Euro City PokerTour - Salzburg

Day 1, April 2, 2009

Be sure to order your ECPT Salzburg 2009 pictures!

Most of the players arrived at the Salzburg airport, where several minibuses were waiting for them as they drove to one of the most beautiful 5 star hotels, the Alpine Palace. It is surrounded by the amazing snowy Austrian Alps.

At 9PM, the long-awaited Welcome Party began, with delicious food, open bar, relaxing music and a model photo session with photographer Erwin Gabriel from the world famous Fashion TV (photos and details about the TV program to follow) for entertainment.

It wasn’t long until the first hands were dealt – a Super Satellite to the main Event, where 33 players took part and Titan Poker players, Aleksandar Ivanescu and Bogdan Ionescu from Romania, successfully qualified through. Sit ’N’ Go and cash tables were also open to players until 4am.

It’s been a long journey to get here, the first day is over, most of the players are sitting in the corner of the lobby near the cute chimney, looking tired, but happy, since tomorrow the real poker event will begin...

Day 2, April 3

As we get closer to lunch time, players are beginning to gather in the hotel lobby. Everyone can feel the poker player excitement in the atmosphere just before a big tournament.

As the 129 competitors (including 65 Titan poker players) from all over the world (20+ countries) are ready to start, the last few pairs of sunglasses cover the concentrating (bluffing?) eyes, and with a good luck to everyone, ECPT Salzburg 09 gets under way. Within an hour the first player is eliminated. The guests surrounding the tables can only watch and hope that whoever they’re supporting doesn’t follow suit.

Close to lunch time, the first players begin to gather in the lobby of the Hotel. There’s an air of expectation and excitement amongst players, and something indescribable which is almost unique to this environment. The tension can almost be cut with a knife.

So… let’s take a deep breath, say good luck to everyone and let’s get this show going!

Guests surround the tables, their glances are at their husbands and friends full of support and hope.

Everyone takes a break at 20:00 for dinner. There is a huge amount of amazing dishes to choose from – it’s so difficult to decide!

After dinner the remaining players continue their games. At almost 1:00 AM, the first day of the Main Event is over. There are 31 players left, 12 of whom are from Titan Poker.

Frederic Levy, from France - a veteran Titan Poker live tournament player - looks like nothing can break his concentration.

A glass of tasty Austrian bier before bed is well deserved as is a refreshing walk on the calming slopes of the Alps. Tomorrow we will know the names of the strongest and most fortunate players of the second European City Poker Tour. Those too excited to sleep can be found scattered around the hotel grounds, some alone, some with their loved ones, some shuffling cards, others shuffling chips, ALL consciously dreaming of becoming the next ECPT champion.

Titan Poker Team member Jerome Bessout is enjoying a well-deserved break outside in the Alps.

Titan Poker Team members (from left to right) Maurizio Vuturo, Eugen Gout, Maria Cabaleiro, Kirill Magnusov, and Didier Janin share a laugh.

Day 3, April 4

The third day of the ECPT poker tour has officially begun. The weather outside is fantastic -warm, sunny and snowy! There is live piano music in the lobby, which helps to keep the stress down. Because…

Today there will only be 9 players left for the final table, out of 31 currently. Who will have the most luck, extra patience, and better strategy?

The names of the fortunate players will be known at the end of the day. After lunch, players will continue with the Main Event at 3:00 PM.

For the players who have unfortunately been eliminated from the Main Event, ECPoker Tour is certainly not finished! The first side event, sponsored by Poker Strategy, begins at 17:00. With 75 players signed up, the poker tension is going to be no less than the Main Event tables.

Before the dinner break at 20:00, there are 10 players remaining in the Main Event. So everyone is now entitled to take a well deserved break. Everyone is being treated to a “five-star” dinner to get the strength for the last jump today.

Around 22:00 the names of the 9 players are announced for the Final Table tomorrow:

1. Zinth Christine from Germany with 127,000 chips

2. Linderson Carl from Sweden with 100,300 chips

3. Zocchetti Ludo from France with 79,100 chips

4. Chen Jacob from Australia with 88,800 chips

5. Mircea Spirnu from Romania with 95,900 chips

6. Manole Mihai from Romania with 371,900 chips

7. Schmidt Andreas ( Titan Poker player) from Germany with 293,200 chips

8. Landa Jose Antonio from Spain with 103,000 chips

9. Frederic Levy ( Titan Poker player) with 31,000 chips

Currently the side event continues with a prize pool of 10,913 Euros, but...

At half past two in the morning, we finally know the name of the Poker Strategy side event winner – Titan Poker player Christian Schulz from Germany.

It was a long day, but the Main Event continues. Who is going to be the winner of ECPoker Tour Salzburg 2009? We will know tomorrow evening. Just a little bit of patience, ladies and gentlemen...

Day 4, April 5

And here we are - the final day. Today a champion will be crowned the winner of the ECPokerTour 2009. The 9 finalists take their seats at 4pm. You can feel the stress and excitement, but these are the best moments of poker.

Everyone has gathered in the lobby to and will be watching the final table as it is projected on a big screen to allow everyone to witness the action first-hand. After photos are taken of the top 9 players, and everyone is seated. This is it - no turning back now...

The battle to the end continues after dinner. After everyone takes a break, we can now see there are only 2 players left – Andreas Schmidt - Titan poker player from Germany, and Jacob Chen hailing from Australia.

The critical hour is here at 9pm. Andreas and Jacob are facing each other directly - poker faces have never been so strong. One and a half hours later, we have our winner: Jacob Chen is our champion with a prize of 47,302 Euros Congratulations! His short, but well said first words: “I am breathless!”

2nd place - Anderas Schmidt – 30, 480 Euros

3rd place - Jose Antonio Landa - 20, 140 Euros

4th place - Mihai Manole – 16.640 Euros

5th place - Christine Zinth – 13,140 Euros

6th place - Mircea Spirnu - 10, 520 Euros

7th place - Ludovic Zocchetti - 8, 240 Euros

8th place - Carl Linderson – 6,480 Euros

9th place - Frederic Levy – 4,900 Euros

We want to congratulate all of the players who took part in the ECPokerTour Salzburg 2009!

We hope to see everyone again at the next EuroCity Poker Tour event.

Be sure to order your ECPT Salzburg 2009 pictures!

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