The Main Event of the Master Classics of Poker Kicks Off at 2 PM

Shirley Ang

Alberto Stegeman Master Classics of Poker 2018 Main Event winner

At 2 p.m. local time, the first day of the €4,300 Main Event here at the renowned Master Classics of Poker is set to start with Day 1a at the dazzling Holland Casino Amsterdam. The 2019 edition features two starting flights compared to the three it used to offer in previous years. Day 1a will be the flight that features 60-minute levels while Day 1b will be the turbo starting day with 20-minute levels. Due to the change in the setup, Day 1a is expected to be a busy one for the casino in the Dutch capital.

The defending champion is Alberto Stegeman who turned his €4,300 buy-in into €240,183 after defeating a 293-strong players field. In 2017 it was Claas Segebrecht who was victorious in the Netherlands when he overcame 284 other players. The Master Classics of Poker boasts a rich history, the first-ever Main Event took place in 1992 and featured seven-card stud as the game to play. The first-ever winner was Eng Angh from the Netherlands who won HFL18,600 (Dutch Guilders) which would now equal around €8,370. Belinda Blokker was the first and only woman to have ever won the Main Event in Amsterdam.

Here is an overview of the previous winners:

Year	Winner	Country	Entries	Buy-in	1st Place
2018	Alberto Stegeman	Netherlands	293	€4,300	€240,183
2017	Claas Segebrecht	Germany	285	€4,300	€235,087
2016	Abdelhakim Zoufri	Netherlands	356	€4,250	€275,608
2015	Jussi Nevanlinna	Finland	291	€4,250	€300,000
2014	Ruben Visser	Netherlands	298	€4,250	€225,000*
2013	Noah Boeken	Netherlands	298	€4,250	€306,821
2012	Ole Schemion	Germany	212	€5,250	€286,200
2011	David Boyaciyan	Netherlands	294	€5,000	€382,200
2010	Marcel Bjerkmann	Norway	249	€6,000	€403,380
2009	Kristoffer Thorsson	Sweden	342	€6,200	€636,120
2008	Jan Sorensen	Denmark	335	€6,200	€623,100
2007	Trond Eidsvig	Norway	428	€5,100	€620,600
2006	Ali Jalali	Germany	345	€5,000	€700,000
2005	Thomas Middelthon	Norway	264	€5,000	€528,000
2004	Robert Mizrachi	United States	188	€5,000	€372,240
2003	Johan Storakers	Sweden	205	€3,020	€243,540
2002	Angelo Yu	China	198	€3,020	€168,000
2001	Graham Hiew	United Kingdom	170	?5,040	?336,600
2000	Steve Liu	United Kingdom	159	?5,000	?314,820
1999	Ram Vaswani	United Kingdom	135	?5,000	?276,300
1998	Asher Derei	United Kingdom	125	?5,000	?247,500
1997	Bjorn Janson	Germany	90	?5,000	?178,200
1996	Mike Magee	Ireland	122	?1,000	?80,360
1995	Belinda Blokker	Netherlands	96	?1,000	?84,909
1994	G Hawass	Unknown		?1,075	?56,050
1993	Surinder Sunar	United Kingdom		?2,000	?41,800
1992	Eng Angh	Netherlands		?1,000	?18,600

*denotes a three-way deal

This year's Master Classics of Poker has been dominated by the Fins up till now. Nine "bordjes" (plates as trophies) have already been awarded and six of them have gone to Finland. Kasper Mellanen, Santeri Piriroinen, Hassan Sey, Simo Raikkonen, Kimmo Kurko, and Mattias Knaapinen will all be looking for their second bordje in the Main Event. The other bordjes were claimed by Nusret Atmaca, Chin Sin Chang, and Vojtech Ruzicka.

Players will get 30,000 in chips when they take their seats at the table and play 60-minute levels. Nine levels are scheduled for Day 1a with a break taking place after every two levels. A 90-minute dinner break should take place after Level 4. The late registration and reentry period will remain open until the start of Day 2. One reentry is allowed per flight so players can do a maximum of 5 entries in the worst-case scenario. Day 1b will take place on Thursday, November 28, at 12:30 p.m. and play 9 levels of 20 minutes each. Day 2 will start on the same day but at 7 p.m. local time.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be roaming the floor to bring you all the action from Holland Casino Amsterdam so make sure to keep following along!

Day 1 Structure