Season 4 - European Poker Tour
Season 4 of the EPT was not only ambitious but also innovative and unorthodox in its organization. Before the first pit stop in Barcelona, the organizers announced a new transit point – the Bahamas PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). To add a zing, Prague in Czech Republic and San Remo in Italy were added to the tour.
In the first stop at Barcelona, the two Danish friends and roommates Sander Lyloff and Mark Teltscher met heads up. Mark would have been the first player to have won two ETP titles had he beaten Lyloff. However, a lucky Lyloff, who was a former chess champion, won the €1,170,700 first prize by hitting a set of jacks against Teltscher's pair of kings.
Dublin attracted 221 players with a buy-in of €8,000. The final table had a record six PokerStars qualifiers. While prodigy Annette Obrestad was heads-up with a 5-1 chip lead, it was finally the American qualifier Reuben Peters who won the Dublin tour. It was quite an accomplishment, since he rose from the ashes of a huge deficit like a Phoenix to triumph over the other players and grab the booty of €500,000.
The Dortmund tournament had the youngest-ever EPT winner, 18-year old Canadian Mike McDonald. While he won €933,600, another qualifier, Tim Vance from the U.S.,= took down Copenhagen for a first prize of €834,964. Michael Schulze of Germany won €609,782 in Warsaw, Poland, and another 21-year-old Internet qualifier, James Mercier, took back €869,000 in the San Remo tournament.
PokerStars qualifier Glen Chorny won the Grand Final of the European Poker Tour at Monte Carlo in Season 4. It was perhaps the biggest tournament that Europe had ever seen and the 22 year old Canadian walked away with €2,020,000 in cash beating 841 players. The action at the final table played on for more than 12 hours as Chorny built a healthy bankroll especially after eliminating Isaac Baron who got eliminated in the fourth place. With a 10-1 chip lead, the final hand witnessed Chorny’s A-5 hold up against the K-Q of runner-up Denes Kalo.
Luca Pagano, a PokerStars pro member, who holds the record for most EPT cashes was also present at the final table. He was eliminated in the sixth round and left taking with him €337,000.
The event attracted several world class poker players, including Team PokerStars Pro members Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Raymond Rahme, Gavin Griffin, Chad Brown, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso and Dario Minieri. Rahme made the top 30, while Hachem came close to equaling Gavin Griffin’s record of winning an EPT, WPT and World Series title. He was eventually eliminated in 11th, taking away €101,000 ($161,191). The Season 4 final at Monte Carlo had the largest prize pool in European poker history amounting to a whopping €8,420,000. In total, season players from 75 different nations across the globe fought for the €38,248,788 in total prize pools.
No. of Players - 5,902
No. PokerStars Qualifiers - 1,682
Total Prize Pool - €38,248,788
| TOURNAMENT | DATES | BUY-IN | NO. OF PLAYERS | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | No. of PS Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BARCELONA OPEN | Aug 28 - Sep 1 2007 | €8,000 | 543 | €4,181,100 | Sander Lylloff €1,170,700 | 73 |
| EPT LONDON | Sep 25-29, 2007 | £5,200 | 392 | £2,038,400 | Joseph Mouawad £611,500 | 60 |
| EPT BADEN CLASSIC | Oct-10, 2007 | €8,000 | 282 | €2,143,200 | Julian Thew €670,800 | 42 |
| EPT DUBLIN | Oct 30 - Nov 3, 2007 | €8,000 | 221 | €1,701,700 | Reuben Peters €532,620 | 51 |
| EPT PRAGUE | Dec 10-14, 2007 | €5,000 | 555 | €2,530,240 | Arnaud Mattern €708,400 | 104 |
| POKERSTARS CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE | Jan 5-10, 2008 | $8,000 | 1,136 | $8,594,976 (€6,139,268) | Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier $2,000,000 (€1,428,571) | 650 |
| EPT GERMAN OPEN | Jan 29-Feb 2, 2008 | $8,000 | 411 | €3,164,700 | Mike McDonald €933,600 | 96 |
| EPT COPENHAGEN | Feb 19-23, 2008 | 50,000 DKK | 460 | 21,086,400 DKK 2,829,480 €approx | Tim Vance 6,220,488 DKK (€834,590 approx) | 94 |
| EPT WARSAW | Mar 11-15, 2008 | 20,0000 Polish Zloty | 359 | 7,180,000 PLN (about €2 million) | Michael Schulze 2,154,000 PLN (€600,000 approx) | 103 |
| EPT SAN REMO | Apr 1-5, 2008 | €5,000 | 701 | €3,100,000 | Jason Mercier €869,000 | 164 |
| EPT MONTE CARLO GRAND FINAL | Apr 12-17 2008 | €10,000 | 842 | €8,420,000 | Glen Chorny €2.020,000 | 245 |
