We’re in a good stretch right now in the European Poker Tour (EPT). March and April are the only consecutive months during Season 8 that both feature two tour stops, so there is pretty action to be had this spring. A couple weeks ago, Frederik Jensen grabbed his first ever major title at EPT Madrid; this week it’s EPT Campione, held at the Casino di Campione. Monday saw 178 players belly up to the tables for Day 1A of the €5,000 + €300 Main Event, with 107 still holding chips and qualifying for Wednesday’s Day 2.
Campione d’Italia probably the most interesting location on the European Poker Tour. While it is an Italian “comune,” or municipality, it is not actually located in Italy. Rather, it is situated entirely within the borders of Switzerland, Italy’s neighbor to the north. Campione is sandwiched between Lake Lugano to the west and mountains to the east; while it is less than a kilometer away from the rest of Italy, the presence of those mountains makes it feel further, as a lengthy drive is required to get to the nearest Italian town. And despite the fact that this tournament’s currency is the Euro, the official currency is the Swiss franc.
As for the EPT event at hand, Italy’s Davide Andreoni ended Day 1A as the chip leader with 175,100, just 6,000 more than Nick Yunis, owner of the next largest chip stack. Andreoni has just one live tournament cash to his name, a modest €2,300 score in June 2009. Yunis, on the other hand, has a number of strong finishes, particularly in recent months. In January, he finished 9th in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max event at the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and this month’s EPT Madrid, was runner-up in the €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max event. In his live tournament career, Nick Yunis has earned $346,324.
This is the first time the European Poker Tour has made a stop in Campione d’Italia, but not the first time the country of Italy has served as host to the EPT. San Remo has been on the tour since Season 4 and has proven to be one of its most popular stops. Unless something beyond the realm of comprehension happens, EPT Campione will not come close to the size of EPT San Remo. This year’s EPT San Remo attracted a field of 837 and past years have seen fields of well over 1,000. The smallest EPT San Remo was the first, which was 701 runners strong.
EPT Campione will pick up Tuesday at 2:00pm local time as a new flight of Day 1 players gives it a go.
European Poker Tour Campione – End of Day 1A Chip Leaders
1. Davide Andreoni – 175,100
2. Nick Yunis – 169,200
3. Grigorij Orlov – 154,200
4. Primoz Adamie – 138,400
5. Claudio Leonardo Pagano – 130,700
6. Panagiotis Gavriulidis – 125,700
7. Jose Severino – 121,200
8. Jean Philippe Peyratoux – 119,800
9. Ivan Skobolov – 114,700
10. Dario Nittolo – 107,600
