Main Event
Day 1a Started
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€4,560,000
Entries
912
Level
34
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
30,000
Welcome to EPT Berlin, Season 9
The penultimate leg of Season 9 of the European Poker tour lands in Germany's capital city, Berlin today for the main event. The six-day tournament follows on from the Berlin Cup poker festival where the player numbers have been huge, so a large turnout is expected for the main event.
Marcin Horecki, Johnny Lodden, Jan Heitman, Michael Keiner and Sandra Naujoks are confirmed to be playing for Team Pro today and Germany's premiere poker tournament would be out of place with Germany's biggest former sports star, Boris Becker, in attendance.
A host of poker's top stars were at the players party last night so the event promises to be star-studded. Play is due to commence at 12pm CET.
Shuffle Up and Deal
The cards are in the air for Day 1A! How many will have sore heads are the party last night?
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Friendly Faces in the Crowd
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We've already spotted a handful of notable players today, including Season 8 EPT London runner-up Steve O'Dwyer, Team Pro Johnny Lodden, Season 9 EPT London winner Ruben Visser, 2009 World Series of Poker November Niner Antoine Saout, Season 7 EPT Berlin runner-up Jeff Sarwer, 2012 WSOP bracelet winner Timothy Adams, Season 8 EPT Grand Final Super High Roller winner Justin Bonomo, and Season 9 EPT Prague Heads-Up winner Ankush Mandavia.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
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|
30,000 | |
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|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
More Big Names in the Room
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
||
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Marcin Along
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Team Pro Marcin Horecki has gotten off to a great start after making a straight on the river in a hand versus David Taborsky.
Around 3,500 chips had made it into the middle by the board rested as 
. Horecki was under the gun and saw his 2,300 bet snap- called by Taborsky in the big blind. The Pole opened 
and a disbelieving Taborsky mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
34,900
4,900
|
4,900 |
Phahurat Likes Europe
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
World Series of Poker Circuit grinder AP Phahurat has left the American tournament circuit to try his chances at the tables abroad. As you can tell by his recent tweet, Phahurat seems to be enjoying his time in Germany.
Phahurat has over $495,000 in tournament winnings and is still looking for his first tournament cash outside of America. Phahurat has cashes dating back to 2012 but truly burst onto the scene during the 2012 WSOP Main Event where he made a deep run and ultimately finished in 185th place.
More recently, Phahurat just missed out on his first WSOP Circuit ring when he finished runner-up in the 2013 WSOPC Caesar's Palace Las Vegas Main Event. Phahurat pocketed over $137,000 for that finish which is his largest live tournament cash to date. He's looking to top that this week and we'll be on hand to keep track of his progress in this tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
The Tennis Legend is Here
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Even 13 years after he retired Boris Becker is still by far the most famous man in the room today. The former tennis pro, with more than $25,000,000 in tennis tournament earnings, took his seat today as he's ready to play some more poker.
Becker has cashed once in the EPT tournament circuit to date, he finished 97th in the 2011 Barcelona event for €8,000. Becker's biggest result came in 2009 when he finished 40th in the $25,000 WPT for $40,855.
A Nitsche Market
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We've spotted German Dominik Nitsche in the field today. Nitsche made a big splash in 2011, winning two events in Cyprus for a combined $287,466. He then won an event in South Africa in 2012, earning $206,153, and then shipped a World Series of Poker bracelet, winning Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Nitsche bested a field of 4,620 runners, defeated Jonathan Hilton heads up, and banked $654,797.
The German is now on his home turf, looking for his first ever EPT title here in the capital city of Berlin.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |