GPI Year in Review: EPT Victory for Visser, Rocco Rocks Venice in March

European pros Ruben Visser and Rocco Palumbo were amongst the big winners on the live tournament circuit in March …

LONDON CALLING ALL UKIPT/EPT PLAYERS

The EPT London Festival was on the move for EPT Season 9. The festival, which would be presented in March exclusively during Season 9, would attract some of the biggest names in the game. The Main Event title would go to Dutch pro Ruben Visser. Visser would defeat a final table that included all-stars Theo Jorgensen, Stephen O’Dwyer and Chris Moorman. Norwegian superstar Annette Obrestad would also kick her career back in gear with a deep run in the London Main Event.

Side event winners would include Sergio Aido, Jeffrey Rossiter, Nicolas Chouity, Lauri Pesonen, John Eames, Griffin Benger, Matthias De Meulder and Ognjen Sekularac.

PALUMBO, HELLMUTH IN VENICE, VOLPE IN SAN JOSE

Italian pro Rocco Palumbo would pickup the victory at the WPT Venice Grand Prix surviving the charge from, amongst others, WPT Commentator Mike Sexton, Martin Staszko, Ludovic Lacay and Kara Scott. Matt Salsberg would continue his WPT run-good with a seventh place finish, increasing his lead atop the WPT Player of the Year standings.

The event, however, was overshadowed by an entrance of “grand” proportions by the Poker Brat, Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth entered the hallowed halls of Casino di Venezia. Hellmuth’s “Eyes Wide Shut” entrance certainly had the poker world talking!

Meanwhile, in North America, the WPT continued its California trek by presenting the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose. The event has to be the most unique on the live tournament circuit with hundreds of fans railing the players from early on Day 1 all the way through to the final table. The best fans in poker can certainly be found in the Bay area.

Paul Volpe continued his WPT hot streak, once again reaching the final table. After a runner-up finish at the LAPC, Volpe would finish third at Bay 101. Local player WeiKai Chang would eventually win the event while Erik Seidel and Joe Kuether were also part of the WPT final table.

Amir Lehavot, who would move on to qualify for the WSOP November Nine and “The Takeover” Nick Schulman were also big winners at Bay 101, winning the 2K and the High Roller events respectively.

MARCH IN A FLASH

Over 1M USD were on the line at the Chicago Poker Classic where US poker pro Blake Bohn would win the Main Event, collecting over 280K USD for the victory.

Black Hawk, Colorado was the scene for another million dollar event. The Heartland Poker Tour was in town as Teresa Hemingway took down the 225K USD first prize … HPT Iowa was won by Mathew Hennig while Michael Harris picked up the title at HPT Indiana.

Pablo Tavitian earned the huge win at the LAPT Colombia National Poker Championship … Aaron Lim won APPT Seoul … Justin Schwartz took down the Foxwoods Poker Classic … Stephen Bokor was the big winner at the Battle at the Beach while Dan Shak won the partypoker Premier League VI in presented in London.

NEGREANU’S RISE TO GPI#1:

Daniel Negreanu would continue the downward spiral in March, dropping another 10 positions to #51 overall by month’s end. March would be the last time that Negreanu end the month outside of the Top 40 in 2013.

Marvin Rettenmaier would end February atop the GPI300 for the fifth straight week. Mad Marvin was showing no signs of falling from the top of the GPI. Rettenmaier would cash in two events during the EPT London Festival to help continue his dominance.

SCHEMION’S ROAD TO GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Ole Schemion’s March would prove to be one of the his worst in 2013. Beginning the month ranked #4 on the GPI Player of the Year Leaderboard, Schemion would end March ranked #12.

Although March wasn’t a very good month for Schemion, April and May would prove to be BIG months for the German star … stay tuned!

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GPI YEAR IN REVIEW:

January ››  PCA, Aussie Millions Kickoff January
February ››  Welcome to February, Where Fantasy Met Reality
March ››  EPT Victory for Visser, Rocco Rocks Venice in March
April ››  Kid Poker Hits the Ground Running in April
May ››  Mercier Shines in Monte Carlo in May
June ›› WSOP Dominates June Headlines
July ››  Elezra, Harwood, Alaei Win, November Nine Set in July
August ›› Hinkle, Sivler Win Big in Florida, Rybin, Cristos Win WPTs in August
September ›› Big October Wins for Middleton, Zinno, Marvin Moves to #1
October ›› Negreanu Makes His Move as October Offers Tons of Action
November ›› Four Win on WPT, Mizzi Wins Premier League in November
December ›› Smith, Pair of Julians Win, Schemion Steals PoY

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