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WPT Invitational final table set and EPT moves Grand Final to Madrid, Spain

As most of the United States celebrated an extended weekend, it was anything but a quiet time for the poker industry. Here’s a look around the felt:

World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational

One of the coolest events of the year takes place every February at the L.A. Poker Classic — the WPT Celebrity Invitational. It isn’t the typical WPT event that boasts only top tier fields with the best in the game. Instead, we find tables full of celebrities, athletes, well-known players and some members of the industry who get their one chance per year to leave their mark on the felt. Tons of fun is had in this quick-structured event, but the most important part is that $100,000 was donated to charity.

This year’s field had 482 players; the final six will battle it out on March 2. There are two WSOP bracelet winners remaining, including Dan Heimiller, who had seven WSOP cashes in 2010 to move him into 23rd all-time on the all-time WSOP cashes list. The other bracelet winner is Davidi Kitai, who has nearly $1.5 million in career earnings. Katai won his bracelet in a $2,000 pot-limit hold ‘em event in 2008. George Rechnitzer is a poker veteran with nearly half a million in earnings dating back to 1998. Joining the poker players is a pair of internationally ranked chess masters, Almira Skripchenko and Dinara Khaziyeva. However, those five will be chasing Minnesota lawyer Damon Schramm.

The champion will take home $100,000 and for an incredible look at the event, check out the WPT’s photo blog, which highlights the celebrities and poker players in attendance.

Here are the final table chip counts:

Damon Schramm (865,000 in chips)
Davidi Kitai (845,000)
Almira Skripchenko (710,000)
Dan Heimiller (700,000)
Dinara Khaziyeva (670,000)
George Rechnitzer (660,000)

EPT News

EPT Copenhagen kicked off on Sunday with 214 players in action on Day 1A . One of them was 2008 WSOP main event champion Peter Eastgate, playing in his first tournament in eight months. Eastgate not only played, but survived Day 1, finishing 23rd out of the 133 who moved on from the first flight to Day 2. Leading the survivors from Day 1A was Mark Hitleman, who has more than double the stack of Eastgate. Others moving on include Annette Obrestad, Scott Montgomery, Johnny Lodden and Arnaud Mattern.

Day 1B featured a field of 235 players for a two-day total of 449 runners, up from 423 a year ago. Among the Day 1B starters were Viktor Blom, Toby Lewis and William Thorson, but each member of that dynamic trio failed to make it through the day. J.P. Kelly, Jake Cody and EPT founder John Duthie will be returning with the rest of the 135 Day 1B survivors on Wednesday. Domantas Klimciauskas emerged as the chip leader of the second flight with 203,800 in chips.

Sixty-four players will finish in the money, and the winner of this event will win 3.7 million Danish kroner or $677,954.

As the action progressed in Copenhagen, the European Poker Tour announced on Monday that the Grand Final, the last tour stop of the EPT season, would be changing venues. The EPT Grand Final was previously held in Monte Carlo but will move to Madrid, Spain.

“We wanted somewhere new, dynamic and inspiring, and knew that Madrid would tick all the boxes for the travelling poker player, regardless of age or desires,” EPT chief executive Duthie said. “The same familiar team will be running the event and the schedule will, I am sure, provide something for everyone.”

The Grand Final will be held May 7-12 at the Casino Grand Madrid. The event fits in the poker tournament schedule nicely, immediately before the WPT Championship and the WSOP.

Small blinds: Phil Laak was among the leaders after Day 1 of the WPT’s Celebrity Invitational, but due to a prior obligation, he could not return for Day 2 and was blinded out. … Blair Hinkle earned $1.1 million with his second-place finish in the FTOPS XIX main event. Due to a three-way chop, the champion, “GIAMPP” earned $877,949. 14,479 entries created this record-setting prize pool of $8.6 million. Note that this wasn’t 14,479 players, but 14,479 entries as this was a multi-entry tournament in which players could enter up to six times. … Chile’s Alex Manzano defeated a field of 536 players to win the LAPT Sao Paulo main event and nearly $400,000. Other notables include Brazilian Joao Bauer (second), Humberto Brenes (15th) and Maria Mayrinck (60th). … The WSOPC stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., is underway. There were 877 entries in the first $345 event won by Reed Zhao. Players could re-enter the event on Day 1B if they were eliminated on Day 1A. … Nikolay Evdakov won the Iron Man event at the LAPC. That event includes a structure with no breaks and no sleep until it concludes. Evdakov won $60,630. … Our best wishes go out to Chad Brown who is currently in a battle with cancer. Get well soon, Chad. … The 2011 Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament will be held on May 21 at the Peppermill Casino. Proceeds benefit the Nevada SPCA. … At the Raise Your Hand For Africa celebrity tournament over the weekend in Las Vegas, a group of celebrities, poker players and athletes joined together to raise money for Starkey Hearing Foundation. NFL players were supposed to be playing in the event, but apparently were, according to Showbiz411.com, told by the NFL that they could not participate. … Peter Eastgate was wearing a PokerStars patch at EPT Copenhagen. …

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 25th, 2011 and is filed under Gambling Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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