Looking Back at the 11 PokerNews Cup Champions
When the 2017 PokerNews Cup returns to the King’s Casino in Rozvadov on August 16, it will be the 12th edition of this long-running and exciting event. Eleven players from around the globe can lay claim to being PokerNews Cup champions. Can you remember them all?
Dory Zayneh: 2007 PokerNews Cup Australia champion
The inaugural PokerNews Cup took place at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia in late October 2007. Back then, the tournament commanded a A$3,000 buy-in yet it still attracted 428 entrants who created a prize pool of A$1,198,400.
It was the up and coming Dory Zayneh who emerged victorious, defeating Kenny Ng heads-up to get his hands on the A$300,000 first-place prize.
Darren Kramer: 2008 PokerNews South African Open champion
After the success of the PokerNews Cup Melbourne event in 2007, the tour headed to Johannesburg, South Africa in 2008. A small but tough field competed for a $140,575 top prize, which was eventually won by Darren Kramer after he sent Chris Convery home in second-place; Convery collected $95,826.
Erich Kollman: 2008 PokerNews Cup Austria champion
A field of 201 players bought into the 2008 PokerNews Cup Austria, which was the first-ever European edition of the cup. Austria’s Erich Kollman was the triumphant player, turning his €220 into a much more impressive €31,160.
Kollman has gone on to amass more than $1.73 million in live poker tournament winnings, enough for third place in the Austrian all-time money listings.
Nali Kaselias: 2008 PokerNews Cup Australia champion
The PokerNews Cup returned to its spiritual home of Melbourne in October 2008 and saw 410 players exchange A$2,200 for the chance to win a prestigious trophy.
Seasoned Australian pros such as Billy Argyros, David Saab, Grant Levy and David Gorr all made it into the money places, but it was Nali Kaselias who took down the tournament, his first recorded live cash, and collected A$250,000, which is still Kaselias’ largest cash to date.
Marcus Naalden: 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine champion
The Netherlands’ Marcus Naalden won one of the two PokerNews Cups held in 2009 with his taking place in the beautiful ski resort in Hinterglemm. A compact field of 129 players made its way to the Alpine Palace Card Casino and created a €172,054 prize pool.
Naalden played his way to victory at a final table housing eight different nationalities, showing the PokerNews Cup had truly gone global, and banked €46,474.
Con Tsapkounis: 2009 PokerNews Cup Australia champion
Con Tsapkounis won what would turn out to be the last PokerNews Cup for five years when he navigated his way through a 381-strong field to scoop A$250,000. It was a superb result for Tsapkounis especially as he beat Joe Cabret heads-up for the title. Cabret went on to be the runner-up in the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event for a life-changing A$1,000,000 cash haul.
Christian Krupp: 2014 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov champion
The PokerNews Cup returned with a bang when the King’s Casino in Rozvadov hosted the first PokerNews-run tournament for five years. A massive field of 1,230 entrants made 235 rebuys to smash the €200,000 guarantee by some €110,499.
Players from around Europe descended on the casino for the tournament but it was Christian Krupp of Freisem, Germany who claimed the lion’s share of the prize pool, namely €57,473. A superb return on a €250 investment.
Hanh Tran: 2014 PokerNews Cup Vienna champion
The Montesino Pokertainment Centre in Vienna played host to a 367-strong field in the second PokerNews Cup of 2014. Again, the €75,000 guarantee was smashed when a €90,675 prize pool was created.
Hanh Tran was crowned the tournament’s champion and banked €19,010 after a three-way deal involving Fabian Gritsch (€12,610) and Lubos Trembecki (€10,000).
Daniel Can: 2015 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov champion
The 2015 PokerNews Cup ended in bizarre fashion when the entire nine-handed final table struck a deal for the remains of the €200,000 prize pool.
Germany’s Daniel Can was credited with becoming the tournament’s champion and walked away with €17,105 with the other eight finalists securing payouts of between €9,814 and €16,822.
Timur Caglan: 2016 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov champion
Another fantastic turnout of 904 entrants, who made 200 rebuys between then, ensured the €200,000 guarantee of the 2016 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov was beaten by €35,980. This lead to a €44,695 first-place prize, which was claimed by Germany’s Timur Caglan.
Caglan is a regular at King’s Casino and it was here he won a WSOP Circuit ring in March 2017, an accolade that came with a €62,539 prize. Caglan is sure to be competing in the 2017 PokerNews Cup so watch out for him.
Ryan Van Sanford: 2016 PokerNews Cup Borgata champion
Ryan Van Sanford scooped the $68,676 first-place prize of the first-ever PokerNews Cup held in the United States. Van Sanford was joined by 119 opponents in the $2,150 buy-in event which was part of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.
Such luminaries as Jacob Bazeley, Aaron Massey, Christian Harder and Barry Hutter all showed a return on their investment, but none could match the prize awarded to Van Sanford.
Qualify for the 2017 PokerNews Cup at TonyBet Poker
TonyBet is hosting multiple satellites to give you a chance to win one of the 20 complete PokerNews Cup packages worth €600 that are being given away!
Each package prize includes:
- 1x €250 buy-in to the PokerNews Cup Main Event
- €110 paid into your TonyBet account for flight and spending money
- Six night accommodation at the King's Hotel
There are two ways to get your hands on one of these packages. First, you can partake in a daily €3 qualifier where if you finish in the top three, you have yourself a ticket for one of the main qualifiers. If you want to avoid that hassle, skip the line and play directly in one of the main qualifiers with the paltry sum of a €30 buy-in .
Here's the schedule:
| Date | Prizes | Buy-In | Add. Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 25 at 7pm GMT | 5 seats guaranteed | €30 buy-in | unl. re-buys/add-ons |
| July 2nd, 7pm GMT | 3 seats guaranteed | €30 buy-in | unl. re-buys/add-ons |
| July 16th, 7pm GMT | 4 seats guaranteed | €30 buy-in | unl. re-buys/add-ons |
| July 30th, 7pm GMT | 8 seats guaranteed | €30 buy-in | unl. re-buys/add-ons |
The PokerNews team will be in Rozvadov for the 2017 PokerNews Cup. The question is: will you be joining us?
