When you make it into the final table of a Grand Final poker event, you know you are going to be in the running for a big prize. The money is always going to be important and you should never believe those that say it isn’t. Of course, the money can go to different things. For some poker players, the poker cash helps them to play in tournaments and to balance out the cost of leading a double life! For other poker players, it is the love and pursuit of cash that helps players to keep going. No matter the reason though, the money when added to the allure of finishing strongly and defeating other poker players is always going to be a spur for some.
If you like to follow the successes of UK poker players, you will be delighted to know that Jake Cody managed to get into the final table, which meant he was guaranteed some big cash. The lowest ranked player at the final table still managed to walk away with €103,000, which is certainly not a bad return for a few day of poker player. Finishing 8th in a tournament may not be the stuff that dreams are made of but when it brings a take-home amount of more than 100,000 euros, it should be enough to keep players happy.
UK poker is still in the hunt for big prizes
Thankfully, Jake Cody was not in 8th place, he managed to finish in fifth place, which is obviously a whole lot better. If you are the sort of person that likes to look on the glass half empty side of life, there were four players that finished higher than Jake but sometimes in life you have to take what you have been given. The vast majority of poker players in the world would be hugely delighted with a 5th placed finish at an EPT Grand Final and hopefully Jake is feeling rather fine today!
You would hope that the prize money of €251,000 will be enough to ensure that he has a smile on his face. This is a big step up from the 8th placed player so even battling on to get beyond that extra player or two can make a massive difference to the amount of cash that is taken away. Of course, while Jake will be delighted with the amount of money he bagged in Monte Carlo, how do you think Steve O’Dwyer is feeling?
Steve came out on top and he managed to bag himself €1,224,000 which is certainly a prize that would make you feel rather pleased with yourself! This is a huge amount of cash but this is what the top poker players are playing for. Winning a Grand Final at the EPT is going to be something that Dwyer will look back on happily for the rest of his life but picking up over a million euros is also going to be a very pleasant moment in his life!
When you have over 530 poker players involved with a major event, you know that you are dealing with a special tournament. This is definitely the case with the EPT Grand Final Man Event! The fact that there was a €10,600 buy-in for the event was not the sort of thing that was going to put players off. With the final day of the Main Event Grand Final set for Sunday, there is surely going to be a lot of exciting poker action left. Just one look at the names left in the event will let you know that there is a lot of drama about to unfold at the final table. Given that the players will be battling out for a top prize of €1,224,000 the action may just be beginning.
This is the amount held by chip leader Steve O’Dwyer, who will definitely consider himself in with a good chance on the final day. However, anything can happen. The fact that the final eight players have such a huge pedigree means that there may be one or two shocks and turnarounds to come. Between the final eight players, just under $40m has been picked up in live tournaments. This goes some way to showing the calibre and experience of players at the final table.
The first day of a poker Main Event can go either way. Sometimes you will find that it is a hugely popular and a highly populated event with plenty of people looking to get involved. After all, if you are able to book your seat for the main days of a Main Event as quickly as possible, you can’t blame people for looking to get involved early on.
There are already 18 players booked through to Day 2 on Saturday and you won’t hear any of these players complaining or worrying about the turnout. Taking the lead in any poker event is a big challenge and regardless of the size of the event, Craig McDowell can take great heart from his performance. He grabbed an early lead and held his position to be the chip leader at the end of the night. McDowell is a familiar face in the poker community in the North East of England and there will be a few folk tipping him to go far in the Main Event. With a guaranteed prize of £50,000 on offer, he will be hoping he does rather well too!
In the latest blow to troubled online poker site Lock Poker, Chris Moorman has announced that he is quitting his role as an Elite Pro for the site. This has come about after he decided not to renew his contract with the site. Moorman first signed up for Lock Poker back in July 2011 and he has been a key player for the site in recent times. Given his high profile, he has worn the Lock Poker brand with pride at plenty of live poker events, helping to bring a lot of attention and focus to the site.
It seems as though Moorman also suffered with the financial difficulties that Lock Poker were facing with respect to the benefits he was supposed to receive in his role. It is perfectly understandable that he is keen to look after himself properly and while the demise of Lock Poker is unfortunate, poker players should not feel as though they should put themselves at risk just to help the company out. This is as true for 
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At one point, Ivey had run up losses of £500,000 but he managed to battle back and then set off on an extremely fortunate run. The fact that Ivey has such a huge bankroll at his disposal allowed him to play his way out of trouble in a way that very 
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