Ensan

I watched a fair among of the Pokerstars.tv live stream of the EPT 11 Barcelona main event over the past few days, and if the fact that a guy old enough to play (and win) the inaugural EPT Seniors side event made it to 3rd place in the main event less than a week later wasn’t enough to make Hossein Ensan my current poker bro-crush, his aplomb and the self-possessed way he played the last stages of the table—not to mention his seemingly absolute comfort during the two negotiating sessions where the top three players worked out a deal on the money—would do it.

Prior to his â‚¬652,667 win ($860,091) in the main event and the other $7K he won in two side events at Barcelona, Ensan (or Hossein, as I call him) had less than $22,000 in recorded tournament earnings on Hendon Mob, all in the past 18 months. That’s very cool. I hope to meet him in Prague.

Speaking of cool, in addition to all the big events I mentioned were coming up at Final Table over the next few weeks, I just found out they’re planning a $500 buy-in tournament for October 18 that will have a $10,000 guaranteed first prize! More money for Prague!