EPT Season 2 (2005-2006)
Recap of the 2nd European Poker Tour Season
The 2005 Barcelona Open began Season 2 of the European Poker Tour. A total of 327 players paid the steep €4,000 buy-in, up €3,000 from the previous year. They gathered at Casino Barcelona to compete. The Scandinavians dominated the final table, with second through sixth place going to players from Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Christer Johansson, Patric Martensson, Anton Bergstrom, Patrik Antonius, and Gus Hansen took these spots. Frenchman Jan Boubli won the intense competition, taking the €416,000 first place prize. Additionally, Dario Alioto set a new record, becoming the first Italian to score final tables in both the European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.
World Masters at Grosvenor Casino
During the Grosvenor World Masters, the second stop on Season 2 of the European Poker Tour, professional backgammon player Mark Teltscher impressed the crowd. He won the £280,000 first prize at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. This was Teltscher’s largest win at that point. He would later win over twice that amount in the 2007 Barcelona Open. However, Teltscher’s career faced controversy due to unsavory practices during the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker. He won the tournament but was ultimately disqualified.
High Stakes in Baden, Austria
The third stop for the 2005 EPT was Baden, Austria. Patrik Antonius overcame his previous loss in Barcelona and won €288,180, about one and a half times his previous third place finish. The three-day Poker EM/EPT Baden Classic, held in Casinos Austria in early October, had only 180 buy-ins. Yet, the Scandinavian-dominated final table provided fierce competition.
Exciting Play at Irish Winter Festival
Later in the month, the EPT found its way to The Irish Winter Festival of Poker 2005 in Dublin. The Brits and the Irish dominated the action, although first and second place went to Swedes Mats Gavatin and Henrik Olander, respectively. The Dublin event drew almost as many people as the opener in Barcelona. This allowed for a first place prize over €300,000, only the second time in EPT Season 2. The Merrion Casino Club hosted the event on the last weekend in October, which would be the last event for 2005.
Scandinavian Open in Copenhagen
After a holiday break, the European Poker Tour resumed with a four-day event in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the EPT Scandinavian Open. Once again, the final table was dominated by Scandinavians, with intrusions from American Markus Gonsalves and Dutchman Marc Naalden. Former backgammon pro Mads Andersen outlasted the competition, winning the last hand with a pair of queens against Edgar Skjervold’s pair of tens. Andersen left Casino Copenhagen on January 22, 2006, with the first place prize, the equivalent of over $413,000.
High Turnout at EPT French Open
The sixth event of the 2006 EPT, the EPT French Open in Deauville, France, saw the greatest turnout of the second season. The four-day event had 434 buy-ins, more than double some of the other stops on the tour. This led to the second-largest prize list that year, behind the main event. On February 11, Mats Iremark of Sweden won the €480,000 first place prize. He bested the strategic talents of Russian Kirill Gerasimov, Ram Vaswani of the Hendon Mob, and Canada’s Isabelle Mercier. This was Iremark’s first major win and remains the largest win of his career.
EPT Grand Finale in Monte Carlo
Season 2 of the EPT concluded at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with the European Poker Tour Grand Final. The competition was fierce, with the final table featuring some of poker’s best-known talents, including Rocky Ross Boatman of the Hendon Mob and Marcel Lüske. Lüske, a well-established poker player and coach, had predicted the winner of the EPT Grand Final the year before. Canadian Marc Karam eliminated Lüske from the final table with an incredibly lucky hand, prompting Lüske to pretend to vomit in response. After this, Karam quit his regular job to become a full-time professional poker player. Karam finished in fourth place, while Jeff Williams, a 19-year-old American unknown, won the €900,000 prize, proving that poker is truly anyone’s game.
Conclusion
Season 2 of the European Poker Tour showcased the growth and increasing competitiveness of the series. With higher buy-ins, new records, and diverse winners, this season cemented the EPT’s reputation as a premier poker tour. The addition of new locations and the rise of both seasoned and new players contributed to a thrilling and memorable season.