Richard Zikakis turns 27 Euro into 9,000 to make EPT London

Whilst out in India on work assignment, it has to be said that there was not a great deal to be seen, certainly in the part that i was visiting. I did still however have my laptop, a connection and the pokerstars client - enough to keep me entertained.

Cashing in some of my player points on Pokerstars i received a 27 Euro tournament token for their steps tournaments. They have a good structure and have rounds A through to G. Buying in at stage C, top 2 progress. Playing my stage C some 2 weeks ago, i then placed top 2 in D, E and F, leaving just step G to play, a 2,100 Euro entry qualifier for the EPT events.

Perhaps it would have been nice to wait for a tournament on foreign soil, however i played the qualifier last night, again having to place in the top 2 to win a seat.

The tournament did not start well for me having squandered a third of my chips in quick time, thanks to a pair of 10's being undone by trip 6's. I battled back doubling up twice to take the chip lead. It was nice to see the only pro at the table busting out first. I then sat tight picking up cheap pots and staying out of trouble. Before long and down to 3 players, i had just over 11,000 chips with the other two roughly the same and a smidgen over 9K. I was fully expecting to have a tight battle with the blinds now high enough to have players pushing all in on a fairly regular basis.

It was then made very easy for me - one player raised with his A9, the other re-raised with his A10, which was followed by an all in and a call, beautiful - A10 held up and i won my EPT London 9K package, for what started as a 27 Euro tournament token. Can't get better than that in terms of value for money. 

If you are looking to qualify for any of the EPT events, Pokerstars is a good choice, not only for their steps tournament. Visit our Pokerstars review for a bit more background on the worlds largest poker room and find out how you too can get involved in the action.