The European Poker Tour broke numerous records in 2008. For its fourth installment, the EPT’s season-long attendance jumped dramatically. After starting at 1,468 players total in Season 1, the EPT grew to 2,000 total players in Season 2, 3,481 in Season 3, and ballooned to a healthy 5,902 in Season 4. For you math whizzes out there, that means there was a 70% increase in the number of players from Season 3 to Season 4. The Monte Carlo Grand Final attracted 842 combatants and featured an 8.4 million Euro prize pool, enough to bring in players from across Europe and across the pond to the tiny Principality of Monaco. Perched high above the Mediterranean Sea is the Monte Carlo Casino, site of the Grand Final. Surrounded by its plush decor, Canadian Glen Chorny took home the Season 4 title and two million Euros in cash.
It wasn’t Chorny’s first rodeo. He’s captured a title at the 2008 World Poker Open from the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica. Chorny won a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WPT-sponsored World Poker Open, cashing for just over $80,000. He finished 13th in the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, an EPT event even though it occurs in The Bahamas. Chorny defeated Denes Kalo heads up. The Hungarian finished with a pair of second place finishes during the 2007-2008 EPT season. He was the runner up in the Baden event to Julian Thew. Kalo took home nearly 1.2 million Euros for his efforts and, when combined with his take from the Baden event, packed his wallet with over 1.5 million Euro. Those were his first two EPT cashes.
Canadians found considerable success in the Monte Carlo Grand Final in 2008, making up two of the top three finishers. Maxime Villemure finished third, bringing 715,000 Euros to the Canadian economy. Four other Canadians cashed in the Grand Final.
In fourth place was a name you might recognize if you play poker online: Isaac Baron. The American cashed for 589,000 Euros, or $901,170 at the time. After finishing 11th in the EPT San Remo tournament in 2008, Baron stormed to fourth place on the EPT’s biggest stage. He’s won major tournaments on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. He’s showed he’s capable of dominating in live and online play, making him a well-recognized name in the poker world.
If you glance a little further down the Grand Final results, you’ll see one of the most well-known names in all of poker, Joe Hachem. The winner of the 2005 WSOP Main Event, PokerStars pro Joe Hachem cashed in 11th place, good for 101,000 Euros. He outlasted Steve Dannenmann in the WSOP event for $7.5 million. Hachem was the only Australian to cash in the 2008 EPT Monte Carlo event. American poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, The Magician as he’s called in some circles, finished eighth, taking home 168,000 Euros. Esfandiari is a WSOP bracelet winner.
There were 11 events in the 2007-2008 EPT season. The tournament series started in Barcelona and ended in Monaco, with events in London, Baden, Dublin, Prague, Nassau (the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure), Dortmund, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and San Remo in between.