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The PokerStars European Poker Tour saw eight players proceed to the final table after outlasting almost 1,200 other players. It looked as though the chip leader since day 1, Dragan Galic, would walk away with the win but it was Constant Rijkenberg who would hold on and take the first place win.

When final table play began Dragan Galic held the chip lead as he had since day 1 play. No other player has held the chip lead for that many days in the history of the EPT. Galic had a lead of a little over 400,000, while Rijenkberg was fourth in chips.

The first player to be eliminated from the final table was Danilo D’Ettoris. D’Ettoris went all in with A-Q to be called by Rijkenberg who held pocket fours. The board gave Rijkenberg two pair and the hand which knocked D’Ettoris out in eighth place.

Alexander Fitzgerald would be the next player to go all in after drawing A-K. William Reynolds would call with pocket Jacks and his pair would hold up and earn him the hand. Fitzgerald had little chips left and would go out in the next hand after being taken out by Dragan Galic.

Ovidiu Balaj would go out in sixth while Dragan Galic would be next in fifth place. Dragan had held the chip lead for some time but after going up against Rijkenberg, Dragan would lose his chips and be out of the competition. William Reynolds and Gustav Sundell would go out in fourth and third place which would leave Rijkenberg and Kalle Niemi to compete in heads up play.

It would not be long before Poker Stars Rijkenberg would claim the EPT San Remo win. On the last hand both were all in with Rijkenberg holding pocket aces against Niemi’s A-10. Needing a ten on the river, Niemi would be knocked out in second place after a four fell on the river.

Final Results:

1 - Constant Rijkenberg, Holland, €1,508,000
2 - Kalle Niemi, Finland, €862,000
3 - Gustav Sundell, Sweden, €480,000
4 - William Reynolds, United States €377,000
5 - Dragan Galic, Croatia, €314,000
6 - Ovi Balaj, Romania, €229,000
7 - Alex Fitzgerald, USA, €171,000
8 - Danilo D’Ettoris, Italy, €114,000

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The fifth season of the European Poker Tour (EPT), which is sponsored by PokerStars, is coming to a close with the Grand Final taking place at the end of the month. PokerStars recently announced that they will be holding the first ever charitable tournament during the EPT Grand Final. The charity tournament will begin just before the Grand Final takes place.

The Grand Final will take place in Monte Carlo and before players compete in that tournament they will have the chance to play for a great cause. PokerStars will be working with Ante Up for Africa to help raise funds for the charity.

Ante Up for Africa is a foundation which was started by actor Don Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke. Ante Up for Africa has held several fundraising poker events in the United States and they have raised a good deal of funds to help the people who live in the war-torn nation of Darfur in Africa. Darfur has been struggling for some time and the people are suffering from poverty, starvation and ethnic cleansing.

The charity tournament will begin on April 27th, which is one day before the Grand Final. The charity tournament will have a buy-in of €4,000 and will be a No Limit Texas hold’em event. All proceeds raised from the tournament will go to Ante Up for Africa.

Several poker pros as well as celebrities are expected to participate in the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament. Vanessa Rousso, Joe Hachem and Daniel Negreanu, all of Team PokerStars com, will be competing in the event.

The winner of the charity event will not win cash but instead a special prize donated by PokerStars. The online poker room is offering the winner a prize package to the EPT in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure which will take place in 2010.

Event #19 of the Spring Championship of Online Poker has concluded and one hundred and ninety players entered the $5,200 Pot Limit Omaha event. The total prize pool came just short of the $1 million guarantee while caused a small overlay. David “WhooooKidd” Baker managed to outlast the field and take the first place win of $215,000.

A few notable players cashed out but did not make the final table. David “RugDoctor” Williams finished in fifteenth place earning $15,000 while Daniel “steamraise” Alaei finished in thirteenth place earning $15,000. Ivan Demidov, of PokerStars.ru almost made the final table as well but missed it finishing in twelfth place and earning $17,500.

When final table play began Baker was in the chip lead by just a few thousand chips and he managed to maintain his lead. Baker maintained his lead so well that when it came to heads up play against capriole, Baker held a chip lead of over 500,000 chips.

Baker had knocked out six players by the time heads up play began and capriole would be no different. On the final hand Baker would force capriole to go all in with pocket sixes and a pair of sixes on the board but Baker held pocket queens and two queens were on the board so he took the hand and the win.

Final Results:

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1. David “WhooooKidd” Baker — $215,000
2. caprioli — $155,000
3. BobbyFi — $117,500
4. Altrum Altus — $87,500
5. Thomas “Viking79″ Wahlroos — $60,000
6. Brian “aba20″ Townsend — $50,000
7. Eric “p3achy_keen” Liu — $40,000
8. Chad “lilholdem954″ Batista — $30,000
9. Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi — $20,000

Event #2 of the Spring Championship of Online Poker kicked off at PokerStars at 4:30 EST with players competing in pot limit Omaha eight or better tournaments. Players were able to compete in three levels of play that ranged from a low buy-in of $11 to a high buy-in of $1,050.

7,622 players competed in the $11 buy-in event which built the prize pool up to $76,220. The guarantee was only $25,000 so the prize pool was increased to offer the first place winner almost $10,000. Online player, thehoffa, came to the final table in the chip lead and managed to hold on to the lead and take the win.

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Results for Low Tier:

1. thehoffa - $9,900

2. -$eG mAsTeR- - $8,500

3. leonardop4 - $5,487.85

4. bstockton68 - $3,811.01

5. tmxzt829 - $3,048.81

6. mois64 - $2,286.61

7. Henry XIV - $1,524.41

8. Dr.Niebaum - $762.21

9. Afferrare - $518.30

The middle tier of the tournament had a buy-in of $109 and drew 2,104 players. The guaranteed prize pool of $50,000 grew to an amazing $210,400 so the first place winner won just over $33,000. Sdouble won the event after taking eighth place in Event #1 so in just two days Sdouble has won over $56,000.

Results for Middle Tier:

1. Sdouble - $33,664

2. EDWARDHOPPER - $25,248

3. SmileGodLuvs - $18,325.84

4. tmt326 - $12,624

5. madddddddddd - $9,468

6. JP OSU - $7,364

7. Rockytherock - $5,260

8. SharpNut $3,576.80

9. dreadpirateA $1,893.60

The largest tier of Event #2 had a buy-in of $1,050 and saw 327 players competing for the $327,000 prize pool. The guaranteed prize pool was only $200,000 so players managed to build the prize pool with an additional $127,000. Game play lasted for over thirteen hours before finsfan7 was able to beat tatta in heads up play.

Results of Largest Tier:

1. finsfan7 - $61,686.62

2. tatta - $54,234.88

3. Slavik_Krs - $36,951

4. bleu329 - $27,795

5. OmahaEd - $18,966

6. Benjaphon - $14,715

7. DenYoungGun - $11,445

8. Kcannon - $8,175

9. caprioli - $6,213

The best online poker rooms are constantly adding new players to their Team rosters. The top online sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars.com manage to snag the best of the best when it comes to additions to their Teams. PokerStars recently snatched up two of the newest and hottest poker players on the circuit: Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov.

Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov are two of the newest names in poker that are quickly making a name for themselves in the poker industry. Peter Eastgate became the youngest player ever to win the World Series of Poker Main Event at just twenty two years of age. Eastgate earned nine million dollars for that win and since then has played and done well in various major tournaments.

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Ivan Demidov is a strong player as well and showed his poker skills when he reached the final table at the World Series Main Event and the WSOP Main Event, a feat which has never been done before. Demidov has also done well in major tournaments in and around Europe.

Both players had represented PokerStars on a limited basis, wearing the logo at certain events and playing online. But now both have officially become PokerStars Pros, official members of Team PokerStars. Both young men will join the ranks of the long list of poker pros that play at PokerStars and represent the website at live events around the world.