Dario Minieri(credit: Poker Stars Blog)
The EPT’s first foray in Italy has proved a thorough success so far. A total of 700 players took to the felt in two day ones. 337 of these played on Day 1a including Patrik Antonius, Katja Thater, Julian Thew and Olympic gold medalist Alberto Tomba. Each of these players didn’t survive the first day of play. Italian players Luca Pagano and Dario Minieri outlasted the competition on Day 1a as did the lovely Liz Lieu and British superstar Roland de Wolfe.
Day 1b featured 361 hopefuls including Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Rousso’s beau, Chad Brown and native Italian – and hubby to Jennifer Harman – Marco Traniello. Traniello, Brown and Mercier hit the rails much earlier than expected. Mercier was dealt a bad beat with her pocket cowboys. Her opponent caught a lucky queen-high straight on with a Q,10 in the hole – and a generous board.
The Italian Pirate, Max Pescatori, made it to Day 2 as did Todd Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Rob Hollink and Juha Helppi.
Day Two began with 207 players. By the end of the bloodbath, only 32 remained. Todd Brunson, Liz Lieu, Daniel Negreanu and Max Pescatori were amongst the casualties. The top 72, however, earned some cash. At the end of the day, Jason Mercier – no relation to Isabelle we believe – was atop the chip heap with 684,000. Italian pro Dario Minieri was representing for the locals. He held the third spot with his 595k in chips.
The EPT San Remo championship will be decided on Saturday. We’ll have a final update for you soon.
There’s still time to qualify for the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Head on over to PokerStars.com now to learn how you can get there!
Watch Dario Minieri in action at the 2006 EPT Baden Event: