The fifth European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP) has gotten off to an excellent start on Monday, with “thanasis1982” becoming its first tournament winner.
In its fifth year, the ECOOP has become the top tournament schedule on the iPoker Network, which is comprised of such rooms as Titan Poker, Celeb Poker, and Paddy Power Poker. This year’s tournament series, which started on Monday and lasts until December 6th, runs the gamut in a test of poker skills and boasts guaranteed prize pools that are sure to draw sizeable fields. If the remainder of the schedule goes as Event #1 did, ECOOP V should be one of the top online tournament schedules of 2009.
Event #1 was a $215 No Limit Hold’em tournament that attracted 1,241 players from across the European continent, Canada, and other hot poker spots outside of the United States. While it didn’t crack the $250,000 guarantee, 150 players were guaranteed to walk away with at least $275 for their efforts. Starting with 3,000 chips and 20-minute levels, however, it would also be an endurance test for those who took to the virtual felt.
After the elimination of “VeniVidiVici78” in 11th place, the final table players were guaranteed a payday of $3,500. As the time worked into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the players slowly dropped away until only “analika” and “thanasis1982” remained to battle for the championship. The final cards came when the tournament clock clicked to 9 hours and 17 minutes of play, when “thanasis1982” was able to vanquish “analika” to take the $52,500 first place prize. While disappointed that there wasn’t an ECOOP championship to go with the money, “analika” walked away with a consolation prize of $27,500.
This year’s schedule will be a total test of a player’s skills, as it features challenging events in many disciplines of poker. Texas Hold’em and Omaha dominate the schedule, but there are also tournaments in Stud, Omaha Hi/Lo, and rebuy formats on the schedule. The remainder of the 13-day schedule and the guaranteed money for each tournament lines up as follows:
November 24th: Seven Card Stud
$250+$18 buy-in
$50,000 guaranteed
November 25th: No Limit Hold’em Turbo
$100+$9 buy-in
$200,000 guaranteed
November 26th: No Limit Hold’em
$750+$50 buy-in
$350,000 guaranteed
November 27th: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
$100+$9 buy-in
$100,000 guaranteed
November 28th: Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$1,000+$60 buy-in
$150,000 guaranteed
November 29th: No Limit Hold’em
$500+$35 buy-in
$500,000 guaranteed
November 30th: No Limit Hold’em
$2,500+$100 buy-in
$500,000 guaranteed
December 1st: Pot Limit Omaha R&A
$100+$9 buy-in
$150,000 guaranteed
December 2nd: No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$300+$20 buy-in
$300,000 guaranteed
December 3rd: Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$200+$15 buy-in
$100,000 guaranteed
December 4th: No Limit Hold’em R&A
$100+$9 buy-in
$300,000 guaranteed
December 5th: Pot Limit Omaha
$400+$30 buy-in
$100,000 guaranteed
December 6th: ECOOP V Main Event
$1,500+$80 buy-in
$1.5 million guaranteed
All totaled, over the 14 tournaments that the ECOOP V features, there are guaranteed prize pools that total over $4.5 million.
