Seat 8: Niels van Alphen, Westkapelle, Netherlands – PokerStars qualifier – 644,000
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21-year-old Dutchman Niels van Alphen earned the nickname "The Alpha Male" on his first European Poker Tour tournament here in Copenhagen by crushing from the get go. Not afraid to play big pots and make big bluffs, van Alphen made an impact in the tournament from level 1.
Van Alphen is still in college – in his second year of Aquatic Ecotechnology at Hogeschool Zeeland. He plays poker as a hobby but is very successful at it. He finished second in a WCOOP event in 2011 for $171,500 and has had several other big scores online lately under his nickname 'fisherman903'.
He played his first big live tournament back in Macau but failed to book any success there. He had his eyes on this EPT because he could combine it with studying and his other big hobby: soccer. He is a goalkeeper for local Zeeland team Noormannen 1. Van Alphen lives in Westkapelle and is supported here by his girlfriend.