2009 Pokerstars.com EPT-San Remo Final Table Recap
by Chad Holloway of Predictem.com
The 2009 Pokerstars.com European Poker Tour San Remo final table got underway with the remaining eight players of a 1,178 player-field. Those players and their chips counts were:
Dragan Galic: 3,098,000
Gustav Sundell: 2,625,000
William Reynolds: 2,531,000
Constant Rijkenberg: 932,000
Alexander Fitzgerald: 721,000
Danilo D’Ettoris: 686,000
Kalle Niem: 641,000
Ovidiu Balaj: 625,000
Action got under way when Galic bet 90,000 and Rijkenberg moved all-in from the big blind for 611,000. Galic called with his pocket threes but was far behind Rijkenberg’s pocket kings. The 10d 9h 4h 8d Qd board gave Rijkenberg the pot and allowed him to double up.
The first elimination of the night came when D’Ettoris moved all-in for 600,000 with Ah Qd. Rijkenberg made the call with pocket fours and the two were in a classic race situation. The Jh 7d 3h 5h 3d board allowed Rijkenberg’s hand to hold and sent D’Ettoris home in eighth place (114,000).
After a Balaj double-up, the following big hand developed. Rijkenberg raised the blinds and was reraised by Reynolds to 332,000. After a few moments Rijkenberg moved all-in. Reynolds snap-called with Ah Kc and Rijkenberg showed Q-J. The flop fell 10s 9h 8d giving Rijkenberg the nuts. The 2s on the turn and the Kd on the river allowed Rijkenberg to chip up to over 3,785,000.
Soon after Fitzgerald pushed all-in with Ah Kh and Reynolds called with pocket jacks. The board ran out 10h 6s 2s 8c 2h and Reynolds took down the 1,280,000 pot. Fitzgerald was left with less than three big blinds and committed his remaining 135,000 the very next hand with Kc 9x. Both Galic and Balaj made the call as the flop fell 10h 3s 2d. Galic bet out 150,000 and Balaj folded after about two minutes. Galic showed J-10 as the Qc hit on the turn and the river bricked. Galic’s tens held up and Fitzgerald was eliminated in seventh place (171,000).
Not long after, Balaj was all-in for 640,000 and Reynolds shoved all-in over the top. Everyone else folded and Balaj showed pocket nines while Reynolds was behind with pocket sixes; however, the 6d 3h 2s flop changed all that. The As on the turn and 4h on the river knocked out Balaj is the sixth (229,000).
After a Niem double up, Rijkenberg raised only to have Galic move all-in for two million. Rijkenberg made the call with Ah Qc and was racing against Galic’s 9h 9d. The Kc Jd 10s gave Rijkenberg another nut straight! The 3h on the turn left Galic drawing dead. After the 10c was revealed on the river, Galic, who had maintained the chip lead in this tournament for three days, was eliminated in fifth place (314,000).
After the dinner break, Reynolds raised all-in with Kd Jd and was called by Rijkenberg’s Ah 7d. An ace appeared on the flop and Reynolds was sent home in fourth place (377,000).
The next elimination came when Sundell found his A-6 far behind Niem’s A-J. The board provided no help for Sundell and he finished the tournament in third place (480,000). The final hand of the tournament came when action developed on a 10-5-3-5 board.
All the money found its way into the middle, and Rijkenberg held pocket aces against Niem’s A-10. A four on the river sealed the deal and Niem finished in second place (862,000). The 20-year-old Rijkenberg became the 2009 Pokerstars.com EPT San Remo champion and took down the 1,508,000 first-place prize.
Other notable finishes and cashes included:
9: Pierre Neuville, Belgium, 78,800
10: Gianni Giaroni, Italy, 78,800
11: Giuseppe Argento, Italy, 45,700
12: Sami Kelopuro, Finland, 45,700
13:- Rasmus Akerblom, Sweden, 35,400
14: Pietro Sibione, Germany, 35,400
15: Katalin Jerney, Hungary, 30,850
16: Stefan Raffay, Denmark, 30,850
17: Steven Silverman, United States, 26,300
18: Julien Legros, France, 26,300
19: David Eldar, Australia, 26,300
20: Massimiliano Trifoglio, Italy, 26,300
21: Dennis Bejedal, Sweden, 26,300
22 – Malte Strothmann, Germany, 26,300
23: Doron Tourgman, Germany, 26,300
24: Luigi Abiusi, Italy, 26,300
25: Pietro Capriotti, Italy, 21,700
26: Sebastien Bidenger, France, 21,700
27: Vedat Akdemir, Holland, 21,700
28: Eduardo Burgio, Italy, 21,700
29: Ben Kang, Germany, 21,700
30: Matias Knaapinen, Finland, 21,700
31: Bulent Karsli, Germany, 21,700
32: Fabio Mazzarello, Italy, 21,700