Tao of Poker

EPT Grand Finale: The Final Table

By Pauly

I will be live blogging the final table of the EPT Championships from the Salle des Etoiles at the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo. This is the third final table that I will be live blogging for Poker News.

Yes, I'm Dr. Pauly. You might remember me from such illustrious final tables as the Aussie Millions (won by Gus Hansen) and the LA Poker Classic (won by a luckbox who beat out JC Tran). And today's final table should be just as intense since it features some familiar faces. So stop by Poker News and check out the action to find out who wins 1.8 million Euros or roughly $2.4 million. That's one helluva a score for a 709 person tournament.

I've already logged 72 hours working at the casino thus far (since Wednesday), so let's hope it's a quick final table. The final table starts at 4pm local time or 10am for your East Coasters ot 7am if you live on the Left Coast. If they don't firewall Poker News at work, please check in for live updates.

Here's the final table:

EPT Grand Finale - The Final Table:
Gavin Griffin (USA) 2,597,000
Marc Karam (Canada) 1,742,000
Soren Kongsgaard (Denmark) 1,612,000
Josh Prager (USA) 1,593,000
Kristian Kjondal (Norway) 1,203,000
Steve Jelinek (UK) 758,000
Andy Black (Ireland) 683,000
Ram Vaswani (UK) 432,000

There are two Brits, two Yanks, two Scandis, and Irishman and a Canuck. Sounds like the start to a bad ethnic joke...

Andy Black walked into a bar...

Actually, Andy Black said one of the funniest things I heard in a very long time. He offered any of his fellow poker players 100 Euros if they could find him "a scruffy dog." No one has collected that win so far. If you have never been to Monte Carlo, the entire place is pristine, including all the dogs and the high priced hookers who wear shoes that cost more than your entire online bankroll

There's no trash anywhere in Monaco which is odd because their is no garbage cans anywhere either. I have never visited a more cleaner place. Even the busboys in the media room come through and sweep up the empty bottles and glasses. Doesn't matter if you are still drinking... if there is less than 40% of your beverage in a glass, they will clear it from your table in media row. I have had several beers snatched up by industrious bus boys, not to mention dozens of half-dranken bottles of Evian and Pelligrino.

I almost decked one busboy in particular when he snagged my 9 Euro beer.

"C'est ma biere, vous retardez!" I shouted.

Moving on...

I have a prop bet with Snoppy from Blonde Poker which we started yesterday when there were 6 Brits and 6 Yanks left in the mix. He's supporting his fellow countrymen while I got the Americans. I also made a bet with Stephen from Gutshot last night, but I had to give him odds since both Brits are at the back of the pack and Gavin Griffin is the chipleader.

Yes, I'm being patriotic with my prop betting. Even the Norwegian press wanted to get in on the action and would take any bets against their homeboy Kristian Kjondal.

I won my only prop bet that I made so far at the EPT Championships when I took down a last longer with Otis. He had Isabelle Mercier and I had Erica Schoenberg. That was a nice score. I tried to get Otis to eat wood last night at the buffet. It's a long story, but suffice to say, he wouldn't do it for less than 500 Euros.

Here are some photos:


Media Room is non-smoking


Carlos Mortensen and Chad Brown's table on Day 3


Hellmuth praying to the Poker Gods on Day 1
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By the way, if you read the Tao of Pauly, you have already seen this bit about some of my articles getting translated into multiple languages:


Pauly in Chinese

Pauly in German
Pauly in Polish
Pauly in Italian
Pauly in Finnish
Pauly in Greek
Pauly in Portuguese
Pauly in Japanese
Pauly in Chinese (Mandarin)
Pauly in Chinese (Cantonese)
Pauly in Hungarian
Pauly in French

Unreal. I always wanted to be read in Budapest.

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Don't forget to stop by PokerNews to follow the EPT Grand Finale Final Table action:

Live Blogging Updates (from yours truly)
Photos (from Filipe)
Videos and Player Interviews (from Shronk and Tiffany)

This is my last night in Monte Carlo. Let's hope it's a fun one.

* * * * * Semi-Live Updates * * * * *
6:15pm... I won two bets already from British media. Sweet Jesus! The Yanks won the last longer. I won 30 Euros from Snoppy (Blonde Poker) and Stephen (Gushot). I also have a bet with Benjamin, a member of the French press. He's got Marc Karam and I got the Norwegian kid. Benjamin is blogging over at Team 770.

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