European Poker Tour
Though everyone’s focus in the poker world right now is on the WSOP main event final table, and rightfully so, let’s not forget the European Poker tour continues to run along strongly.
French businessman Christophe Benzimra beat Italian professional poker player Alfio Battisti heads-up last week to win the EPT Warsaw champion’s title and a first prize of 1,493,170 PLN (approx. 358,644), and a seat at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo next year.
Benzima, 47, runs a Plexiglas factory in Bucharest, Romania, and only took up poker online three years ago. He has competed at almost every EPT in the last two years but had yet to cash in a main event. He said: “I think I was lucky today. I am not a professional player, I play for fun. I really enjoyed it but I’m not giving up work! I play poker just for the pleasure of it.”
The EPT Warsaw main event at Casinos Poland at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, was one of the biggest poker tournaments ever held in Poland attracting 203 players from around the world each paying 25,000 PLN to create a total prize pool of more than 4.7 million PLN (approx. 1,145,826). It was the fourth time the EPT has visited the Polish capital.
Luca Pagano was eliminated in fourth place for 357,790 PLN (approx. 85,938). It was a bitter-sweet finish for the 31-year-old Italian who broke all his own casino records in Warsaw; reaching a fifth EPT final table and recording his 12th cash finish, but who was disappointed in defeat. Pagano has now overtaken fellow eam PokerStars PRO Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier to top the EPT all-time Tournament Leader Board. His best result in terms of money remains his sixth place finish at the Season 4 Grand Final in Monte Carlo, worth 337,000.
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