£5,200 EPT London Main Event | 2008 PokerStars.com EPT London

10-05-2008 13:45 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Michael Martin

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Seat 8: Michael Martin, 24, from Washing Crossing, Pennsylvania - 728,000 chips

Michael has been playing poker for five years and turned pro in January 2007 after graduating in English from Penn State. Originally an athlete – he played college hockey for two years – he took up poker at the end of a hockey season and never looked back. Between November 2007 and April 2008 he won over $1,000,000 – after coming 2nd at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam in November 2007 and then making 5th place at the EPT4 Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Michael’s mother has flown over specially to rail her son at today’s final table and has always supported his decision to become a poker pro. Michael said: “When I started, my dad wasn’t keen 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’s girlfriend Jen is also flying in to London to give her support.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Michael Martin

10-05-2008 13:47 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Marcin Horecki

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Seat 7: Marcin Horecki, 31, Poland – Team PokerStars Pro – 309,000 chips

Born in Poland, Marcin Horecki is a former member of the national alpine skiing team but was forced to quit the sport because of injury. Marcin studied for BA and MA degrees and then worked in corporate finance. In 2006, he came close to making the final table of the €1,000 NLHE event at the Barcelona Open and this gave him the confidence he needed to turn pro. In January 2007, he cashed at EPT3 Copenhagen and three months later, he final tabled at the Asian Poker Classic in Goa for $29,000 and later in the year took down the €500 NLHE Rebuy event for $28,637 in the Austrian Masters in Vienna. Already one of the highest earning Polish poker players of all time, Marcin joined Team PokerStars Pro during the WSOP in July.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Marcin Horecki

10-05-2008 13:49 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Alan Smurfit

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Alan Smurfit playing in the 2008 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas in July

Seat 6: Alan Smurfit, 66, Dublin, Ireland – 396,000 chips

A regular on the EPT circuit, Alan has cashed twice including 16th at EPT4 London for $32,641 but this is his first EPT final table. Smurfit retired from work five years ago after selling the family business, the Smurfit Group - which at the time was the second biggest packaging company in the world. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Alan has been based in the States for some 20 years and is now about to move to Las Vegas. He says he plays poker for a hobby but has had a string of great results in recent years including winning the World Series PLO Rebuy event for over $450,000 in 2007. His all-time poker earnings amount to $ 1,088,219 and he is ranked sixth on the all time money list from Ireland.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Alan Smurfit

10-05-2008 13:50 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Michael Tureniec

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Seat 5: Michael Tureniec, 23, Stockholm, Sweden - PokerStars qualifier – 1,333,000 chips

Michael has played four EPTs so far but busted early in all of them before EPT London. Aside from military service, Michael has only had one job in his life – working as a supermarket cashier – a job he abandoned to become a professional poker player some four years ago. His best live results to date have been 400th in the WSOP main event in 2007, 2nd in a £500 NLHE side event in London last year and 3rd in the SKr 5,000 No Limit Hold'em in 2008 Nordic Masters of Poker in March. He won his seat to EPT London in the $800 Last Chance qualifier on PokerStars - only three days before the tournament started.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Michael Tureniec

10-05-2008 13:52 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Antony Lellouche

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Seat 4: Antony Lellouche, 28, Paris, France – 1,021,000 chips

This is professional French player Antony Lellouche’s third EPT final table in a year. At EPT London last year he came 6th for €140,081 and was runner-up at EPT4 San Remo for €505,000. Based in Paris, Antony mainly plays live poker in high stakes cash games around the world. He is both well-liked by his peers and mentors, including the "godfathers" of French poker Claude Cohen and Jan Boubli. Antony turned pro nine years ago, honing his skills at the smallest limit games at the Aviation Club. Fearless and intuitive, Antony has also made two WSOP final tables and gone deep in two EPT Grand Finals - 12th in 2005 and 21st in 2007.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Antony Lellouche

10-05-2008 13:53 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Philippe Dauteuil

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Seat 3: Philippe Dauteuil, 21, Quebec, Canada – 478,000 chips

Philippe is playing in only his second live event but is an experienced online player who specialises in high stakes cash games. His other live event was EPT Barcelona in Season 4 but he busted on Day 1. He took up poker four years ago after watching the game on TV. He studied statistics at college but dropped out after two years to devote himself to poker. Asked who he thinks the best players at the final table are, he replied: “Eric Liu – and me.” If he wins, he plans to use some of the money to bail out a friend who is in prison in Canada.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Philippe Dauteuil

10-05-2008 13:54 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Johannes Strassmann

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Seat 2: Johannes Strassmann, 23, Bonn, Germany – Shooting Stars sponsored player – 434,000 chips

Johannes, one of the PokerStars.de ShootingStars team of sponsored players, had an extremely precarious Day 3 – he was close to busting several times and very nearly bubbled the final table – which would have been the third time he had gone out of an EPT in 9th place. He has had four EPT cashes so far – his biggest win being €152,000 for 6th place at EPT4 Dortmund. Now living in Berlin, Johannes mainly plays heads-up cash games but also plays Fixed Limit and NL Hold´em or PLO. As well as poker, he also enjoys basketball, running and strength training (gym). He has been playing poker since 2006.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Johannes Strassmann

10-05-2008 13:54 UTC+2

Final Table Bios - Eric Liu

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Eric Liu playing in the 2008 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas in July

Seat 1: Eric Liu, 23, Maryland, USA – 1,308,000 chips

Eric Liu cashed at the PCA in January in his first live tournament, then followed up with 17th at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. But he still wasn't happy with his game so went to Vegas in the summer to play a lot of the smaller buy-in tournaments and the main event, hoping to bring his live game up to the standards he reaches online, where he plays high-stakes cash. "Players like Daniel Negreanu can read a lot off me, so I'm trying to get some more experience playing live," he said. He picked up a couple of cashes in Vegas and is thinking of moving there soon, from his most recent base in San Francisco. Eric took up poker after watching a televised poker tournament and, after just a few months, turned a $200 deposit into $34,000. A former Starcraft and Counterstrike player, Eric is also an instructor at CardRunners.com.

Bio courtesy of Mad Harper from PokerStars.com.

Tags: Eric Liu

10-05-2008 13:55 UTC+2

Final Table Starts at 1:30 PM London Time

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Welcome back to the Grosvenor Victoria Casino for the final table of the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT London £5,200 main event championship. Action will begin at 1:30pm local time.

Michael Tureniec (Sweden) holds a slight edge over Eric Liu (USA) for the overall chiplead.

Here's the final table...

Seat 1: Eric Liu - 1,308,000
Seat 2: Johannes Strassmann - 434,000
Seat 3: Philippe D'Auteuil - 478,000
Seat 4: Antony Lellouche - 1,021,000
Seat 5: Michael Tureniec - 1,333,000
Seat 6: Alan Smurfit - 396,000
Seat 7: Marcin Horecki - 309,000
Seat 8: Michael Martin - 728,000

And here's the final table payouts...

1st - £1,000,000
2nd - £525,314
3rd - £303,439
4th - £234,920
5th - £195,766
6th - £153,351
7th - £120,723
8th - £81,569

Stay tuned for live updates.

10-05-2008 14:45 UTC+2

Almost Game Time!

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The final table will begin shortly. Players are taking their seats and introductions are being made.