Last Friday saw the last eight of the EPT London set and ready for the final, as Howard Swains reported...

Let's start at the end.

The final table of this week's EPT London will feature the following eight players chasing this trophy.

Florian Langmann - Germany - 927,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 780,000 (PokerStars player)
Marcel Baran - Germany - 583,000 (PokerStars player)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 477,000 (PokerStars player)
Anthony Lellouche - France - 466,000
Paul Mendes - England - 282,000
Ian Cox - England - 234,000
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 190,000 (PokerStars player)

How we got here is a long, long story that began at 1pm today. At that point there were 40 players, headed by Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Anthony Lellouche. As you can see, only the Frenchman Lellouche survived unscathed on a day where the poker "names" had it rough.

Erik Friberg, who had previously sat around a World Series main event final table, came back today with just 7,000 chips and shoved them in on his second hand. He went out. And then we raced towards the bubble, losing Carlo Citrone, another well-known professional in 33rd place, the last not to get paid.

In the money, we found some genuine world class players: former EPT champions Pascal Perrault and Roland de Wolfe; WPT champion Sunar, and a certain Team PokerStars pro named Moneymaker.

But none of them would make it to the end. De Wolfe hit a couple of miracle flops to stay alive early in the day, but went out in 19th. Perrault was edged out in tenth, just an inch, or metric centimetre, from the final table.

And as for Moneymaker? Well, he'd played some of the best cards of his career to go deep here: he was the star that everyone was trying to dethrone. He dodged some bullets and shot plenty of his own, but he couldn't stop Florian Langmann's flush draw getting there, and he'll have to wait to add an EPT win to his WSOP bracelet.

Let's hear it, then, for the PokerStars players - all in one way or another following in Moneymaker's footsteps. There was Katja Svendsen, who had bossed and bullied her way through the field for three days, only coming unstuck when a well-timed squeeze-play, with 5-4, was miraculously called by Joseph Mouawad's 7-8. She came 27th.

That was one place higher than Martyn Reeve, of Wales, and five below Vijayan Nagarawan, who is going back to Malaysia with £12,230. Peter Petersen takes the same back to Denmark.

And we also bade farewell to Phidias Georgiou, from Cyprus, who had entertained railbirds and struck fear into players all the way to 11th place, good for £28,537.

But that's not all. That's by no means all.

Of the eight men reconvening for that final table tomorrow, four of them are PokerStars players.

Leading them is Joseph Mouawad, who knocked out Katja. He continued to eliminate player after player, until he'd got up to 780,000.

Marcel Baran, from Germany, also hacked and slayed his way through the field. He'll be back with 583,000.

And Josh Egan's long flight from New Zealand was clearly worth the trouble. He'll be returning tomorrow with 477,000 and the prospect of a huge win.

The final PokerStars player is also still in with a great shout. Fredrik Haugen, of Sweden has 190,000 and is in the unique position of being the only Nordic player on an EPT final table. I'm sure that's a first.

Seat 1: Ian Cox, 45, UK – 234,000
Of all the final table players, Ian Cox, a poker pro and sports bettor from Poole, Dorset, has the most experience beneath the studio lights. His first live poker came after the 2005 Poker Million and he’s played in three later TV tournaments. Cox spent 11 years terrorizing fixed odds bookmakers with his knowledge of golf betting, before moving to the exchanges. He took up poker while waiting for market moves. Three final tables from 11 live events in 2006 and six from 14 this year attest to the skills of a natural.

Seat 2: Florian Langmann, 24, Germany – 927,000


Florian Langmann

Florian, the reigning German champion, carries the chip lead to the final table of the EPT and is enjoying the best year of his fledgling poker career. A professional player taking a break from studies in Dresden, he made two final tables in this year's Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas and cashed in EPT Dortmund last year. Originally from Verden in Germany, Florian usually plays high-limit SNGs.

Seat 3: Anthony Lellouche, 27, France – 466,000


Antony Lellouche

Parisian Antony Lellouche mainly plays live poker in high stakes cash games around the world. He is both respected and well-liked by his peers and mentors, including the “godfathers” of French poker Claude Cohen and Jan Boubli. Antony turned pro nine years ago, honing his skills at the smallest limit games at the Aviation Club. Fearless and intuitive, Antony has already made two WSOP final tables and come close in two EPT Grand Finals – 12th in 2005 and 21st in 2007. Today gives him his biggest tournament payout to date.

Seat 4: Fredrik Haugen, 19, Sweden, PokerStars player - 190,000


Fredrik Haugen

Fredrik, from Gothernburg, is already a highly experienced poker player. With EPT final tables often dominated by Swedes, Fredrik is – unusually - the last Swedish survivor at EPT London and, being the short stack, his task is hardest. One thing in his favour is his girlfriend Elvedina who made the journey with him, providing moral support from the rail. She admitted to being “very nervous” but Fredrik looks far more relaxed. His previous biggest win was 32nd place at EPT Dortmund last year.

Seat 5: Josh Egan, 23, New Zealand, PokerStars player - 477,000


Josh Egan

Student Josh has had a "massive roller-coaster" at the London EPT. Down to 3,000 in chips on Day 1, three great hands (fives, sixes and kings) turned it around for the 23-year-old from Auckland. He also previously played in the 2006 World Series where he came 602nd for $20,000. His strategy for today is suss out the table – and avoid chip leader Florian Langmann.

Seat 6: Marcel Baran, 28, Germany, PokerStars player – 583,000
Marcel, from Aschaffenburg in Germany, has been pro for two years after quitting his job as a web developer. The decision has paid off as he’s now on the verge of his biggest cash yet. Marcel took up poker after coming home late one night and catching TV highlights of EPT Season 1. He is now set to improve on his previous best - 11th (€25,870) in EPT Dublin. “I’m not nervous. I’m only nervous when I’m all in. In a hand, I’ve no time to be nervous!”

Seat 7: Paul Mendes, 44, UK - 282,000


Paul Mendes

Londoner Paul has been a striking figure at EPT London thanks to his distinctive Stetson– a gift from Vegas. He said: “I wear it for special occasions – and this is certainly one of those.” Today’s final table place is by far Paul’s biggest result to date. His previous biggest win was £1,200 after coming 8th in a tournament in Edinburgh a couple of years ago. The 44-year-old screenplay writer took up poker when he was working in a petrol station. He was invited to a game by some regulars, won the game and hasn’t looked back since.

Seat 8: Joseph Mouawad, Lebanon, PokerStars player - 780,000


Joseph Mouawad

It was nearly over before it began for Joseph Mouawad. He planned to come here with friends but when they cancelled, he nearly did too. Thankfully he changed his mind and is now second in chips. “My friends are following the action from home instead. They’re very excited.” Married with three children, the real estate developer from Beirut began playing poker nearly 15 years ago. He took up Hold’em two years ago when it became popular in his local casino. Today will be his best result yet. “I’ll be nervous for the first 15 minutes - but then I’ll get going.”


Back row L to R: Antony Lellouche, Florian Langmann, Fredrik Haugen, Ian Cox
Front row L to R: Josh Egan, Marcel Baran, Paul Mendes, Joseph Mouawad

All pictures (c) Neil Stoddart