I had the opportunity to visit Dortmund for the latest leg of Europe’s richest poker tour which was on last week. Dortmund, probably most famous for its beer, has a history of 100 years of coal and steel mining and the atmosphere of the city reflected this. Casino Hohensyburg, the location of the tournament, is surrounded by a moat and  long winding views of a countryside - obviously to prevent players from escaping easily from the establishment! 

I travelled with my brother who was playing the main event. He got drawn on Day1b and a tough table including the well known professional player Daniel Negreanu. He played great poker for 6 hours of day 1 and got very unlucky when he called an all in with his AK. The opponent held AQ and another player advised he folded AQ but there was still an ugly Q on the river to dent his stack and he went out on the last level of the day in a hand against Negreanu.

Negreanu was well placed going in to Day 2 as were fellow professional players Annete Obrestad, Marcel Luske and Thor Hansen but all fell by the wayside and an 18 year old up and coming Canadian in Mike McDonald outlasted the 411 entrants to win €933,600 and become part of the exclusive club of EPT winners!

There is hope for us all!