EPT Kyiv has really begun to take shape in the past couple of hours. Yes, there was that power cut, but there was also the arrival into the building of Gus Hansen, some notable eliminations — Dario Minieri, Leo Fernandez and Pierpaolo Fabretti — plus the announcement of the grand total number of players.
Today’s 167 add to yesterday’s 129 to make a field for the first EPT event in the CIS of 296. Russia is clearly the most heavily represented nation here, with 116 players making the journey from poker-boom-land across the border to the east. Ukraine is the next, with 33 players, ahead of Italy (28) and the United States (20). The full, and always fascinating, nationality breakdown is at the end of this post. (I still have fond memories of my holiday in Unknown.)
The bean counters will give us the prize breakdown as and when they know it, but there’s more than a million euros to be sliced among the top 27 (probably). Exactly how the pie is divided will be revealed very soon. (LIVE UPDATE! The prize structure is now available! Click through to the prizewinners page to find it in all its glory.)
In addition to those big names we noticed in the very early stages, several other notables have slithered their way in. There was Hansen, of course, who has now found a spot on the same table as Alexander Kostritsyn, permitting a fond exchange of tales winning the Aussie Millions, if they so desired.
There’s also a WPT champion in the house. Vadim Trincher took $730,000 for victory in Foxwoods in April.
And a whole host of EPT final table players. In this group, we find Ciprian Hrisca and Albert Iverson, who finished second and fourth respectively in Budapest last November. Also the young Frenchman Tristan Clemencon, who came third in Deauville, plus Dragan Galic, who led through four days of EPT San Remo and eventually finished fourth.
They also don’t come much better these days than Liya Gerasimova, who is second-best known as Ivan Demidov’s girlfriend. Her main claim to fame, however, is her own tournament record. She came fourth in the High Roller event at this year’s PCA, and also made a World Series Final table in the summer.
NATIONALITY BREAKDOWN FOR EPT KYIV
Russia – 116
Ukraine – 33
Italy – 28
USA – 20
France – 16
Germany – 15
UK – 9
Canada – 6
Holland – 5
Romania – 5
Estonia – 4
Belarus – 3
Denmark – 3
Sweden – 3
Austria – 2
Bulgaria – 2
Hungary – 2
Israel – 2
Kazakhstan – 2
Argentina – 1
Armenia – 1
Costa Rica – 1
Croatia – 1
Cyprus – 1
Czech Republic – 1
Ireland – 1
Japan – 1
Lithuania – 1
Moldova – 1
Monaco – 1
Norway – 1
Poland – 1
Unknown – 5
