Sebastian Ruthenberg, a poker player from Germany, has recently won the 2008 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Open. Ruthenberg has won a whooping €1,360,100, his biggest award thus far. He defeated 618 gamblers during the fifth season of the EPT. The German player has two payouts at the World Series of Poker, they both were at this year WSOP. First Ruthenberg won the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low World Championship; he got $328,762 and the bracelet after he had defeated Chris Ferguson, a poker pro, throughout heads-up play. He got his second cash in the $2,500 No Limit Holdem tournament he ended in 68th place.

This year, his total winnings in live tournaments surpass $2,800,000. The European Poker Tour started in 2004 as part of the global bloom in Texas Holdem popularity. This is a range of televised poker tourneys like the World Poker Tour events. In seasons from one to three, the most important distinction between the poker tours was the entry and the effect it made on the prize pool, with the European Poker Tour featuring buy-ins around half the WPT size. This altered in the 4th season when the entry for EPT events was grown to €8,000 (thanks to augmented popularity and shortage of room in participating casinos). At exchange rates of 2007, it is nearly equal to the $10,000 that is the entry for the majority WPT events. Moreover, the final table consists of eight gamblers, as opposed to the six gambler final tables popularized by the World Poker Tour.

PokerStars.com sponsors the EPT. The EPT is also taped by Sunset + Vine for TV broadcast throught Europe.

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