EPT Dortmund Crowns First Champion

Filed in archive Tournament News on March 15, 2007

The European Poker Tour (EPT) event from Casino Hohensyberg has concluded its first German event from Dortmund. Its 493 participants made for the biggest EPT event, with each fronting 5,000 Euros for the shot at a 672,000 Euro first prize.

With eight players making up the final table (versus the usual six players for a World Poker Tour event) it left a little more to play for under the lights of the main stage. Andreas Hoivold managed to hold the final chips as he raised the EPT briefcase holding the winner's loot. The EPT is already on the move to the Polish Open which I'll recap as the reports come in.

Here's Simon Young once again from PokerStars Blog with a recap of the final table:

A record-breaking EPT field of 493, one of the biggest prize pools in Europe, one of the nicest guys to take a title. Andreas Hoivold has lifted the EPT German Open trophy here in Dortmund, Germany, collecting a massive €672,000 - but, boy, did he have to work for it.

The Norwegian, 35, clawed his way through a gruelling seven-hour final table using his undoubted talent and cheeky sense of humour to win many new friends, as well as the cash. The victory is his second big result in recent months, after his third-place finish in the Poker Million in London in December, where he secured $250,000. His decision to turn pro just seven months ago now looks inspired. This victory makes him the second Norwegian to lift an EPT title this season, after Erik-Bjorn Glenne's stunning success in Barcelona.

Eight players sat down at the final table here at the Casino Hohensyburg, just outside Dortmund. The building nestles atop a hill and in the middle of woodland, providing a relaxing and picturesque setting for the players that swarmed here from all over Europe and beyond. Some even came as far from the US, Australia and Japan. Most, however, were from Germany (126), desperate to take the title on home ground.

Of the eight today, just one remained from Germany - PokerStars qualifier Sebastian Ruthenberg from Hamburg. He was down, then up, and then out in third.