EPT Monte Carlo Day 1b – Viktor Blom out as Decano Leads

Day 1b of the EPT in Monte Carlo ended late last night with an unfamiliar name topping the chip counts. Brazilian poker pro’ Thiago Decano headed a field which was laden with household names.

Peter Eastgate, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier and Boris Becker all took their chances yesterday. All were eliminated along with Dario Minieri, Luca Pagano and Bertrand Grospellier.

Chasing Decano all the way were the likes of Joseph Cada and Vicky Coren. Both have above average stacks and look in good shape to go deep here in Monaco.

Eastgate and Helppi Well Stacked after Day 1b – EPT Copenhagen

Day 1a at the EPT Copenhagen may have lacked a little in the ’star name’ department but Day 1b certainly didn’t disappoint. Former WSOP champion Peter Eastgate looks in scintillating form and he currently sits in 3rd place in the chip counts. Hot on his heels is Finnish big hitter Juha Helppi. Not too far behind those two are the likes of Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Ramzi Jelassi and Luca Pagano. But, as Day 1b ended, they were all looking up at the current ‘chip daddy’ in the form of Ilkka Koskinen.

Day 2 is just underway out in Norway and we are in for a rare treat as so of the best poker players in Europe cross swords.

EPT Deauville: Jake Cody Wins!

In a final jam-packed full of “action” hands, the EPT Deauville concluded last night with Britain’s Jake Cody taking the first tour crown of 2010. Cody had a very solid main event but during the final table he simply could not miss the big hands and he must have been in dreamland when each big hand was paid off.

That’s not to say Cody didn’t play well, of course he did. You need a lot of talent to win an EPT event and Cody clearly has that in abundance. When faced with a former WSOP champion you need a lot of courage as well. Even if Peter Eastgate was short stacked and was the first to be eliminated.

David Benyamine Joins the Las Vegas Premier League Party

The big names just keep on coming in regards to the next Party Poker Premier League. Perhaps the lure of Las Vegas is attracting some but surely the $1.5 million prize pool is pricking up the ears of all the “big hitters”.

Today, David Benyamine and been revealed as the next player to join the Premier League IV. Benyamine Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Phil Hellmuth, JC Tran, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Roland de Wolfe, Luke Schwartz and, as we announced last week, Tony G.

Each player (12 in total) is putting up $100,000 to buy in and Party Poker are adding $300,000 to the prize pool.

EPT Deauville: Eastgate Finals as Teodor Caraba Leads the Pack

The European Poker Tour (EPT) in Deauville has reached the final stages and later today eight players will take their seats, in France, in the hunt for the first EPT crown of 2010.

One stand out name in the final eight is former WSOP champion Peter Eastgate. Eastgate had a superb Day 3 and 4 and, despite his short stack, must be considered a danger to chip leader, Teodor Caraba, with his vast experience of big money poker tournaments.

One player who will be kicking himself today is final table “bubble boy” Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. ElkY finished in 9th place after another consistent display of poker. His €51,500 prize will go some way to ease his bubble pains, though.

EPT Deauville: Ludovic Lacay in Charge after Day 1b

Day 1b at the EPT in Deauville ended late last night with Ludovic Lacay topping the chip counts. A host of well known players are hot on Lacay’s heels, though, including former WSOP champion Peter Eastgate, Luca Pagano and serial EPT casher Dario Minieri.

Unless you prefer playing against some of the top names in world poker then Day 1b was a day to avoid in Deauville. The stars came out to play yesterday and a good number of them survived to reach Day 2 (starting at noon local time today). ‘ElkY’ is still in the mix along with Greg Raymer, Rob Hollink and Juha Helppi.

Timoshenko joins JC Tran in Premier League Line-up

Yevgeniy Timoshenko is to join JC Tran in the pro line-up to make his PartyPoker Premier League debut. Timoshenko has taken the poker world by storm in recent years by winning the big WPT Championship Main Event at the Bellagio, taking down the 2008 Asian Poker Tour Macau title and the 2009 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event. Timoshenko was born in Kharkov, Ukraine but moved to Washington State when he was 10 years old. In the last couple of years he has established his reputation as a fearsome online and offline player.

Timoshenko said: “It is fantastic to be invited and I’m very happy to be competing in this tournament against the world’s best!”

Carter Phillips Leads EPT Warsaw after Day 1a

Carter Phillips, 21, from North Carolina, USA is the current chip leader at the EPT Warsaw. Phillips took his seat alongside 88 other players for Day 1a in Poland and went on to amass a huge chip lead. 64 players survived the day but most of those are al least a double up behind Carter.

Well over 100 more players are expected for Day 1b tomorrow (October 21) including Team PokerStars PROs Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Katja Thater, Florian Langmann, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Dario Minieri, Thierry Van Den Berg and William Thorson as well as PokerStars-sponsored players JP Kelly and EPT presenter Michelle Orpe. Other big names include 1998 world champion Scotty Nguyen, Danish poker pro Gus Hansen, last year’s finalist Ludovic Lacay, and WCOOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb.

Luke __FullFlush1__ Schwartz Banned from EPT

The European Poker Tour (EPT) has been underway in London for several days now and, up until yesterday, all seemed to be going pretty smoothly for the players and organisers at The Victoria Casino. A strange combination of events then occured which saw Luke Schwartz, aka __FullFlush1__, banned from the casino and the rest of the EPT for the season.

It appears Schwartz refused to remove his hat when asked by casino staff and was immediately banned. The ban was later lifted with the help of his friend, and poker promoter, Eddie Hearn so he could play in the EPT event.