The excitement was palpable in Monte Carlo as the event every European poker player had been waiting for, the European Poker Tour Grand Championship, had finally arrived.

935 players arrived in Monte Carlo to take their stab at being crowned EPT Champion, not to mention to get a shot at a prize pool in excess of twelve million dollars.

EPT 2009 in Retrospect: The Grand Final

Appropriately, the final table of eight featured a wide variety of nationalities, from Dag Martin Mikkelsen of Norway, to Matthew Woodward from the U.S., to Daniel Zink and Alem Shah of Germany, to Pieter DeKorver of Holland and Eric Qu of France, to Mikhail Tulchinsky of Russia and Peter Traply of Hungary.

A Hotly Contested Battle in Monte Carlo

Traply's dreams of EPT glory were quickly dashed when Mikkelsen called him with pocket queens. Traply tabled AK and a classic race was on. The board came ten high and Traply was forced to depart. Mikkelsen wasn't done, as he went on to eliminate the German Zink.

This time Mikkelsen had the AK but Zink could only reveal a dominated AJ. A king flopped, making the jack on the turn meaningless.

After the break, Germany's hopes for the title ended when Alem Shah moved in with AT and ran into Tulchinsky's AK. The cards ran true once more and Shah was done. This time it was Tulchinksy's turn to keep the eliminations going as he and Eric Qu got it all in with Qu's KQ dominated by AQ.

A king on the turn gave Qu hope, but the poker gods giveth and taketh away, and an ace on the river ended his day.

Pieter DeKorver Turns it Around

Pieter DeKorver was going up and down all day, and when Matt Woodward doubled through him with KJ against pocket nines when he made a straight on the river, DeKorver was on life support. DeKorver was unfazed, however, as he proceeded to double through Mikkelsen four times to get back in the game.

A fifth all-in between Mikkelsen and DeKorver spelled the end of Mikkelsen's day, as his K7 was run down by DeKorver's Q9 when a 9 and a Q hit the board. Tulchinsky departed next, and it was down to the American Woodward and DeKorver for the championship.

On a board of T 6 5 all hearts, Woodward bet and DeKorver moved in. Woodward calls with a 6 and the four of hearts, and DeKorver turned over 9 6 of spades. A black queen and seven completed the board, and DeKorver's 9 kicker played and made him the Grand EPT Champion.