Thursday, 28th March 2024 10:09
Home / Uncategorized / EPT12 Barcelona: Trendspotting, from Kanit’s shirt to Fedor Holz

The beginning of a new season on the European Poker Tour gives us a chance to figure out that our old friends have been getting up to over the past few months–most particularly in the wardrobe department. Things can change quickly. Who can forget, for instance, that summer when Ole Schemion went from this:

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to this:

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Trends in poker table apparel come and go, as they do in all walks of life, but the first event of the new season can give an indication of what might end up taking hold.

It is my solemn duty, on the first day proper of the new EPT season, to report that this could be the season of gaud. Although in the main the same guys we normally see at these events are dressed in the way they normally do, there is clearly growth among pedlars of the garish.

Specimen 1: Mustapha Kanit

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A Wacaday throwback: Mustapha Kanit
 

Of all the players in the room, Kanit perhaps has the best reason for amending his appearance since this time last year. Kanit has always had an ebullient personality, and a mean game, but he pushed on in both respects over the past 12 months.

He finished ninth in this tournament last time out, earning €105,455, and wrapped up his EPT season with victory in the one-day €50,000 event in Monaco, earning €936,500. But shortly after that, he became the latest champion of the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) at PokerStars where, playing as “lasagnaammm”, he picked up $1,304,720.

He had already won a SCOOP bracelet in 2014 and the FTOPS main event, so this wasn’t exactly unexpected. But, I can tell you, the new shirt definitely was.

Specimen 2: Charlie Carrel

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Charlie Carrel: Vivid in Monaco
 

We are big fans of Charlie Carrel at PokerStars Blog. (Today’s article about him comes from the pen of Nick Wright.) But let’s not beat around the bush: his clothing choices are not to everyone’s taste. However, having won the €25,000 High Roller event in Monaco in tie-dye — his biggest live score of €1,114,000 — he seems unlikely to change anytime soon.

Specimen 3: Paul Newey

The British finance genius turned poker player has been rocking the floral shirt for a good few years. He too picked up his biggest EPT cash last season — €557,090 for second in the Prague Super High Roller — and he is in characteristic garb this time around. Newey was reading the Business section of The Daily Telegraph during the early levels of play today, so he is keeping his eye on some kind of investments. The wise money might be in the company that manufactures Hawaiian shirts.

Other trends round-up: After making its debut on the EPT last season, Philipp Gruissem’s moustache has endured. It’s more than just a one-stop wonder (like, say, Schemion’s balloon) and he should be swashbuckling, Douglas Fairbanks-style, through the remainder of the year at least.

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Another year at least with the Philipp Gruissem lip-decoration
 

It seems madness to think it, but the first time Fedor Holz really appeared on our radar was in Barcelona last year. I distinctly remember asking a colleague in this very room, “Who is that?” and adding that I felt I should know him; he seemed familiar.

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Fedor Holz: Here to stay
 

But Holz had never been on the EPT before that point, even if he went on to become an absolute fixture. He made two final tables, winning one event, in Barcelona; made the final table of both the Super High Roller and the High Roller in Monaco; made a deep run in the World Series Main Event and made another championship event final table; and, let’s not forget, won the WCOOP main event.

Holz, one hopes and suspects, will remain on the European Poker Tour far longer than the fashion for the garish shirts. And I’d also take CrownUpGuy in a last-longer with Gruissem’s moustache.

Post-script: There is also a fashion here in Barcelona for shorts. The casino have, for only the second time, allowed players to wear the popular half-leg garment that I believe has been popular for some time in the world’s warmer regions. I was going to write about it. But nobody wants to see pictures like this, do they…

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Yes, this combo belongs to a Super High Roller
 

Start your journey to EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS. All the EPT Barcelona bumf is on the main EPT Barcelona page, while blow-by-blow Super High Roller coverage is on the Super High Roller page.

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