€5,300 EPT San Remo Main Event | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT San Remo

04-23-2009 15:26 UTC+3

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user75032]

After introductions of the players by TD Thomas Kremser, cards are in the air for the 2009 EPT San Remo Main Event final table!

04-23-2009 15:16 UTC+3

Photo Opportunity

[user46392]

Our final eight are posing for photos at the final table even now, so we should be starting any minute. Please stand by...

04-23-2009 15:08 UTC+3

We're not quite ready to go yet. Players need to be mic'ed up, camera shots need to be established, and all of that other fancy television production stuff needs to be accomplished. Hang out for a few minutes.

04-23-2009 14:10 UTC+3

Can Dragan Wing His Way to Victory?

[user75032]

Has it already been most of a week that we've been here in San Remo for the 2009 PokerStars.it European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event? With absolutely beautiful weather at this Italian Riviera destination, the days have flown by.

And yet it's true -- today is Day 5 of the Main Event. The field of 1,178 runners has been relentlessly ground down until only eight remain. They are playing for one of the biggest paydays in EPT history and a place in the pantheon of household poker names.

The story of this whole tournament, from Day 1 through Day 5, has been the play of Croatian Dragan Galic. Galic was the Day 1 chip leader. He was the Day 2 chip leader. He was also the Day 3 and the Day 4 chip leader. Today, for Galic, is the day that counts most of all. If he can finish the day as the chip leader one more time, he'll become €1,508,000 richer.

Standing in his way are seven players who have each gone through his own poker trials to make it this far. Each one hopes to be the man to hoist the trophy over his head. Here's your 2009 San Remo Main Event final table:

Seat 1: Kalle Niemi (641,000)
Seat 2: William Reynolds (2,531,000)
Seat 3: Alex Fitzgerald (721,000)
Seat 4: Danilo D'Ettoris (686,000)
Seat 5: Gustav Sundell (2,625,000)
Seat 6: Constant Rijkenberg (932,000)
Seat 7: Dragan Galic (3,098,000)
Seat 8: Ovidiu Balaj (625,000)

This is a televised final table, with a live stream available on EPTLive. Play is scheduled to start at 2pm local time, in just less than an hour, but expect things to run late -- television productions usually do.