Third in chips coming into the day with 744,000 is 2009 World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Keven Stammen. Stammen has a long list of results that include four live wins and nearly $1.5 million in earnings.
This High Roller cash isn't the only success Stammen has found recently. Right at the end of last month, he took 34th in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €21,250. Just a week later, Stammen won the €2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo side event here in Sanremo for €92,900.
When Stammen won his bracelet in 2009, he conquered the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for over $500,000. Also during his career, he made the final table of the World Poker Tour World Poker Finals in 2010 (5th — $128,650) and the 2011 Master Classics of Poker Main Event (5th — €89,670).
We just talked about Philipp Gruissem, and now we're onto Igor Kurganov, who is good friends with Gruissem and has shared a few final tables with him.
Back in October 2011, Kurganov took second place to Gruissem in the EPT London £20,000 High Roller for £318,300. Prior to that, he finished runner-up to Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in the 2011 EPT Grand Final High Roller for €123,000. It was a year later, though, that Kurganov scored the largest live win of his career, and one that earned him the first seven-figure payday of his life.
At the 2012 EPT Grand Final High Roller, Kurganov emerged victorious for a whopping €1.08 million. He defeated an elite field that included a final table of Daniel Negreanu, Gruissem, Justin Bonomo, Artem Litvinov, Noah Schwartz and Team PokerStars Pro Max Lykov.
In total, Kurganov has over $2.5 million in live tournament winnings. He'll enter the day sixth in chips out of the final seven with 318,000.
Philipp Gruissem needs little introduction when it comes to High Roller tournaments on the European Poker Tour. In fact, the EPT should really think about renaming all High Roller events to the "Philipp Gruissem Classic" because all he does is crush these things.
He's currently having his best year on the felt with over $1.7 million in live tournament earnings when you factor in this cash. To highlight, Gruissem took 10th in the 2012 Macau $258,000 High Stakes Challenge for $587,778, third in the World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous à Paris for €170,065 and fourth in the World Series of Poker Europe €50,000 Majestic High Roller for €275,000.
To give you an idea of how well Gruissem has performed in these EPT High Roller events over the years, here are some results:
April 2011: EPT Berlin High Roller — 3rd place for €67,000
August 2011: EPT Barcelona High Roller — 1st place for €234,500
October 2011: EPT London High Roller — 1st place for £450,200
October 2011: EPT Sanremo High Roller — 4th place for €68,201
December 2011: EPT Prague High Roller — 3rd place for €68,600
April 2012: EPT Grand Final High Roller — 3rd place for €366,000
Today, Gruissem will enter Day 3 fourth in chips with 460,000 in his stack. He'll be looking for his third EPT High Roller title, and all eyes will be fixed on him.
Today marks the third and final day of the 2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo €10,000 High Roller. Just seven players remain, and all are vying for the €288,000 top prize, along with the magnificent Shamballa Jewels bracelet valued at €5,000.
Leading the way is Joel Nordkvist with 1.205 million in chips. That's nearly 400,000 chips more than Benny Spindler's second-place stack of 844,000. Keven Stammen, Philipp Gruissem, Joseph Cheong, Igor Kurganov and Kent Roed round out the rest of the crew, and you can see their seating assignments and stacks below.
EPT Sanremo High Roller Final Table
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Kent Roed
317,000
2
Benny Spindler
844,000
3
Joseph Cheong
392,000
4
Joel Nordkvist
1,205,000
5
Keven Stammen
744,000
6
Igor Kurganov
318,000
7
Philipp Gruissem
460,000
Everyone left is guaranteed at least €32,900, but there is plenty to play. Gruissem will not only be playing to win the most money, but he's also in line to win his third EPT High Roller title. Kurganov and Spindler are looking for their second.
PLay kicks off at 2:00 PM local time, so stay tuned right here to PokerNews for all the live coverage coming to you shortly.
