Meet your final table - EPT London Main Event
Monday, 4 October 2010
Well, a record-breaking 848-strong field has been reduced to one final table of eight, all guaranteed a six-figure payday but focused on earning an EPT title and almost one million stirling. The action is underway so let's meet the players:
Seat 1: David Vamplew (3,670,000) is representing the Irn Bru drinking, battered Mars Bar eating contingent. Yes, we mean he's Scottish. The Edinburgh University maths graduate will be putting his skills to use today when calculating ICM on the fly. He usually plays $2/$4 and $3/$6 games online so his poker skills aren't to be sniffed at.
Seat 2: Tom Marchese (1,480,000) plays online as "kingsofcards" where you can see him tangling with the likes of durrrr and Patrik Antonius at the highest cash game levels. His live career is booming - since Marchese (it's pronounced "Mar-chay-zee" by the way) began playing live tournaments at the age of 21 he's racked up a Borgata Winter Open final table; an NAPT win; a WSOP final table and an EPT €25,000 High Roller final table.
Seat 3: Ferando Brito (1,100,000) is the oldest player at the final table. The 51-year-old has experience to back him not just in life but with several LAPT side event final tables under his belt, in poker too. This is by far his biggest cash though.
Seat 4: Per Ummer (1,245,000) is a Swedish player who has more than $350,000 in live tournament winnings plus a couple of WSOP cashes. His best live result is a WPT final table at the 2006 LA Poker Classic for over $200,000.
Seat 5: Artur Wasek (2,250,000) is planning to do a Moneymaker having qualified for this event for just $22. He has EPT final table experience, having finished fourth at the EPT Berlin for €280,000. He seems to like PokerStars events - a recent fifth place in the Sunday Warm-Up for $40,000 attests to that.
Seat 6: Kayvan Payman (1,295,000) is a stocks trader who plays poker as a hobby - I wish all my hobbies could be so lucrative; he has made over $100,000 in live and online tournaments. He recently cashed in the £2,500 6-max WSOPE event but fell short of the final table.
Seat 7: Kyle Bowker (7,165,000) doesn't quite fit the image of an online poker wonderkid with a full beard and a big, confident demeanour. However, "kwob20" became the first player to win double WCOOP titles in 2006 when he won $104,000 for the Omaha Hi/Lo bracelet and then Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo for $70,000.
Seat 8: John Juanda (7,050,000) is John bloomin' Juanda. With more than $10,500,000 in all-time tournament earnings in all manner of poker variants, a solid cash game career and becoming one of the key faces of Full Tilt Poker, Juanda is easily the most recognisable player here. Second in chips he's a big favourite for the win, too. London is good for him - a WSOPE title and a runner-up finish in last year's EPT High Roller.
The action has kicked off with blinds at 40,000/80,000/5,000.