Annette Obrestad, the teenage phenomenon from Norway. Peters successfully overturned a massive chip lead against Obrestad, 19, who won £1m at the World Series of Poker Europe in September.

Looking stunned after his victory, Peters said: "I've had horrible cards for a day and a half. I was the short stack at the final table and at one point I was down to five big blinds.

"I've played against Annette a lot online so I know the way she plays but I've never met her face-to-face. She is an excellent player, and I never expected to win."

The 45-year-old stock trader - "seaanchor" online - is a regular PokerStars qualifier. He has won several seats at the PCA and the WSOP (where he cashed in the main event last year). Peters' wife Amy is back home looking after the couple's two children - Charlie, 12, and Martha-Jane,14.

Annette Obrestad dominated the final table in Dublin and had a five to one chip lead over Peters once they were down to two players. She was clearly dissatisfied at the way she allowed Peters to recover, and the €297,800 prize money for second place was little consolation: "I'm not happy. I thought I played pretty well but I made a couple of mistakes heads up."

Known online as "Annette_15", Obrestad became the youngest ever WSOP bracelet winner in September. She is also one of only five women to make an EPT final table: Vicky Coren (who won EPT London last season), Anina Gundesen, Xuyen Pham and Team PokerStars Pros Katja Thater and Isabelle Mercier.

A record six PokerStars qualifiers made the final table of this year's EPT Dublin - and walked away with over €943,000 ($1.3m). Peters also wins a €10,000 seat to the EPT Grand Final, which takes place in Monte Carlo in April 2008.

"Annette has been the talk of the town in Dublin, and she personally bust out six of the top ten players, including local favourite Andy Black. Everybody expected her to take Peters apart in the final heads up, but the American proved a tough nut to crack. Given the high quality of the field in Dublin, he deserves the title," said Conrad Brunner, PokerStars' Head of Communications, EMEA.

A total of 221 players from 26 countries competed in Dublin creating a prize pool of €1,701,700. They included 60 players who won their seats online with PokerStars, as well as Team PokerStars Pros Noah Boeken, Luca Pagano, Dario Minieri, Katja Thater and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. Both Noah and Luca cashed - Noah came 14th for €20,420 in his sixth EPT cash. Luca came 24th for €10,210 in his 7th cash.

The next EPT is in Prague from December 5-10, 2007 followed by the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January. Satellites for Prague, the PCA and the EPT Grand Final are running on PokerStars now. Satellites for EPT Dortmund (January 29 - February 2) start on December 3, 2007

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