2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

€10,300 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info

2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
44
Prize
€597,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€10,000
Prize Pool
€2,979,200
Entries
304
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

PokerNews Podcast Episode #274: RAWA Reaction feat. Giuliano Bendinelli and Anatoly Filatov

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
Giuliano Bendinelli
Giuliano Bendinelli

Rich and Donnie break down Wednesday's RAWA hearing on Capitol Hill, and Remko talks to Global Poker Masters champion and MVP Giuliano Bendinelli, along with Russia's Anatoly Filatov.

You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.

Tags: Anatoly FilatovGiuliano BendinelliPokerNews Podcast

CONVersation: Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer is Poker's Newest Ambassador

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
George Danzer
George Danzer

The GPI European Poker Awards were a roaring success last night, and one of the standout winners was Team PokerStars Pro Gorge Danzer.

The very popular German has been a positive force on the European Poker Tour for a number of years now, and despite being nominated for Breakout Player of the Year, it was actually the Best Poker Ambassador award that he walked away with – an award without any nominees- decided wholly by fan votes.

Danzer is currently playing in the EPT Malta High Roller event (down to 35K from a 50K starting stack) and was kind enough to spare PokerNews some time for a chat during a break.

PokerNews: You were nominated for the Breakout Player of the Year Award but have been around a long time. Did you find that strange, or do you feel 2014 was your breakout year, especially in tournaments?

Danzer: For me it really felt like a breakout year. I don’t know exactly how they come up with the nominees – what the rules were; if you weren’t allowed to be nominated if you’ve won a tournament before; if you’ve been around for a couple of years you couldn’t be included, but after they nominated me, I thought, yeah, maybe they just take it as it is. I was doing okay and then had an exceptional, breakout, year. After I was nominated I thought I had a good chance of winning it.

Amazingly you won the Best Poker Ambassador award. Were you shocked?

I didn’t expect that at all because there are a lot of poker players who have a huge following on Twitter, Facebook and are big stars around the scene. I was sure they were going to get a lot of votes because of the fans that they have. I have a smaller fan base in Germany but then I was really surprised when that was enough to win that category. It was great!

As an ambassador, how do you feel you’ve helped progress the game in Germany?

I think we, Jan Heitmann and myself, since 2005 were the first ones to bring it to the mainstream. We started a poker blog called “Poker Amigos” where we talked about what we were doing around the world; playing tournaments and making a lot of appearances on German TV shows.

Since 2007 I’ve been part of Team Pro, or Shooting Stars as it was back then. I’ve also been around the media for a long time and I think that it’s not just the way I explain the game to other people, it’s how I play the game – to always be at the table in a way I wish everyone would be at the table. It’s really hard as we get a lot of bad beats in poker but it’s just the way I approach it, and I wish most people would do it like that.

The German Team Pro Team has been massively shrunk in the past few years. How do you keep earning your contract?

Now a lot has shifted to social media, which I’m not an expert in, so I’m just trying to do what I can there. There are new channels now, for example, Twitch that I have created a channel on where I stream a couple of times a week. I explain some strategy and how I play the game, all for free. Giving out content too and not just keeping all the secrets for you and trying to beat players but trying to give something back to the community. I like talking to people and most of them know I’m going to answer them.

During the WSOP last summer, were you keeping in touch with your fans?

Yes, I was mostly doing German video blogs. They are on the PokerStars Blog and the usual outlets. I also did a Google Hangout and the Remko Report which we’re going to do again this year from Las Vegas. We’re going to make a live chat and stuff like that.

Take us back to when you first played poker, fell in love with game and realized you were good at it?

I first discovered poker at chess tournaments. We used to play other cards games like Magic and a German game called Schafkopf and Skat, when one day some guy said we should try this Texas hold'em they play in the US. We played no-limit Texas hold'em in the evening and I lost a little but I bought a couple of books, like The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky, and I tried to get better so the next time I beat them.

Then one day I started playing a little bit online and I liked it. It grew very slowly and then just when the poker boom came it was exactly at the point that I had learned a little strategy. Then I thought, let's try some live tournaments so came on to the live circuit and since then, I’m here!

You’ve achieved so much in the past year to 18 months. How so you keep yourself motivated and what goals, if any, do you have for the next year or so?

I’ve always wanted to win a SCOOP or WCOOP leaderboard and I was so close but didn’t win it. Each year I play a complete SCOOP and a complete WCOOP in an attempt to win the leaderboard. Now that I’m the WSOP Player of the Year of course I’m going to try and defend it as no one has ever done that before. I’ve always wanted to win an EPT too, so there’s enough stuff left after winning the bracelets to keep me motivated for the next couple of years, at least.

Tags: George Danzer

Ferreira Triples

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante

When we got to the table, all the cards were already exposed and the dealer was busy dealing a board. It was a three-way all in before the flop:

Rui Ferreira: {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}
Antonio Costa Alfaia: {A-Diamonds}{K-Diamonds}
Anton Kraus: {A-Clubs}{K-Clubs}

The board ran out {7-Diamonds}{Q-Clubs}{J-Diamonds}{8-Spades}{6-Hearts} and Ferreira tripled. Costa Alfaia was eliminated, Kraus still had 42,000 left.

Player Chips Progress
Rui Ferreira pt
Rui Ferreira
72,000 9,000
Anton Kraus bg
Anton Kraus
42,000 -8,000
Antonio Costa Alfaia pt
Antonio Costa Alfaia
Busted

Tags: Anton KrausAntonio Costa AlfaiaRui Ferreira

Boeree Busto

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
Liv Boeree
Liv Boeree

Andras Nemeth opened the cutoff and Liv Boeree made the call on the button. The big blind came along as well and the three of them saw a flop of {5-Diamonds}{J-Spades}{8-Diamonds}.

The big blind checked to Nemeth and he bet 3,000. Boeree raised it up to 7,500 and the big blind folded. Nemeth three-bet to 21,000, and called the 40,000 total shove that followed.

Andras Nemeth: {10-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}
Liv Boeree: {J-Clubs}{8-Clubs}

It was still essentially a coinflip, with a small edge for Boeree. This time though, the top two wouldn't hold. The {7-Hearts} on the turn filled up Nemeth's straight and Boeree needed to go looking for a jack or an eight. The {9-Hearts} on the river wasn't what Boeree was looking for and the English Team Pro hit the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Andras Nemeth hu
Andras Nemeth
125,000 60,000
Liv Boeree gb
Liv Boeree
Busted

Tags: Andras NemethLiv Boeree

Kitai Gets Lucky

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
Jorryt van Hoof
Jorryt van Hoof

Jorryt van Hoof just told us about a hand he played against Belgian Davidi Kitai who managed to get lucky on the Dutchman.

Van Hoof explained how a player raised and Kitai three-bet from his immediate left to 2,800. Van Hoof four-bet from the small blind to 6,400 and the initial raiser folded. Kitai moved all in for 29,000 and Van Hoof made the call with {A-}{10-}.

Van Hoof was ahead against {A-}{7-} off suit, but the board made his hand fall apart as Kitai doubled up.

Player Chips Progress
Jorryt van Hoof nl
Jorryt van Hoof
74,000 -31,000
Davidi Kitai be
Davidi Kitai
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Winamax
58,000 30,000

Tags: Jorryt van HoofDavidi Kitai

The Boss!

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
Joao Vieira
Joao Vieira

Simon Boss opened the button to 1,200 and Joao Vieira three-bet from the button. Boss just shoved all in for about 70,000.

Joao Vieira made the call, according to Shayam Srinivasan who told us the pre flop action after the hand was done.

Simon Boss: {K-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Joao Vieira: {Q-Hearts}{Q-Clubs}

The board ran out {9-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{5-Spades}{7-Spades}{4-Spades} and Vieira was already heading for the exit.

"The boss!" Marc-Andre Ladouceur said, "That was f***ing boss!" Srinivasan added.

"Small ball was yesterday" Boss laughed.

Player Chips Progress
Simon Boss ch
Simon Boss
130,000 77,000
Joao Vieira pt
Joao Vieira
Winamax
Busted

Tags: Marc-Andre LadouceurSimon BossJoao VieiraShayam Srinivasan

Two Pair For Alvarado

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante

We just picked up the action on the turn when the board read {K-Hearts}{2-Hearts}{7-Spades}{6-Hearts} and JC Alvarado check-called 7,500 from the big blind. The river was the {2-Spades} and Alvarado checked again to Philipp Gruissem who opted to check behind from the button.

Alvarado showed {K-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds} and he picked up the pot, even though Gruissem still has quite a bit more chips.

Player Chips Progress
Philipp Gruissem de
Philipp Gruissem
92,000 42,000
JC Alvarado mx
JC Alvarado
73,000

Tags: JC AlvaradoPhilipp Gruissem

Sammartino Doubles Panyak

Level 6 : 300/600, 75 ante
Dario Sammartino
Dario Sammartino

Dani Stern opened for 1,100 from middle position and his neighbor Maxim Panyak in the hijack made the call. Dario Sammartino squeezed to 6,000 from the button and Stern folded. Panyak shoved all in for 21,400 and Sammartino made the call.

Maxim Panyak: {K-Clubs}{K-Spades}
Dario Sammartino: {Q-Diamonds}{Q-Hearts}

The board ran out {10-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}{3-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{5-Clubs} and Panyak doubled.

Player Chips Progress
Maxim Panyak ru
Maxim Panyak
45,400 45,400
Dario Sammartino it
Dario Sammartino
28,000 -22,000

Tags: Dani SternDario SammartinoMaxim Panyak