EPT11 Grand Final Super High Roller - Dario Sammartino Leads Final Eight

8 years ago
Dario Sammartino
11:59
02 May

The first major event of this year's PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final will be crowning its champion. Final eight players remaining in the €100k Super High Roller tournament have taken their seats to battle it out for the prestigious title and the first place of €2,015,000.

Leading the pack into the final day is Italian player and the high roller debutant Dario Sammartino, who bagged 4.5 million in chips at the end of play last night. From the looks of things, the Italian's decision to (finally) put up €100,000 to battle against the best in the world could pay out handsomely if cards keep coming his way.

Unlike Sammartino, Igor Kurganov, who comes back second in chips is one of the regular in all sorts of high roller events, EPT and non-EPT. Feared tournament player with $8.2 million in live earnings, Igor is not someone you want sitting to your right (or to your left for that matter). He starts today with 3.6 million.

Places 3 - 5 are all very close in terms of chip counts. Austrian Thomas Muehloecker is officially in third spot, however, after bagging the stack of 2,290,000. Young Austrian made a name for himself during the 2013 EPT festivities in Barcelona. Taking down €10k High Roller event and defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up en route to the title, Muehloecker sent out the message that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Only a couple of big blinds shorter, Max Altergott is sitting right in the middle. With more than $3.6 million in live cashes, another member of "Team Germany" is certain to create some difficulties for the remaining seven players looking to seize the title.

Right behind him is the man who needs no introduction. Sitting in fifth spot with 2,170,000 in chips, Erik Seidel will be looking to add another title and extra couple of millions to his impressive poker resume. The Hall of Fame member, Seidel has truly stood the test of time, battling the young generation of math wizards and keeping his head above the water at all times. His luck in high roller events has been somewhat questionable, but should Fortune decide to be a little more cooperative today, no one would be surprised to see the American taking home yet another trophy.

Fedor Holz is coming back with 1.6 million in chips and while he may be somewhat less known to the older generations of poker fans, 'CrownUpGuy' is certainly a name well recognized in the online circles. After winning PokerStars WCOOP Main Event in 2014, raking in $1.3 million, Holz turned his attention to the live circuit a bit more and he is now guaranteed the biggest cash of his live career. Can he make it all the way? He certainly has the skills and the will, the rest is up to the poker gods.

Finally, two short stacks, coming back with under one million in chips are Dzimitry Urbanovich with 735,000 and Scott Seiver with just about 10 big blinds, sitting on a stack of 470,000. Urbanovich is currently ranked third on the Poland's all time money list, but if he manages to spin the things around and finish in the top two in this event, he will be claiming the top spot.

Scott Seiver is staying true to tradition and he is entering yet another SHR final table with super short stack. With almost $15.2 millions in live tournament cashes, he has huge experience in all sorts of events and he is no stranger to navigating a short stack.

As expected, the final table features a very interesting setup and it will be fun to watch who will actually end up claiming the title. Every single one of these players has what it takes, so who wants it more and who will be favored by the poker gods today?

Photo: Neil Stoddart


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