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  <title>News</title>
  <link>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2012/10/</link>
  <description>Betfair Poker&#039;s talented team of poker enthusiasts bring you the very latest poker news from around the globe. Covering both online poker and the live poker scene, the Betfair Poker blog is your one-stop site for the very best in poker related news, views and gossip. Along with select poker news stories, visitors will also find detailed reports and results of major online and live poker tournaments, interviews with some of poker&#039;s key figures and players and bespoke poker articles and editorials. Join Betfair Poker Now</description>
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          <lastBuildDate>Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:53:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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      <title>Greg Merson Survives Epic Final Table, Wins 2012 WSOP Main Event</title>
      <description>After fighting through a total field of 6,598 to a spot in the final nine, then surviving a final table lasting nearly 400 hands over the last two days, Greg Merson of Maryland became the newest World Series of Poker Main Event champion, pocketing a cool $8,531,853 for his triumph.  Merson&#039;s win also catapulted him past WSOP Europe Main Event winner Phil Hellmuth to clinch the top spot in the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year race.

On Monday afternoon the final nine players reassembled in the Penn &amp; Teller theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada to determine who among them would emerge as champion.  Merson began the final table third in chips behind fellow American Jesse Sylvia and the lone non-American final tablist, Andras Koroknai of Hungary.

Here&#039;s how the counts looked when the first hand of the final table was dealt:

1. Jesse Sylvia -- 43,875,000 
2. Andras Koroknai -- 29,375,000
3. Greg Merson -- 28,725,000
4. Russell Thomas -- 24,800,000
5. Steve Gee -- 16,860,000
6. Michael Esposito -- 16,260,000
7. Robert Salaburu -- 15,155,000
8. Jake Balsiger -- 13,115,000
9. Jeremy Ausmus -- 9,805,000

It would take 30 hands for the first elimination to come.  The 57-year-old Steve Gee -- the oldest player at the final table -- was eliminated in a dramatic hand versus Russell Thomas in which Gee shoved all in on a 7c-5d-4h-Jc-3s board holding 8d-8c and after a long tank Thomas called with Qd-Qc.

Thirty-five hands after that it was a short-stacked Robert Salaburu finding himself in the big blind and watching Sylvia open-raise all in from the small blind.  Salaburu called with 7d-7h and saw Sylvia turn over Qc-5c, and Salaburu was safe after the Ad-As-4c flop and 2d turn.  But the river brought the Qh to knock Salaburu out in eighth.

Just a few hands later, Michael Esposito began shoving his short stack all in repeatedly, finally getting a call from Merson in a hand in which Esposito held As-Jh but unfortunately for him had run into Merson&#039;s Ac-Ks.  The community cards came 9s-7d-4s-6s-8c, and after 70 hands they were down to six.

Koroknai continued to maintain a healthy stack of more than 40 million chips, but got himself into a preflop raising war with Merson that resulted in Koroknai six-bet shoving with Kh-Qd and getting called by Merson who held As-Ks.  The board ran out eight-high, and as Merson had Koroknai barely outchipped the latter was out in sixth while Merson assumed the lead.

Jeremy Ausmus began the final table ninth of nine, but managed to hold his own and wasn&#039;t at risk until committing his stack on a 9c-8s-3s-3d board with 10s-7d (open-ended straight draw) and getting called by Sylvia who held Ac-9h (nines and treys).  The river was the 5s, sending Ausmus railward in fifth.

It was on Hand No. 135 of the final table that the next elimination would occur when Russell Thomas saw his Ah-9d fail to improve against the As-Kc of Jake Balsiger.  

Play was then halted, and the final three players rested up for what would turn out to be an especially arduous and hard-fought battle Tuesday night.

When the trio returned, Merson led the way with Sylvia second and Balsiger the short stack.  Here&#039;s what the leaderboard looked like at the start of play Tuesday:

1.  Greg Merson -- 88,350,000
2.  Jesse Sylvia -- 62,750,000
3.  Jake Balsiger -- 46,875,000

Play once again started in the afternoon, and as it happened it wouldn&#039;t be until almost dawn on Wednesday for the tourney to be decided.  In all it would take an incredible 264 more hands -- 399 total for the final table -- to find a winner, with all three players remaining alive for much of the way.

There were a few dramatic close calls before Balsiger finally was eliminated in third, and in fact all three players managed to hold the chip lead at one point during the night, although Merson was in first position for the majority of the way.

In one two-hand sequence, Balsiger survived an all-in with Ah-10s against Sylvia&#039;s Ac-Qs when a ten fell on the turn, then Sylvia turned around and made it through an all-in of his own with Ah-Ks versus Merson&#039;s Kd-Kh when the river brought Sylvia a saving wheel.

Ultimately Balsiger would fall in Hand No. 382 of the final table in a hand versus Merson.  All in with Qh-10d against Merson&#039;s Kc-Qs, the board came 6s-6d-6c-Jc-5h and just two players were left.

Heads-up play began with Merson in front with 117,600,000 to Sylvia&#039;s 80,600,000.  The pair traded small-to-medium pots for 16 hands, then finally a hand arose in which Merson had four-bet-shoved from the button and after a long period of contemplation Sylvia called with his remaining chips.

Merson had Kd-5d and Sylvia Qs-Js, and after the board came 9d-6c-3h-6s-7c, Merson had won.

2012 WSOP Main Event final table payouts:
1st:  Greg Merson (United States) -- $8,531,853
2nd:  Jesse Sylvia (United States) -- $5,295,149
3rd:  Jake Balsiger (United States) -- $3,799,073
4th:  Russell Thomas (United States) -- $2,851,537
5th:  Jeremy Ausmus (United States) -- $2,155,313
6th:  Andras Koroknai (Hungary) -- $1,640,902
7th:  Michael Esposito (United States) -- $1,258,040
8th:  Robert Salaburu (United States) -- $971,360
9th:  Steve Gee (United States) -- $754,798 

As mentioned, the win also meant Merson wins the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year race, with Phil Hellmuth finishing in second (for the second year in a row) and Antonio Esfandiari third. 

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              <category>News</category>
              <category>WSOP</category>
            <pubDate>Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
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      <title>It&#039;s Here! The 2012 WSOP Main Event Final Table Begins Monday </title>
      <description>Three-and-a-half months after action was paused following Gaelle Baumann&#039;s dramatic elimination in 10th place, the final table of the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event is finally about to begin.  Play resumes on Monday afternoon in the Penn &amp; Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where the nine survivors from the 6,598 who started the event will determine who among them will claim the winner&#039;s prize of $8,531,853 and the WSOP Championship Bracelet.   

Las Vegas resident Jesse Sylvia will begin play on Monday afternoon with the lead with a stack of 43,875,000 chips, with Andras Koroknai of Hungary his nearest challenger with 29,375,000.  Play will pick up in the middle of Level 34 (blinds 150,000/300,000, ante 40,000).

Here&#039;s a look at the current seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1:  Russell Thomas -- 24,800,000
Seat 2:  Jake Balsiger -- 13,115,000
Seat 3:  Jeremy Ausmus -- 9,805,000
Seat 4:  Steven Gee -- 16,860,000
Seat 5:  Greg Merson -- 28,725,000
Seat 6:  Jesse Sylvia -- 43,875,000
Seat 7:  Robert Salaburu -- 15,155,000
Seat 8:  Andras Koroknai -- 29,375,000
Seat 9:  Michael Esposito -- 16,260,000

The schedule on Monday, October 29 has players reconvening in the afternoon and cards going in the air at 4:45 p.m. Pacific time, from which point they will play down to three players before concluding for the night.  The final trio will return on Tuesday, October 30 and the tournament will restart at 5:45 p.m. with play continuing until someone emerges as the winner.

As was the case last year, the entire final table -- both Monday and Tuesday nights -- will be broadcast on a 15-minute delay.  Coverage will be shown over cable television on ESPN2 and streaming via the web at ESPN3 and WSOP.com.  Lon McEachern and Norman Chad will be on hand once again as commentators, with Antonio Esfandiari providing analysis and Kara Scott handling interviews and additional reporting.  Following last year&#039;s format, hole cards of involved players will be shown after the conclusion of each hand.  

There remains over $27 million worth of riches to be divided among the final nine.  That&#039;s nearly 44% of the overall prize pool of more than $62 million.  

In fact, the final nine players have all already been awarded ninth-place money ($754,798), with the remaining $20,454,658 placed in a money market account in July where it managed to earn $10,185 in interest -- i.e., just a little more than one Main Event buy-in.  The interest was added to the 1st-8th place prizes on a percentage basis, thus creating the following adjusted payouts:

1st place:  $8,531,853
2nd place:  $5,295,149
3rd place:  $3,799,073
4th place:  $2,851,537
5th place:  $2,155,313
6th place:  $1,640,902
7th place:  $1,258,040
8th place:  $971,360
9th place:  $754,798

Many who will watch the coverage on Monday and Tuesday will be relatively unfamiliar with the final nine players.  Even so, the group brings several interesting stories to the final table.

Russell Thomas (Seat 1, 24,800,000) is a 24-year-old graduate of Temple University who presently works as an actuary for an insurance company.  &quot;Run Good Russell&quot; hired poker pro Jason Somerville -- who finished 69th in this year&#039;s Main Event -- to help him prepare for the final table.

Jake Balsiger (Seat 2, 13,115,000) is a senior at Arizona State University where he is studying Political Science.  Just 21 years old, Balsiger has a chance to break Joe Cada&#039;s record as the youngest-ever winner of a WSOP Main Event.  Cada was just a few days shy of 22 at the time of his win, about three months older than Balsiger.

Jeremy Ausmus (Seat 3, 9,805,000) is a 33-year-old graduate of Colorado State University whose wife gave birth to their first child in September.  (The birth was early, as the due date had actually been right about the time of the ME final table!)  Ausmus had nine cashes at this summer&#039;s WSOP.

Steven Gee (Seat 4, 16,860,000) is a 57-year-old poker pro from California, the oldest remaining player in the Main Event.  Gee is one of only two players at the final table with a WSOP bracelet, having won one in 2010 in a $1,000 no-limit hold&#039;em event that featured a field of more than 3,000 players.

Greg Merson (Seat 5, 28,725,000) is the other player at this year&#039;s final table with a bracelet, having won his this summer in Event #57, the $10,000 six-handed no-limit hold&#039;em event.  Thanks to his performance during the summer, the 24-year-old from Maryland has a chance to win 2012 WSOP Player of the Year, although he must win the Main Event in order to gain enough points to pass current leader Phil Hellmuth.

Jesse Sylvia (Seat 6, 43,875,000) is a 24-year-old poker pro who actually roomed with fellow &quot;Octo-Niner&quot; Russell Thomas during part of the summer at this year&#039;s WSOP.  From Day 2 onward, the pair had dinner every night during the Main Event.

Robert Salaburu (Seat 7, 15,155,000) is a 27-year-old poker pro from San Antonio, Texas.  This marks his first-ever WSOP cash.

Andras Koroknai (Seat 8, 29,375,000) is from Debrecen, Hungary.  Not only is the 30-year-old poker pro the only non-American at the final table, he&#039;s the first player from Hungary ever to make it this far in the Main Event.  Koroknai won the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic in 2010 for a $1,788,001, the biggest previous score of any player among the final nine.

Michael Esposito (Seat 9, 16,260,000) is a 44-year-old commodity broker and avid triathalon competitor from New York City.  Like Thomas (and perhaps the college student Balsiger), he&#039;s an amateur player.

Of course, by Tuesday night the poker world will become plenty familiar with the &quot;Octo-Niners,&quot; with the winner in particular earning not just the bracelet and cash, but a permanent spot in poker history as one of the few to win poker&#039;s most prestigious tournament.

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</description>
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              <category>News</category>
              <category>WSOP</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:29:00 +0100</pubDate>
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      <title>Betfair Poker Ambassador Jonathan Driscoll Wins GSOP Mini-Grand Slam</title>
      <description>The Grand Series Of Poker came to a thrilling conclusion last night with the $5,000 and $525 Grand Slam and Mini-Gram Slams taking place. The superb structure saw the cream rise to the top, Betfair Poker cream, as our Canadian ambassador Jonathan Driscoll took down the mini-Grand Slam for over $63,000!</description>
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            <link>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/betfair-poker-ambassador-jonathan-driscoll-wins-gsop-mini-grand-slam-221012-162.html</link>
      <guid>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/betfair-poker-ambassador-jonathan-driscoll-wins-gsop-mini-grand-slam-221012-162.html</guid>
              <category>Grand Series of Poker</category>
              <category>News</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:14:00 +0100</pubDate>
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      <title>Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2012: Brian &quot;Sailor&quot; Roberts and Eric Drache</title>
      <description>Yesterday the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council made public the names of the two newest members of the Poker Hall of Fame -- long time Texas rounder and 1975 WSOP Main Event winner Brian &quot;Sailor&quot; Roberts and tournament director and innovator Eric Drache.  The official induction ceremony will take place on Tuesday, October 30 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino amid the playing out of the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table.   

As has been the case in recent years, a nomination process opened to the public produced 10 finalists, at which point a 36-person panel comprised of living Poker Hall of Famers and poker media (including yours truly) made selections from the final ten.  The induction of Roberts and Drache brings the overall total of Poker Hall of Famers to 44.

While both Roberts and Drache proved their mettle at the poker tables over the years, neither inductee was nominated solely because of his performance at the WSOP in other tournaments.  Rather, Roberts&#039; contributions as an influential player and strategic innovator during poker&#039;s pre-tourney days helped seal his induction, while Drache&#039;s significant help in shaping tournament poker during its early formative era bolstered his candidacy.

Brian &quot;Sailor&quot; Roberts

Along with Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim Preston, Brian &quot;Sailor&quot; Roberts was one of the trio of original &quot;Texas Rounders&quot; who &quot;faded the white line&quot; by traveling the Texas circuit and throughout the American south playing poker wherever they could find a game.  

In his 2009 autobiography, The Godfather of Poker, Brunson writes extensively of his friendship with Roberts and their time traveling with Preston during the &#039;50s and &#039;60s, pooling resources and looking out for one another in the occasionally dangerous underground games.  There Brunson describes Roberts as &quot;the most dependable and charismatic friend a person could have,&quot; noting how the three-man partnership provided not only camaraderie on the road, but protection, too.

&quot;We watched out after one another,&quot; writes Brunson.  &quot;There was a lot of danger on the road, and with the three of us, we were more protected than if we went solo.&quot;  

Surviving that lengthy tutelage, Roberts and the others took their talents to the World Series of Poker in the early &#039;70s where Roberts won a bracelet in a preliminary 2-7 NL event in 1974, then won the Main Event title in 1975.  Roberts remained part of the poker world for the next couple of decades before his death in 1995 at the age of 64, unfortunately hastened by drug use.

Speaking of Roberts, fellow Poker Hall of Famer Crandall Addington noted how his contributions to the game included helping advance strategic thinking well ahead of others.  &quot;In a time fifty years ago when poker players relied on luck,&quot; said Addington, &quot;Sailor was developing sophisticated strategies that would enable him to make his own luck.&quot;  

Among the innovations Addington credits the trio of Texas Rounders with was &quot;playing their opponents&#039; hands on many occasions rather than their own hands,&quot; an idea Brunson would explore at length in his ground-breaking chapter on no-limit hold&#039;em in Super/System.  Tweeting prior to the announcement, Brunson likewise spoke of Roberts&#039;s talents at the table, calling him &quot;the most complete player&quot; aside from David &quot;Chip&quot; Reese &quot;that ever lived.&quot;

Roberts thus posthumously joins his former partners Brunson and Preston as a Poker Hall of Famer, all three also WSOP Main Event winners.  

Eric Drache

As a player, Eric Drache&#039;s accomplishments are significant although modest compared to other Poker Hall of Famers, highlighted by three runner-up finishes in seven-card stud events at the WSOP (in 1973, 1981, and 2009).  But his contributions to the poker world and to the WSOP are highly significant and worthy of recognition.  

Most notably, Drache served as the WSOP&#039;s tournament director from 1973-1988, a period of significant growth that saw the number of total events move into double digits and Main Event turnouts balloon from a single table&#039;s worth of players to more than 160.  Besides overseeing the tournaments and helping shape the WSOP into an annual showcase for poker&#039;s best, Drache is also credited with having developed the idea of satellite tournaments, a key factor helping the Main Event in particular attract more players and ultimately develop into poker&#039;s crowning event.

After his time as WSOP tourney director, Drache continued to contribute to the poker world as the card room manager at the Silverbird, Mirage, and Golden Nugget casinos, then later serving as a consultant for popular poker shows including High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark.

In fact, Drache has also been credited with having originally come up with the idea back in 1979 to create a Poker Hall of Fame!  Drache mentioned this part of his history when speaking about his induction.

&quot;When Jack Binion and myself worked on creating the Hall of Fame, I never considered myself a potential candidate,&quot; said Drache.  &quot;I&#039;m not only surprised and honored to have been selected, I&#039;m also a bit embarrassed considering the other nominees.&quot;

Those other finalists for 2012 were Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Thor Hansen, George Hardie, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, and Scotty Nguyen.  All eight remain eligible to be nominated again in the future.

Here is a full alphabetical list of all 44 Poker Hall of Famers, including this year&#039;s inductees.  (Year inducted in parentheses):

Tom Abdo (1982)
Crandell Addington (2005)
Bobby Baldwin (2003)
Billy Baxter (2006)
Lyle Berman (2002)
Joe Bernstein (1983)
Benny Binion (1990)
Jack Binion (2005)
Bill Boyd (1981)
Doyle Brunson (1988)
Johnny Chan (2002)
T.J. Cloutier (2006)
Nick &quot;The Greek&quot; Dandolos  (1979)
Eric Drache (2012)
Barbara Enright (2007)
Sarge Ferris (1989)
Blondie Forbes (1980)
Henry Green (1986)
Barry Greenstein (2011)
Dan Harrington (2010)
Murph Harrold (1984)
Phil Hellmuth (2007)
James &quot;Wild Bill&quot; Hickok (1979)
Red Hodges (1985)
Edmond Hoyle (1979)
Linda Johnson (2011)
Berry Johnston (2004)
Jack Keller (1993)
Felton &quot;Corky&quot; McCorquodale (1979)
Roger Moore (1997)
Johnny Moss (1979)
Henry Orenstein (2008)
Walter &quot;Puggy&quot; Pearson (1987)
Julius Oral Popwell (1996)
Amarillo Slim Preston (1992)
Chip Reese (1991)
Brian &quot;Sailor&quot; Roberts (2012)
Erik Seidel (2010)
Mike Sexton (2009)          
Jack &quot;Treetop&quot; Straus (1988)
Dewey Tomko (2008)
Stu Ungar (2001)
Red Winn (1979)
Sid Wyman (1979) 

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              <category>News</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:02:00 +0100</pubDate>
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          <item>
      <title>GSOP 9 Event #17: Almost $95,000 In Winnings For Team Betfair Players!</title>
      <description>Event #17 of the Grand Series Of Poker 9 (GSOP) saw the stakes upped to $525 for the GSOP and $54 for the mini-GSOP, with guaranteed prize pools of $500,000 and $100,000 respectively. Although no Team Betfair player won, they did cash more than 100 times in total,  have four players on the final table and won almost $95,000.</description>
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            <link>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-17-almost-95000-in-winnings-for-team-betfair-players-161012-162.html</link>
      <guid>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-17-almost-95000-in-winnings-for-team-betfair-players-161012-162.html</guid>
              <category>Grand Series of Poker</category>
              <category>News</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:39:00 +0100</pubDate>
          </item>
          <item>
      <title>GSOP 9 Event #16: the_timoros Claims Top Honours</title>
      <description>Event #16 of the Grand Series of Poker 9 (GSOP) saw the action revert to a freezeout format, albeit freezeouts with $115,000 in guaranteed prize pools. It was the_timoros who claimed top honours in the $162 buy-in tournament, walking away with a seat to the $5,000 Grand Slam and $25,673 in prize money.</description>
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            <link>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-16-the-timoros-claims-top-honours-161012-162.html</link>
      <guid>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-16-the-timoros-claims-top-honours-161012-162.html</guid>
              <category>Grand Series of Poker</category>
              <category>News</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:32:00 +0100</pubDate>
          </item>
          <item>
      <title>GSOP 9 Event #15: EzLavezzi Scoops The $42,430 Winner&#039;s Prize</title>
      <description>Event #15 of the Grand Series of Poker 9 (GSOP) saw almost a quarter of a million dollars up for grabs. Which Team Betfair players managed to get their hands on some of that lovely money?</description>
              <enclosure url="https://betting.betfair.com/poker/bf123.jpg" length="21979" type="image/jpeg" />
            <link>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-15-ezlavezzi-scoops-the-42430-winners-prize-161012-162.html</link>
      <guid>https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/gsop-9-event-15-ezlavezzi-scoops-the-42430-winners-prize-161012-162.html</guid>
              <category>Grand Series of Poker</category>
              <category>News</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:57:00 +0100</pubDate>
          </item>
          <item>
      <title>Lacay Lays Claim to EPT San Remo Main Event title; Spindler Spikes High Roller</title>
      <description>After spending a couple of weeks in France for the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe, many players made their way to San Remo, Italy for the latest stop in Season 9 of the European Poker Tour.  A full schedule of more than 30 events culminated this week with the €10,000 + €300 High Roller event and the €5,000 + €300 Main Event, with Benny Spindler emerging as the High Roller champ while Ludovic Lacay of France took the Main Event title.
 
High Roller

In the High Roller event, an eight-handed, no-limit hold&#039;em tournament, a total of 74 players entered with 10 of those taking the option to rebuy, thus creating a total prize pool of €823,200.  Benny Spindler overcame a tough final table to win, including High Roller-regular Philip Gruissem (who finished sixth), Joseph Cheong (who took fourth), and eventual runner-up Keven &quot;Stammdogg&quot; Stammen.

The heads-up battle between Spindler and Stammen began with Spindler enjoying a big advantage with more than 3.4 million chips to the 791,000 of Stammen.  The American fought back, however, and after closing the gap the pair paused proceedings to make a deal that lessened the divide between first- and second-place money.

Those two would continue for what amounted to about four hours&#039; worth of heads-up action, with several lead changes along the way.  Finally Spindler had regained a better than 3-to-1 lead over Stammen when a hand arose in which Stammen picked up 7d-7s but Spindler had caught Ad-As, and when the aces held, Spindler had won.

For the young German known as &quot;toweliestar&quot; and &quot;psychobenny&quot; online, the victory marks yet another significant score following his win at the 2011 EPT Main Event in London (for £750,000), a win in the 2011 EPT Tallinn High Roller event, and a second-place finish in the High Roller at the 2011 EPT Grand Final in Madrid, Spain.

2012 EPT San Remo High Roller final table payouts (*reflects two-way deal):
1st:  Benny Spindler (Germany) -- €253,000*
2nd:  Keven Stammen (United States) -- €200,000*
3rd:  Joel Nordkvist (Sweden) -- €98,500
4th:  Joseph Cheong (United States) -- €74,100
5th:  Kent Roed (Norway) -- €57,600
6th:  Philip Gruissem (Germany) -- €41,200
7th:  Igor Kurganov (Russia) -- €32,900
8th:  Igor Yaroshevsky (Ukraine) -- €24,700

Main Event

Meanwhile, the Main Event at EPT San Remo attracted a big field of 797 players, thus building a whopping prize pool of €3,865,450.  

The top 120 finishers divided those riches, with many familiar names among those cashing yet failing to reach the eight-handed final table, including Liv Boeree (120th, €8,000), Chris Moneymaker (116th, €8,000), Ana Marquez (104th, €8,000), 2012 WSOP &quot;Octo-Niner&quot; Marc-Andre Ladouceur (91st, €10,000), Oleksii Kravchuk (85th, €10,000), Stephen Chidwick (83rd, €10,000), Roberto Romanello (65th, €12,000), David Vamplew (62nd, €12,000), Mike Watson (59th, €12,000), Shaun Deeb (48th, €14,000), Justin Bonomo (36th, €16,000), Isaac Haxton (26th, €19,000), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (23,000), Matt Salsberg (16th, €27,000), Michael Benvenuti (14th, €32,000), and Iulian-Georgian Ruxandescu (12th, €40,000).

By the time Day 6 began and just eight players remained, it was the Canadian Jason Lavallee sitting atop the counts with Ludovic Lacay of France not far behind.  Those two would continue to battle for the top spot as short stacks Ismael Bojang, Adrian Piasecki, and Micah Raskin successively hit the rail.

By then Lacay had pushed out in front with more than 10 million while the nearest challenger, Angelo Recchia of Italy, sat with 6.7 million.  Following the elimination of Jason Tompkins in fifth, Recchia&#039;s fortunes would take a downturn, and before long the Italian was all in with Ac-7c against Lacay&#039;s Jh-Js.  The jacks held, and they were down to three.

Shortly after that hand the Russian Artem Litvinov was all in with his relatively short stack after a 2d-5s-6s flop and holding 8s-7s for a straight flush draw.  He was up against Lacay&#039;s 8c-6h (pair of sixes), and after the 10c turn and Kc river Litvinov was out.

Heads-up play began with Lacay enjoying almost a 2-to-1 lead over Lavallee with 15.8 million to Lavallee&#039;s 8 million.  As happened in the High Roller event, the pair struck a deal to tighten up the payouts, leaving €100,000 for which to play. 

It would take less than an hour to find a winner.  After Lacay chipped Lavallee down under 5 million, a hand arose in which the pair got all of Lavallee&#039;s stack in on a Qd-4c-10c-Jh board with Lacay holding Qc-10h for two pair and Lavallee 8c-6c for a club flush draw.  The river then brought the 10d, improving Lacay to a full house and giving him the title.

After several years&#039; worth of deep runs and having accumulated over $2 million worth of tourney winnings, the victory marks Lacay&#039;s biggest ever score, his previous career best coming at the 2009 WSOP Main Event where he finished 16th to earn $500,557.

2012 EPT San Remo Main Event final table payouts (*reflects two-way deal):
1st:  Ludovic Lacay (France) -- €744,910*
2nd:  Jason Lavallee (Canada) -- €538,089*
3rd:  Artem Litvinov (Russia) -- €283,000
4th:  Angelo Recchia (Italy) -- €225,000
5th:  Jason Tompkins (Italy) -- €171,000
6th:  Micah Raskin (United States) -- €132,000
7th:  Adrian Piasecki (Poland) -- €96,000
8th:  Ismael Bojang (Germany) -- €65,450

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