Season 11 of the European Poker Tour sponsored by PokerStars.com kicked off in fine style with a record number of entrants for an EPT in Europe. A field of 1,496 generated a prize pool of €7,255,600 with 239 players getting paid and the winner is set to receive €1,261,000.
With the final table of eight set to play down to a winner today it won’t be long before we know just who will be walking away with that huge pay day and the title of EPT 2014 Barcelona champion.
Hossein Ensan begins the day as chip leader, having won his seat via a live satellite as well as taking down the inaugural EPT Seniors event only days ago. Ensan is one of three German players to have made it through to the official final table of eight, the others being third placed amateur Ji Zhang and Andre Lettau, an online professional, who lies in fourth.
Samuel “buckguy 2200” Phillips is another online professional who has over $3,000,000 cashes to his name. Phillips is the sole American left in the field and this is his biggest live cash of his poker career.
Coverage of the final table with hole cards begins at 2 p.m. today and PokerNews will bring you all the action on the way to crowning the first champion of the season. We hope you’ll join us then and stay with us in what is sure to be a hard fought and dramatic final day of play.
The poker world will be taken over by a new PokerStars television show called 'The Shark Cage', and we've got some exclusive footage for you! Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier and Fatima Moreira de Melo share their experiences, as do table talker extraordinaire Sam Grafton and former EPT winner Mike McDonald.
Hand #1: Kiryl Radzivonau raised to 325,000 with in the cutoff. Hossein Ensan defended in the big blind with . The flop was . Both players checked to see the on the turn where they both checked. The was also checked and Radzivonau picked up the pot.
Hand #2: Andre Lettau raised to 325,000 with from the button. Ensan three-bet to 550,000 with in the small blind. Lettau four-bet to 1,225,000 and Ensan opted to call. The flop was and both players checked. Ensan fired 855,000 on the turn and Lettau folded.
Hand #3: Samuel Phillips raised to 325,000 from under-the-gun with and picked up the blinds and antes.
Hand #4: Andrey Shatilov limped in the small blind with . Phillips checked with . Shatilov check-called a 160,000 bet on the flop. Both checked the turn and the river. Shatilov showed his king-high and nodded when Phillips flipped ace-high.
Hand #5: Slaven Popov raised to 320,000 in early position with . Lettau flat-called with in position. The flop was - something for each player. Popov bet 325,000 and Lettau made the call to see the . Popov bet 425,000 and again Lettau made the call. The river was the and Popov checked, Lettau bet 1,005,000 and Popov tanked for several minutes before folding.
Hand #6: Andre Lettau had in early position and opened for 325,000 winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #7: Lettau again made it 325,000 with , this time from under the gun, and again took it down.
Hand #8: Samuel Phillips made it 325,000 with and in the big blind Lettau with called. The flop was and after a check from Lettau a 285,000 continuation bet from Phillips got a call. The turn was the which saw Lettau check again and Phillips check behind. The river was the and with two checks Lettau took his third pot in a row.
Hand#9: Lettau in the small blind with called in the small blind and big blind Hossein Ensan checked with . The flop was and a bet from Lettau of 210,000 won the pot.
Hand #10: Phillips raised to 325,000 holding and took it down.
Hand #11: Kiryl Radzivonau raised to 325,000 and picked up the blinds and anes.
Hand #12: Andrey Shatilov limped in the small blind with . Samuel Phillips checked with in the big blind. The flop was and Shatilov bet 175,000, Phillips made the call to see the on the turn. Shatilov bet 380,000 and Phillips made the call a second time. The river was the and Shatilov bet 530,000 and Phillips made a good laydown.
Hand #13: Andrea Dato moved all in from the cutoff with for around 2 million and everyone folded.
Hand #14: Phillips raised to 325,000 from he button and Radzivonau made the call. The flop was and the Belarussian quickly folded to a 350,000 continuation bet.
Hand #15: Hossein Ensan raised to 320,000 with and won the blinds and antes.
Hands #16: Samuel Phillips opened from early position and made it 325,000 with . Ji Zhang called in the hi-jack with and Hossein Ensan in the big blind called with The flop was and Ensan led out for 385,000. Phillips called and Zhang folded. The turn card was the and Ensan gave it some thought before folding. Phillips reached for chips and bet 675,000.
Ensan wanted to know how much Phillips was playing before making the call. The river card was the and Ensan check-called a bet of 1,375,000 from Phillips to put Phillips in the chip lead.
Hand #17: Phillips opened for 325,000 with and took the antes and blinds.
Hand #18: Phillips was under the gun with and again opened for 325,000. Lettau in the cut-off had but let it go. Shatilov though defended the big blind with . The flop was . Shatilov checked and a bet of 275,000 from Phillips got the job done.
Hand #19: Andrea Dato was on the button with made it 1,000,000. No callers and he took the antes and blinds.
Slaven Popov moved all in with and Ji Zhang with in the big blind asked how much it was before taking his time and making the call. He turned over his cards amid accusation of making a slow roll. It is unlikely that was his deliberate intention as he has history in this tournament of doing it twice with aces, asking for a count before making the call.
The cards ran out and Popov was the first to be eliminated today leaving with the applause of the crowd ringing in his ears in his way to collect over 100,000 Euros.
Hand #21: Andrey Shatilov raised to 320,000 with from the cutoff and won the blinds and antes.
Hand #22: Andrea Dato moved all in for about 2.4 million from early position with . Kiryl Radzivonau folded pocket sixes and the Italian picked up the pot.