Seat 2: Steven ‘SvZff’ van Zadelhoff, 31, Netherlands (Malta resident) – 805,000
Dutch pro van Zadelhoff first gained headlines when he won the PokerStars Sunday Million in April 2007 for over $160,000. Originally from Holland, van Zadelhoff and his girlfriend moved to Malta at the beginning of 2010 to avoid Holland’s punitive taxes on poker winnings. The change has already reaped rich rewards. Van Zadelhoff said: “I stopped smoking two years ago and now I’ve lost 30 kg. I’m physically fit and also I have mental stability. I don’t have the IRS taxing half my winnings. It’s definitely helped my game. I feel free now. It’s been a very good half year.” Van Zadelhoff, who has already earned more than a million dollars in live tournaments and is currently 10th in the Netherlands All Time Money list, has min-cashed three times at EPTs but this is by far his best EPT result to date. He started Day 4 as a short stack but has steadily built up and now has 805,000.