€10,000 High Roller
Day 3 Started
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo
€10,000 High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo
Buy-in
€10,000
Prize Pool
€823,200
Entries
84
Level
24
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Seven Left in EPT Sanremo High Roller
Today marks the third and final day of the 2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo €10,000 High Roller. Just seven players remain, and all are vying for the €288,000 top prize, along with the magnificent Shamballa Jewels bracelet valued at €5,000.
Leading the way is Joel Nordkvist with 1.205 million in chips. That's nearly 400,000 chips more than Benny Spindler's second-place stack of 844,000. Keven Stammen, Philipp Gruissem, Joseph Cheong, Igor Kurganov and Kent Roed round out the rest of the crew, and you can see their seating assignments and stacks below.
EPT Sanremo High Roller Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent Roed | 317,000 |
| 2 | Benny Spindler | 844,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Cheong | 392,000 |
| 4 | Joel Nordkvist | 1,205,000 |
| 5 | Keven Stammen | 744,000 |
| 6 | Igor Kurganov | 318,000 |
| 7 | Philipp Gruissem | 460,000 |
Everyone left is guaranteed at least €32,900, but there is plenty to play. Gruissem will not only be playing to win the most money, but he's also in line to win his third EPT High Roller title. Kurganov and Spindler are looking for their second.
PLay kicks off at 2:00 PM local time, so stay tuned right here to PokerNews for all the live coverage coming to you shortly.
Seat 7: Philipp Gruissem -- 460,000
Philipp Gruissem needs little introduction when it comes to High Roller tournaments on the European Poker Tour. In fact, the EPT should really think about renaming all High Roller events to the "Philipp Gruissem Classic" because all he does is crush these things.
He's currently having his best year on the felt with over $1.7 million in live tournament earnings when you factor in this cash. To highlight, Gruissem took 10th in the 2012 Macau $258,000 High Stakes Challenge for $587,778, third in the World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous à Paris for €170,065 and fourth in the World Series of Poker Europe €50,000 Majestic High Roller for €275,000.
To give you an idea of how well Gruissem has performed in these EPT High Roller events over the years, here are some results:
- April 2011: EPT Berlin High Roller — 3rd place for €67,000
- August 2011: EPT Barcelona High Roller — 1st place for €234,500
- October 2011: EPT London High Roller — 1st place for £450,200
- October 2011: EPT Sanremo High Roller — 4th place for €68,201
- December 2011: EPT Prague High Roller — 3rd place for €68,600
- April 2012: EPT Grand Final High Roller — 3rd place for €366,000
Today, Gruissem will enter Day 3 fourth in chips with 460,000 in his stack. He'll be looking for his third EPT High Roller title, and all eyes will be fixed on him.
Seat 6: Igor Kurganov -- 318,000
We just talked about Philipp Gruissem, and now we're onto Igor Kurganov, who is good friends with Gruissem and has shared a few final tables with him.
Back in October 2011, Kurganov took second place to Gruissem in the EPT London £20,000 High Roller for £318,300. Prior to that, he finished runner-up to Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in the 2011 EPT Grand Final High Roller for €123,000. It was a year later, though, that Kurganov scored the largest live win of his career, and one that earned him the first seven-figure payday of his life.
At the 2012 EPT Grand Final High Roller, Kurganov emerged victorious for a whopping €1.08 million. He defeated an elite field that included a final table of Daniel Negreanu, Gruissem, Justin Bonomo, Artem Litvinov, Noah Schwartz and Team PokerStars Pro Max Lykov.
In total, Kurganov has over $2.5 million in live tournament winnings. He'll enter the day sixth in chips out of the final seven with 318,000.
Seat 5: Keven Stammen -- 744,000
Third in chips coming into the day with 744,000 is 2009 World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Keven Stammen. Stammen has a long list of results that include four live wins and nearly $1.5 million in earnings.
This High Roller cash isn't the only success Stammen has found recently. Right at the end of last month, he took 34th in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €21,250. Just a week later, Stammen won the €2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo side event here in Sanremo for €92,900.
When Stammen won his bracelet in 2009, he conquered the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for over $500,000. Also during his career, he made the final table of the World Poker Tour World Poker Finals in 2010 (5th — $128,650) and the 2011 Master Classics of Poker Main Event (5th — €89,670).
Seat 4: Joel Nordkvist -- 1,205,000
Chip leader Joel Nordkvist is a No-Limit Hold'em specialist focusing in online play, but he's brought his best game to the live felt here in the EPT Sanremo €10,000 High Roller.
On Day 2, Nordkvist climbed the ladder all the way to the top, where he seemed as though he was never going to look back. When the day was all said and done, Nordkvist amassed over 1.2 million in chips, good enough for nearly 400,000 more than second place.
In the live realm, Nordkvist's best result was a familiar result coming from players at this final table. He, too, was at the final table of the 2011 EPT London High Roller with Philipp Gruissem and Igor Kurganov. There, Nordkvist finished sixth for £72,950 and the largest score of his live career.
In total, the Swedish pro has just over $288,00 in live earnings, but with this cash, he'll eclipse the $300,000 mark easily.
Seat 3: Joseph Cheong -- 392,000
Joseph Cheong most famously stormed onto the poker scene in 2010 when he made the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. It was there that Cheong went on to finish third for over $4.13 million and ignite his poker career.
That same year, during the break before the WSOP final table played out, Cheong took second in the EPT London High Roller Turbo for £162,280 and first in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Festa Al Lago in Las Vegas.
Cheong is having yet another very successful year in 2012 with nearly a million in live winnings. Most notably, Cheong took second the the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em — Mixed Max at the WSOP for nearly $300,000, then he came fourth in the WSOP Europe Main Event for nearly €300,000.
Here in the final seven, Cheong will be looking to continue his successful year with a win, and he'll enter the day fifth in chips with 392,000.
Seat 2: Benny Spindler -- 844,000
Benny Spindler is the winner of last year's EPT London Main Event for £750,000, but he hasn't had a live result since then. That's probably because Spindler's been spending all of his time crushing high-stakes cash games online.
With over $3.1 million in live tournament earnings and a very intelligent poker mind, Spindler will be one tough cookie at this final table. He also boasts the second largest stack returning to play with 844,000, which all makes for a deadly combination.
Spindler also has experience going deep in EPT High Roller events. He took fifth in the 2011 EPT Berlin High Roller for €34,000, second in the 2011 EPT Grand Final High Roller for €316,000, then won the EPT Tallinn High Roller later that year for €49,350.
Seat 1: Kent Roed -- 317,000
Norway's Kent Roed will enter the final table as the short stack, but he's fairly bunched up at the bottom of the pack with Igor Kurganov and Joseph Cheong not too far ahead of him. On Day 2, Roed seemed to have nine lives, and he has fought his way down to the final table.
There isn't much to be found on record for Roed. The only cash comes from August 2012 when he took 17th in the Estrellas Poker Tour €2,000 No-Limit Hold'em for €5,570. Roed is truly the least known player at this final table, but anything can happen in poker, so we'll see if he can run it up.
Level: 19
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 2,000