GPI First Look: EPT Vienna Festival

After a long layoff, the European Poker Tour begins the busy season as the Monte Carlo Grand Final looms:

A RETURN TO VIENNA

The European Poker Tour announced that the Berlin tour stop was being moved to Vienna in November, meaning the EPT would be making a return to the Austrian capital for the first time since the very first season.

Back in Season 7, Michael Eiler (GPI#3161) got the best of Martin Hruby (GPI#14124) of the Czech Republic heads-up to earn the first and only six-figure score of his poker career.

Daniel Negreanu, currently ranked #1 in the World on the Global Poker Index, would make his final table debut on the European Poker Tour that year, finishing fourth. Kid Poker would match his best ever EPT finish last year in Monte Carlo, earning a 4th place finish at the EPT Grand Final.

Kid Poker will not be in attendance in Vienna choosing to rest until the EPT Grand Final Festival starting in late April.

BIG NAMES LURKING

Negreanu’s decision to not play Vienna, or any other event in fact, until the EPT Grand Final could in turn open the door to a few big name pros behind him in the standings to grab the lead.

Ole Schemion (GPI#2), who was the last player to lead the GPI300 prior to Kid Poker’s return to #1, is expected to play EPT Vienna and is Negreanu’s most serious threat. Schemion enters Vienna trailing Negreanu by just a few hundred points, points he could make up quickly should he go deep in any of the feature events. You will recall that Schemion took the GPI Player of the Year title from Negreanu in one of the final events of the season at EPT Prague this past December.

The current leader in the 2014 GPI Player of the Year Race, Mike McDonald (GPI#6), is also expected to make the trip to Vienna, playing in his first tournament series since the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls. McDonald has been on fire to start the 2014 poker season following successes at the 2014 PCA and at the Aussie Millions.

SEASON 7 CHAMPION

›› MICHAEL EILER  

GPI# ›› 3161  |  PoY# ›› NR
GPI Score ›› 396.71

Career ›› Wins: 2  | Cashes: 19  |   Top 10: 11
Earnings ›› 2014: $0  |  Career: $1,090,673

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