As always, the penultimate stop on the European Poker Tour created a number of headlines and stories as 24-year-old Brit Rupert Elder claimed his first major title amongst a flurry of other stories. The place that saw Liv Boeree burst onto the poker scene last year with her EPT title, creating a new star – Rupert Elder, another of the young British tournament players who have hit big on the EPT including the likes of last year’s EPT London champion David Vamplew.
The young Brit had a struggle on the way to his win. One of the big stories heading into the final table was Joe Cada’s run to a 13th place finish. The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion had not been a big name on the live poker circuit since his $8.5 million win but his trip to San Remo saw a solid placing in the Main Event and a €35,000 payday.
Over seven seasons of the EPT, no player has managed two titles, but Max Lykov looked to change that. He headed into the final table strongly but was denied his dream win when he crashed out in 4th for €290,000. Xuan Liu finished 3rd for €360,000. That left Elder and Max Heinzelmann to go heads-up.
Heinzelmann finished runner-up in the EPT Berlin just recently and he felt that pain again, falling just short for the second time. The €600,000 payday may, however, help to ease the pain. Elder took the win with Ace Five v Queen Five and the board brought no help to either player to leave Elder going home with €930,000, a seat in the Grand Final in Madrid, a seat in the Champion of Champions event and a EPT winner’s bracelet.
The other final table finishers were as follows:
5. Francesco de Vivo (Italy) €220,000.
6. Massimiliano Manigrasso (Italy) €170,000.
7. Costantino Russo (Italy) €125,000.
8. Roberto Spada (Italy) €81,950.
