Betfair Official Blog

EPT Grand Final - Final Day

Welcome to the Betfair's coverage of the pokerstars.com sponsored Grand Final held in beautiful Monte Carlo. We have made it down the final ten....

We tried to make it down to the final eight yesterday but the closer we got the tenser it became for the players. This resulted in a slower hands per hour rate and we had to call it a night and come back today. The players start today on two tables of five and when we lose one they'll re-draw for seats on a table of nine, then down to a TV final table of eight.

Early exchanges

Cards are in the air as play gets underway. Playing five handed you'd expect more action and that's exactly what happened from the first hand with raises and re-raises. Antonio was an early casualty of these exchanges. Firstly he managed to re-raise Isaac Baron of a hand while in the big blind but when he tried the same thing to Luca Pagano, Luca came back over the top with an all-in raise, forcing Antonio to lay his hand down. Then Antonio raised from under-the-gun only to see Isaac re-raise from the small blind forcing a frustrated looking Antonio to fold again.

Player out

Over on the other table Michael Martin raises from the button to 70,000. Valeriy Ilikyan is next to act in the small blind but before he can, Stig Rasmussen announces that he's all-in from the big blind. The floor person is called over and Valeriy asks 'If I call id he all-in?' When the answer comes back as yes he says 'Ok, I call.' Michael folds and we have a show-down with Stig the all-in player.

Stig.. TT

Valeriy.. JJ

All the way on this one...

3KQ 3 4

No ten appears for Stig and he comes our tenth place finisher taking home €126,000 for his troubles.

The TV final table bubble bursts
Not long after it's another Dane, Henrik Gwinner, making a bit of a crazy move. The blinds are at 12,000/24,000 and he open shoved for 522,000 with ace-nine! The big stack of Isaac Baron called with ace-ten which was good for the pot meaning Henrick Gwinner is out on the TV table final bubble. He does have €126,00 to help him get over that fact though.

Team building at Betfair

Last night we decided to work on Team Betfair team building by having a free-roll sit and go tournament. Myself, Amy, Sorel, Annette, Paul, Fraser and a couple of invited guests including friend of Betfair, John Tabatabai, sat down with 3,300 chips for some fun filled action. Paul got off to a great start knocking Fraser out early and amassing chips in other places. Sorel, on a high from celebrating his birthday, was in the mood to gamble. He made a good call all-in on a draw heavy board with bottom pair only for the draw to hit and eliminate him. A small financial exchange later and Sorel was back in the game only to go out about five minutes later with ten-eight versus ace-queen and six-seven.

A couple of interesting hands played out after that. Annette raised from under-the-gun and was called by John, Paul and myself in the big blind. The eight high flop was checked through before Annette bet out when another low card fell on the turn. John was next to act and raised it up before Paul folded and I re-raised. Annette folded as did John and after Annette showed pocket tens for an over pair to the board I thought it only fair to show my nine high!

Annette did not let this faze her though and she made a brilliant lay-down a short while after. Paul raised with pocket sevens and Annetee called with five-six from the blinds. The flop brought two fives to give Annette trips that she bet and Paul called before a seven fell on the turn. Annette bet out again but somehow managed to lay it down when Paul raised her. Simply amazing, especially since this was a free-roll. Paul ended up knocking Annette out when all the chips went in on a flop, Annette holding top pair and Paul a flush draw. It was running tens that did the fatal damage though. Paul then managed to take the tournament down beating me heads-up to take the prize of pure glory and bragging rights. Congratulations to Paul.

Final table player profiles

Seat 1: Denes Kalo, 31, Budapest, Hungary -1,119,000 chips
Denes Kalo was born and lives in Budapest, Hungary. He works as the sales manager of a broker company and has been playing poker for three years with increasingly good results. He came second in the 2006 EPM Vienna for €50,440 and then came 2nd at EPT Baden last October for €375,000. Outside of poker, Denes is a sailing enthusiast. His wife Melinda was here at the weekend but has had to go back to work - she's a model. He said: "Sshe's been watching EPTLive and supporting me from home."

Seat 2: Michael Martin, 23, from Washing Crossing, Pennsylvania - 1,320,000 chips
Michael has been playing poker for four years and turned pro in January 2007 after graduating in English from Penn State. Originally an athlete - he played college hockey for 2 years - he took up poker at the end of a hockey season and never look back. He said: "I got into it like everyone else - watching Chris Moneymaker at the WSOP. I started playing on Christmas Day and from then on, combined poker with my studies. His biggest result so far was coming 2nd to Trond Erik Eidsvig at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam in November. Although cash games are Michael's bread-and-butter, he is now getting more into live tournaments. "My parents had different opinions about it all. My dad wasn't keen on me turning pro at all but my Mum was an enabler. She lent me my first $100 to play online with and when i made my first $1,000, I asked her if i should cash out and she said no!" Michael was virtual bubble boy at last year's EPT Grand Final - 66th place, just two off the money.

Seat 3: Luca Pagano, 29, Treviso, Italy - Team PokerStars Pro - 688,000 chips
Pagano was a computer programming student before taking up poker and didn't have much of a bankroll - so he started with play money on PokerStars.com. One day, the man with a mind for computers and stock market trading decided he had honed his skills well enough to play with real money. In the few years that have passed since that fateful decision, Pagano has done what some people can only dream. While the exact number is not one he's willing to disclose, Pagano has amassed online poker winnings that can be described in two words: "A lot."

Pagano is also a perfect picture of how online poker success can translate to brick and mortar poker abilities. Since starting to play live poker tournaments, Pagano has put together thousands upon thousands of dollars in winnings. Among his many achievements in the past few years, Pagano has cashed in nine European Poker Tour events (a record), and made two final table appearances. It's the second event in a row with an Italian Team PokerStars Pro at the final table after Dario Minieri came 3rd in san Remo two weeks ago.

Seat 4: Valery Ilikyan, 40, from Moscow, Russia - 1,396,000 chips
Valery has been playing poker for nearly ten years and turned pro around three years ago. The former interior designer is already looking at his biggest result to date. He bought himself into last year's EPT Grand Final but with little success. He mainly plays cash games, and also some of the big online Sunday tournaments including the Sunday Million. He started today as the one of the short-stacks but got up to $1.1 million when he busted Stig Top-Rasmussen. He said: "I can win this - with a bit of luck, and some skill. It happens lots of times that a small stack wins." Valery's wife Alena couldn't make it to Monte Carlo but is watching Valery on EPTlive.com along with the couple's three children.

Seat 5: Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari , 29, Las Vegas - 501,000 chips
Antonio is the first player to reach an EPT Final Table and be in the running for the Grand Slam of poker: a WPT win, an EPT win and a WSOP bracelet. Originally from Tehran, Iran, Esfandiari moved to the US States in 1988. He grew up in the San Jose area but left home at 17. It was while working as a waiter that he took up magic - throwing tricks into his waitering work until eventually he dropped waitering altogether. At that time, Esfandiari also took up poker and has often said how the two professions complement each other. As a magician, he learned to gauge human behaviour and could use that skill when he moved on to cards.

In 2002, Esfandiari made a name for himself at the WPT 49'er Gold Rush Bonanza by placing third for $44,000. A year later he made the final table of the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament at the 2003 WSOP. And in 2004 he beat out 382 to win the massive $1.4 million first-place prize at the L.A. Poker Classic, the youngest player at the time to win a WPT. A few months later, Esfandiari triumphed in the $2,000 Pot-Limit Event to win a bracelet and $184,860.

Esfandiari now lives in Las Vegas where he plays, writes books and appears in video games. He also competes on High Stakes Poker and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Esfandiari, along with his friend Phil Laak, also starred in the reality show I Bet on You.

He is supported here in Monte carlo by his "true love" Victoria. This is only his 2nd EPT but he plans to come to a lot more. He said his best moment so far as when he had QQ and the BB moved all-in with AT. "I 'm not talking about what happened next, but that was my best moment of the tournament," he said.

Seat 6: Maxime Villemure, 19, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - 1,206,000 chips
Despite suffering a fever for the last few days, Max has been forging ahead at the EPT Grand Final - encouraged by the knowledge that Gavin Griffin won last year despite having a really bad cold. Max took up poker just over a year ago after watching the WSOP on television. Home games with his friends turned into online play and within a short time he was doing so well, he gave up his law studies to play full-time. This is Max's third EPT - he busted out of the PCA on Day 2, and San Remo on Day 1. It's also his first time in Europe. He said: "It's great - but rather expensive." He is being supported here in Monte Carlo by his friends Jason Mercier (who won EPT San Remo two weeks ago) and Sam Chartier.

Seat 7: Glen Chorny,22, from Timmins, Ontario, Canada - PokerStars qualifier - 3,613,000 chips
Glen hails from Timmins, north Ontario but is currently studying business and history at Wilfred Laurier in Waterloo, Ontario - the same city that Mike "Timex" McDonald lives in. He has been a full-time pro since January but reckons he has been playing at pro "levels" for the last 18 months. He mainly plays online cash games and big live tournaments. This is Glen's second EPT - he came 13th at the PCA for $80k. Straight after PCA he won the Tunica World Poker Open in January 2008 PLO $5k. He took up poker after watching it on TV. He said: "I played live home games, really small; with like $50 buy ins. I had a bankroll before I started playing online so I started playing really big on the Internet because I thought I had the skills already."

Glen says he's had to play a lot tighter at the EPT than his usual style but has "managed to hang on and run really good." He qualified online with PokerStars in the Steps satellites for $700.

Seat 8: Isaac Baron, 20, Menlo Park, northern California - PokerStars qualifier - 2,853,000 chips
Isaac began playing online poker aged 18 and two years later has established himself among peers as one of the best players in the world. He was Cardplayer's Online Player of the Year for 2007 and, with 40 players left on day 4 of the Grand Final, Brandon Schaefer said Isaac was the best player left in the tournament, something few would dispute. "It's definitely flattering" said Isaac. "But there are so many good players."

A journalism student at the University of Oregon, Isaac hails from northern California. He dropped out of college to play poker full-time and see where that took him, and while he intends one day to get his degree, that poker journey has seen him cash six times in live events across North America and the Caribbean, as well as cement a much feared online reputation.

A former Sunday million winner netting $255K, Isaac, known as 'westmenloAA' on PokerStars, has won multiple tournaments online. Also a noted cash player, he plays at stakes anywhere between $25-$50 and $50-$100.

His first EPT was here at the Grand Final last year but he busted out early on Day 1. His first live cash came at the PCA 2006 and more have followed, with his first EPT cash coming in San Remo a few weeks ago where he finished in 11th spot, narrowly missing the final table. The EPT Grand Final will be his biggest cash to date.

Final Table Chip Counts

Denes Kalo -- Hungary -- 1,190,000
Michael Martin -- USA -- 1,320,000
Luca Pagano -- Italy -- 688,000
Valeriy Ilikyan -- Russia -- 1,396,000
Antonio Esfandiari -- USA -- 501,000
Maxime Villemure -- Canada -- 1,206,000
Glen Chorny -- USA -- 3,613,000
Isaac Baron -- USA -- 2,853,000

Luca time

It wasn't long before Luca Pagano was in the thick of the action. He made a raise into the big blind of Isaac Baron who re-raised. It was a big chunk of Luca's stack but he made the call before the flop came...

J34

Isaac moved all-in and Luca snap called with...

KJ

to Isaac's...

AK

A lucky Luca hit his three outer and went on to make a flush that enabled him to double-up.

A little while later Luca raised from the big blind before the short-stacked, Antonio Esfandiari, moved all-in from the big blind. Luca sat there quietly for a while before calling. Cards on their backs...

Luca..AJ

Antonio..A8

The flop came...

QTJ

Luca flopped the nuts and one of the remaining two jacks did not appear to split the pot. All that means Antonio is the first player to be eliminated at the final table and he takes home €168,000 for his 8th place finish.

Double-up

Valeriy Ilikyan raises before Maxine Villmure re-raises all-in for around 640,000 more. Valeriy makes the call with pocket nines. He's in a coin-flip as Maxine's holding ace-king. An ace on the flop and on the turn seal the deal and Maxime doubles up to over 1.5million in chips.

Three key hands

Michael Martin and Valeriy Ilikyan just tangled in three hands with chips going one way then the other that ultimately led to one being eliminated. Firstly Michael raised only to see Valeriy re-raise all-in with ace-four. Michael made the call with ace-queen and hit two pair on the flop to double up to over 1.2 million.

Michael raised again and was called by Valeriy. The flop was checked through by both players before Valeriy check called on the turn chasing a flush. The flush hit him on the river and he managed to get a value bet called as Michael didn't realize there were four diamonds on the board. It's been a long five days, maybe one loses mental focus slightly.

The third hand saw all the chips going in the middle pre flop. Valeriy was the all-in player and his ace-queen was dominated by Michel's ace-king. An ace fell on the flop but the king still played by the river to eliminate the animated Russian in 7th for winnings of €253,000.

Chip count at the end of Level 26

Denes Kalo 1,045,000...

Luca Pagano 1,855,000...

Maxime Villemure 1,737,000...

Glen Chorny 3,708,000...

Isaac Baron 3,443,000...

Michael Martin 1,045,000

Interesting hand

Isaac Baron just showed his class by not going broke on a hand. A three way limped pot between himself, Denes Kalo and Glen Chorny brought a board reading...

A76

All three checked so straight to the turn we go...

7

Issac is first to act and lead out for a 100,000 bet that Denes called before Glen raised it up to 300,000. Isaac called but Denes moved out of the way. The river came...

8

Isaac checked pretty quickly and watched Glen count out and bet 300,000. Isaac thought about it and called with...

JT for the third nut flush but Glen tables...

K9 for the nut flush and the pot. The seven on the turn stopped all the money going in at that point but most players would still have gone broke if they were sat in Isaac's seat.

Chips ahoy
Maxime Villemure -- 3,474,000
Glen Chorny -- 2,832,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,143,000
Michael Martin -- 1,951,000
Luca Pagano -- 1,350,000
Denes Kalo -- 902,000

6th place finisher
Shortly after the players come back from dinner break, Denes Kalo opens the pot with a raise to 125,000. Luca Pagaono then moves all-in and when it gets back around to Denes he calls very quickly with...

QQ

Luca needs help to stay alive as he holds...

AJ

All the way to the river we go...

7K7 T J

No ace for Luca and the nearly man comes close again but falls in 5th place with a prize of €337,000.

Then another

A couple of hands later Glen Chorny raises to 125,000 from the button and is called by Michael Martin in the big blind. There's been a bit of animosity between this two after Michael overheard Glen bad mouthing him in the bathroom. Let's see if this affects their play as we see a flop...

67T

Michael checks to face a bet from Glen that he raises. Glen responds to this by re-raising all-in and Michael calls without really thinking too long. Cards on their backs...

Michael..QT for top pair.

Glen.. JJ for an overpair

The turn and river don't improve Michael's hand and he leaves us in 5th place winning €589,000. I wonder if he'd have made the same play against another player at the table.

Easy come easy...

Glen doesn't hold onto Michael's chips for too long though as he kindly passes them over to Denes Kalo. Both flopped aces but Denes had the better kicker. Glen had a flush draw as well though that didn't materialize meaning Denes doubled-up to 4.5million chips. Glen back down to round the 2million mark.

Deal?

The action stopped in terms of all-in showdowns once we got down to four players. We had no clear chip leader and all were sitting very deep compared to the blinds. Some big pots developed but a lot were taken down with re-raises or decent sized bets on the flop or turn. Then the clock was stopped suddenly during play and the players disappeared, we can only imagine to discuss a deal. Play changed once they returned to a more relaxed loose style of play. After short period chip counts looked as follows...

Denes Kalo -- 3,750,000
Maxime Villemure -- 3,850,000
Glen Chorny -- 3,600,000
Isaac Baron -- 1,100,000

Short-stack play

Issac Baron managed to get his remaining chips in the middle pre-flop versus Denes Kalo. Card on their backs...

Issaac..Q3

Denes..AT

All the way to the river we go...

J22 6 Q

Isaac spiked a queen on the river to stay alive and double-up to over 2million.

More action

Not long after we have a raised pot between Isaac Baron and Glen Chorny. The board is dealt and looks like...

627

Glen leads out for a bet before seeing Isaac move all-in. Glen insta-calls with...

AA

and he's crushing Isaac's holding of...

AQ

Isaac is going to need running cards to stay in this one as we head to the turn...

9 there's one of them! The river...

K misses the flush draw ending Issac's tournament after a valiant effort. He is our 4th place finisher taking home a cool €589,000.

Chips ahoy

Denes Kalo -- 3,370,000
Maxime Villemure -- 3,775,000
Glen Chorny -- 5,480,000

Glen has managed to take some of Denes' chips in the last thirty minutes. No showdowns, all pots have been won with bets or raises rather than calls. Denes down to 1.2 million, Glen up to over 7million.

With a flash...

Within a couple of hands it's over. One elimination after another and season four of the EPT finishes. Nearly fourteen hours of play before the EPT Grand Final Champion takes his crown. Firstly Max and Glen saw a limped pot when in the blinds. It wasn't until the river where all the chips went in the middle. The board looked like...

TA4 J 9

Max was holding Q 8 for the lower end of the straight whereas Glen held...

K Q for the nut straight ownership of the huge pot.

As Glen is now a 10-1 chip leader the heads-up battle had the potential to last no time at all and that's exactly what happened. All the chips go in pre-flop with Glen holding Ace-five to Denes' king-queen. An ace on the flop sealed the deal and Glen Chorny is our winner taking home a record €2,020,000 for first place. A great performance too for our runner-up, Denes Kalo, who takes home €1,179,000 for his performance in finishing second