The European Poker Tour’s (EPT) annual tournament in Germany kicked off Monday with the first of two starting flights at EPT Berlin. Day 1A saw 243 people lay out the €5,000 + €300 required to participate and less than half – 110 – survived to tomorrow’s Day 2. Topping the leader board well ahead of the rest of the pack are Vladimir Geshkenbein with 201,600 chips and Jens Weigel with 199,600.
This is the third year for EPT Berlin, which has proven to be one of the more popular events on the European Poker Tour. Last season, Canada’s Ben Wilinofsky bested 772 opponents to win €825,000, while the USA’s Kevin MacPhee won a cool million Euros the year before, outlasting 944 fellow poker players. It will take a well-populated Day 1B to hit either of those numbers this year, but the second of two starting days is usually the largest, so we’ll see what happens.
UPDATE: According to the PokerStars blog, about an hour before late registration closes, there are almost 500 players signed up for Day 1B. Thus, it looks like the size of last year’s field is well within reach.
Though this is just the third year that EPT Berlin has been on the schedule, the Tour has made a stop in Germany since 2007. From Season 3 through Season 5, the German stop was Dortmund rather than Berlin. In Seasons 3 and 4 it was dubbed the EPT German Open and in the following season the name was simplified to just EPT Dortmund.
Vladimir Geshkenbein, who goes by the screen name “beyne” online, has already achieved success on the live tournament circuit, even though he is only in his early 20’s. He exploded onto the scene in the summer of 2009 when he won the High Roller Event at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau stop, taking home $266,705. He then won the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam in October of that year for $120,000. His crowning achievement to date came last March, when he won the EPT Snowfest Main Event for $552,901.
Jens Weigel does not have resume that Geshkenbein does, though he did cash in this very event last year, earning $24,906 (€17,500) for a 30th place finish. He also made the money in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, finishing 373rd.
The survivors of Day 1B will combine with those from Day 1A into a single Day 2 field tomorrow. On Thursday, the plan is to play down to 24 players, then 8 on Friday, with the final table to be contested on Saturday, April 21st.
2012 European Poker Tour Berlin – End of Day 1A Chip Leaders
1. Vladimir Geshkenbein – 201,600
2. Jens Weigel – 199,600
3. Ariel Celestino – 153,300
4. Anton Wigg – 152,200
5. Azmi Korkmaz Germany – 143,300
6. Stephane Albertini – 142,500
7. David Yan – 139,000
8. Iliodoros Kamatakis – 138,800
9. Bozidar Miljkovic – 136,600
10. Scott Baumstein – 132,600