European Poker Tour - Season 5

Pieter de Korver crowned 2009 EPT Grand Final Champion!

Season 5 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour drew to a close with the Grand Final in Monte Carlo, April 28-May 03, 2009. The Main Event saw a field of 935 players compete for a total prize pool of €9,300,000 ($12,293,896). All of the biggest names in poker played the event, including Team PokerStars Pro and hundreds of players who qualified via PokerStars satellites. There can only ever be one winner though, and this year the title was taken by 26-year-old Dutch PokerStars player Pieter de Korver. He picks up prize money of €2,300,000 ($3,024,167) for beating one of the toughest line-ups in world poker. There were also cashes for Team PokerStars Pros Alex Kravchenko and Luca Pagano, plus a 33rd place finish for PokerStars ShootingStar Sebastian Ruthenberg.

There was also plenty of action away from the Main Event. Here’s a round-up of what else was happening during the week-long poker festival:

Vanessa Rousso takes down High Roller event

A field full of top name players paid the €25,000 buy-in to enter the Monte Carlo Grand Final High Roller tournament, with €720,000 ($946,696) on the line for the winner. Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso was the last player standing, dominating a final table that also included William Thorson.

ElkY sets new world record

Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier came to Monte Carlo to set a new record for most online Sit & Go tournaments played in one hour. To set the record, ElkY had to register for as many tournaments as he could, complete them all, and finish in profit. ElkY finished with a score of 62 tables played and a positive balance of $23.60, meaning he now holds the world record.

PokerStars and celebrities raise money for Darfur

Before the start of this year’s Main Event, PokerStars hosted the first ever Ante-Up for Africa Europe charity poker tournament, in aid of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Team PokerStars Pro and other big name players sat alongside celebrities from around the world - including Nelly, and sports stars like Boris Becker and Nico Rosberg. French rugby superstar Sebastian Chabal made the final table, as did Daniel Negreanu, John Duthie, Dario Minieri and eventual winner Isabelle Mercier. Players donated their winnings to the Darfur effort, with €160,000 raised in total.

See the PokerStars Blog for a full report from all EPT Monte Carlo events, and PokerStars.tv to see exclusive videos, interviews and much more.

Season 5 Results

The fifth Season of the EPT smashed all previous records, with a total prize pool of more than $60,000,000 and 7,768 players taking part in the 11 events, including 2,237 that had won their seats via PokerStars satellites. See below for the full roll-call of Season 5 winners.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour will return for Season 6 later this year. Keep checking back for the latest news and to find out how you can be part of Europe’s biggest poker tour.