Congratulations to Ludovic Lacay, Winner of EPT9 Sanremo Main Event (€744,910)
One week ago, the European Poker Tour Sanremo, the second stop on the Season 9 schedule, kicked off with 797 players each putting up €5,300 to battle it out for poker supremacy. It was a long seven days of play, but at the end of it Ludovic Lacay captured the title, the €744,910 first-place prize, and a brand-new Shamballa Jewels bracelet.
On Thursday, the final eight players returned to the Casino Sanremo to play down to a winner. The stacks were fairly deep, so there was plenty of play to be had, and it took more than three and a half hours for the first elimination to occur. It happened when Jason Lavallee opened to 160,000 from early position and made a quick call when the Ismael Bojang three-bet all in for 1,500,000 from the next seat.
Showdown
Lavallee: 
Bojang: 
It was a flip, but Bojang needed to improve. Unfortunately for him, the board ran 
and the German was sent home in eighth place for €65,450. A couple of hours later, Adrian Piasecki joined him on the rail in seventh place when his 
failed to overcome the 
of Lacay when the board ran out 
.
The next to go was the sole American at the table, Micah Raskin, who opened from under the gun and called when Angelo Recchia three-bet him from the cut-off. The flop fell 
and Raskin check-raised Recchia's 250,000 continuation-bet up to 500,000. Recchia then three-bet to 875,000, Raskin called, and the 
turned. Raskin check-called a bet of 626,000, leaving himself just 330,000 behind, and the 
peeled off on the river. Raskin proceeded to check-call with 
full house, but it was no good as Recchia had rivered a bigger full house with . With that, Raskin took his leave in sixth place.
The Irishman Jason Tompkins was the next to go in fifth place after his couldn’t crack the 
of Artem Litvinov after the two got it all in preflop. A short time later, Lavalle opened to 250,000 from under the gun before Recchia moved all in for 3,495,000 from the button. Lacay was in the big blind and moved all in over the top. The action was back on Lavallee and he made a quick and disciplined fold with ace-king.
Showdown
Recchia: 
Lacay:
The board ran out 
and the hope of having a home-grown champion came to an end as the last Italian in the field exited in fourth place for €225,000. After Litvinov was bounced in third place, Lacay and Lavallee, the two biggest stacks at the start of the day, engaged in heads-up play with the former holding nearly a 2-1 chip lead.
It was at that point the two struck a deal—Lacay locked up €644,910 while Lavallee guaranteed himself €538,089, which meant they were playing for €100,000 on the side. Once the numbers were settled, Lacay used his chip advantage to capture the title rather quickly.
EPT9 Sanremo Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ludovic Lacay | France | €744,910* |
| 2nd | Jason Lavallee | Canada | €538,089* |
| 3rd | Artem Litvinov | Russia | €283,000 |
| 4th | Angelo Recchia | Italy | €225,000 |
| 5th | Jason Tompkins | Ireland | €171,000 |
| 6th | Micah Raskin | United States | €132,000 |
| 7th | Adrian Piasecki | Poland | €96,000 |
| 8th | Ismael Bojang | Germany | €65,450 |
*Indicates two-handed deal.
Congratulations to Ludovic Lacay on becoming an EPT Champion and adding his name to the prestigious list of EPT Sanremo winners!
Former EPT Sanremo Champions
| Season | Date | Buy-In | # of Players | Prize Pool | Winner | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | April 1-5, 2008 | €5,000 | 701 | €3,100,000 | Jason Mercier | €869,000 |
| 5 | April 18-23, 2009 | €5,300 | 1,178 | €5,713,300 | Constant Rijkenberg | €1,508,000 |
| 6 | April 15-21, 2010 | €5,300 | 1,240 | €6,014,000 | Liv Boeree | €1,250,000 |
| 7 | April 27-May 3, 2011 | €5,300 | 987 | €4,786,950 | Rupert Elder | €930,000 |
| 8 | October 21-27, 2011 | €4,900 | 837 | €3,734,694 | Andrey Pateychuk | €680,000 |
| 9 | October 5-11, 2012 | €5,300 | 797 | €3,865,450 | Ludovic Lacay | €800,000 |
That does it for our coverage from Sanremo. The next stop on the EPT9 schedule is Prague from December 9-15, 2012, so be sure to join us then for more great action on the European Poker Tour.