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May 5, 2009

The 5th season of the EPT has come to an end in Monte Carlo and produced the second Dutch Grand Final champion in five seasons. Pieter de Korver, 26, from Leeuwarden, Holland, a member of Team PokerStars Pro Netherlands, outlasted a record field of 935 players to snag the €2.3 million first prize at the €10,600 EPT Monte Carlo main event. The total prize pool was a staggering €9.35 million making it the richest poker tournament ever held outside Las Vegas. The first ever EPT Grand Final was won by Dutchman Rob Hollink.

De Korver only turned pro two years ago and last year triumphed in a PokerStars-sponsored TV show called 'Poker Kampioen Van Nederland' against some 20,000 competitors. He staged a remarkable comeback during the nine-hour final table - at one stage he had just two big blinds but then won a series of showdowns to take the chip lead.

Norwegian pro Dag Martin Mikkelsen looked set to take the EPT Grand Final title after amassing more than half the chips but he fell away just as dramatically as De Korver came back - and ended up finishing fourth. Russian player Mikhail Tulchinskiy was eliminated in third place before PokerStars qualifier Matthew Woodward was dominated in a heads-up battle lasting a little over an hour.

Scores of stars competed in the event, held from April 28 to May 3 at the Monte Carlo Bay Resort, including nearly the entire Team PokerStars Pro team such as poker legend Daniel Negreanu, current world champion Peter Eastgate and former world champions Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker as well as rappers Nelly and Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes, rugby star Sebastien Chabal, footballer Tomas Brolin and tennis legend Boris Becker. Celebrated poker pros such as Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Tony G, Liz Lieu and Andy Black also took part. A total of 157 PokerStars players won their seats online for the prestigious event which attracted entrants from a record 57 countries.

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso won the inaugural €25,000 Monte Carlo high roller tournament after beating fellow American Randy Dorfman heads-up to take the €720,000 first prize. Tony G came third and donated a substantial part of his winnings to charity. A total of 79 players entered the event.

The EPT Grand Final was being filmed for broadcast and EPTLive covered the last two days with expert commentary in English and seven other languages.