GPI First Look: EPT Sanremo Festival

It’s almost EPT Grand Final time! But before we make our way to Monte Carlo, we stop in beautiful Sanremo, Italy for the penultimate event on the European Poker Tour…

LACAY RETURNS

French star Ludovic Lacay (GPI#143) returns to the place where he last won a major event on the live tournament circuit. Lacay would end up defeating Canadian Jason Lavallee (GPI#419) heads-up to become EPT Champion back in October of 2012, as the event was presented much earlier on the Season 9 schedule than it is this year.

Lacay isn’t the only big name to have won their first EPT event in Sanremo. EPT Sanremo was first presented in Season 4 – where Jason Mercier (GPI#5) become an instant star picking up the EPT Trophy in dramatic fashion.

A few year later, fellow Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (GPI#221) would win big, earning the EPT Sanremo title. Rupert Elder (GPI#793) and Andrey Pateychuk (GPI#191) have also been able to collect EPT trophies in Sanremo.

PLENTY ON THE LINE

Sanremo events will go a long way into determining just who will be a contender for EPT Player of the Year heading into the Grand Final later this month in Monte Carlo.

For the moment, German star – and #1 ranked player in the World – Ole Schemion (GPI#1) carries a solid lead over Vanessa Selbst (GPI#3) heading into Sanremo. But there are plenty of other big names lurking, including Alex Bilokur, Jeffrey Rossiter, Mike McDonald, Adrian Mateos Diaz and 2014 revelation Dominik Panka.

There is still plenty of time for others further down on the list to play their way into contention prior to the EPT heading to the French Riviera. One thing is for sure, the festival watch is on, Sanremo!

DEFENDING CHAMPION

›› LUDOVIC LACAY  

Born ›› Cornebarrieu, FRA
Resides ›› London, UK
Team ›› Winamax
Twitter ›› @Cutsybaby

GPI# ›› 143  |  PoY# ›› –
GPI Score ›› 1,967.01

Career ›› Wins: 2  | Cashes: 33  |   Top 10: 10
Earnings ›› 2014: $-  |  Career: $3,213,542

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