Master Classics of Poker Set for Amsterdam

Last year the prestigious tournament was won by Dutchman David Boyaciyan who came out on top in the 294 strong field in his own country and fans of online poker will have been impressed.

The buy-in was set at €5,250 in 2011 which attracted a worldwide field with some of the finest players from America the top stars of Europe in hunt of the €382,200 top prize. Those included Athansios Polychronopoulos, Kevin Stammen, Joe Ebanks and David Peters who were amongst the favourites but could only finish 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

Boyaciyan went into the heads-up stage of the poker tournament with Jussi Nevanlinna from Finland. The man from the Netherlands was in second place at this stage but managed to claw back the deficit before eliminating Nevanlinna.

Boyaciyan's victory made up for the second place finish in the European Poker Tour event in Prague in 2010 where he finished behind Martin Finger of Germany. Boyaciyan went into heads-up with Finger with a 2.5:1 deficit; he did at one stage get close to even terms but never passed his opponent at the crucial stage of the tournament.

Their battle lasted over three hours before the decisive hand arrived. Finger went all-in with AK while Boyaciyan was happy to call with pockets 10s. It was the German though, who surged in front in the hand when two Kings arrived in the flop to give him three-of-a-kind and his hand held.

Did You Know?

A bill that would regulate online poker in the island state of Hawaii is now considered dead, according to Poker News Report. Hawaii is one of two states in the U.S., along with Utah, that does not have any form of legalized gambling.