EPT San Remo ends recent downswing in attendance

EPT

Season 9 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) has fallen victim to the same trials and tribulations as the rest of the poker world, with dwindling attendance numbers in the new post-Black Friday poker world. And even though the Season 9 EPT San Remo Main Event had a drop in attendance year-over-year, the fall was barely perceptible, a good sign after the poker world suffered through a cataclysmic World Series of Poker Europe tournament series in Cannes, where attendance was down across the board.

A total of 797 players registered for the San Remo Main Event, historically one of the best-attended and most prestigious events on the EPT tour, a decrease of 40 players from last year when 837 players registered. The attendance numbers are still a far cry from the heyday of the EPT considering as recently as Season 7 there were 987 entrants, and during the Season 6 stop a whopping 1,240 players registered for the EPT San Remo Main Event.

Day 1a saw a field of relatively unknown players surge to the top of the leader-board, but on Day 1b the names at the top were among the biggest in poker including Sam Trickett (who is the overall chip-leader heading into Day 2) and Justin Bonomo.

Here is a look at the leaders after the two Day 1 flights:

Day 1a chip-leaders:

1. Erion Islamay — 162,300
2. Michael Ferrell — 146,600
3. Matt Salsberg — 135,200
4. Alberto Musini — 125,000
5. Inge Forsmo — 123,700
6. Mustapha Kanit — 120,600
7. David Vamplew — 119,300
8. Brandon Barnes — 115,100
9. Ondrej Majercik — 113,200
10. David Peters — 111,400

Day 1b chip-leaders:

1. Sam Trickett — 178,000
2. Alexander Roumeliotis — 166,100
3. Justin Bonomo — 152,200
4. Stefano Giarrusso — 148,900
5. Chris Brammer — 147,700
6. Shkoyan Tolik — 146,700
7. Mads Smith Hansen — 143,000
8. Artem Litvinov — 140,900
9. Kyle Julius — 138,600
10. Sam Grafton — 136,000

A total of 320 players registered on Day 1a in San Remo, while Day 1b attracted a field of 477 players. When Day 2 gets underway on Sunday there will be over 350 players still competing for the €800,000 first place prize-money from a total prize pool that nearly reached €4 million.

Here is a look at the complete final table payouts for the EPT San Remo Main Event:

• 1^st place: €800,000
• 2^nd place: €483,000
• 3^rd place: €283,000
• 4^th place: €225,000
• 5^th place: €171,000
• 6^th place: €132,000
• 7^th place: €96,000
• 8^th place: €65,450