February 10 2015, by Eric Danis

#GPIEPA: List of possible best events in the 2K< category could include...

Plenty of events deserve consideration for the GPI Event of the Year (Category: Buy-in up to $2,000) Award. In fact, my initial “short list” included a total of 17 events, which I have cut down to six for the purposes of this article. Nomination panel members can not go wrong with any selection they make as so many 2014 events are worthy of the Award.

Note: These are not official nominees for the category. Members of the Nomination Panel are currently casting their votes for the GPI European Poker Awards. This is simply a compiled list of players that may merit consideration when the Nomination Panel members make their selections.

In order to help the members on the nomination panel, here are a few events to keep in mind. Please note that these aren’t necessarily the “sure bet” candidates for the award. The purpose of the article is to take a look at a variety of 2014 qualifying events, hoping to help the nomination panel members in their selection process.

ESTRELLAS BARCELONA

Casino Barcelona, Spain | August 2014 | €1,100 buy-in | 2,560 players | €2,483,200 prize pool

I’ll admit that having a regional tour stop attached to a major EPT festival certainly helps build monster playing fields, but even if the Estrellas Poker Tour’s presentation of the ESPT Barcelona Main Event was part of the EPT Barcelona Festival, it’s impossible to not look at the huge 2,560-player field and not go wow! That’s right, over 2,500 players entered the event, producing a prize pool just a few Euro short of an impressive 2.5M.

2014 GPI National Argentina PoY runner-up Matias Ruzzi (GPI#225) would take down the tournament, earning €198,550 for his first career victory. He would go on to win a second time in 2014.

The event’s final table also included EPT London High Roller winner and former EPT Berlin runner-up Andrew Chen (GPI#23). Chen is set to represent Canada at the upcoming Global Poker Masters in Malta.

NORWEGIAN CHAMPIONSHIP OF POKER

Citywest Hotel, Dublin IRL | April 2014 | €800 buy-in | 1,263 players | €909,360 prize pool

Have tournament? Will travel! Get this: For years now, Norwegians have been forced to play their National Championship outside the country. Political power and national laws have pushed Norway’s poker players away from their country to play for national pride. This, however, looks to be changing, and that’s a good thing … but that didn’t stop well over 1,000 Norwegians to travel over 2,000 km’s to Dublin, Ireland to play the 2014 Norwegian Championship of Poker.

Several events – reserved exclusively for Norwegians – were presented at Dublin’s Citywest Hotel, including the annual Main Event where 1,263 Norwegians battled it out for the title. Vegard Nygaard (GPI#2354) would win the title and take home the €102,780 top prize.

Many of Norway’s top poker pros, including Johnny Lodden (GPI#248), Jan Sjavik (GPI#397), Yngve Steen (GPI#558), Henrik Tollefsen (GPI#817), Andreas Hoivold (GPI#2282) and the legendary Thor Hansen (GPI#3161) all participated in the 2014 Championship – congratulations to all who made the trek to Dublin!

POKERLISTINGS BATTLE OF MALTA

The Casino at Portomaso, Malta | November 2014 | €550 buy-in | 1,447 players | €701,795 prize pool

Once again, the PokerListings Battle of Malta drew incredible numbers as over 1,4000 players made their way to beautiful Portomaso for a week of poker and fun. Pieces of the €700K + prize pool was up for grabs, incredible value for a €550 buy-in tournament.

Five months after collecting his first win on the circuit, Bulgaria’s Antoan Katsarov (GPI#7900) would once again enter the winner’s circle, earning the €122,750 first prize for the Battle of Malta victory. Katsarov’s victories remain his only two scores on the circuit.

2010 Euro Finals of Poker Diamond event winner Hugo Lemaire (GPI#1921) final tabled the event.

UKIPT NOTTINGHAM

Dusk Till Dawn, Nottingham UK | May 2014 | £1,100 buy-in | 1,223 players | £1,223,000 prize pool

The Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham continues to host big field tournaments, and this past May’s UKIPT Nottingham tour stop was no exception. With a guaranteed £1,000,000 prize pool, over 1,200 players headed to the DTD in hopes of earning a piece of the prize pool, which crossed the $2M USD mark when all was said and done.

Duncan Mclellan (GPI#2491) would take down the UKIPT win, his second UKIPT title in a little over six months. Mclelland won UKIPT Isle of Man in October of 2013. His DTD winnings crossed the £200K mark.

Former GPI300 member Ryan Spittles (GPI#468) was one of the notables who made a deep run in the event, finishing in 5th position.

WINAMAX POKER OPEN DUBLIN

Regency Airport Hotel, Dublin IRL | September 2014 | €550 buy-in | 944 players | €485,569 prize pool

Based mostly in France, the Winamax tournament team made its yearly trek to Ireland to host Winamax Poker Open Dublin where just under 1,000 players paid the €550 entry fee in hopes of winning the Main Event.

This year’s title would stay on home soil as Tom Kitt (GPI#4085) would earn €75,000 for his first place finish, fending off a French-heavy field.

French pro Flavien Guenan (GPI#1454) finished in 16th position.

WPT NATIONAL BRUSSELS

Grand Casino Viage, Brussels BEL | March 2014 | €1,500 buy-in | 376 players | €492,372 prize pool

The World Poker Tour National circuit headed to Brussels last March where several big name pros battled it out at the Grand Casino Viage for WPT National Brussels supremacy.

Danish pro Lasse Frost (GPI#171) would survive the charge, earning his second career victory on the live tournament circuit.

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Gathy (GPI#1027), Miroslav Alilovic (GPI#189), a four-time winner on the circuit, WPT Champions Club member Jonathan Roy (GPI#316), former Irish Open winner Kevin Vandersmissen (GPI#1764) and 2011 EPT Barcelona final table participant Isabel Baltazar (GPI#1616) all earned Top 10 finishes in the event.

GPI EUROPEAN POKER AWARDS

The 2014 GPI European Poker Awards will take place on March 25th, 2015 at the Portomaso Marina Hilton Hotel in Malta.

Over 100 poker industry members have received their ballots and will cast their votes for all categories for the 14th GPI European Poker Awards. If you are a poker industry member and have not received your voting instructions via e-mail – or should you have any questions – please reach out to us at [email protected].

*Cover picture courtesy of UKIPT/PokerStars

 

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About the author

Eric Danis’ passion for poker came at a very early age but it’s when writing about and covering the game he loves that Danis is most in his element. Danis is better known for creating www.PTPRpoker.com where he spent a few years covering poker events. Danis is also known for having worked on the poker shows Poker Eh! and The Pulse on the Quad Jacks Network.