Cologne sends winners to EPEC (English)
Two winners from Cologne were lucky enough to qualify for the Everest Poker European Cup (EPEC).
Pokerlust e.V., an association for poker players in Cologne, Germany, staged the thrilling second “Live Qualification Tournament” for the Everest Poker European Cup from the 17th to the 18th of April in the lovely city of Cologne. Everest Poker sponsored two tickets for the EPEC Grand Finale on the isle of Gran Canary, as well as splendid non-cash prizes. The free online poker school www.EverestPoker.net is sending all those, who have qualified to the Canary Islands for the final round of the Everest Poker European Cup from the 21st to the 24th of May 2010. The prize pool is set at 100,000 Euro. The venue for the Cup is going to be the splendid Casino Costa Meloneras.
After two members had already qualified for the German team in Stuttgart on the weekend of the 10th to 11th of April, it was now up to the players from Cologne, to secure their spot for Gran Canary. Despite railway chaos and the cloud of volcanic ash prior to the event, attendance at the free-roll tournament was very high, and as a result, a fabulous success. Over 300 enthusiastic poker fans faced the challenge at the Unimensa, the university cafeteria in Cologne. Once the participants had ended the first day of the tournament on Saturday evening, Everest Poker invited all of them to a Players‟ Party at La Croque in the Zülpicher Straße. The day‟s exciting events were discussed over “Kölsch” beer and cocktails, and even a poker table was set up for those, who wanted to keep on playing that night. Any „Bad-Beats‟ experienced during the day were simply grooved away on the dance floor which was filled to the brim in the vaulted-ceiling cellar. On Sunday the playing was back in full swing: the participants on the second day put everything they had on the table in order to achieve their goal of reaching the EPEC Grand Finale.
The last three players sitting at the Final Table were René Schwadtke, Michael Opfer and Jeffrey Salaris. Faced with a badly diminished stack of chips, shortly before the next blind raise René Schwadtke decided to take fate into his own hands – all or nothing. Though he had a weak hand, he went all-in before the flop. When chip leader Michael Opfer called, René banked all his hopes on a lucky board. As the saying goes, sometimes luck is just not enough: he said his farewells to the table amongst loud applause. The joy over their victory was literally written all over the winners‟ faces. Jeffrey Salaris and Michael Opfer are going to fly into the sunshine with Everest Poker for the EPEC Grand Finale and reside at one of the best hotels on Gran Canary, the Lopesan Baobab Resort. At the Whitsun holiday weekend spent in the adjoining Casino Costa Meloneras, events will show whether the two qualifiers have what it takes to represent the German team.
